What You’ll Actually Learn with Primavera P6 Software Training (and How It Applies on Real Projects)

What You’ll Actually Learn with Primavera P6 Software Training (and How It Applies on Real Projects)

The reason learning Primavera is so hard using YouTube and self-taught techniques, is that using Primavera P6 generally involves more than just the knowledge of the software itself. Use of the tool is rooted in a foundational understanding of how Critical Path Method scheduling really works. 

The Value of Quality Instruction Over Self-Teaching Primavera P6

I’ve been teaching P6 classes for close to fifteen years and I’ve lost count of the number of students who have admitted to me that they’ve been using P6 for years but learned more in my class than they did the entire time they’d spent learning P6 on their own. And that’s because quality P6 training relies heavily on understanding how scheduling works without software. 

Core Concepts of Primavera P6: From Navigation to WBS

In P6 training, you will learn the clicks and navigation of the tool, but you will also learn what a project is and how to decompose its scope of work using the WBS (as well as what WBS means). You will learn which activity type is best suited for the type of work it represents and to sequence the work using the proper relationship type. 

Mastering the Critical Path Method

P6 training will also address how these elements build the project schedule using the Critical Path Method of scheduling. You will learn how the forward and backward pass is calculated and what the results tell us about the work. P6 does these calculations for us but it is important to learn why they are so important to our project and what happens to them when we don’t build the schedule properly.

Primavera P6 Resource Management and Scaling Detail

P6 is not only about the schedule, it also tracks resource usage. Resource management can vary widely from organization to organization based on their needs and P6 training will discuss how to make decisions on the level of detail you need to track for your specific needs so you can ensure you are getting what you need out of P6 without wasting time on details that may not be necessary for every project. 

Execution, Baselines, and Reporting in Primavera P6

Once the plan is in place (and baselined – another topic addressed in training), the project is really just beginning, so your instructor will guide you through how to best collect updates to the project and how frequently those updates should happen.  In addition to how actuals are recorded, training addresses what we will do with those updates once we have them – variance analysis, reporting, printing, and exporting your project to send to stakeholders. 

Efficiency Through Custom Layouts

Let’s not forget the most important thing to take away from training is how to take advantage of layouts to make P6 easier to use, less cumbersome, and more efficient overall. 

Putting It All Together: Our P6 Training Approach

Our P6 training class walks you through the complete planning process for a simple construction project. You create the whole thing from scratch, baseline your plan, update and reforecast the work before producing a variance report and exporting the project to your stakeholders. You will leave with applicable skills, and tips and tricks from seasoned P6 professionals.