Parallel Project Management Training
Expert Project Management Training that Helps You Deliver Successful Projects
training for confident project delivery
We're with you all the way
Individual
Individuals looking to enhance career prospects with professional training.
Group
Group training to enhance team project management skills.
Corporate
Delivering APM courses and tailored training to meet your business needs.
About Parallel
Parallel Project Training delivers high-quality project management training to project managers at every stage in their career. Parallel delivers APM accredited project management training courses to both individuals and teams. Whether you have years of experience as a project management professional or are ready to take your first steps in the profession, we can provide you with expert training that will enhance your career.
Established over 15 years ago, Parallel has supported thousands of delegates at every stage in their careers and through all levels of project management qualification. Working closely with professional bodies like the Association for Project Management (APM), we have developed industry-leading training courses and provided delegates with professional skills that they can use throughout their careers.
Our values
Professional
Our expert trainers work to the highest standard and use their extensive first-hand experience of project management to support our customers during their ongoing professional development.
Trustworthy
You can trust us to look after your development. We prioritise your needs, and are committed to acting with integrity and transparency.
Well informed
As experts in project management, we are actively involved in shaping the future of the profession and upholding the highest standards
Approachable
We are open, communicative and flexible, adept at demystifying complex topics and making them accessible and easy to understand.
Specialists
As specialists in project management, we understand its diverse applications, across different sectors and apply a flexible approach to growing professional project management competence.
Caring
We are a relationship based business. We maintain long term relationships with customers who know we care and go the extra mile for each and every one of their learners.
Our courses
APM qualifications offer clear progression through the levels of project management experience and knowledge. You will learn foundational skills at the APM PFQ level, build on this experience and knowledge at the APM PMQ level and demonstrate a range of experience at APM PPQ. If you want to demonstrate the wealth of experience and knowledge that you have as a project professional, then you can work towards becoming a Chartered Project Professional (ChPP).
Alongside our APM qualifications, Parallel also offers both accredited and non-accredited training options.
Project Management in Practice (PMiP)
Project Planning and Control (PPC)
Read our live reviews
The feedback we receive from our delegates is testament to the quality of our training delivery. Read the reviews below to see what our delegates are saying.
Our learning options
Parallel offer a range of learning options to support you through your project management training journey. If you have any questions, please contact us.
Virtual classroom
Effective training and support from one of our highly experienced and qualified trainers in a live virtual classroom that can be joined from anywhere in the world.
Distance learning
Study at your own pace and timescale with our APM project management distance learning packages. Pre-recorded sessions can be re-watched multiple times.
Corporate solutions
We have more than 15 years’ experience delivering off-the-shelf and bespoke training courses on client premises or in a virtual classroom.
Our upcoming courses
Jun
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Jun
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Jun
- £650.00 excl. VAT
Jun
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Jul
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Aug
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Aug
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- £1,945.00 excl. VAT
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- £650.00 excl. VAT
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- £1,945.00 excl. VAT
Sep
- £2,600.00 excl. VAT
Oct
- £895.00 excl. VAT
Oct
- £650.00 excl. VAT
Oct
- £1,945.00 excl. VAT
Nov
- £1,945.00 excl. VAT
Nov
- £895.00 excl. VAT
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- £650.00 excl. VAT
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- £650.00 excl. VAT
Dec
- £895.00 excl. VAT
Jan
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Jan
- £1,945.00 excl. VAT
Jan
- £1,550.00 excl. VAT
Jan
- £1,945.00 excl. VAT
Jan
- £650.00 excl. VAT
Feb
- £895.00 excl. VAT
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- £650.00 excl. VAT
Feb
- £1,945.00 excl. VAT
Mar
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What are our courses like
The aim of Parallel’s training courses is to equip you for the qualification exam you are taking and to give you practical tools that you can apply to your project management career.
Project management professional development and training solutions from Parallel involve active participation in real-world tasks, collaborating with others using realistic case studies, watching webinars and listening to podcasts. In our online sessions we make use of breakout rooms to give delegates time to discuss topics amongst themselves and draw their own conclusions. We also encourage group discussions and use group exercises to solidify knowledge and understanding.
