Which training to choose

[Marcel]

Hello,

I just landed a job in a software development/cloud services company as Head of Project Management. I am an Agile project manager myself, and they need a complete restructuring of their project management unit.

I would like to know which product(s) you would advise to use for the entire project management cycle, from inception till delivery, and therefore which course(s) / learning path would be the most beneficial for me.

Thank you,

Marcel

[Taranjeet Singh · Accepted solution]

@Marcel Based on your concern about which Atlassian products and/or add-ons you should use and learn about as a Project Manager/Team Leader, my suggestions are as below: 

Jira Software - for Agile (Scrum or Kanban) Project Planning & Management

Confluence - for Team Collaboration on content like project requirements, meetings, decisions, various reports based on data from Jira, etc. 

Advanced Roadmaps (Advanced Roadmaps (formerly Portfolio)) - Marketplace add-on for Project & Portfolio Management & Planning (for small number of project teams, may be less than 20 teams).

Tempo Planner (Tempo Planner: Resource Planning)- Marketplace add-on for Resource and Capacity planning in Jira

Tempo Timesheets (Tempo Timesheets-Time Tracking & Reports) - Marketplace add-on for Time tracking & Reporting for teams and resources

Structure for Jira (Structure - Project Management at Scale) - Marketplace add-on for visualizing, tracking, and managing projects & portfolios through use of user-defined cross-project issue hierarchies.

I hope it helps!

[Marcel]

Hi @Taranjeet Singh and thank you for the very detailed reply. I think you're covering the most of the subject's aspects.

One question though: would it be beneficial for me to try the Jira Core? as per the (free) introductory course, it's mostly fit for business departments "and for project management". I'd like to know your opinion as I'm completely unfamiliar with Core.

Based on your answer as well, which course(s)/certification(s) would you recommend to pursue in order to cover (and master as much as possible) the modules you detailed.

And finally, if you have no problem with it, I'd like to stay in touch and have your opinion/advice later on regarding my path in implementing the said modules.

Thank you.

[Taranjeet Singh]

Hi @Marcel 

To answer your question, it depends on the type of teams/projects that you want to manage in Jira. If these are non-software teams/projects like Marketing, Sales, HR, Finance, etc., Jira Core will suit your needs. If these are agile software development teams/projects, Jira Software will be the best option.

For learning Jira Core, Jira Software, Confluence, Advanced Roadmaps, you can start with any free trainings that you find on https://training.atlassian.com and any content available on Atlassian Community. Atlassian has a very nice documentation for these tools too, so you can search for any topic based on your interest and read about it, though know it will be a long learning curve.

If there is any certification for Jira that suits a Project Manager would be either ACP-600 (Project Administration in Jira Server) if using Jira Server/Data Center or ACP-620 (Managing Jira Cloud Projects) if using Jira Cloud. There is a cost involved in getting a preparation material for these certifications from Atlassian, as well as taking the exams for them.

Unfortunately, for learning about other Marketplace Add-ons, I do not have any idea if there are any specific training that exist, because I always learnt about them from their online documentation provided by the relevant vendor, based on my need. Learning them from an end-user perspective should not be much effort. What I suggest is to get in touch with the relevant vendors for these add-ons (from the Add-on page on Marketplace) in order to know if they provide any training courses.

Regarding any opinion/advice on implementing any of these tools, you can always reach out with your questions on Atlassian Community. Though I am not an expert in all of these tools, I would still try to provide you my best opinion based on my knowledge. If I am not able to provide satisfactory suggestions, any of our expert Community Leaders could chime in and guide you with their experience. That's what Atlassian Community is the best place to get help about Atlassian tools and plugins.

I hope that helps answer your questions and concerns.

[Matthew Stublefield]

@Hi @Marcel ! I'll open with the disclosure that I'm the head of education at Adaptavist, an Atlassian partner.

I suggest you check out our Jira app Learn for Jira. One of the things that sets our training apart is our focus on the user role and best practices. We don't just teach you what happens when you push a button, but also why you should push it, who you should talk to first, and what happens afterwards (what are the impacts and implications).

Also of relevance to you is that we have Jira Software training both for Scrum and Kanban approaches, we have a course on Jira Portfolio v2, we have a beginner-level training on ALMWorks Structure, and we're releasing an Advanced Roadmaps course in our next release (which should be out in a week or two).

The eval will only give you access to some beginner-level content, but you'll be able to see how we present our training and our level of quality. If you purchase Learn for Jira, all of your Jira users will have access to all of our training with the license.

Cheers,

Matthew Stublefield
Head of Adaptavist Education

[Marcel]

Hi @Matthew Stublefield

I will make sure to check it, thank you

[Alexander Bondarev]

Wonderful news! @Matthew Stublefield , looks really helpful!

I will probably try your app in my next cert exam preparation! Thanks!

[Soumyadeep Mandal - SaM]

Hi @Marcel ,

Welcome to the Atlassian community!

You can choose your learning path by visiting this page

https://training.atlassian.com/learning-paths

For free training & skill badges

https://training.atlassian.com/free-training-catalog

All the best! Happy learning!

[Marcel]

Hi @Soumyadeep Mandal - SaM 

My concern is: which Atlassian products to use to manage the projects from a team leader level, not as a user / developer who tracks or corrects bugs. I need to have a higher view of the project as planning, resources management, time management...

[Soumyadeep Mandal - SaM]

Hi @Marcel,

The best option for this kind of project management is Jira & confluence!