Be a better project manager: skill up on MS Project

For much of the public sector, the NHS included, project management is only an emerging discipline- despite the size and scope of many development projects. As Nick Saalfeld finds out, there is a skills gap in this new discipline, but plenty of training on offer to bridge the divide.


Project management needs a better press. In the NHS, where the media perception is that there are too many bureaucrats, project managers need to shout about their contribution.

Rather like quantity surveyors (“I counted four…”) it’s tempting to think that project managers contribute rather little. That couldn’t be further from the truth – and the role of the project manager is only going to grow, thanks to a renewed government focus on value.

The Office of Government Commerce recently analysed the performance of major public sector projects (not just in IT, and not just healthcare, either) and tried to identify the reasons for the failure of so many. At number four on the list was “poorly trained project managers”.

There are two points hidden in those four words. Project managers need to be adequately trained to do their jobs – and they need to be project managers in the first place. “Project managers need training both in basic techniques and the software to see real results.”

Vince Hines of project management consultancy Wellingtone says: “60 per cent of projects are run by people who have never run a project before. Traditionally, that means a line manager, or a subject area expert.

“So we have lots of projects headed up by people who are unaware of the formal tools and techniques of project management. Furthermore, subject area experts will naturally focus on ‘their’ area, because it’s what most interests them; meaning that other aspects of the project get forgotten.”

On the other hand, Hines argues, good project managers will look at the project overall. “A good project manager, when they find slippage on a project, will immediately look to recover it and get it back on track,” he says. “To do that, you need to have a logically linked plan in the first place, with a lucid understanding of the dependencies involved.

“A good project manager is logical, recognises the benefit of progressing the project plan, has the skills to evaluate its progress against a baseline, and also the people-skills needed to get people in over the weekend if they have to!”

The Project Management skills gap

Unfortunately, many projects don’t even get to the ‘logically linked plan’ stage. Why is this? Independent research for Microsoft suggests that over 90 per cent of major projects are managed using Microsoft Project (Server or Desktop editions).

However, Hines says that a lack of training means that many project managers – particularly those many first-timers – are ill-equipped to use it effectively or even scratch below the surface of its functionality.

“I wouldn’t expect you to use Word if you couldn’t read and write,” he says, “yet we give Microsoft Project to people who have no formal project management training, and there’s a fundamental flaw with that. Project managers need the training both in basic techniques and the software to see real results.”

Industry-acknowledged Project training from Microsoft

Microsoft’s Bob Walker says there are three tiers of training on offer to project managers and the technology teams that support them. Advanced courses are available for Project Server users and administrators, but the Basic training course (Managing Projects, MCTS 70-60-0) is fine for managers of individual projects. “Microsoft qualifications like MCTS Desktop are recognised and respected in the marketplace.”

He says “The basic MCTS Desktop course is ideal for a standard Microsoft Project user on a standalone desktop PC. It gives an organisation the confidence that a PM – who often will have been brought in for the specific project – has reached a level of aptitude measurable across everyone else in the organisation.”

“It’s also worth mentioning that MS Project is highly configurable, and that means that working practices can change from job to job. At a time when all too many MS Project users are self-taught, MCTS Desktop training is not just a benchmark for the employing organisation but also means that their PMs will use Project as the organisation would like it to be used.”

A good career move

Hines’ company, Wellingtone, also recruits project managers for contracts in both the private and public sectors, and says that Microsoft qualifications like MCTS Desktop are recognised and respected in the marketplace.

“Microsoft qualifications are considered formal training in the marketplace, and mark a candidate out for consideration. Above all, it proves that the candidate has the right knowledge and competence – rather than just saying ‘well, this is how I did it at my last job’.

“It’s the difference between mastery of the formal techniques of project management and just having a bit of experience.”

Walker agrees, and believes that the NHS is a good home for aspiring project managers. “It’s still early days. Today, project management is recognised as a formal discipline within IT, but we’re starting to see the NHS pick up on Project Server and its applications elsewhere in NHS management because trusts want to see better project reporting.

“They rightly want to tackle new regulations and the major infrastructure projects that lead to funding and changes of status from a position of confidence, and there’s now an understanding that effective project management supported by EPM systems gives trusts more agility and deeper understanding.”

There is also growing pressure on the NHS to make better use of information to make better informed decisions; and good project management fits well with this.

“Proper project management – from properly trained project managers - will give you an essential component of the information you require to make the right decisions,” Walker says.

“The finance team, for example, might give you good figures, but the project management discipline will add validity to those forecasts and ensure they are realistic. Especially in the NHS, where priorities are ever-changing and resources at a particular premium, project management brings together clinical, finance, policy and regulatory considerations for a realistic view of what can be achieved.”

Related Articles

- Sign up to the Microsoft EPM Seminars on 11 June 2009

- Managing multi-disciplinary Project teams in the NHS

- Keeping your project on budget: adjusting costs in Project 2007

- Need to skill up? Take free online training in either Project 2003 or Project 2007