Back to school

As much as it may be cool to say I hated school, didn’t do my homework and never did any revision, it would be a lie. Keen as I may have been though, I wasn’t crazy, so on my last school day I appreciated the fact that I would never again have homework to do or exams to revise for.

Until last week, that is.

Next week, I’m attending a 5-day PRINCE2 training course which will help develop my skills as a project manager (all KTP Associates are effectively PM for their project) and will no doubt prove a useful qualification to have, whatever I end up doing post-KTP. The course itself is intensive. Five full days of learning about the PRINCE2 methodology topped off with two exams and with a pre-requisite that all those planning to attend do a good 15 hours of pre-course homework.

 

So just like that – I’m transported back to school. The exams even have those multiple choice answer sheets where you’ve got to scribble in the ovals that relate to the chosen responses. And just like at school, I immediately spent the first hour of my ‘homework’ buying 10 gel ink pens (just in case 9 of them don’t work), highlighters (the fruity-smelling ones), and page markers (which I’ve never really used but continue to buy because I don’t want to look unprepared).

 

Homework it seems, isn’t as fun as I remember. Not least because after a day’s work, there’s dinner to make, pets to feed and the last season of Breaking Bad to watch.  What has helped has been that I have identified that many PRINCE2 concepts are followed in KTP projects- strip away all the names you need to learn and it really is just a guide to best practice when managing projects. I also think, with two years of my KTP project now completed, I’m in a perfect position to do the course.  Too early and it’s all just meaningless terminology to learn (and therefore harder to remember); too late and you have less time to implement any newly-gleaned knowledge into the existing project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had considered including a picture here of my PRINCE2 notes (and growing stationary kit) but thought better of it.  Instead, here are just some of the Wisley cakes that have helped make my revision easier through my lunch breaks!

Wish me luck!

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