Companies we work with
Case studies
Rail Baltica: Programme Management Guideline Training
Background Rail Baltica is one of the most complex projects in Europe. High-speed rail projects are always complex, but the […]
Unlocking the Power of Engineering
How Tony Gee’s Innovative Project Management Training is Transforming the Future of Engineering Design Consultancy Tony Gee is an engineering […]
Network Rail
In the wake of the independent 2011 McNulty report, which recommended how the rail industry could deliver a safe and efficient railway that represented value-for-money for both fare payers and taxpayers, a transformation has been taking place at Network Rail.
Streetworks (Transport for London)
Streetworks is a community-led project funded by Transport for London (TfL) that works with local forums and other partners to improve the local area & build skills within their community. Parallel worked with a streetworks to develop a project management method children can follow. For this work we were a finalist in the APM Awards.
Oxford Policy Management
Synopsis: Oxford Policy Management (OPM) is an international development consultancy which aims to help low- and middle-income countries achieve growth […]
Arcadis
International Built Asset Consultancy invests in Project Management Development via a Distance Learning programme leading to the APM PMQ Qualification The leading international Built Asset Consultancy ARCADIS sees a real benefit for virtual APM PMQ training.
Turner & Townsend
Leading global programme management and construction consultancy Turner & Townsend embarked on a project management e-learning programme in 2012 to enable it’s project management professionals to achieve internationally recognised status with (APM) qualifications.
Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (Dstl)
Science and technology-based research and development projects, like those carried out by Dstl, often have uncertain outcomes with intangible or obscure benefits. This meant that standard project management courses were largely irrelevant. Parallel, therefore, replaced and adapted courses previously in use at Dstl and introduced a variety of new bespoke…
IFS
As one of the world’s leading Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems providers IFS has a global client base with complex projects, involving implementations in several countries. The bespoke training programme developed for them by Parallel, therefore, focused specifically on the behaviours and competences needed to deliver complex international projects.
Essex Cares
Francine Morgan, a project manager with Essex Cares, a company providing social care services to UK local authorities, recently completed the APMP distance learning programme & achieved a remarkable 90% pass rate – one of the highest scores ever achieved via any type of training programme for the prestigious APMP qualification.
Google reviews
There are various project management qualifications available. At Parallel, we want to simplify the process and help you understand which training approach is right for you.
New project managers
As someone new to a project environment, you will want to build skills and learn how to apply project management practices in a professional environment. Whether you are already in a project management role or are seeking to move into the industry, our courses for new project managers can help you achieve these goals. Parallel’s project management training uses active learning techniques to develop the necessary skills, knowledge, behaviours and attitudes that underpin these essential capabilities.
Typical new skills learnt include:
- Applying project management life cycles
- Budgeting techniques for projects
- Creating a project management plan
- Managing risks
- Understanding the procurement process
Parallel’s approach to training project managers, both through bespoke courses and professional qualification courses, allows junior project management professionals to feel confident in their knowledge from the very beginning. We equip you with the skills to begin planning and delivering successful projects once you’ve completed a training course.
If you are new to a project environment, you might be interested in our APM Project Fundamentals Qualification (APM PFQ) or APM Project Management Qualification (APM PMQ) courses. If you aren’t sure which course is right for you, please contact us or find more details on our APM PFQ and APM PMQ pages.
Experienced project managers
If you have been working in the project management field for some time, you might be looking for a qualification to demonstrate your experience or enhance your knowledge. At Parallel, we can help you to obtain further qualifications and work towards professional goals such as APM chartership in order to become a Chartered Project Professional (APM ChPP).
Our training will help formalise topics, processes and procedures that may already be in use in your organisation. We will put them into a real-world context through the use of practical examples and meaningful case studies. As a project professional, you will learn new theory or better understand how to put the theory you already know into practice. Undertaking an advanced qualification will allow you to deliver projects more successfully and demonstrate your project management experience with an internationally recognised qualification.
Our project management training helps to develop and improve:
- Approaches to complex change
- Communication with stakeholders, customers and team members
- Conflict resolution
- Leadership skills
- Project planning
If you are an experienced project manager, you might be interested in our APM Project Management Qualification (APM PMQ), APM Project Professional Qualification (APM PPQ) or Chartered Project Professional (ChPP) courses. If you aren’t sure which course is right for you, please contact us or read more about our courses.
