Categories: Change & Programme Management ,  MSP™ Practitioner

Managing Successful Programmes Foundation and Practitioner

Introduction
Programme Management is a management tool for bringing together people, activities and information in order to achieve significant change in an organisation. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has developed a best practice guide on programme management called Managing Successful Programmes (MSP).

Steria’s MSP Foundation and Practitioners course conforms to the syllabus set down by APMG (the examination administration body) for delegates wishing to gain the MSP Foundation and Practitioner certificates. Whether attendees are new to Programme management or just need to understand the MSP approach, this course is appropriate and will provide a thorough preparation for you to pass the examinations.

Who will benefit?
Anyone wanting the qualification and / or those who need to understand the practical application of MSP. It is particularly aimed at: 
- Programme managers who need to appreciate or apply the method. 
- Those who wish to assess its applicability for their programme or across their organisation. 
- Business managers who are tasked with undertaking a programme. 
- Project managers wishing to better understand how projects operate within a programme environment. 
- Project managers, programme/project support personnel and auditors will benefit from the practical sight offered by this course into the flexible application of MSP. 
- Programme/project office managers who wish to gain a detailed understanding of the method with a view to implementation. 
- Consultants who require the qualification in order to successfully apply the method for their clients.

Course Content 
- Introduction to programme management and MSP. 
- Identifying a programme. 
- Vision. 
- Programme organisation. 
- Defining a programme. 
- Benefits realisation management. 
- Leadership and stakeholder engagement.
- Quality. 
- Business case. 
- Programme planning and control. 
- Risk management and issue resolution. 
- Managing tranches. 
- Delivering the capability. 
- Realising benefits. 
- Closing a programme. 
- Examination technique and practice with feedback
The course is delivered in an entertaining and highly interactive manner with many real life examples used to illustrate the subject. There is a high degree of delegate participation, examination preparation and practice.

Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for attending the course, or taking the examination, but we would recommend that candidates have project management experience as well as having a basic understanding of the issues surrounding organisational wide business change.

Delegates are sent a copy of the MSP manual prior to the course, pre-reading will dramatically increases the chance of success in the examination.

Duration
This is a four-day course with the Foundation and Practitioner examinations held at the end of the fourth day.

Examinations
Foundation
This is a closed-book, multiple choice examination of fifty questions, lasting forty minutes. The pass mark is fifty percent

Practitioner
This is a scenario-based, closed-book examination, designed to test the candidate’s comprehensive understanding of the principles and theory of MSP.

The examination lasts two and half hours and uses the Objective Testing format of examination (a type of multiple-choice). Delegates have to analyse the scenario and apply MSP but have a number of possible answers from which to choose. Again, the pass mark is fifty percent.

Accreditation
This course is accredited by the APM Group