If you have studied project methodology or been exposed to it in the workplace it will certainly help with your understanding and ability to grasp the software. While you will certainly learn some methodology during the course, our primary focus is on training you how to use the software effectively.
The best time to undertake training is the period before you need to create your own projects. Immediate practice using your own project is the best way to retain what you have learnt.
Yes. We believe Microsoft Project is too challenging an application on which to train without post-course support. Once you have attended a course with us you will receive telephone support for a period of 1 year.
Training is limited to 12 participants per course. We request that each participant has access to one PC (or notebook computer) for the duration of the course, loaded with Microsoft Project. No internet connection is required, and all training files are provided.
We always suggest that it’s to your advantage to have sat down and played around with Microsoft Project before the course to get an idea about its look and feel. We know, however, that’s not always possible.
If you haven’t had a chance to use the software, we recommend approaching a colleague and asking for a five or ten minute demonstration of the basics, to put you in the picture as to its appearance. You might find it helpful to have a look at a project that one of your colleagues has created using the software.
It is important that you are comfortable with the mouse and basic Windows functions. We suggest that anyone who uses any Windows-based software regularly (such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel) will have ample skills. During the course there is not much emphasis placed on large amounts of typing.
This is a common problem.
If you’re not familiar with the way Microsoft Project is structured and how to use it correctly, you’ll wind up using it retrospectively as a reporting tool and not as a forward-looking management tool.
We find this happens frequently among users who are self-taught.
Our training is designed to solve this. By learning to use Microsoft Project correctly, you will not only be able to easily access its excellent reporting features (both retrospective and future), but will be able to use its powerful forward-looking management tools to adjust your upcoming schedules.
This is one of the most common questions we receive. Microsoft Project is not a simple, intuitive package in the same way that Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel are.
Being a relational database package (more like, say, Microsoft Access) Microsoft Project requires a deeper understanding of the software, and how it ties to the project management process. Unlike Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, it’s not a package that lends itself well to the “trial and error” method of learning.
Not a problem.
We work with many organisations where Microsoft Project is used generically, and where staff need to be trained in the software either to understand client’s projects, those of their colleagues within the organisation or to prepare themselves for future use of the software. We’re able to run general courses to equip you with the knowledge you’ll need.
If we conduct training for a group consisting of staff from one organisation, we’ll strongly suggest it. The more relevance the training has to your real-life projects, the more effective the training will be.
During our initial assessment of your needs we will get you to provide samples based around your real life projects and work breakdown structures that we will use during training.
We’ll help you determine exactly what you’ll need by consulting with you before the course.
Key to the success of the training program is its relevance to the actual projects in which participants are involved. For this reason, wherever possible we use project examples submitted to us by the client prior to the course. We’ll then take these examples and reduce them to primary tasks lists on which we’ll then build during the course. Where these examples don’t yet exist, we’ll assist by helping our clients to create them, which can be done in Microsoft Project, Excel or Word format.
We do tend to find that on-site training is more effective than public courses.
This is because a dedicated course for a single client will tend to be more focused on real-life project scenarios and less generic. So, instead of talking about purely theoretical models, we can develop relevant task models that will help the participant see what they’ll need to be building when they return to work.
Additionally, the group dynamic of a single-company course promotes better discussion than a mixed-company course.
No. Unlike Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, a “one size fits all” approach won’t work.
While our manuals clearly show a “step-by-step” process from an instructional point of view, we make sure that, wherever possible, they’re applied to examples relevant to course participants.
We’ll help you determine exactly what you’ll need by consulting with you before the course. Key to the success of the training program is its relevance to the actual projects in which participants are involved.
For this reason, wherever possible we use project examples submitted to us by the client prior to the course. We’ll then take these examples and reduce them to primary tasks lists on which we’ll then build during the course.
Where these examples don’t yet exist, we’ll assist by helping our clients to create them, which can be done in Microsoft Project, Excel or Word format.
We do tend to find that on-site training is more effective than public courses.
This is because a dedicated course for a single client will tend to be more focused on real-life project scenarios and less generic. So, instead of talking about purely theoretical models, we can develop relevant task models that will help the participant see what they’ll need to be building when they return to work.
Additionally, the group dynamic of a single-company course promotes better discussion than a mixed-company course.
No. Unlike Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel, a “one size fits all” approach won’t work. Participants in these “one size fits all” training sessions spend the majority of their time re-creating projects from steps within the training manual.
Our manuals clearly show a “step-by-step” process from an instructional point of view, we make sure that, wherever possible, they’re applied to examples relevant to course participants.
Our training manuals contain step-by-step practical instructions that will show you how to use the software, as well as comprehensive theoretical information that give those steps context.
Combined, you’ll see clearly how these two aspects work together. Using Microsoft Project effectively revolves around its correct practical use, so we’ve placed an emphasis on real-world application.
