Project Management Training

One of the first things that I did when I started working for World Renew was to attend a week long project management training called PMD Pro (Project Management for Development Professionals).
http://www.apmg-international.com/pmd-pro.aspx

It was a very intense training, held in Valle de Angeles, Honduras. Staff from many partner organizations around Central America attended including Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala.

It was a good exercise to get me thinking, reading, and writing in Spanish again. The manual was 173 pages and the course culminated in an exam with 75 questions which you needed to pass in order to be certified. My engineering friends will be glad to know that the training included work breakdown structures (WBS), network diagrams, the critical path method, gantt charts, and of course, earned value (etc).

Many of us stayed up late into the night, and got up early to study for the exam. This shared challenge made for a good environment to get to know colleagues. It felt like we were in University again.

I am happy to see that this level of professionalism and rigor is being applied to development projects and programs that World Renew is involved in. The training provided a good framework for carrying out my job as a program consultant, and also provided some special tools that apply specifically to the complexities of community development. I´m also happy that I passed the exam.