Project Management Study Shows Training Investments Pay Off

Glen Mills, Pa. — May 27

A study from project management firm PM Solutions, on “The State of Project Management Training,” found that the average firm invests $2,211 per year per employee for project management training.

The results of PM Solutions’ study confirm that project management training – particularly courses that are instructor-led – is worth the investment. Firms reported an average 26 percent improvement across eight measures of project and business performance as a result of training initiatives.

PM Solutions surveyed 262 high-level project management employees from 247 large, midsized, and small organizations in various industries including manufacturing, health care, technology, professional services, finance, and government. The primary purpose of the study was to identify factors that may lead firms to make better decisions regarding their project management training initiatives. The results point to the specific training methods used and their effectiveness, the revenue invested and the goals accomplished, and the improved business results demonstrated.

“You can’t overestimate the importance that well-trained employees have to an organization – training and experience have as much or more impact as even the best technology or processes,” said Matt Light, research vice president at Gartner Inc., the pre-eminent advisory firm to the global information systems industry. “As enterprises grow increasingly ‘projectized,’ studies by Gartner and other industry thought leaders show that training in project management is essential to improving performance.”

The report shows that organizations exhibit improvement in project and business performance due to project management training:

• 29 percent improvement in stakeholder satisfaction

• 27 percent improvement in schedule performance

• 26 percent fewer project failures

• 25 percent improvement in budget performance

• 25 percent improvement in requirements performance

• 25 percent improvement in project quality