You might be seeking a project management training course to enhance your CV, learn new skills or validate your professional experience. Whatever your goals, the Parallel team are here to help you reach them.
Professionals across the globe have discovered that project management training can increase their success as professional project managers. Project managers are required to be effective at planning, executing and monitoring their projects. In order to decrease the risk of deadline failures and to make managing projects easier, individuals should contemplate undertaking professional training and qualifications to enable them to embed their skills and enhance overall project performance.
Because companies invest immense resources into projects, project managers need the necessary skills to improve the success rate of all projects. Undertaking the right course of study will prepare you for various challenges that may arise and support you as a project manager in consistently delivering successful projects.
Benefits for organisations
Our research on the benefits of project management training shows that almost 90% of project managers who attended our bespoke training believe their organisation has benefited from the new knowledge and skills they learned. The organisational benefits of undertaking tailored project management training with Parallel are:
1. Consistent project delivery
When project managers understand how to manage projects effectively, they can apply their learning to introduce a consistent approach to project management within their organisation. This ensures that projects are delivered in a structured way every time.
2. Increased efficiency
A project management professional can better determine the requirements of a project and make best use of the available resources, limiting the waste of time, money and effort. This means that an organisation is able to take on a higher level of risk and reap a higher level of reward due to efficient project management processes.
3. Higher levels of customer satisfaction
When projects are delivered consistently and reliably, customers receive what they expect, when they expect it, within budget, resulting in satisfied customers. This will improve your organisation’s reputation and demonstrate your improved project management capability.
4. Effective risk management
The ability to identify potential risks and manage those risks in the most efficient way improves a project manager’s ability to lead projects to a successful outcome. At an organisational level, this means demonstrating knowledge of risks and capability for dealing with them. This will provide assurance to your clients that you know how to handle complex projects and complete them successfully, even if challenges arise.
5. Effective leadership
Our bespoke project management training will provide insight into different theoretical models and practical approaches to leadership, encouraging project managers to become more confident and independent leaders. Good leadership will improve project team cohesion, further enhancing your organisational capability to deliver projects effectively and efficiently.
Benefits for individuals
The Parallel project management training approach provides individuals with the confidence to take on project management roles and successfully carry out project processes. It also provides:
1. Skill augmentation
The foremost benefit of a professional qualification is skill augmentation. It helps those managing projects learn how to effectively schedule projects, create budgets and hone communication skills. These skills have a direct impact on the project manager, their organisation and the relationship with clients and stakeholders. APM qualifications are also suitable for PRINCE2 certification holders who require knowledge of other project management tools and techniques to acquire a comprehensive project management skillset.
Talented project managers will be able to sharpen existing skills and learn new ones. These will have a positive impact on their ability to motivate team members and communicate with all levels of the company. Individuals who gain project management qualifications will develop skills in:
- Active risk management
- Budgeting
- Project planning, implementation and monitoring
- Team leadership
2. Increased chances of career growth
Relevant project management training will enhance a project manager’s CV and demonstrate an ongoing commitment to their career development. A professional qualification shows employers that you are a capable project manager with valuable knowledge of both theory and practice within the field. The ability to demonstrate this knowledge and commitment will stand you in good stead for growing your career within your organisation and within the field of project management as a whole.
3. Promoting a common language
Training reinforces the project manager’s understanding and utilisation of a common project management language. It enables the project manager to better communicate with their project team and about the project in a clear and universally comprehensible way. Bringing a unified project management structure to an organisation provides consistency and reflects a good project management methodology.
Bespoke project management training
The business landscape in the UK is competitive and success is often measured by the ability of an organisation to navigate change, deliver innovation and execute complex projects in an efficient manner. Whilst professional project management qualifications offer an invaluable baseline, an increasing number of UK businesses are looking for bespoke in-house training to solve the specific challenges they face whilst driving tangible, measurable impact.
Bespoke training is not simply about developing skills, but also about business transformation.
Parallel Project Training is a strategic partner for tailored training solutions. Bespoke training courses are not simply about teaching generic principles. They are about understanding the unique culture of each organisation, and its challenges, to create a learning solution unique to the company. Let’s examine why a tailored approach can have such a profound impact, deliver a significant return on investment, and foster a consistent culture.
