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APM PM for PRINCE2®

Trainers

ALAN FERGUSON

Alan Ferguson is the Managing Director of AFA.  This training company has specialised in change delivery practices for nearly 20 years.

Alan has been in project and programme management for an awfully long time. He was certainly looking after a collection of projects (which would not be called multi-project programme management) in the 1970s. So that means he’s getting to the end of his fourth decade in this game.

His first career was as an engineering officer in the Royal Air Force. Before he left the RAD, he moved across into IT and in the late 1980s and early 1990s worked on IT projects.

Alan also spent a few years working in an international insurance company on IT projects and programmes. Here, and in the RAF he earned his spurs as a practising project and programmed manager.

With AFA, Alan has worked with a hugely diverse range of clients in the UK, Europe and around the world. Alan is particularly proud of the work he has done with the UN some parts of the world that others wouldn’t dream of travelling to.

Alan’s hobbies focus around aviation in all its many aspects. His other hobbies range from helping St John Ambulance, to renovating the Windmill in Dereham; the East Anglican town where he lives and where AFA is based.

If you ever meet Alan, you won’t forget him. Everyone describes him as enthusiastic and challenging.

NICO VIERGEVER

Nico Viergever is available for assignments as Project Manager, Crisis Manager or Interim Manager in general. Although he has knowledge of and experience with the financial sector and the (local) government, Nico Viergever is generally available because of a wide experience and because of his specific characteristics: quick understanding of the business and great insight.

Other characteristics: result driven, talent for organising, consciousness of politics, awareness of quality. Because of a clear and open, honest way of communicating, he has been successful as project manager and interim manager. Nico is certified PRINCE2® and MSP® Practitioner and accredited PRINCE2 and MSP trainer.

Course Outline - APM for PRINCE2®

Course Objective

APM PM is a knowledge based qualification. Successful candidates go on to use the knowledge gained to work more effectively on both large and small projects.
Delegates study 37 of the 52 knowledge areas covered by the APM Body of Knowledge.

Course Details

This course takes place over 5 days, including the optional examination. Delegates should be aware that evening preparation and consolidation will be required to pass the exam. Joining instructions are sent out approximately 2 to 3 weeks before the course. During the 5 days, there will be a combination of formal presentations, group and individual exercise enabling delegates to gain a complete and practical understanding of the following topics.

  • Project management in context
  • Planning and strategy
  • Executing the strategy
  • Techniques
  • Business and commercial
  • Organisation and governance
  • People and profession

Delegate Profile

Delegates will be practising Project Managers who are also current PRINCE2 Registered Practitioners. They will wish to demonstrate that they have acquired knowledge or experience beyond PRINCE2. The APM Introductory Certificate is not a pre-requisite.

Trainer Profile

All AFA trainers are practicing project managers with considerable experience in a wide range of industry sectors. The use of hybrid trainer-practitioners ensures the trainers have up-to-date, real world knowledge of implementing the methods.

The Package

Included in the cost of the course are:

  • Pre-course preparation pack
  • APM Body of Knowledge 5th Edition
  • ProjectCoach
  • Printed Material
  • Examination Fee

Pre-course work

Typically pre-course preparation will require 2-3 hours of study

The Exam

  • 6 questions from 10
  • Each worth 50 marks
  • Pass mark is 165 out of 300 (55%)
  • 2 hour written exam, no reading time

StratSure and AFA collaboration story

Stratsure has partnered with international training company AFA to meet the growing need in South Africa to service the Best Practice industry. AFA was established seventeen years ago as a management consultancy organisation. AFA quickly established a reputation for delivering training courses that combine excellent exam pass rates with realistic and practical guidance ensuring maximum skills transfer.  AFA has always played a full part in the Best Practice community. AFA trainers and consultants, including the AFA Managing Director, Alan Ferguson, have served on the editing and review teams for all recent updates of the guidance manuals. This is why we believe AFA is a perfect match for StratSure, in achieving our vision for the future.

APM Five Dimensions of Professionalism

  • Breadth
  • Depth
  • Achievement
  • Commitment
  • Accountability

AFA’s MD on the APMP qualification

Internationally recognised qualification covering the technical, behavioral and contextual knowledge essential to the professional project manager.

ProjectCoach

Get a faster of our ProjectCoach Service.

Take the opportunity to have your project work reviewed by one of our expert consultants.

