What Are The Best Project Management Certifications?

Archive for Project Management

What Are The Best Project Management Certifications?

Project Management Certifications

As one of the largest providers for project management certification training, TechSherpas offers a variety of training courses to become a professionally certified project manager. A project management certification can be a great addition to your CV and can polish your credentials as an information technology professional.

But what kind of certifications for project management are there, and which is the right one for you? Keep reading – we have compiled an overview of some of the best project manager certifications.

Project Management Certification: Project Management Professional (PMP)

As we have already discussed in one of our previous blog posts, the Product Management Professional/PMP certification is issued by the Project Management Institute (or: “PMI”). Techsherpas offers Project Management Professional (PMP) certification preparation on a live In-Classroom Learning (ICL) basis, as well as, online as a Virtual Live Training (VTL). We also have an add-on option for an On-Demand (ODL) training video.  This can be added to the purchase of a live class or study that is completely online, at your own pace, with the ODL training. Additional requirements are at least a high school diploma, associate or corresponding secondary degree, as well as, a minimum amount of project management experience.

Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)

CAPM is an entry-level project management certification that the PMI issues as well, but without the additional requirements of the PMP for the certification candidates. You can become a Certified Associate in Project Management with little or even without prior project management experience. The Techsherpas CAPM preparation course is delivered entirely on an On-Demand Learning basis, which allows you to study at your own pace with a schedule that fits your personal requirements. In addition, this allows you to save on those expenses, such as time and travel, that would normally be associated with a course led by a live instructor. 

Certified Scrum Master (CSM)

Like the CAPM preparation training, the Certified Scrum Master (CSM) training course from TechSherpas is available for On-Demand Learning. This means you have a library of training videos with content that includes the following:

  • the Agile Manifesto Principles
  • Scrum Roles Overview
  • Scrum Master and Stake Holders
  • and more

PRINCE2 Practitioner

In order to become a registered PRINCE2 Practitioner, you will need to successfully complete two examination Project Management Training Courses. TechSherpas offers both of them On-Demand:

  • PRINCE2 Foundation On-Demand
  • PRINCE2 Practitioner On-Demand

CompTIA Project+

CompTIA, one of the leading IT industry’s trade associations issues a vendor-neutral professional certification. Our CompTIA Project+ training classes have a duration of five days, and you can participate either in the classroom or online/virtually, both of these would be with a live instructor.

Six Sigma

The Six Sigma methodology is also known as “DMAIC”, which stands for

  • Define
  • Measure
  • Analyze
  • Improve
  • Control

TechSherpas offers two different On-Demand Learning classes for Six Sigma:

  • Six Sigma Black Belt On-Demand
  • Six Sigma Green Belt On Demand

Any further questions about Project Management Certifications? Do you need assistance or further information to enroll in one of our classes? Are you interested in a Customized Onsite Training for your organization? Simply contact us.

 

Sources:
https://techsherpas.com/technology/project-management/
https://techsherpas.com/technology/project-management/pmpcapm/
https://www.pmi.org/-/media/pmi/documents/public/pdf/certifications/project-management-professional-handbook.pdf

PMP Certification – Become a Certified Project Management Professional

The Product Management Professional certification (in short: PMP certification) is a credential issued by the Project Management Institute (“PMI”). According to PMI, this certification is intended for professionals who:

  • perform the duties of a project manager (under general supervision) and are “responsible for all aspects of the pmp certificationproject for the life of the project”
  • “lead and direct cross-functional teams to deliver projects within the constraints of schedule, budget, and scope”
  • “appropriately apply a methodology to projects that have reasonably well-defined requirements and deliverables”

Requirements for PMP Certification Candidates

You can achieve many certifications by participating in the training courses and then taking the exam. However, in order to be eligible to become a certified Project Management Professional you have to meet certain requirements first. These requirements concern your educational background, as well as your experience in project management and your project management education.

  • Project Management Education

You need to have 35 hours of formal education in the area of project management. You can meet this requirement by participating in the TechSherpas PMP training.

  • Prior (Academic) Education

The minimum is a high school diploma, associate’s degree or its international equivalent (secondary degree). If you already have obtained a four-year college degree (Bachelor or equivalent), it reduces the minimum requirements of professional project manage experiences (see next).

  • Project Management Experience

With a secondary degree, the required minimum of experience as a project manager is 60 months, with at least 7,500 hours as a leading project manager.

With an additional four-year degree, the minimum amount of prior experience is 36 months with 4,500 hours in a leading project management role.

PMP Certification with TechSherpas

You have several options to get your PMP Certifications with TechSherpas :

  • Project Management Professional On-Demand

If you prefer learning at your own pace, our on-demand learning solution (ODL) should be the right option for you. (This also means you can save the expense for a live instructor.) Like our live training, this meets the PMP requirements regarding the 35 hours of formal education.

  • Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification Preparation

If you prefer live instruction in either a classroom or virtual environment, have a look at our 5-day Project Management Professional Certification Preparation.