Bespoke training creates a more efficient, cohesive and adaptable workforce.
Bespoke training begins with a conversation. While standard training courses are created around a predefined body of knowledge, tailored training starts with a detailed discovery phase. It is important to deep dive into the operations of an organisation and engage with all key stakeholders in this phase to unearth the real issues.
Take for example a company that is struggling with consistent project delivery, a more generic course might teach about risk management and scheduling, but bespoke programmes go much further. During the discovery phase we identify the root cause of your challenges and design a tailored course that will directly address the issues that have been discovered. Using unique project templates and real-world case studies we make training more relevant and actionable.
Bespoke training offers the opportunity to create a project management culture that is consistent across an entire company, and this is one of its most powerful benefits. Project management practices in many organisations can be fragmented with different departments using their own tools, terminology and processes. This can result in inefficiency, confusion and a lack of synergy.
If you consider a large company with different departments running their own projects with their own different approaches this can cause significant internal problems if they need to do a
cross-functional project. A bespoke training programme can help to introduce a single, new and cohesive framework that can be shared across all departments, ensuring a unified approach, shared glossary of terms and a common project lifecycle.
When the company’s own project framework is used a consistent methodology will be reinforced. Common language will reduce any possible misunderstandings and, as a whole, project teams will operate with a unified purpose.
A common criticism of standard training is the gap that exists between theory and practice. Many project managers who pass their professional exams easily falter when it comes to applying what they have learned to the workplace. Bespoke training can help to bridge this gap by ensuring that the content is meaningful to the roles of participants and to the type of projects.
As your bespoke training partner Parallel will incorporate the internal policies, risk registers and stakeholder backgrounds of your organisation into the course materials.
This type of customisation ensures that delegates are not simply learning a concept; but that they are also learning how they can apply it to the types of projects they work on. Bespoke training can be seen as a working session where delegates can problem-solve and then develop solutions in real-time. All of this is done under the guidance of an expert trainer who is also a project management practitioner with real-world experience. The result of this accelerated application can be seen in immediate improvements in project delivery.
Organisations face unique challenges, whether these are related to a new product launch, a major merger, or even an important change in regulatory policy. A bespoke training programme can specifically be designed to address any of these challenges and more.
It could, for instance, include workshops on conflict resolution to help build trust between different departments. It might also address the human element of projects, using change strategies and relevant case studies.
This type of targeted intervention makes sure that the training is not simply about developing skills, but also about business transformation. It makes it easier for organisations to navigate a difficult period with a structured approach, allowing them to transform a potential crisis into a successful integration.
Bespoke training usually has upfront costs that are higher when compared to sending employees on a standard course, but the ROI (Return on Investment) is much better. There are a number of ways in which the impact can be measured.
Improved project success rates
When teams are given a consistent methodology that they can apply directly to their work, project success rates, which are measured by on-time, on-budget delivery, will increase.
Reduced rework and wasted resources
When a process is common and well-understood this can help to minimise mistakes and miscommunication. This means spending less time and money on fixing problems.
Enhanced employee engagement and retention
Investing in customised, relevant training tells your employees that as a company you value their professional development and are committed to their future success. This can result in increased loyalty and a reduction in staff turnover.
Faster time-to-market
When you streamline internal project processes and remove bottlenecks, you can bring products and services to market more quickly, this is important if you want to gain that competitive edge
The investment is not just about the training; it is about creating a workforce that is more efficient, cohesive and adaptable.
Accredited qualifications are still important, but bespoke project management training provides a powerful solution for organisations looking to address unique operational challenges. It stretches beyond the theoretical and offers a learning experience that is highly practical and relevant. It is customized for the specific needs, goals and cultures of the organisation.
Developing a career in project management
If you are interested in the project profession and keen to pursue a career in project management, almost anyone can become a project manager with the right training and experience. It is a very rewarding career that you can do in multiple industries within the UK or all around the world. You might choose to gain experience in a range of industries or specialise in a particular area. Your career could follow a path in a strategic and commercial environment in, for instance, energy, construction or infrastructure. Or you would work in the charity, heritage or culture sectors.
