Dave+Jules

I did say PMP doesnt mean you are a good PM just that you can speak the language.

<Soapbox>
Generally PMs are always between a rock and a hard place. Trying to balance many competing demands, needs and requirements and in guiding the project through those dangerous waters alot get sacrificed along the way. The danger is unless you pay attention to what key benefits your project is trying to deliver you will end up satisfying no one.

Everyone (well nearly everyone) complains about project managers, but no one (or very few) actively take on the role. Business people see it can be a very career limiting move, technical people worry that they will be held to deliver when they only indicate that something is possible. We merry band of PM's we just try to 'herd the cats' and hope they go in the general direction because we have no authority over anyone (generally).

</SoapBox> (thats for the techies out there in expat land)

onside

I went the PMP route. The post-secondary institute that I took the courses through was certified through the Project Management Institute. The post secondary institute offered their own certificates for taking some of the course and they allowed the first 6 of 12 course to be pre-requisites if you wanted to go into another stream such as Six Sigma or supply chain management.

I had a former co-worker who challenged the PMP exam without taking the courses and she aced it easily. But she was using Microsoft Project for years and had been doing all of the work without the formal education.

nooka

Any links to Scrum? Sounds intriguing. I have Prince2 and MSP, which were quite fun to study, but in practical terms somewhat redundant as working in the NHS and trying to get people to do things systematically do not go hand in hand (I'm trying of the next simile on from herding cats and struggling - perhaps persuading rabid cats to swim might be nearer the mark ). I don't specifically need a new PM qualification, but it's quite handy to have at least one thing on a resume that it easy to recognise. My experience of "expert" management approaches in the NHS was that none of them really recognised that dealing with people is not the same as machinery, but that they all had something that I could learn and apply.

I have to say as we have recently downloaded Scum in order to replay our old adventure games probably the wrong ideas are coming to my mind about what Scrum might be like

dbd33

Descriptions in the manner of a car brochure:

http://www.menloinnovations.com/agil...FQsQagodYlCDBw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrum_(development)

http://martinfowler.com/articles/newMethodology.html

Dave+Jules

Just to add another practical one into the list, try DSDM's new site for the strangely named Atern(it is free to sign up and read the on line manuals). Atern is a development of the Dynamic System Development Method (DSDM) which is a Agile / Rapid Application Development method with a long history (First created in 1994).

There are a number papers on managing projects with a combination of DSDM and PRINCE2.

• http://www.agilealliance.com/system/...e/904/file.pdf
• http://www.best-management-practice....e_Paper_v2.pdf
• http://www.keithrichardsconsulting.c...using_DSDM.ppt
• http://www.infoq.com/news/XP-DSDM-Prince2

I have been using DSDM in software development projects since 1996 and would recommend it as a way to manage expectations and over deliver. I have also been managing projects using a pragmatic Prince2 since around the same time and you have the combination of the rapid and the controlled without one killing the other.

nooka

Sounds interesting . I'll check them out.