Events & Seminars

Background                         

Planning is a crucial part in the success of any project. It takes certain techniques and methods to make this planning process the most efficient so you can set your project up for success. Here at the Association of Planning Engineers, we are providing this CPD lesson which will review all the best tools you need to ensure you can prepare effectively. There are many effective techniques, diagrams, models and plans which you can use to assess any and every stage of a project. There are certain skills planning engineers and project managers need to have in order to be successful. This CPD course will refine these skills and top-up any knowledge which may be outdated. Planning is a very important sector and those working in project control need to have excellent time management, numerical skills and adaptability in order to make sure projects run smoothly.

There are many methods available to make life as a planning engineer or project manager easier. The fact is, sometimes people get stuck in their ways and get used to doing things a certain way. We hope by delivering this CPD course, you can be inspired to use some techniques you may have forgotten, or try out some ones you’ve never encountered before. Ultimately, we hope to make your career as productive and rewarding as we know it can be. There’s great satisfaction when working in planning, and we know how great it is when a project runs smoothly from start to finish. Hopefully these tools will give your techniques the refresh they need to work effectively in your business.

CPD Hours

CPD, or Continuing Professional Development, is a learning process in which individuals refine skills and complete tasks that help to benefit their career goals. Many of this learning is industry-based and relevant to your sector pathway within the planning industry. By learning CPD knowledge each year, the purpose is always to keep your academic information up-to-date and relevant. No matter which sector you work in, technology is always developing and evolving. It is important to keep up with new technologies and advancements. This CPD learning will also give you a goal to work towards each calendar year and will contribute towards your professional growth. These specific CPD courses look excellent on your CV and are very desirable to future employers, so that’s worth thinking about.

Learning Outcomes

Throughout this CPD lesson delivery, there will be numerous outcomes which you should learn in order to develop your skills. These outcomes include:

• Understanding effective planning models such as the Gantt chart and how to maximise their effectiveness.
• Using and constructing a contingency plan in order to make proactive and calculated decisions based on a realistic timeframe.
• Learn the meaning of useful acronyms such as VMOST, SWOT, PEST and SOAR and how to apply them to a business plan or project.
• Providing effective project documentation throughout a project
• Use forecasting to prepare project plans and calculate future outcomes. This is to be used along with benchmarking to improve business success.
• Understand the scope of budgeting and scheduling when allocating designated resources for a specific organisation or project.
• Using matrices such as a Comparison Matrix or Prioritisation Matrix to rank and visualise certain aspects and potential problems.

To conclude, this CPD course will not only contribute towards your annual CPD goal, but will help you manage your projects in the most effective way. You’ll revisit classic techniques and learn new ones along the way, making sure you’re confident in how to apply them to large-scale or small-scale projects alike.

About the APE                                     

The Association of Planning Engineers is a non-profit organisation which specialises in the development and industry growth of the planning engineer sector. We operate a membership ranking scheme in which individuals can apply for Associate, Professional or Fellow membership, depending on their experience within the industry. Our aim is to support planning engineers, project control engineers or project managers along their career journey with free CPD lessons, professional career advice and interactive networking opportunities. We are offering free membership surgery sessions in order to answer any queries you may have. This will be held in a live online meeting set-up during which you can ask questions and discuss any issues you may have regarding membership, CPD or the Professional Review assessment.

Association Memberships

In order to become a member of the Association of Planning Engineers, you will first need to complete an application which depicts your personal details, CV and information of your past qualifications and experience within the industry which may help your application. You’ll also need to have evidence to prove your competence within your career role. Members wishing to become a Professional (full) member, will need to apply as a Professional Review Candidate (PRC); this is a process which will require you to complete a written Assessment of Competencies (AOC) and attend an online interview to confirm your identity and past expertise.

These memberships are greatly valuable within the industry. The Association of Planning Engineers is the first institution designed specifically with planning engineers in mind. Our collaborate expertise will help you to develop your career; you’ll also have access to all the valuable member benefits we offer for each ranking of membership, such as letters to add to your name, which will immediately demonstrate your competencies within the industry.

Session Outcomes

By the end of this membership surgery, we aim to provide you with all the information you need to continue your membership endeavour.

