As your business scales and you adopt enterprise project portfolio management tools, you might be looking at how best to learn Primavera P6 Professional. If you are moving to this tool, or have new starters in the team who need training, we can help.
Before we look in detail at the different training options, let’s answer some common questions we often hear when talking to project managers about this system.
What’s the purpose of Primavera software?
Primavera is enterprise project portfolio management software. It has a robust suite of features that cover all aspects of project planning and scheduling including resource management and risk analysis.
Primavera P6 is known for its sophisticated approach to project portfolio management and its raft of supporting components.
Set up correctly, Primavera P6 is a powerhouse of a tool that can catapult your approach to portfolio management to the next level. However, you should also know that it’s a complex and mature product that takes a careful hand to set up, which is why training is so important.
What’s included in Primavera P6 EPPM suite?
The Primavera P6 EPPM suite includes:
- P6 EPPM itself – the browser-based, enterprise-wide portfolio office tool
- P6 Professional – the main product used by project teams for project scheduling and management
- BI Publisher – enterprise reporting tools
- P6 Analytics (optional) – advanced dashboards and analytics
You may also need other prerequisite software tools and supporting tools to bring everything together to fit seamlessly into your existing technical architecture and processes. Implementing EPPM is a project in itself!
Read more about the differences between P6 EPPM and P6 Professional here.
How long does it take to learn Primavera?
It takes 2-3 days to learn the basics of Primavera P6 Professional. It takes longer to learn to the advanced features and to become truly proficient in using the tool, but we can get you started in just a few days.
Is Primavera P6 hard to learn?
Primavera P6 is not hard to learn (with the right training), but it isn’t as intuitive as some of the applications you might be used to using. It is a complex tool designed for managing complex projects and by its nature it can’t be simple.
However, anyone can learn it with the right support. Like any new piece of software, once you are used to the features and have experienced what it can do, you will gain confidence using it to manage your projects, programs and portfolios. The more the team uses it, the more they will see the benefits from the advanced reporting and mature capabilities.
Soon you’ll be wondering how you ever managed with anything else!
Primavera P6 Professional Training Courses
As the Primavera EPPM suite is an enterprise-grade system, it’s important you choose training that enables you to get the most out of the product.
There are two main types of Primavera P6 training on offer: self-paced and instructor-led classes.
The type you chose will depend on whether you want to spread your learning and manage your own development or whether it’s more helpful for you to learn with the support of a classroom experience.
Look for training courses that:
- Include hands-on exercises to develop your skills and experience in typical scenarios
- Challenge you to solve problems using your own initiative, setting you up for future success back at work
- Have been produced specifically to help you learn the core skills quickly, by professionals with 25+ years of experience training and using the tools in the real world.
The benefit of online, self-paced learning is that you can start the course straightaway without having to wait for a classroom session to begin. If you need to boost your system knowledge right now, on-demand video courses would be a good choice. Video-based lessons are also great for people joining the team after your initial implementation, as that means your own team doesn’t have to train the new starter.
Choose the right class
The other consideration, beyond whether self-paced or instructor-led is right for you, is the content of the course. Given the breadth of Primavera EPPM, it’s important that you select a course that is a good match for the skills you need to learn.
For example, if you are a project manager new to the tool, a Professional Fundamentals course would be a good choice. That will give you the basics and a good foundation from which to build your learning in time, without overwhelming you with features you won’t be using at the moment.
From there, you can develop your knowledge across a range of advanced topics, from a deep dive into scheduling to system administrator training, or focus on risk or business intelligence with a course about BI Publisher.
PMO and Portfolio management team members would want to look at the training courses aimed at their level, so they build tailored skills in managing a portfolio.
Match what you need to know (or what your team needs to know) with the content of the course. In our experience, that’s the best way to ensure the training is actually applied back in the day job. In practice, that means forecasting what the team needs through a training needs analysis and scheduling training in advance so they develop skills and confidence at the right time.
Beyond the training
Once you learn Primavera P6 Professional, it’s only the start. You have to be able to transfer your training to real life when you are back at your desk. Look at what support is on offer after your course has finished. Ideally, you’ll want to take home good quality reference materials to act as a memory jog when you’re carrying out tasks in the tool.
If you are ready to improve your team’s skills and invest in cost-effective Primavera P6 training, then we can help.