My way in project management: PRINCE2^® Certifications

People in my circle of friends often ask me about my current job and whether I could recommend certain trainings for their career path. It's not uncommon in such conversations to hear the question, "Hey, Moritz, tell me ... If I want to get certified in project management, what can you recommend?"

Unfortunately, I can't give a general answer that fits everyone. Everyone pursues a different development and individual goals in their professional life. But in my opinion, it is quite easy to find an entry point in the large certification jungle in project management. First of all, regardless of whether you are a manager or an employee, everyone needs the basic knowledge. Today I'm going to tell you about my certifications and the learning intention behind them.

Finding a common language: The PRINCE2 Foundation Certification

A few years ago, at the age of 25, I was faced with the question: How can you deepen your knowledge in the field of project management? Although I had already worked in projects, I had a hard time when it came to consistent wording or clear procedures within the day-to-day project work. What do I mean by that? I had the feeling that many were doing their own "thing". Different wordings were used. Role descriptions were different from project to project. Corporate standards were adapted on a whim. Communication channels were cumbersome and demotivating. My good fortune: I wasn't the only person who struggled mightily. With that in mind, and through the feedback our manager received, we employees were given the opportunity to attend training to speak a common language across the organization in a goal-oriented way.

The first question I asked my manager about this was, "Are you also attending the training?"

The answer was, "Yeah, sure. I have also already found something to give us a theoretical basis."

Moritz: "Tell me! What did you find and why this particular training?"

Manager: "PRINCE2 is a project management method that we as managers want to learn together with the employees. The goal is to speak a common language. That's what we learn in the PRINCE2 Foundation."

This is precisely an objective that is currently mentioned very frequently in projects: a common understanding with the appropriate common language. Both together should lead to fewer frictional losses between the processes. Clearer communication channels help to make everyday project work easier.

Motivated start: The first training

A few weeks later, I was able to attend a two-day PRINCE2 training course with a subsequent exam together with some colleagues. My expectations and hopes were high. Finally, I was shown a way that not only I, but as many as possible in the company could implement! The training itself was very theoretical and the content was structured in a sensible way. Did I mind cramming theory for two days? No, not at all. Our goal was to learn the basics and get a suitable PRINCE2 certification. Fortunately, we all managed to do that: In a 60-minute exam in German, we answered pure knowledge questions based on what we had learned in the training.

Afterwards, we were able to carry what we had learned into our organization with motivation and confidence. We started to set up clear role descriptions. Our wording was adapted and more and more managers and employees also attended the PRINCE2 training. After we had managed to train our entire department, we all had the same theoretical knowledge, but were not really convincing when it came to putting the method into practice. A frequently asked question was, "So how do we do it now?" The PRINCE2 Foundation had given us an overview and told us what to do - but not how. Fortunately, we learned that in a follow-up training session.

Everything for practice: PRINCE2 Practitioner certification

The PRINCE2 Practitioner training lasted three days and taught us exactly what we need in practice. We experienced tools and techniques for applying the theory we learned in Foundation in practice. For this purpose, we accompanied an entire project in group work and on the basis of a real scenario. We had to create standards, registers, project plans, business cases and much more. What I personally found most useful was the exchange with participants from other companies. Since we were divided into different groups, I was able to gain practical experience from other participants and colleagues and take away good input for my daily project life.

The training was again concluded with an exam. It wasn't easy: We were given 2 ½ hours to complete a total of 68 scenario-based multiple-choice questions. I think I scored 75% at the end (you need 55% to pass) - and was overjoyed. After two trainings two weeks apart (I could have done both trainings in one week), two official PRINCE2 certifications and armed with the original PRINCE2 manual, I felt well prepared for our future projects.

A look into the agile world: PRINCE2 Agile

In 2017, I changed my employer and was now part of SERVIEW. After many classically managed projects, I now wanted something new. The topic of "agile" was coming more and more to the fore and I wanted to know what exactly lay behind it. However, I didn't quite dare to leave my safe project management harbor yet and was glad to see that there is also an agile PRINCE2 certification. SERVIEW gave me the opportunity to further my education in this area. Since I had already passed the classic PRINCE2 training, I was able to strengthen my knowledge in the agile area with the "Agile Bridge". Three days of training brought me closer to agile approaches in combination with classic project management. Within the training agile frameworks and methods like Scrum and Kanban were taught. I thought before that a combination of classic and agile was not possible. PRINCE2 Agile was able to prove me wrong in an understandable and structured way. Of course, the training was again followed by an exam: 2 ½ hours time for 50 scenario-based multiple-choice questions in German.

"Angefixt": Further agile trainings

After the training I was "hooked" and wanted to learn more about the combination possibilities of classic and agile approaches. I needed to know more about the frameworks and methods that were shown in the training. I didn't let much time pass and went straight for one Scrum and one Kanban training each. I completed both of them within a week. Why did I do this? I didn't want to just scratch the surface. I wanted to learn how agile working works within a classically organized project. What do you have to pay attention to? What new roles are there? What work techniques are new to me? I am glad to have attended these two trainings and to have two more certificates.

Thanks to my classic project management experience, I knew that it is very important to have a clear understanding of the goals in the project and also to know which language is being spoken. Thanks to the certification in the agile area, I was able to get into practice very quickly at my new employer. I was flexible in scheduling assignments because I understood and could apply classic project management. The same was now true for the agile approaches, although my practical experience was still very limited at first.

Conclusion: My path was right for me

I would go through my path again in the same way. What's exciting is that PRINCE2 gives us several options that can support us in the classic, but also in the agile area. If you want to build a basic theoretical understanding, I recommend the PRINCE2 Foundation certification. If you want to know how to transfer theoretical knowledge from classic project management into practice, the PRINCE2 Practitioner training is very helpful. Is your company currently building on hybrid approaches or do you find the agile approach more interesting? Then take a look at PRINCE2 Agile.

As in many areas in life, the following is important: You should know what you want and what will benefit you. Get to grips in advance with which training and further education options appeal to you. I will be happy to show you the path that will help you in your career. Simply make an appointment using the button on the right and let me advise you on PRINCE2 certification!