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The best way to integrate new knowledge and to put what you're learnt into practice, is to appeal to as much of your senses as possible. Classroom courses and expert trainers make sure to integrate different learning styles to their teaching skills. Let's see in the examples below which ones are the recognized learning styles, and how a trainer can make sure to integrate them into a training class of Project Management:

• Auditory learning: learning through listening and hearing. The expert trainer explains the matter, focusing on the most important parts of the Project Management methodology, highlighting tools and techniques.
• Visual learning: in order to better understand the ideas and concepts, drawings on flip charts can be an important tool to integrate new information. If we take the example of a PRINCE2 training, imagine what impact could have a drawing that explains you the difference between outputs, business change, outcomes and benefits. A picture says more then a thousand words. In some cases, you will even see that these drawings are put on the walls in the training room and are continuously used by the trainer when he/she comes back to this topic.
• Kinesthetic learning: this is what we call “learning by doing”. Classrooms are ideal places to exercise on how to put the theory into practice. Let's take the example of an AgilePM training: an important tool is the PRL (Prioritized Requirements List). What better way to understand how to create this list then to do this in group during the course? It’s a first-hand experience that will help you to put it into practice when you’re back in the office.

Knowing the existence of different learning styles, why is a classroom course the best option to learn? 1) The Trainer as Subject Matter Expert In front of you, there’s a person who’s an expert on the new skills you want to acquire. He/she has real life experience and is able to give practical examples and answer your questions on the spot. There’s also room to tackle subjects and questions outside of the standard context of the course which will enable you to link it immediately to your own working environment. 2) Sharing Experiences and Social Interaction Each of the participants in the course have their backpack filled with experiences from the past. Some are good, other are bad experiences and both are valuable. By sharing those experiences, everybody in the room can learn from those real life examples (even the trainer!). They add an extra dimension to what we’ve just learned and see the link with real life. 3) Expert Trainers Who Make the Learning Experience Engaging and Interesting There’s a good reason why someone is moderating the training. Trainers we are there to help you understand the subject and are able to correct you so that you’re getting it right by the end of the course. Trainers are the glue between the subject and all of the participants and will engage everyone so that it becomes a highly valuable experience. The trainer is also able to instantly adapt the learning experience to the needs of the delegates so that it becomes personalized for each individual. 4) Quiet, Dedicated Time Out of the Office to Really Focus on Your Needs Most of us have a very demanding job with people constantly coming into our office or calling us with, as always, very urgent and critical questions or tasks. This is not the ideal environment to study, learn and develop new skills. Even at home, with the kids or the partner running around the house, you’re not in a good environment to get the most out of a training. A classroom training offers you the possibility to take a distance from home and work so that you can deep dive into something new. You can focus on only one thing which will improve the integration of the skills so that you can put it into practice more quickly. Our trainer and consultant David Maegerman wrote an article about the different learning styles, the reasons why a classroom course has several advantages, and the difference with a distance-online-learning training. Want to have a soft copy of the full article? Follow this link for the free download.  

Most of professionals in the Project Management world already know about Programme, Portfolio and PMO management; some of them already work at PMO level for example, having helped with the set up of a “Centre of Excellence” in their organization. But how do you know what is the right next step after Project Management? How to identify the right action that can fit your needs? We’ve developed 3 webinars to help you answer these questions! Don't worry if you miss one of them, we'll make sure the video is available to be watched! Keep reading for the 2' video about Portfolio Management!

TITLE OF THE WEBINAR: Portfolio Management: Benefits of Strategic Alignment

ABOUT THE EXPERT: Stijn Janssens is PRINCE2 accredited trainer and consultant, MSP and MoP certified, P3O/PMO Expert. He’s a multilingual trainer, able to perform courses in English and Dutch.

ABOUT THE WEBINAR: If you are a manager with a top-down perspective (you are managing a budget and a team, or a group of strategic initiatives), your next step could be MoP Portfolio Management, a one week training with certification. MoP, Management of Portfolios, provides an overview of all change activities including what is in the portfolio, what it is costing, what risks are faced, what progress is being made, and what the impact is on business as usual and the organization’s strategic objectives. MoP helps you answer the question “Are we doing the right projects?” by prioritizing the right projects and programmes to undertake.

