Project Management Fundamentals – a Review of the Multimedia Course
This is a review of the multimedia training course on Key Skills in Project Management Fundamentals (FMF), the equivalent of 2 days classroom based training. This is a subjective review based on my personal understanding of the outlined concepts.
I was very impressed with the content of the course, covering all the basic principles of project management, such as Product Based Planning, Activity Based Planning, Scheduling, Resource Management, Monitoring and Control Risk Analysis, Quality Control, etc. Even the most complex topics are presented in a basic way, so that beginners and experienced managers can easily get a grasp of the concepts.
Below I will focus on some particular positive and challenging aspects of the course.
Positive aspects:
Planned and structured project management – successful planning and organization can determine the extent to which the products/outcomes will be produced on time and to the right customers/beneficiaries. Structure and consistency is something that not all project managers can handle well at the beginning of their career of if they have not had any previous exposure to project management tools and principles. The course provides great examples and tools which can be easily used by anybody (although the construction examples are a bit confusing in some of the lessons).
A new look at Microsoft Project – the mentioned tools and methods for effective planning and organization, as well as resource allocation, come from the MS Project. I will admit to TRYING to use this program in the past for managing projects, but was quickly confused by many of its peculiarities. The PMF course offered a new insight into how the MS program can be used effectively.
Applicable by both private and public organizations – the concepts outlined in the PMF course are presented for business and private organizations. Still, I would say that the principles apply to both for-profit, and not for profit organizations. Moreover, since public organizations rarely have the time and resources to invest in project management skills, this course comes as a very valuable first step.
Challenging aspects of the course:
Ode to Top Down approaches – the course focuses primarily on top-down approaches. It gives no flexibility to the regular employee who may have very valuable input into project management. The course envisions NO empowerment, participation, and equity for everybody involved in project planning and implementation.
Manager is All and Everything – along the same lines, the course includes a brief exercise in which it asks if a product description should be prepared by the Product Manager or the Project Manager. Did you think the Product Manager? WRONG! The course says this is the responsibility of the project manager. Do you agree? 
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My overall conclusion is that if your organization or you personally have an extra dollar (or british pound for that matter) in your pocket, you may give this multimedia course a try. Overall, it might turn out to be a worthwhile investment. If you’ve already had the opportunity to listen to the course, please post your comments below.