Course Emphasis

Budgeting, cost & earned value management, procurement, leadership, communication, negotiation & conflict management.
Downlaod PDF
Benefits of APM PM for PRINCE2® Practitioners

Introduction

Successful PRINCE2® Practitioner candidates would have acquired the core competencies of project management.  They could even have applied their skills during the delivery of real projects.  Although this is a sound achievement there are further best practice disciplines that can be achieved to equip them better to manage change.  Depending on specific circumstances three further skill sets that should be considered upon completion of PRINCE2 include:

  • APMP for PRINCE2® for Practitioners
  • MSP® (Managing Successful Programmes)
  • M_o_P and Managing Benefits

Additional subject matter covered by APMP

  1. Business Case
    In addition to the PRINCE2® content, APMP explains how different types of investment appraisal can be used to analyze, in quantitative terms, the value of the investment to be made in the project. In particular, it explains the use of payback, Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Net Present Value (NPV) as investment appraisal techniques.
    PRINCE2 identifies Investment Appraisal as one section of the Business Case, lists a range of techniques that are available, but does not explain how to use any of these techniques.
     
  2. Organisation
    In addition to the PRINCE2® content, APMP distinguishes between functional, matrix and project organizations and explains the advantages and disadvantages of each.
    It also explains the governance of project management and describes the principles of governance of project management.
     
  3. Quality
    In addition to the PRINCE2® content, APMP explains several additional quality techniques and also describes the related topic of requirements management and explains the importance of this topic.
     
  4. Plans
    In addition to the PRINCE2® content, APMP provides a how-to approach to each step of the above approach, explains scope management and describes the Product Breakdown Structure (PBS), the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), the Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS), and the Organization Breakdown Structure (OBS), and explains the reasons for using a Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM).
    Explains how a project schedule is created and maintained by using techniques such as precedence diagramming, critical path analysis, Gantt charts, the Program Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) and milestone progress charts. Also explains the advantages and disadvantages of using software tools for scheduling.
    Describes resource management, distinguishing between resource smoothing and resource levelling, and demonstrates the use of different resource management techniques such as resource histograms and cumulative S-curves.|
    APMP explains budgeting and cost management and the benefits of this topic. Describes the practical problems of estimating across the project lifecycle and explains bottom-up, comparative, parametric and three-point estimating.
     
  5. Risk
    In addition to the PRINCE2® content, APMP covers tools and techniques for risk identification and the use of a probability and impact grid (matrix) to assess risks.
    Also explains the importance of health, safety and environmental management, as these can be considered as specialist aspects of risk management. This includes topics such as the purpose of regulations, the duty of care for and responsibilities of a Project Manager.
     
  6. Change
    APMP does not include anything in addition
     
  7. Progress
    In addition to the PRINCE2® content, APMP describes Earned Value Management (EVM) as a means of progress monitoring, explains the advantages and disadvantages of EVM, and explains how to perform earn value calculations and interpret earned value data.
    Also explains information management systems covering the collection, storage, dissemination, archiving, and appropriate destruction of information.

Use of PRINCE2 processes

Whereas PRINCE2 describes the project lifecycle using its process model, the APM Body of Knowledge describes different phases of the project lifecycle. These different approaches are broadly compatible.

PRINCE2 does not address any of the following topics:

Stakeholder Management and Communication
Whilst PRINCE2 mentions the importance of engaging with stakeholders, provides an example of a stakeholder engagement procedure and explains the content of a typical Communication Management Strategy, the APMP also:

  • Describes a stakeholder process in • more detail, for example by explaining tools and techniques that can be used in stakeholder analysis
  • Explains the importance of effective • communication in project management and explains the typical barriers to communication and how they may be overcome.

Procurement
Whilst PRINCE2 suggests that procurement may be one of the approaches taken by the project, the APMP also:

  • Describes procurement, explains the • typical contents of a procurement strategy, explains a supplier selection process, and distinguishes between different methods of supplier reimbursement and different contractual relationships
  • Describes a negotiation process • and explains each stage within this process.

People Management
Whilst PRINCE2 identifies the roles and responsibilities of those people involved in the direction, management and delivery of the project, the APMP also:

  • Describes typical leadership qualities, explains the principles and importance of motivation, and describes a situational leadership model
  • Explains the importance of team development and describes both a team development model, and a social roles model
  • Explains sources of conflict in the project lifecycle and explains a conflict resolution model.

What Next?

By now, I hope that any PRINCE2 Practitioners, who do not already have the APMP qualification, will be seriously considering extending their studies.

Health Warning

However, before I describe what that might involve, it's time for the health warning. I did mention earlier that APMP and PRINCE2 are sufficiently compatible to be considered ideal partners. But no partner is ever totally compatible with the other, and this is true of APMP and PRINCE2.

Further detail

A more detail brochure is available (9 page pdf document) from our offices or can be downloaded from our web site.

Summary diagram

Summary Diagram

Why Stratsure