We offer our courses locally, in the classroom environment of our training facilities (see the “ICL”/“In-Classroom Learning” marker). Your can choose among various locations and dates throughout the year.

Our Virtual Live Training (“VLT”) provides you with the required 35 hours of formal education. The training is live, but you can participate from the comfort of your own computer at home or the office.

Do you need further information or have questions? Simply let us know, either by phone or our contact form.

 

Sources:

https://techsherpas.com/technology/project-management/

Collaboration Via OneNote

Microsoft OneNote is much more than just a convenient note-taking app – especially once you know how to get the best use out of it.

Collaboration is Made Possible with One Note

Therefore, this is a short overview of the various things you can do within Microsoft OneNote, and how to put them to good use for collaboration purposes with other people (even whole teams).

OneNote allows you to create virtual notebooks and to subdivide these into sections, pages, and sub-pages. The app includes (depending on the version you are using) different functionalities already known from the Microsoft Office package:

General Functions of One Note

Text:

  • Create, format and edit texts
  • Use templates to create various kinds of document styles
  • Create and check-off task lists

Tables/Spreadsheets:

  • Create tables/spreadsheets within OneNote and also convert them into the Microsoft Excel format
  • Import tables from Excel

Graphics, Images, Design:

  • Include and arrange graphics and images (e.g. screenshots, photos)
  • Draw free-hand

Multimedia:

The functionalities may vary depending on your OneNote version.

  • Record and embed audio and video files
  • Link to and/or embed Youtube videos)
  • Embed/insert files in various formats

These functions allow you to collect, arrange and organize information from various sources and in various formats. You can do so on your computer, within your internet browser as well as on your mobile device, and you can easily synchronize your entries via internet access across your different devices (either automatically or manually) as well as with the people you select to share the respective notebook with.

 

Collaboration Methods:

The function that makes OneNote so useful for collaboration purposes is the possibility of sharing one or several of your notebooks with other users, and to determine whether they are merely granted viewing rights or can edit the shared content as well.

Thus it allows several users to compile and view collected information in one place, and to jointly work on text drafts (editing, annotations), check-off to-do lists etc.

When a user makes changes on a page, it synchronizes in almost real-time, and the recent changes appear on the other users’ devices marked with a different color to indicate them as changes done by someone other than oneself.

Your OneNote is connected to your Microsoft account, and you can access OneNote either via the respective mobile app or computer software (which can be downloaded from Microsoft and comes already preinstalled with Windows 10). You can also access it online via your internet browser: https://onedrive.live.com

 

 

https://products.office.com/en-US/onenote

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Share-a-OneNote-2016-for-Windows-notebook-with-other-people-d14b6033-7a95-4536-9216-bb0a5e0f8285

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/a-guide-to-microsoft-onenote-on-windows-10/

https://onedrive.live.com

 

Outsourcing Tips for Your Tech Company

If you have dreams of opening your own IT company, whether it be as a virtual assistant, repair company, or third party host, eventually you’ll need some assistance. Nowadays, it’s easy to find help right online when you are building your company. Here are some great tips for outsourcing as an entrepreneur, and with your expertise and IT training in Jacksonville, you should have no problem managing these simple tools!

IT Training in Jacksonville Gives You the Skills You Need to Outsource

Use a Project Management Tool

One of the most difficult parts of outsourcing work is keeping track of what your employees are doing. Having a project management tool where you can assign tasks and keep track of their progress is invaluable.  There are a variety of tools out there for someone with your tech skills!

Know What You Need

Another difficult part of outsourcing is getting organized and figuring out what you need. It’s very important that you seek people that will be reliable, but some positions are more time consuming than others. For example, if you were looking for a virtual assistant, you want someone who has experience and can take your business to the next level. If you just need someone to accomplish a few freelance tasks, you may be able to go more economical route. If you need a one-time job done, there are also many resources available.

Know the Resources That are Available

There are lots of resources available for outsourcing. It all depends on what kind of outsourcing you would like to do. Fiverr is a great way to have some work done at a low price. This is a site where freelancers show their stuff so that they can hopefully work with you more in the future. Each has to offer a service that only costs $5.  You can find graphic designers, website managers, and all sorts of freelance professionals on this site. Upwork is another site that will give you people with experience and dedication. The site is specifically for Freelancers and everything including payment task assignment and hiring is done through the site. These are both great management tools for those looking outsource work.

Big Projects are for Big Professionals

At some point, you will get to the level where a freelancer or two is not going to cut it. This is when you hire a firm to take care of some of your responsibilities. This could be anything from marketing responsibilities to bookkeeping.  Having a professional firm to handle these will reduce your liability and ensure you are getting the best service possible.  You will have peace of mind knowing that your work is in the hands of professionals.

Sources:

https://upwork.com

Project Management Training

Project Management is a highly sought after skill that encompasses many different skill-sets including, organization, leadership, and time and resource management. It’s a skill that is developed through both specialized training and experience managing successful projects and project failures. In a survey conducted by CIO.com, they found seven must-have skills for Project Managers:

1) Be highly organized and a good multi-tasker

2) Take charge and know how to lead

3) Be an effective communicator

4) Know how and when to negotiate

5) Be detail-orientated

6) Recognize and solve problems quickly

7) Possess the necessary technical skills

Project Management
Project Management
There are certifications and software tools available that help those pursuing a career in Project Management, build these seven must-have-skills. Getting a certification is important as it demonstrates your ability to understand the fundamentals and common language of project management. Once you have this knowledge it is even more important to know how to apply them to real projects, and build and learn from your project experience. Tools such as Microsoft Project allow you to apply the project management principles, be more productive, and overall be a better project manager.

The Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification
PMI’s Project Management Professional (PMP) credential demonstrates that you have the experience, education and competency to lead and direct projects. The PMP certification establishes a common language among project managers and helps each other work within a common framework. A Project Management Certification is great for any industry, and will teach you how to organize a project from beginning to end. If you have a desire to pursue a career managing projects, this certification will provide you with the solid foundation and understanding of everything you need to know to be an effective project manager. Experience comes with time, but the foundation and understanding of the basic project management principles will come from training.

Taking the PMP exam is not free. Training for the PMP will ensure that you pass the exam the first time you take it. Among the things you will learn in the PMP training class are:

The Project Management Framework
Project Scope Management
Project Time Management
Project Cost Management
Project Quality Management
Human Resource Management
Click here to learn more about the Professional Management Professional (PMP) Certification Preparation class.

Benefits of using Microsoft Project
Microsoft Project
Microsoft Project
We know experience is gained over time, and that experience is a strong quality that can make a great project manager. The great Project Managers have found that there are tools, when utilized consistently throughout the project, that make job tasks easier, making them more productive and effective project managers. These tools help them deliver their projects on time, on budget, while meeting or exceeding expectations. One of the tools out there that has helped Project Managers tremendously is Microsoft Project. The truth is, if you are a Project Manager and you are not using this tool then, you are missing out on the opportunity to really excel in the project management role. The Microsoft (MS) Project management tool can surely help develop these must-have-skills.

MS Project for Organization and Multi-Tasking
Microsoft Project helps Project Managers get organized and stay organized. The Project templates allow project managers to easily plan and manage their project for beginning to end. Task Path highlighting allows users to indicate which tasks are most important.

MS Project helps you be a team leader
The Project tool provides Project managers a platform where they can assign tasks to individual team members, as well as share and collaborate. The tool creates timelines, giving the ability to monitor the time is takes to complete a task. Project managers can learn and recognize when adjustments need to be made in order to maintain schedule and budget. A strong leader emerges when actions are taken before the project gets off track.

Effective communication with MS Project
Communication is a key contributor to project success. Projects can crumble because of the lack of communication between all parties and team members involved. Microsoft Project has great communication features that keeps everyone connected. Sharing and collaboration is easy as ever with all project information located in one central place that all team members have access to at all times. Keeping your team informed of project status, and allowing them to share input is crucial in maintaining proper communication.

Give attention to detail with the help of MS Project
This tool allows you to break down tasks as much as needed to get very detailed on the time and budget needed for each task. Over time, a Project Manager can learn from this data, and adjust and predict future schedules and budget.

Microsoft Project Training Classes
There are a number of Microsoft Project training classes you can take:

50413: Mastering Microsoft Project 2010
50552: Microsoft Project 2010 Exam Prep Bootcamp
55054: Mastering Microsoft Project 2013
91110: Microsoft Project 2013: Part 1
91111: Microsoft Project 2013: Part 2
Microsoft Project 2010 Level 1
Microsoft Project 2010 Level 2
Ultimate Microsoft Project 2013 Exam Prep Boot Camp
Project Management Principles for IT Professionals
Project Management skills are helpful in any industry, and IT professionals are amongst those who could use project management training. IT projects require tight budgets and timelines, while maintaining quality, which sadly aren’t being met. We can at the recent launch of the Obamacare website as an example of poor IT project management which led to disaster. There are training classes out there specifically for IT Professionals. These classes dive into the project management principles, but training in Microsoft Project is also recommended so you know how to implement and manage you projects better. The Project Management Principles for IT Professionals training class, not only prepares students for the CompTIA Project+ exam, but provides essential training in several areas including, but not limited to:

necessary business knowledge
interpersonal skills
discovery and analysis of problem/opportunity
developing a schedule and budget
project planning and team development
identifying variances in schedule and budget and outline corrective actions
Get more information on Project Management Principles for IT Professionals here.

Excel with Project Management Training
There are several things that make a good project management, seven must-have-skills to be exact. These skills are acquired through training and experience, as we have discussed here. If you are serious about pursuing a career where you will be managing projects, then getting the training and certifications is the first step. This will certainly push your resume to the top of the stack. Once you land the job (maybe not the one you want in the long-run), it is most important to apply these concepts and training to the real thing, and gain the invaluable experience companies are looking for. Experience is valuable and highly sought, and will come with time. Visit our website to register for a class, or contact one of our reps to get started today (866)704-9244.