Community Forum – Project Management Training

Do you know of providers offering training in project management for R&D?

We are in the process of attempting to put in place a project management training course for the developing scientists and engineers at our global technology center and have been searching for an external training provider. There is no shortage of organizations offering project management training, but so far we have failed to identify one in this part of the world which offers a course specifically targeted at the R&D environment. What we are seeking is an introductory level course which offers a strong core of good general project management principles and skills, but which also properly takes account of the special features of R&D, such as the level of risk and uncertainty of outcome involved. Ideally, we want to identify a training provider (individual or organization) with good experience of project management training for an R&D environment which would work with us to tailor a course to the particular culture, structure and business focus of our own organization.

I would be very interested to know whether anybody has knowledge or experience of training providers offering something like this, or any more general comments or advice relating to training in project management for R&D. – Richard Hamerton, Group Leader Metallurgy and Modelling, Novelis Global Technology Centre, Ontario, Canada

Community Responses

Adrian Timms, Senior Manager, Open Innovation, The Hershey Company
It seems to me that most folks doing such training take a more general course and adapt it to your audience’s needs.. Alan Fusfeld, The Fusfeld Group, has given such training tailored to an R&D audience. Alan is a prominent IRI participant. Various other consultants also give such training in conjunction with PDMA’s NPD certification. Examples are Dr Hamsa Thota and Tricia Sutton, but you may get other leads at PDMA’s web site, which has a yellow pages.

By and large, all project management trainers will cover the principles set forth by Project Management Institute (PMI) in their PMBOK method. Some trainers build from a skill base in educating people, which is general to all audiences, and you should determine how well the education expertise is present in the options you evaluate. If you need options beyond a traditional classroom setting, some outfits, such as Villanova’s universityalliance.com outfit do a web-based distance learning PM course, though it would need some adaptation for the specifics of your R&D audience.

The consultants mentioned above are examples of ones who have a particular affinity for new product development and the R&D audience. If you are working with an outfit that is helping you with innovation process or associated IT system, it is also possible that they have a group capable of R&D-focused project management training.  In closing, I’d say to look not just at the content of the course, but how well you think your audience will relate to the trainer’s style and experience.

Jeannie Fiori, Opportunity Development Business Process Manager, Dow Corning Corporation
We have worked with Chad Checketts at Humentum for over 10 years to provide training to our project leaders.  Our training focuses more on soft skills such as stakeholder management & team dynamics, but does also include some technical skill such as  time line management and work planning.  My responsibility lies with leaders of new product development projects, but we also include those leading capital, quality improvement, IT,  front end & technology development.  We also strongly encourage this class as a supplement to our black belt training.  The keys to the success of this course are the simulation and the dynamic instructor.   Although our training does not focus on R&D project management, Humentum does provide customized training options so may be a good resource for you.

Leslie Kulis, General Manager Global NPD, Armstrong World Industries, Inc.
We use ESI to  provide our training for our project managers.    It is good basic training.   We then have a mentor back at our company location, emphasize areas that pertain especially to New Product Development.  It is also offered in many different cities making travel and scheduling easier.

Christopher Quinn, Director of Research and Technology Americas, Akzo Nobel Surface Chemistry LLC
We are currently embarking on a Project Management endeavor with Cadence Management Corporation out of Portland, OR.  In fact, our first training session begins next week.  We will have a better feel for the quality of the training and the applicability to R&D efforts in early August.

IRI Emeritus
Paul Germeraad, founder and president of Intellectual Assets, Inc., is a knowledgeable and skillful trainer on project management in an R&D environment.  His experience is as director, VP and CTO in multiple major industrial companies, and among other responsibilities has taught short courses on project management at Cal Tech, U. Cal, UCLA, etc.  He is past chairman of IRI and of the Licensing Executive Society, LES.  He not only trains R&D and management groups on project management customized to the client’s needs but also sets up training programs for them to conduct themselves for their own employees.  He can pull together a team of experienced professionals, all ex-directors and VPs of industrial companies, from within his organization for R&D project management training as well as, of course, on intellectual property management for which his organization is best known.