To WATCH THE VIDEO follow this link!

Don't miss the lastwebinar of the series: PMO Management - an Introduction --> Register at this link

Want to remain up-to-date and never miss our FREE learning and informative events? Register to our newsletter at this link

Most of professionals in the Project Management world already know about Programme, Portfolio and PMO management; some of them already work at PMO level for example, having helped with the set up of a “Centre of Excellence” in their organization. But how do you know what is the right next step after Project Management? How to identify the right action that can fit your needs? We’ve developed 3 webinars to help you answer these questions! Don't worry if you miss one of them, we'll make sure the video is available to be watched! Keep reading for the 1' video about Programme Management! TITLE OF THE WEBINAR: Programme Management: Elements and Benefits ABOUT THE EXPERT: Stijn Jassens is PRINCE2 accredited trainer and consultant, MSP and MoP certified, P3O/PMO Expert. He’s a multilingual trainer, able to perform courses in English and Dutch. ABOUT THE WEBINAR: If you are a project manager, or a manager, managing bigger-and-bigger projects and driving transformational business change, your next step is Programme Management. MSP, Managing Successful Programmes, represents proven good practice in programme management in successfully delivering transformational change, drawn from the experiences of both public and private sector organisations. MSP defines programme management as “the action of carrying out the coordinated organization, direction and implementation of a dossier of projects and transformational activities (i.e. the programme), to achieve outcomes and realize benefits of strategic importance to the business”. In fact it’s key to understand that a programme is not only a “bigger project”, but can also be a set of coordinated projects. To WATCH THE VIDEO follow this link! Don't miss the second webinar of the series: Portfolio Management, Benefits of Strategic Alignment --> Register at this link Want to know about PMO Management? Follow the third webinar ---> Register at this link Want to remain up-to-date and never miss our FREE learning and informative events? Register to our newsletter at this link

A portfolio management approach to business change is required to ensure that organizations prioritize and invest in the changes that contribute most to the strategy. It provides an overview of all change activities including what is in the portfolio, what it is costing, what risks are faced, what progress is being made, and what the impact is on business as usual and the organization’s strategic objectives. Not only Business as Usual prioritization, Management of Portfolio means to effectively decide to invest in the change initiatives that will contribute to deliver strategic objectives.

TITLE: 100 Days to Implement Management of Portfolios

ABOUT THE ARTICLE: "At the Office for National Statistics (ONS) we collect, analyse and publish important statistics such as population, inflation and gross domestic product. This information is used to inform decisions that affect your life and the lives of everyone in the UK. We were aware that some studies indicated a timescale of 12–18 months to implement portfolio management. However, we decided to embark on a 100-day, high-energy approach to implementing the Cabinet Office’s best-practice standard Management of Portfolios (MoP). During the implementation we derived considerable value from enhanced executive portfolio-level information, portfolio prioritization, consistent portfolio investment appraisals and project sequencing. All of this led to a greater understanding of the portfolio delivery landscape and the ability to make more confident investment decisions with an overall increase in collaborative working and organizational energy". This is how Glen Watson, General Director of the Office for National Statistics explains the decision of implementing MoP.

This Case Study follows the steps of the Portfolio implementation highlighting the key phases of this 100 days project: in the terms of the ONS, the path was to "understand where we are" to define "where we want to go": this includes the analysis of the current situation, the definition of the so called "portfolio cycle", "portfolio plan" and "portfolio office". To summarize, at the end of the paper are indicated 8 top tips (in no particular order) which are the things ONS found critically important when implementing portfolio management within 100 days.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Craig Kilford worked with the Office for National Statistics as Interim Deputy Director of Portfolio Management. As one of the world’s leading portfolio management subject matter experts he is a regular motivational conference speaker, co-author of the Cabinet Office’s Management of Portfolios and author of "Think P3O." Craig blogs regularly at www.MrPortfolioManagement.com where additional information about this case study is available.