This free session is for anybody; not just current members of APE. You will need to sign up before the start time to become involved so you can join the session at the appropriate time.

Should you have any questions regarding the following topics, the membership surgery will be a live interactive session during which you can discuss any of the following topics:

• Membership rankings and which membership your experience makes you eligible for.
• Information regarding the Professional Review process, such as what to include, how to format the review, how to prepare for the interview, etc.
• Membership benefits, which benefits are applicable to which memberships and how to redeem and get the most of out these rewards.
• Help with the application process if you are unsure of eligibility due to lack of qualifications or experience or if you have any other doubts.
• Questions about company membership and how to apply.
• Information regarding CPD hours and recommendations of relevant CPD courses or activities based on your sector pathway and current role.
• Any questions regarding your individual situation and how it may affect your ability to apply for membership.
• Which qualifications make you eligible for membership application.
• If you are already a member and are unsure how to upgrade your membership to Professional member or Fellow member.

Our experts will be on hand to answer any questions, no matter how big or small. This is also a great opportunity to get some professional advice on your membership, any qualifications you may have or ways to maximise your chances of success with APE.

Background

Primavera P6 is a software which effectively helps organise and manage large-scale projects. It is a comprehensive software tool created by Oracle and favoured by many project managers and planning engineers within numerous industries, such as construction, engineering and IT. Primavera P6 is the newest version of the software and widely used. It is understood globally to be a fundamental software that makes managing projects from beginning to completion easier, with the ability to track progress throughout the lifecycle of a project. This CPD lesson provided by the Association of Planning Engineers will run through the effective operation of the Primavera software, how to get the most out of it and how to use it to successfully track the progress of your team and their individual projects.

The Primavera P6 software allows users to create a detailed plan and schedule regarding a project. Additionally, it allows you to include detailed strategies during each stage of the project, starting with initiation, planning, execution, control and ending with the closing of a project. All of these stages contain different planning elements, and Primavera will offer analytical tools, visual customisation for ease of viewing, risk assessment fields and frequent progress reports delivered directly to your teams mailbox. The uses Primavera are truly one of a kind. While it can be tricky to understand at first, the benefits of implementing this software into your project management techniques are endless. Many professionals highly-regard Primavera as one of the most practical and functional tools a planner can have. Knowledge of Primavera alone is an excellent addition to any technical planner’s CV and portfolio of knowledge.

CPD Hours

Gaining CPD hours is an important tool within your professional development. Continuing Professional Development is a way to ensure your knowledge within your profession is kept up-to-date and any new methods or techniques within your role are learned to ensure best practice. Individuals within certain industries must complete mandatory CPD hours each year, by completing online courses, independent study or on-the-job training, for example. Members of professional associations must also complete a level of CPD learning in order to fulfil membership requirements. This is both mutually beneficial for the participants and the association, since professional skills create a knowledge bank within the association, making networking events extremely valuable.

Learning Outcomes

Throughout this CPD lesson, you’ll complete a guaranteed set of learning objectives. These learning outcomes include the following:

• Learn how to create a project and add collaborating project managers, schedule costs and allocate resources appropriately.
• Manage workflow approval and roles of individuals across all project platforms to view progress in real-time.
• Add ‘activities’ within the project, add relationships between certain activities and assign activities to certain individuals. You’ll learn how to add these activities to your project Gantt chart, adjust time schedules accordingly and view project estimations.
• Visualise and create data presentations regarding project progress. Create histograms, pie charts and other data presentations to see where resources are overallocated or falling short.
• Contact relevant project managers through the software by viewing their progress. Use analytical tools to view and create progress reports, look at hours spent on each activity and export this data to an Excel sheet.
• View each collaborator’s daily progress in personalised visual displays and easily share with team members.
• Create completion reports, view a project’s earned value, avoidable losses and schedule daily or weekly update reports for all collaborators.
• How to archive projects for future reference and project evaluation, lessons learned and analysing future risks.

This CPD lesson will also be delivered online in real-time, meaning you can achieve an interactive experience just as you would in a designated learning environment. You can ask questions and discuss examples within the session and it will all count towards your annual CPD hours. We look forward to having you join us for this informative and useful CPD session.