Qualifications and work experience are a great asset, but there is no basic knowledge or specific background requirement to becoming successful in project roles. Delivering projects successfully is a role accessible to anyone. However, it could be challenging to become a project manager with no experience, although it can happen if you are moved into the role within your current company. In that case you will likely have valuable business experience and have been involved in previous projects as a user or stakeholder. Either way, you might consider taking a project management training course to build knowledge.
Parallel Project Training run a range of face-to-face project management training courses in London and elsewhere in the UK such as Cambridge and Warwick. We also run training in-house for organisations in London tailored to your own project management framework or using an industry standard methodology.
Online project manager training is also available, with access to expert course advisors (all you need is an internet connection). This will enable you to study at a time that best suits you so you can learn new skills and gain a recognised qualification while working. A knowledge-based qualification ensures you develop the skills required to succeed in your personal goals now but also develop a habit of continuous learning.
Remember, there is no defined way to becoming a PM in the UK. You might start out in a project role and then consider taking a qualification later to build knowledge and understanding. Starting with a qualification demonstrates commitment to the field and an interest in learning more about the best practices of the profession.
Becoming a project manager without a degree
You do not need a degree to become a PM in the UK, and there is no degree requirement to take an APM qualification or a PMI qualification. The UK-based APM Association for Project Management sets out guidelines for the expected experience you should have before taking a qualification. However, this does not mean that you couldn’t take a more advanced qualification if you feel ready. Note that the PMP qualification from the US-based PMI requires 5 years’ experience as a pre-requisite if you do not have a degree as opposed to 3 years’ experience with a degree.
The best qualifications for beginners
The best certification for beginners can depend on what experience and job role you have. If you have little or no experience working on projects, the APM Fundamentals Qualification APM PFQ can be a great place to start. Alternatively, you could consider a project management apprenticeship depending on your learning objectives. Online training courses are readily available from accredited project manager training providers such as Parallel Project Training.
If you already have some experience working in the project profession and want to formalise this, then the APM Project Management Qualification PMQ can be the best place to start. The APM has a royal charter so is the only chartered body for the project profession. This requires some experience of terminology and best practice, but provides a strong grounding in the practical application of project, programme and portfolio management principles based on the APM Competence Framework and APM Body of Knowledge. Benefits management and corporate partnership programme with a PMQ exam and a business case means a project fits with an optional break and experiences referred to a start date.
APM Body of Knowledge
Find full details here: https://www.apm.org.uk/book-shop/apm-body-of-knowledge-8th-edition/
Studying for the APM Association for Project Management APM PMQ exam
You will learn about areas such as:
- budgeting and cost control
- schedule management
- project lifecycle
- resource management
- benefits management
- managing deployment
- governance arrangements
- business case
- sustainability
You might also consider expanding your knowledge in a particular methodology such as agile principles and other accredited training from the International Project Management Association (IPMA).
Starting out as a project manager
You could look for a job initially in project support and building experience that way. If you have valuable business experience such as solutions development or transition management then you could transfer within your current organisation to a more project-focused role. Or study for recognised qualifications to demonstrate your existing knowledge, such as integrated planning, issue management or stakeholder engagement. You may be able to do this with the support of the Learning & Development department at your organisation or study independently before looking for a new role in a different organisation.
It’s clear that there are many routes to becoming a project manager in the UK. If you are a recent graduate, you might be able to enter a graduate scheme where you are supported through work experience and courses to gain a qualification. If you already have work experience in another industry sector, you can demonstrate the knowledge gained and the transferable skills that you have, such as team management or quality management. You can also take training courses to demonstrate your interest in the field and commitment to professional development.
Like any job, being a project manager is not all plain sailing, but it can also be very rewarding. Overcoming challenges and delivering a project successfully is immensely satisfying.
Kick-start your career as a project manager
If you want to kick-start your career in the project management profession, a knowledge-based project management qualification is a good place to start. This will provide a solid background and also practical skills to apply to major project work.
There is no set timeline for how long it takes to become a project manager. A face-to-face or online course can run for various lengths, from 1-day courses to five 1-day sessions over a 5-week period. It is usually followed by an online exam with either multiple response, short response or long response answers expected depending on the exam type. You may also have to undertake individual assignments. There are guidelines which recommend the level of experience that you need before taking each of the qualifications.
