Developing competent, qualified project managers is critical for success in today’s competitive IT environment. And while project management demands technical proficiency and excellence, it is not mechanical work. Good project managers recognize that successfully managing the human side of their projects is at least as important as mastering the technology.

Human Approach + Technical Expertise = Success!

O&A has developed an IT Project Management Certificate Program that provides sound project management principles and practices with the awareness and skills to manage the human aspects of project work, elements that can be the difference between project success and failure.

Unique – Unlike other certificate programs that provide benefit to one individual at a time, the O&A approach certifies a group of project professionals together, in their own environment, in a cost-effective, time-efficient way. The increased knowledge, enhanced capability and refined skills of this newly certified group will infuse your project environment with a high degree of energy, purpose and commitment.

3 Critical Components:

Part 1: Three of our workshops form the core of the Certificate Program:

• IT as a Service Organization (two days)
• IT Project Management: The Human Side of the Equation (three days)
• The Politics of IT Project Management (two days)

These three workshops focus on developing the fundamental skills that every project leader needs to be successful: the ability to know your clients’ needs, the ability to communicate effectively with clients, stakeholders and team members, the ability to build and sustain productive relationships inside and outside of your organization, along with a solid, practical project management process.

Part 2: The organization selects a fourth workshop that can be directly applied to their unique project environment. Electives include:

• Business Requirements Management
• Consulting Skills for the IT Professional
• Leading Change Across IT & The Enterprise
• Internal Negotiating Skills
• Marketing the IT Organization Internally

Part 3: The most unique aspect of the O&A Certificate Program, and what makes it work for organizations, is the on-going validation process. Unlike other programs that depend on external standards or general knowledge exams, our program is directly linked to the client organization and provides added value as the Program continues. After each core-component workshop, candidates will complete a real project related to the workshop material. This project will be developed with the help of a mentor designated by the client organization and completed by the group as a practical application of the workshop content.

Client organizations benefit from this program in three ways.

• First, by investing in the professional development of their project leaders, they will have a highly skilled force of project professionals ready to successfully manage the complex projects necessary to support the business needs.
• Second, because the training was focused on the internal needs of the organization and not an external standard, the skills developed are immediately applicable to the real-world projects of the client organization.
• Third, with the competence, confidence, and commitment this group develops throughout the certificate process, they will approach their project work with a consistency that will yield better results, increased client satisfaction and greater project success.

To contact us and learn more about how your PM’s can earn their Project Management Certificate click here.