Want to Improve Project Success Rates? Invest in Project Management Training

If you’ve ever had to spearhead a project of considerable magnitude or complexity without the proper training, you understand the value of project management skills. Experienced managers realize the benefits of project management training. Most fervently push for budgeting to supply initial courses as well as continuous refresher courses. As explained below, adequate project management training is imperative to a manager’s chances for success, especially when dealing with unfamiliar clients, products and other challenges.

Project Management Training Is Worth The Investment

Statistical Evidence Proves It

A recent survey conducted by Project Management Solutions indicates that organizations that invest in project management training programs see a 26 percent improvement across 8 measures of business performance. The survey studied 247 organizations throughout a number of economic sectors. Managers across corporate America will be especially interested in the cultivation of project management skills after examining this study’s results. Project management training benefited stakeholder satisfaction by a whopping 30 percent. Organizational scheduling improved by 27 percent. Project failures decreased by 26 percent. Of particular note is the fact that funding for project management training resulted in a 25 percent increase in the number of projects that were kept on budget. In total, 7 of the 8 business performance metrics measured increased by at least 25 percent. Only “time to market” fell short of this benchmark with an improvement of 24 percent.

This study reinforces the findings of IDC’s widely referenced 2006 findings. IDC determined that training can directly improve project success rates. In particular, projects with a devoted budget of 4 percent or less toward training were two times less likely to succeed compared to projects that devoted between 6 and 10 percent of their budgets toward training. These studies also show that project managers who’ve engaged in the proper training courses make extremely efficient use of their time. Well-trained mangers’ “erosion rate” typically decreases by a solid margin. This term refers to the number of hours worked on a project that aren’t actually billed to the client.

Project Management Training Can Make A Meaningful Impact

The majority of managers who partake in training courses state that classroom sessions led by instructors are quite effective. Learning is always easier when a student doesn’t have to hunt down answers within a large textbook. Asking questions of an experienced and informed teacher is the most efficient way to learn material. Most project management trainers are veterans of the industry who can impart valuable knowledge. Unlike many other academic settings, project management training sessions aren’t designed to fill up time while raking in revenue. Participants engage in meaningful lectures and group projects that produce real business benefits. Some project management training programs even refuse organizations because they believe that they don’t have the proper project management processes in place.

Key Takeaways

• Managers who’ve refined their project management skills through training are better equipped to overcome difficult challenges.
• Numerous studies prove that project management training is worth the up-front expense.
• Managers who engage in project management training are able to bring projects to market quicker, satisfy stakeholders, stay on schedule and significantly decrease project failures.

Those who are in charge of project management budgets should be aware of the abundance of evidence that shows just how much of an impact manager training can make. While project management training costs money, it will eventually pay for itself through increases in billable hours, adherence to timelines and general efficiency. IMS offers a wide variety of Project Management and Oracle Primavera training at state-of-the-art facilities across the nation, on-site at your organization, and virtually. Discover the project management course that’s right for you by visiting our training page.

Resource: CIO