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Invest in yourself

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Committing time to develop your skills can be a great confidence booster during a challenging time.

As we all continue to adapt to our new normal for the coming few months, many of you who are contractors have found that, rather than worrying about IR35 (now postponed for 12 months), your projects have been put on hold and your contract terminated leaving you unexpectedly out of work.

Apart from the obvious financial loss, you are left with time on your hands and predominately indoors. What can you be doing to ensure you maintain your confidence during this period and come out the other side ready to succeed and get back into work as soon as possible?

Although you may already be well qualified, all of us can benefit from refreshing our skills and gaining new perspectives showing how we are making the most of this time. APM members will know that APM Learning offers you a wealth of interactive resources to explore covering topics such as choosing the right project life cycle approach, harnessing the power of difference, benefits management, project controls, risk and much more. To see the whole range of topics visit the APM Learning home page.

Even if you are not an APM member, we have something of value for you. On 6 April APM, in partnership with the Open University, will be running our successful Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for the second time this year. Project Management: Beyond the Basics is a four-week online course aimed at people who are already working in or leading on projects but may not consider themselves project managers. Topics covered include identifying and evaluating stakeholders, choosing the best approach for projects, and developing the leadership and management skills needed to grow effective project management teams.

Over 9,000 learners participated in this course when it was first launched in January this year. The course is free to sign up to and there is only a fee to pay if you choose to complete the final quiz. Sign up to the project management course here.

Having a structured plan to invest in yourself – even if it’s just for one hour of learning every day – particularly when juggling the needs of family and dependants, is a great way of ensuring you have some me time, maintain your confidence and come out of this ready to take on your next role.

Image: elenabsl/Shutterstock.com

Debbie Dore
Written byDebbie Dore

Debbie Dore is APM's outgoing chief executive. 

Debbie’s career journey has seen her work for Thames Television, Oxford University Press and as a member of the board at Swets Information Services, delivering global transformation projects across sales, IT and customer service. 

She joined APM in 2015 and held the roles of chief commercial officer and chief operating officer before becoming CEO in 2018. She is responsible for leading the organisation through a period of change, including establishing it as a chartered body and developing the reputation of project management as a profession of value.

 

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