Top 10 Project Management Courses 2021
The days of intuitive and trial-and-error project management are over - it is now essential to become certified. Find out what the top project management certifications are for 2021.
Lyndsay Collins
01 August, 2019
That’s why certifying through an accredited project management course is essential. Through best-practice project management techniques, you’ll build stakeholder confidence and lead projects that are delivered on-time and on-budget.
Whether you’re just starting your career or have 20 years’ experience – there’s a certification to aim for. Using Firebrand Training’s insider industry knowledge, the following list consolidates the most in-demand and valuable certifications available this year.
In no particular order, these are the top 10 project management courses for 2021:
Whether you’re just starting your career or have 20 years’ experience – there’s a certification to aim for. Using Firebrand Training’s insider industry knowledge, the following list consolidates the most in-demand and valuable certifications available this year.
In no particular order, these are the top 10 project management courses for 2021:
- AXELOS PRINCE2 Foundation & Practitioner
- PMI PMP (Project Management Professional)
- Scrum.org’s Professional Scrum Master
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
- PMI Project Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)
- MSP Foundation, Practitioner & Advanced Practitioner
- PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)
- CompTIA Project+
- APMG Change Management
- Associate in Project Management (APM)
1. AXELOS PRINCE2 Foundation & Practitioner
Projects IN Controlled Environments, recognised most commonly as PRINCE2, is internationally respected as one of the top methodologies for project management.Managed by AXELOS, PRINCE2 provides a framework and guidelines that enable effective project management for delivering projects successfully.
You’ll learn practical skills that you can immediately apply to your own projects. Plus, you’ll prove your skills as you're tested on real-life scenarios within the PMP exam.
The PRINCE2 Foundation certification is an ideal introduction to project management. You’ll need to hold this certification (or a valid PMP) to qualify for the Practitioner level.
2. PMI PMP (Project Management Professional)
The Project Management Professional certification (PMP) has created a global standard of project management certifications.Managed by the Project Management Institute (PMI), the certification is recognised as one of the best frameworks for successfully delivering effective projects and programmes across all industries.
The certification is not designed as an introduction to project management. As such, the prerequisites are high: 35 hours of project management education, 4,500 – 7,500 hours leading and directing projects, and either a 4 year university degree or a secondary degree.
Just announced: Firebrand now offer the exam at the end of the PMP certification course. You’ll return to the office as a certified PMP professional in just 5 days.
3. Scrum.org's Professional Scrum Master
Scrum is an agile software development framework. It’s based on the principle of early and continuous delivery of real, working software.It follows an iterative process allowing rapid software development and repeated inspection of working software every 2 to 4 weeks.
Scrum’s framework helps teams work effectively on complex projects, and encourages teamwork when developing a product.
The Professional Scrum Master certification is perfect for you if you’re already working towards/intend to work on Scrum/agile principles or rapid software development processes.
This certification is ideal for you if you’re looking for clarity in the field of process improvement.
PMI’s Scheduling Professional certification focuses on improving your project management skills, helping you and your team complete projects faster.
If you’re already knowledgeable in project management and you’re interested in improving your project scheduling skills, then this course is ideal for you.
Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) represents proven good practice in the successful delivery of transformational change through the application of programme management.
The project management certification sits as the highest level of AXELOS management courses. It is a best practice guide for programme management comprising a set of principles and a set of processes for use when managing a programme.
This certification is ideal for experienced project managers who are looking to advance their skill-set and specialise in organising, managing, accommodating and controlling changes so that you guarantee successful results.
Agile project management encourages flexibility within a project so that businesses can react quickly to changing technologies.
The PMI-ACP certification is designed for project managers who are using Agile practices in their projects, or for businesses who are adopting Agile approaches to project management.
This certification examines the individual on their ability to use Agile practices, tools and techniques in their projects.
Through this CompTia Certification, you'll become a specialist in resource management, the project life cycle and project constraints, documentation protocols, communication best practices, and coordinating stakeholders.
APMG Change Management is an established certification which provides best practice guidance and tools to improve the management of change within organisations.
You’ll learn how to effectively deal with change and the techniques you need to manage the impact of change in your business - including how to face adversity and encourage your team to work together.
4. Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
Originally developed by Motorola in 1986, Six Sigma is a business management strategy that seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimising variability manufacturing and business processes.This certification is ideal for you if you’re looking for clarity in the field of process improvement.
5. Project Scheduling Professional Certification (PMI-SP)
Schedules are fundamental to project management - they provide the framework your business needs to organise projects and programmes. It is essential for a business to make sure they secure efficient time scheduling.PMI’s Scheduling Professional certification focuses on improving your project management skills, helping you and your team complete projects faster.
If you’re already knowledgeable in project management and you’re interested in improving your project scheduling skills, then this course is ideal for you.
6. AXELOS MSP Foundation, Practitioner & Advanced Practitioner
Used to organise the London Olympics 2012, MSP has been adopted by many organisations from both the public and private sectors as one of the best project management courses in the world.Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) represents proven good practice in the successful delivery of transformational change through the application of programme management.
The project management certification sits as the highest level of AXELOS management courses. It is a best practice guide for programme management comprising a set of principles and a set of processes for use when managing a programme.
This certification is ideal for experienced project managers who are looking to advance their skill-set and specialise in organising, managing, accommodating and controlling changes so that you guarantee successful results.
7. PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)
Another popular PMI certification, the Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), is designed for the intermediate project manager as it focuses on the use of agile practices in project management.Agile project management encourages flexibility within a project so that businesses can react quickly to changing technologies.
The PMI-ACP certification is designed for project managers who are using Agile practices in their projects, or for businesses who are adopting Agile approaches to project management.
This certification examines the individual on their ability to use Agile practices, tools and techniques in their projects.
8. CompTIA Project+
CompTIA Project+ certification is designed for entry-level project managers or those who manage smaller-scale projects. This project management certification draws on multiple frameworks to provide a general project management competency.Through this CompTia Certification, you'll become a specialist in resource management, the project life cycle and project constraints, documentation protocols, communication best practices, and coordinating stakeholders.
9. APMG Change Management
Change Management is the effective leadership of the process, tools and techniques required to achieve a business outcome in a period of change.APMG Change Management is an established certification which provides best practice guidance and tools to improve the management of change within organisations.
You’ll learn how to effectively deal with change and the techniques you need to manage the impact of change in your business - including how to face adversity and encourage your team to work together.
10. Associate in Project Management (APM)
The Associate in Project Management (APM) is administered by the Global Association for Quality Management. This certification holds similarities with PMI’s PMP but was created in the UK.It is an entry-level certification for professionals who are new to the project management field and therefore doesn’t have any prerequisites.
In this project management certification, you’ll learn the core competencies of resource management, quality assurance, and communication.
How to achieve a project management certification
Certified project managers are essential for business. With technology growing rapidly, it’s now more important than ever to stay organised and under control across every project.If you need your project management certification fast, choose Firebrand. Train at twice the speed across accelerated, all-inclusive and official project management courses. Why wait?
Check out all of our project management courses, see what suits you and get certified, fast.