Can Project Management Be Taught in Three Days?

Klea Kojko

Recently, I had the chance to take part in a three-day evening course in Project Management with Cambridge Institute | Project Management, organised in partnership with ALSA UK.

The idea behind the programme was simple but powerful: to give busy professionals and volunteers like me a chance to build project management skills without having to take time away from work or studies. The sessions were live, interactive, and designed to help us prepare for the APM Project Fundamentals Qualification (PFQ), a recognised foundation in project management. I wasn’t sure what to expect at first, but by the end of the three evenings, I walked away not just with new knowledge, but with a lot more clarity and confidence about what project management really means in practice.

What I Learned

Strategic Planning

One of the things we talked about was how to set clear goals and make sure everyone in the team is working towards the same outcome. It sounds simple, but when you start breaking a big idea into smaller achievable steps, you realise how much structure it actually takes. One framework that was introduced to us was the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). This is a hierarchical decomposition of a project into smaller parts to make planning and management easier. You can break the WBS into phases, tasks and milestones, where teams can decide who is responsible for each task to ensure that teams know who to reach out to if certain tasks/parts are not completed, as they can refer to the WBS at all times.

Risk Assessment

Before, I thought that “risk” just meant “things going wrong.” But I learned that managing risk is actually about being proactive, spotting potential issues early so you can plan for them instead of panicking when they happen.

Leona introduced us to a tool called a risk matrix, where you map out possible risks based on how likely they are and how much impact they would have. It made me realise that good project management is not about avoiding risks, it’s about staying calm and adaptable when they show up.

Effective Communication

We also explored how communication can make or break a project. Even when the planning is perfect, if people don’t understand what’s happening or what’s expected of them, things can quickly fall apart. Leona showed us that companies use frameworks like a Communication Management Plan, which outlines who needs what information, when, and how. It often categorises communication into interactive (two-way communication), push (information being sent to a specific audience, who needs to be informed), and pull types (stakeholders can access the information as needed). This is the central document that details the communication strategy for a project.

The Communication Management Plan is made up of different parts. These include:

Stakeholder Analysis: The team can identify stakeholders and their interests to tailor communication to their needs.

Information Types: This is where you define the content, format and frequency of communication between stakeholders.

Methods and Channels: Teams specify how information will be delivered, for example, through email, meetings or reports.

Responsibilities: Responsibilities are assigned to stakeholders for specific communication tasks.

It’s all about listening and making sure that everyone is on the same page.

The Experience as a Whole

What made this course stand out for me was how interactive and practical it was. Leona encouraged us to ask questions, share our own experiences, and even quizzed us at the end of the sessions to make sure that we understood what we had covered that evening.

Most of all, I came away with a lot more confidence. Before, the thought of project management scared me due to a lack of knowledge on what it included. Now, I feel ready to go into a workplace where they apply these frameworks as I understand them and how companies operate better.

Final Thoughts

I’m really grateful to Leona, the Cambridge Institute team, and ALSA UK for making this opportunity possible. Their support not only gave me access to a high-quality learning experience but also reminded me how valuable it is when organisations invest in the growth of young professionals and volunteers.

These three evenings taught me that professional development doesn’t always have to be long or formal; sometimes, the most impactful learning comes from short, focused sessions that go through the processes and question you to consolidate your knowledge on the topics.