By Rosana Beechum

Project management expertise is invaluable in the people who are charged with managing projects for your small business. However, the entire organization can also benefit from that knowledge being spread among the workforce. Here are four reasons you should invest in project management training for your employees. We’ll also address the practical benefits for all levels of the organization.

Greater consistency

A major benefit of project management training is greater consistency. Everyone will use the same project management principles, they’ll use the same standards for estimating labor and resource needs and they’ll use the same templates for documents and reports. They’ll also share the same business processes and decision-making criteria for managing their time and doing work. This leads to better long-term project execution, stakeholder satisfaction, and consistent end results. In fact, being able to regularly deliver the right end result on time and on budget will enhance your company’s reputation with your customers and the public at large. If you’re already sold on this key benefit, you can read more here about management training options and see if there’s a course close to you.

[amazon_link asins=’0814417671′ template=’ProductAd’ store=’succeedingi0d-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’2e8cddc4-b823-11e8-b36a-1383383b1b9e’]Better risk assessment

Risk assessment is one of the most essential aspects of any project. All projects inherently have a certain measure of risk that project managers will have to deal with. Successful projects usually start with great risk assessment and preparation for anything that might actually happen. If you want more efficient teams, your employees should also be familiar with risk assessment so they can be aware of possible risks and have the flexibility needed to circumvent them as well.

When your team members are familiar with project management principles, they are better able to participate at every phase of the project from planning to post-project analysis. A well-rounded team will also be more productive and may be able to add their opinions on potential risks and ways to address them. They’re able to identify gaps in schedules and expertise so it is corrected early on. They understand resource allocations and task scheduling and work within them, or they can point out issues when they need more. They can also give more useful advice to improve the business processes or solve problems.

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Project management training benefits both individual members of the team and the team at large. Individuals become more confident because they know their strengths and weaknesses, their capabilities and ability to deliver. They’re also more confident communicating issues, not seeing it as personal failings but something necessary to ensure the issue is addressed before the project schedule suffers.

Formal project training also brings new hires up to speed in standard business processes, leading to them becoming fully productive team members sooner and ensuring their work fits into that of the team. Simply training new hires or transfers into the team on how to use project management software improves their productivity and reduces the odds that they’ll make mistakes.

Successful delivery of major projects

Another benefit of formal project management is that your organization is better able to deliver on complex projects. You can easily track labor, time, resources, and every other detail. And when project management training has been given to everyone, everybody works together as part of a well-organized whole.

The organizational benefits of project management training are clear. When people know how to set realistic schedules, budgets and checklists, you know what you can do and when you can get it done. You don’t over-promise and under-deliver, hurting your team’s reputation. Formal project management expertise ensures transparency in the project’s status regardless of how big it is. Issues are identified early and addressed. If there will be delays or cost overruns, you’ll be able to honestly discuss this with the customer as soon as possible and make joint decisions in how to address it.

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Project management training for everyone in addition to the project manager improves the performance of individuals, teams and the organization as a whole. You cannot afford not to make this investment in your people. So, make sure that you consider the options available and choose the program that would benefit your team the most.

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Rosana Beechum is a business and marketing undergraduate from Nottingham Trent University from the UK, who is attempting to share my knowledge through my written articles for small business owners.