TO READ AND DOWNLOAD THE FULL ARTICLE: simply follow this link!

Programmes are more than just just "bigger projects" and project and programme managers still truglle to bring awareness on this aspect of Programme Management. Programmes exist in the tension zone between:

• the strategic direction of the organization,
• the delivery of change capability by projects,
• the need to maintain business performance and stability while realizing and exploiting the benefits from the investments.

A new article in our download section can help you understand more. TITLE: Programme Management: a Basic Overview ABOUT THE ARTICLE: A programme can be triggered in a number of ways; each will require different focus and intensity of resources and control. This white-paper explains the different types of Programmes, and hot to manage them to ensure the realization of business objectives.

• Vision-led programmes that start with a clearly defined vision, have a top-down approach, and focus on strategic or innovative opportunity with radical transformation of business, culture or both.
• Emergent programmes evolve from current uncoordinated initiatives, where there is recognition of the value of a joinedup approach with an emergent vision and end goal.
• Compliance programmes can also be called ‘must do’ programmes. The organization has no choice but to change; for example, because of market forces or the potential negative impact of not changing.

The biggest difference with Project Management? Unlike project management, which thrives on certainty, programme management recognizes and exploits the ambiguity. This is why is important to use a structured and well tested approach to Programme Management. Programme Management and the Transformational Flow Transformational flow is the term used to describe the lifecycle of the programme. ‘Flow’ reflects the evolving nature of the journey the programme takes and the adjustments that will need to be made. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rod Sowden, from Aspire Europe Ltd, is lead author for the "Managing Successful Programmes" official handbook 2007 version and lead author and mentor for the 2011 version. TO READ AND DOWNLOAD THE FULL ARTICLE: simply follow this link!

PRINCE2 (Projects IN Controlled Environment) is a structured method for the effective and efficient management of projects. It is a generic, best-practice approach for the management of all types of projects and it has become the de facto standard for organising, managing and controlling projects globally. The PRINCE2 process map is always one of the most downloaded documents from QRP International's download area: this graphic view of the PRINCE2 process involved within a project is a useful and relevant tool for:

• Project managers: anyone who is applying PRINCE2 at work would benefit from having a clear and graphic overview of the method.
• Course delegates: QRP International provides an A3 Process Map version as part of the training material during our courses, both classroom and distance learning.

PRINCE2 2017: a Renewed Process Map, updated to NEW Version

PRINCE2 is firmly established as the world’s most practiced method for project management and is globally recognized for delivering successful projects. In July 2017 AXELOS released the first major update to PRINCE2 since 2009, with the 2017 version of the method: this brings along a new PRINCE2 guidance and new Foundation and Practitioner examinations. The 2017 update of PRINCE2 builds on the proven strength of PRINCE2, so the following key elements remain unchanged:

• 7 Processes forming the project management
• 7 Principles forming the basis of good method of managing projects
• 7 Themes, knowledge areas which support specific key areas of project management

The purpose of the updated version is to better respond to current imperatives for flexibility and agility, and the new guidance wants to do so with a renewed focus on the importance of tailoring. The PRINCE2 Process Flow Diagram is a graphical 'at a glance' representation of all the PRINCE2 processes and how they fit together and it shows all the processes involved in running a PRINCE2 project from start to finish. The QRP International's PRIN​CE2 Process map does not show only all the processes and how each stage integrates with the others but also what action needs to be taken for each process, which are the important products, documents or information to deliver during the stage​ for each management level​​ (Team Manager, Project Manager, Project Board). Looks complicated but it's not! This process map is a strong asset during your PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner course and an helpful reference ​once back in the office​ as a project manager.

Download your version!

Our PRINCE2 Process Map is available for download: don't miss this chance!

More on PRINCE2: Literature, Articles and Case Studies

QRP International has a full selection of recommended reading for professional qualifications: check out our Literature page to stay up to date with the latest publications on Project, Programme, Portfolio and Change Management. Furthermore, our commitment is to share with the community practical cases and real life scenarios about the methods, as well as white papers that illustrate the features of each Best Practice: check out our Articles & Case Studies page to find valuable content, easy to download!