Qualifications
Project management terminology
As a project leader, you will come across many terms and phrases to describe critical aspects of project management and the process of managing small-to-large-scale projects. Some are industry-specific while others address issues and activities within the project management cycle. We take a look at some of the most commonly used project management terminology and, more importantly, what they mean.
Here are some words and phrases that need to be in your vocabulary…
Agile
The agile family of methodologies is a developmental approach that aims to meet changing customer requirements. Its development as part of a project depends on what are known as sprints. In these sprints, the improvements are incremental, making it a responsive process for projects in which the approach needs to adapt and change.
An agile project management approach focuses on teamwork, improved collaboration and stakeholder involvement by using what is known as iterative development methods.
Agile software development is often used in conjunction with these working methods but agile projects are not only confined to the IT industry. This stresses the importance of being reactive in a changing project management environment.
Analytical estimating
This is a technique in which total project time and costs are estimated by examining each project activity and adding them together. It is considered the most accurate estimation technique within project management.
BOSCARD
This is an acronym that stands for background, objectives, scope, constraints, assumptions, risks and deliverables. It is a method that examines all of these components of a new project.
Budget
As you would expect, this refers to the total sum of money allocated to a project. Within this, there are two further phrases that you will come across:
- Budgeted cost of work performed (BCWP) – is the portion of the budget allocated to scheduled work in a period of time. You may also see this referred to as earned value.
- Budgeted cost of work scheduled (BCWS) – is the portion of the budget set aside to pay for upcoming works schedule as part of the project and also refers to a period of time. You may see this referred to as planned value.
Capability Maturity Model (CMM)
This is the model used to assess the maturity of a process within the overall project management process. It allows the assessment of an organisation or project management process against external benchmarks. Essentially, this is a process of improving delivery.
CAPEX
Referring to capital expenditure, this is the money that a company spends to acquire a fixed physical asset or to upgrade existing ones.
Champion
A project champion is an informal role but one that is increasingly used to drive a project team forward. This person cajoles, enthuses and pushes the project team to deliver on a project. They support the PM and will also liaise with the project stakeholders.
Decision tree analysis
A diagrammatic technique that shows the chain of decisions within a project. It examines the implications of multiple decision making, a technique used to improve both delivery and the process of project management.
Do nothing option
This is the element of a project that defines what would happen if the project was not undertaken. It may be that there are very few, if any, consequences of the project not happening.
Fast-tracking
As the name suggests, this is when a part of the project management process is compressed so that results are seen quickly. However, it is a planned process over a duration which means that the quality of delivery is still maintained.
Fixed price contract
Also known as FPC, this is when a fee is agreed upon that covers the entirety of the project and does not include variables such as time or costs.
Hammock activity
Seen in a schedule network diagram, a hammock activity is a type of summary process that represents a number of groups but often unrelated smaller activities that occur between two points in time.
HERMES
Created by the Swiss government, this is a project management method that is used by many IT and business organisations. It is a simplified project management tool that can be adapted as per the complexities within a given project. For it to be successful, a project leader needs to use the set templates within the system.
Hypercritical activities
This is when an activity is not given enough time to be completed, and yet when it cannot be finished in the time allocated, it collides with future activities considered essential for keeping the project on time. Negative slack time refers to when there is not enough time to complete a project.
Initiation phase
This is the official or formal start of a new project. This means that authorisation has been received as well as clear definition for the project.
Integrated Master Plan (IMP)
This is a project management tool that is used to break down a large, complex project into more manageable pieces or activities. It lists the tasks and events needed to happen for the project to be completed using a hierarchical structure and also shows the relationship between one activity and another.
Integrated Master Schedule (IMS)
Produced from the IMP, this is a list of all project tasks as well as a networked schedule. Notice how both definitions talk about the relationship between one task or activity and the others on the plan.
Management process
This is the act of planning and delivering a project or the process needed to meet the desired objectives and goals. There are multiple levels at which this is carried out, especially in larger projects.
Management reserve
This is the allocation of variables such as money and time (or both) that addresses unforeseen circumstances that can and do crop up during the life cycle of a project. A contingency reserve is when money or time is ‘kept back’ to serve known possibilities. This reserve is for things that are not foreseen. Any withdrawals from this reserve need to be agreed by all senior managers.
