Which Project Management trainings or certificates would you recommend to take if you do not have any PM background/experience.
I can see some questions for Templates, Software, etc... but I would be really interested on references to training for people that are new to this area.
I would definitely recommend you to take the PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner training.
With this training you will gain solid knowledge about Project Management and everything that surrounding a project regardless of your background (IT, Marketing, etc...)
I would also support Prince 2 Practitioner, for the reasons provided by the earlier responses. One word of caution, however: it teaches you the fundamentals, but it is not realistic to expect that a week's training course can take someone from project naivety to project expert. The title "practitioner" is a bit of a misnomer on that basis! - but it is a great way to start.
I also reckon that the official OGC course manual (Managing successful projects with PRINCE2) is a valuable reference source, especially Appendix A, which provides product description outlines for all of the products that you need. (It is also a very helpful resource to use during the exam!)
If sitting the exam, you will be able to take your manual in with you and refer to anything that is written (but not stapled or otherwise inserted) into the book.
Good luck if you go down this route.
My first contact with Project Management was on a Junior Enterprise when I was asked to write a Project Plan following a template.
The Project Plan was not critical, so I had time to work and learn on it adding the feedback received from my colleagues.
I had the opportunity to follow the project execution with my colleagues. I learned a lot with that.
So, buildup a theoretic knowledge base and consider having a coach to give you some practical experience. This will improve your PM skills. Look at this related question.
Consider improving your personal skills. Identify which personal skill you lack the most and improve it. Read this and this questions to find the most revelant personal skills for a PM.
Use this question as a reference to PM on-line resource.
Take some time reading related blogs like:
Remember: PMSE itself is also a place to be if you want to learn PM stuff.
Good luck
I second the PRINCE2 Practitioner certification as it gives you a good overview of a general project management methodology. If you are a software development focused project manager a ScrumMaster certification would be useful as this is becoming more and more common place as a software development methodology.
I have a few colleagues who have done the PMP training and they rated it very highly.
Microsoft Project certification/training. This helps understand step-by-step features and concepts which are needed to plan and manage projects effectively. You will learn how to think and organize your projects details, plan a schedule, sequence tasks, produce a baseline, assign resources and costs, and revise your project plan.
you can find online Project Management Training and Microsoft Project Training at several online sites. Most offer introductory Project Management theory classes as well as training in software tools for project management. Some sites are:
