Friday 7 October
Coasting to the weekend after another hectic week.
Then my ordered and planned world falls apart – all because I dive head long into an unexpected situation. A colleague could not attend an MSP course next week so “would anyone like to take their place”?
Was it boredom? Anything other than another full week in the office.
Was it the challenge? I’ve done PRINCE2 and this seems like the next logical step?
Was it the chance to meet people? I could stay with an old friend – and who knows who else I might meet.
Anyway I said please. Boss said yes. Emotional roller coaster ensues.
For the uninitiated, MSP is not a form of paranormal communication (though sometimes that’s just what it feels like). It stands for Managing Successful Programmes. It’s a set of best practice guidelines for Programme Managers who are responsible for a series of inter related projects. As I’ve often had to explain to clients, in my training company role, it concentrates on defining a rigorous and proven methodology, rather than teaching personal skill sets. The implication of all that is a huge mass of dry facts, processes and inter-relationships that need to be learnt in just 3 days. And by the way there’s an exam at the end of it!
Saturday 8 October
10 hours worth of “pre-reading” arrived via email last night. Initial priority was to explain to children why their bad mother was choosing to neglect them for the next 5 days.
Shopping trips cancelled. Joint home work session launched. Kids finished theirs within an hour and think it’s hilarious. I took a highly reasoned approach as to why I really only needed to do 4 hours, rather than the recommended 10. [I do hope that I can get away without doing the case study. It does seem more relevant to the Practitioner exam which I won’t be doing. I think.]
Monday 10 October
Smart casual. That’s what’s required – but what does smart casual mean on a professional training course? Better play safe. More smart than casual.
Amazingly, found the venue by the allotted time of 09.00. Decided to pop to Tesco for sandwiches (mean training provider has withdrawn 3 course lunches). Bad move. Of course I end up being the last of 12 delegates to enter the room.
OMG! All eyes on my over smart clothes. No where to sit. Looks like they all know each other and go on training courses every week of the year.
By lunch time feeling much more positive. The others are actually quite friendly. One of them just happens to be a next door neighbour from about 10 years ago. Small world. The trainer is great. We did some good group activities. “Regeneration for the Next Generation”. If anyone sees this being used anywhere – it’s my copyright. I invented it. It’s the most fantastic short form objective statement for a major programme.
By 17.00 not feeling so good. Workload building. We’ve been set a mock exam to do this evening. Have I brought enough highlighter pens and post-it notes? Already my Official Manual and course workbook have the appearance of confetti.
I’m staying with an old friend. This might test our friendship. Can’t seem to talk about anything other than project management. Watched TV together – along with my official manual. Made my excuses and went to bed early – to try to complete the mock exam before falling asleep. Failed.
Tuesday 11 October
Chapter after chapter. Fact after fact. Moments when it all seems to be so logical and sensible. Moments when it just feels like hard work.
Team spirit building. Good laughs. Plenty of lighter moments.
Shut myself away this evening. Wine refused. Is this a first?
Wednesday 12 October
Today dominated by the exam at 3pm.
We were learning new stuff all morning – and no evening safety net to make sure it sinks in.
The exam was meant to take an hour. I had finished in 40 mins. Trainer had advised us not to reconsider first answers. So I walked out early – first out. Am I mad? Will I be the only one to fail?
There was total consensus after the exam that it had been a “horrible paper”. We were still commiserating with each other round the coffee machine when the trainer burst in and announced we had all passed.
Good mid table result. What’s more, the trainer took the paper since it was the first based on the latest MSP 2011 manual; even he got 8 questions wrong!!!
The others were going on to do 2 more days and take the Practitioner exam. Very mixed feelings. The last thing I want is more study and stress. Equally they were a great bunch and I reckon my brain might just be able to handle it.
>> Find MSP Courses
>> Secret Diary of a Course Delegate – Part II