Management science
This is the study of how to improve organisational decision-making by using quantitative and scientific research methods. It looks at management decisions and outcomes, seeking to find optimal solutions to problems. Essentially, it is about studying how better decision making can happen.
Merge point
In any given project, there will be a point – the merge point – in which the train of smaller project tasks and activities will meet. The successor activity (the activity that continues when all these smaller tasks have merged) cannot happen until all the smaller tasks have been completed.
Near critical activity
This is an activity that has only a small amount of slack time. These activities have a high chance of becoming critical since they are up against a deadline, within which there is little time to be able to make changes.
Near critical path
This refers to a series of activities that has a small amount of slack time which means that again, the slack time could be easily and quickly exhausted, turning these sets of activities into the critical band.
Operations management
This is a duty of some or all PMs, depending on the project and position, that ensure the optimum operations function. In other words, it is managing the resources of the project, people included, to be continually working at the highest level of efficiency. By doing so, the project budget is optimised too.
Order of magnitude estimate
At the very early stages of a project, when an estimate of costs is given, it is known as an order of magnitude estimate. It is a cost estimate that has a range of between -25% to +75% of what the actual budget ends up being.
Qualitative risk analysis
This is a project management technique that is a subjective analysis of risk probability and impact.
Quantitative risk analysis
This is the mathematical or objective analysis related to risk probability and impact. It is conducted after a qualitative risk analysis as one informs the other, especially as during this earlier process, areas of significance are often defined.
RAID log
RAID is an acronym for risks, assumptions, issues and dependencies. It is a project management tool that records developments across these four areas as they relate to the project in hand. It is normally carried out for the stakeholder’s benefit and is often used at the end of project review.
RASCI or RACI chart
A RASCI chart is created at the start of the project and sets out who is responsible and accountable for ensuring that work is done and who signs off key parts of the project. A RACI chart is a simplified version of RASCI.
Repeatable
This is used to describe a sequence of activities that can be easily and efficiently repeated. Such processes are economical since they avoid negative impacts on a project and come from established processes that work.
S-curve analysis
S-curve analysis is used to compare the cumulative costs of a project at any one time. It allows an assessment of performance and progress at any time in the project.
Schedule performance index (SPI)
This is the ratio of earned value to the planned value at any given point in the project. It shows whether a project is running to schedule. An SPI rating of lower than one means the project is behind schedule, whereas a rating above one shows that a project is ahead of schedule.
Scope
A word that is used often, this refers to the entirety of the project and what it needs to accomplish in order to be successful. A scope baseline refers to expectations and requirements to deliver the project while scope creep is the changes that occur during the project life. This is considered negative, however, as it affects costs and schedule of a project.
Scope change management
This deals with any amendments in the baseline. Because changes in the initial scope will have time and cost implications, this process will mean revising estimates of both. Stakeholders will need this information and will underpin any new or different resources needed to complete the project.
Six Sigma
This is the approach to project management that focuses on the near-elimination of product or service defects. Using quality management methods, it seeks to improve and optimise processes in the product of a product or service so that 99.99966% of the process outcomes are defect free.
Slack time
This refers to the length of time between one activity and the next that can be delayed without affecting the duration of the project overall.
Task
In project management, a task is a unit of work that is time-bound and needs to be completed to meet project goals. A task can be broken down into assignments or sub-tasks.
Task analysis
This details the actions of resources needed to complete a task.
Three-point estimating
This is an estimating technique that uses averages of three types of cost – most likely, optimistic and pessimistic. It also refers to the duration of these costs.
Time and material contract
Unlike a fixed contract, this is a contract type that refers to payment per unit of time and also the costs of materials for the contracted work or project.
Time chainage diagram
This is a visual representation of the scheduled activities for a project. It is often used in projects, such as civil engineering projects from road laying to pipeline work. This is because the diagram is in sequence, providing a scheduled time of completion at each geographical location and the activity involved.
In summary
There are many more keywords, phrases and linguistic terms that you will come across. They are often used to succinctly paint a picture of how well the project is progressing, as well as identifying issues that require a remedy. Getting to know what they are and what they stand for is essential for effective project leaders at all levels.