Planning and Development Courses: Learn How to Manage Projects

Considering a Planning and Development Course? 

If you want to learn to manage projects efficiently and effectively, you should consider doing a project and development course. Planning and development courses will teach you all you need to know about initiating, running and closing projects of all kinds. It can be an incredibly fulfilling role and there are lots of opportunities available for those with a qualification in project and development. The good news is there are tons of planning and development courses currently available and they are available in part-time options in person and online, making it easy to fit the course into your schedule.  

About Planning and Development 

The field of planning and development involves the application of methods, skills, processes, knowledge and experience to gain specific project objectives according to the project acceptance criteria within agreed parameters. Planning and development have final deliverables that are constrained to a finite budget and timescale. A crucial factor that distinguishes project management from just management is that it has this finite timespan and final deliverable, unlike management which is an ongoing process. Given that, a project and development professional require a wide range of skills, generally technical skills and certainly good business awareness and people management skills.  

Is This Course for Me? 

The course is ideal for career-minded professionals from a wide range of backgrounds who want to apply project and development skills and methodology to their job position. The course is also suited to those who already have project and development experience, who may be a manager, a team leader, a business executive, a business owner or someone who is going for a promotion or managerial position. 

What Will I Learn? 

You will discover how to achieve successful planning and development outcomes while lowering risk, keeping to budgets and meeting deadlines. In addition, you will master various different project and development methodologies and intervene on any project in any context. The course will cover every aspect of project and development – initiation, planning, executing, controlling and monitoring, and finally closing the project. With new projects typically representing high risk and significant expense, project owners look for assurance that practitioners have the experience, knowledge and skills to bring high performing projects and developments to successful completion. Students will learn about project fundamentals, project environment and the role of the project and development manager, scope management and project integration. Schedule management, cost management, resource management and communication management will also be explored. The course will teach you about risk management, stakeholder management and provide an introduction to agile planning and development management practices. 

Career Opportunities 

Planning and development managers are required in a wide variety of industries and sectors. Although quite common in the IT field, project-oriented work is also common in oil and gas, business service, manufacturing, finance and insurance, construction and utility industries across the globe. The most popular opportunity is to work as a project manager. 

What Does a Project Manager Do? 

No matter where they work – consulting agencies, construction, marketing teams, HR teams, manufacturing, software developers and event planners – or the kinds of projects they manage, project managers are those on the front lines of projects, defending their clients, teams and projects form missed deadlines, miscommunication, scope creep and other failures. They champion the wellbeing of the people involved in their projects and look to facilitate and make strategic decisions that uphold the goals of their projects. Although PMs are generally lumped in the behind the scenes of a project, to be highly effective, they must be part of the bigger strategic project conversations.  

If you’re serious about doing a planning and development course, check out courses near you in the Nightcourses.co.uk national course finder.