Managing projects is a crucial skillset for professionals in the energy industry, and IHRDC now offers an oil and gas training series on project management as part of its expanding Business Essentials library of e-Learning courses.
There are a total of 14 modules in the PM Skills® series encompassing fundamentals such as “Leadership,” “Communication,” “Negotiation,” and “Change Management,” along with titles focused on mastering the softer skills that can potentially make or break project outcomes: “Embracing Risk and Uncertainty,” “Team Development,” Critical Thinking and Decision Making,” “Planning and Project Design,” and “Interpersonal Skills for Project Leaders.”
Each of the courses is designed to develop the critical project management capabilities of both leaders and team members working in the oil and gas industry. They are MBA-caliber training topics developed in partnership with leading business educators.
The online instructional library does this in a practical way by including engaging, real-world examples, readings and case studies. The courses can be pursued individually or organized collectively into a curriculum or incorporated into a learning management system to supplement basic business knowledge.
For example, at the outset of a project your responsibilities as a project leader will typically focus on designing a plan that aligns with your organization’s corporate strategy, while positing fully functional deliverables that meet your stakeholders’ needs. But project planning is not a one-time event; it occurs throughout a project’s life cycle, so you need to remain prepared to make changes and create contingency plans in place to address unplanned events or organizational obstacles.
The self-paced, “Planning and Project Design” course introduces participants to the tools, techniques and strategies they can use to develop successful projects and release plans. Next, project leaders will naturally turn to their project teams to complete their tasks in a timely manner, but often these teams need coaching and training to help them work together to achieve the team’s objectives. The course in “Team Development” can fill in the knowledge gaps when it comes to shaping the co-workers into a unit that acts collaboratively to meet a project’s goals.
Since communication is a critical aspect of any successful project, the “Communication” module helps project leaders learn to articulate and orchestrate key information distributed among team members — to share knowledge, clarify project objectives and address issues as they arise.
Likewise, projects also bring many disparate people together to work collaboratively, so it’s inevitable that conflict will happen at some point, and conflict can derail projects. The “Conflict Management” course shows how a properly-structured conflict resolution process will not only address problems before they become disruptive, but also can actually spark creativity and innovation as team members map a new pathway to complete their work. It also helps guide team members through forms of self-management so they can begin to correctly address and settle disputes on their own.
The PM Skills® series provides all the training needed to successfully bring business projects from conception to completion. It delivers guidance, insights, process templates and proven instruction. Now, you too can follow these steps and acquire these skills on your way to becoming an effective project manager.
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