Project Management Online Courses & Certifications
Project management is a high demand career all over the world. PMI’s 2021 report, Talent Gap: Ten-Year Employment Trends, Costs, and Global Implications, estimated that the “global economy needs 25 million new project professionals by 2030.” At the moment, there are over 20,000 job openings for project managers in India.
The domain is vast and a fine career choice. You can find project management jobs in almost every industry. And, one of the best ways to move up in this domain is to get certified from globally recognised authorities. Some are Project Management Institute (PMI), PRINCE2, American Academy of Project Management, and EC-Council, among many.
These authorising bodies offer online project management courses and certifications. The most popular ones are PMP (Project Management Professional) and CSM (Certified Scrum Master), among others. Have a look at some designations and
Project management is a high demand career all over the world. PMI’s 2021 report, Talent Gap: Ten-Year Employment Trends, Costs, and Global Implications, estimated that the “global economy needs 25 million new project professionals by 2030.” At the moment, there are over 20,000 job openings for project managers in India.
The domain is vast and a fine career choice. You can find project management jobs in almost every industry. And, one of the best ways to move up in this domain is to get certified from globally recognised authorities. Some are Project Management Institute (PMI), PRINCE2, American Academy of Project Management, and EC-Council, among many.
These authorising bodies offer online project management courses and certifications. The most popular ones are PMP (Project Management Professional) and CSM (Certified Scrum Master), among others. Have a look at some designations and skills that you can go for once you complete project management certification courses.
Project Management Designation |
Skills |
Project Manager |
Agile & Scrum, Six Sigma, project management tools, project planning, scheduling, leadership, and risk management, among others |
Project Executive |
Project scheduling, authorising budget, data analysis, and MS Excel proficiency |
Project management basics, industry-based marketing research, maintaining stakeholder relationships, distributing reports, and business analysis |
Overview of Project Management Courses in India
Have a look at the types of online project management courses you can go for.
Course Type |
Duration |
Best For |
Self-Paced |
2 to 16 days or more |
Intermediate to advanced levels of professionals who are looking for mastering key skills such as project delivery, handling international projects, or similar |
Certification |
7 hours to 6 months or more |
Beginners to experienced looking to acquire the necessary skills in the domain and acquire certificates from top institutes such as IIT, Northwestern University, or authorising bodies such as PMI or similar |
University Credits |
8 to 12 weeks |
Students or professionals in the management field looking to enter this domain while taking up MBA or post graduate courses through electives |
Postgraduate |
6 to 18 months |
Working professionals who need more hands-on experience with multiple projects and extend their knowledge in the domain |
Beginner courses typically introduce the foundational concepts of project management, such as project life cycles, stakeholder management, and basic planning techniques. Intermediate courses delve deeper into methodologies like Agile and Scrum, risk management, and advanced planning techniques.
Tools to Learn and Use in Project Management Courses Online
Tools |
Features |
Asana |
Integrates PRINCE2 workflow with project boards and custom fields |
Wrike |
Analytics, document proofing, client management, Salesforce integration |
ClickUp |
Process and task management, sprint management templates, among others |
Zoho Projects |
Task management and automation, Gantt charts, mobile app project management, issue tracking, among others |
Trello |
Task automation, project planning with timeline view, templates |
Methodologies to Master in Project Management
Check out these popular project management methodologies below. You will be learning one or more of them when you take up project management courses online.
Project Management Methodology |
Description |
Waterfall Methodology |
Divides a project into sequential phases where each starts after one ends |
Agile Project Management |
An iterative approach for continuous process improvement by breaking down a project into smaller chunks called sprints |
PRINCE2 |
Process-based approach that gives importance to control and organisation throughout a project |
Also, check out PRINCE2 courses. If you are planning to get any PRINCE2 certification, choose PeopleCert. This is the official training, exam, and certification body for PRINCE2.
Which is Better, PMP or PRINCE2?
Have a look at the table below.
Aspect |
PMP |
PRINCE2 |
Origin |
USA (Project Management Institute) |
UK (AXELOS) |
Focus |
Individual competency |
Project methodology |
Flexibility |
Adaptable to various industries |
More rigid, government/IT-focused |
Certification Levels |
Single level |
Foundation, Practitioner, Professional |
Exam Format |
180 multiple-choice questions |
Multiple-choice questions (varies by level) |
Renewal |
Every 3 years |
Foundation (no expiry), Practitioner (every 3 years) |
Project Approach |
Process-based (5 process groups) |
Principle-based (7 principles) |
Tailoring |
Less emphasis on tailoring |
Strong emphasis on tailoring |
Documentation |
Extensive |
Concise, focused |
Change Management |
Integrated throughout processes |
Specific theme with formal process |
Global Recognition |
Widely recognised internationally |
Popular in UK, Europe, and Australia |
Top Course Providers in Project Management
PMI, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, and Google are great global online project management training. Some of their free PM courses cover foundational knowledge and are a great starting point. The same course providers also offer paid training and certifications ideal for mid-career project managers.
Have a look at what the following course providers and platforms offer when you take up online project management courses.
Coursera
You will find many Coursera project management courses that are free to audit. The MOOC platform offers a variety of certifications for all levels and for professionals from industries such as IT and Engineering as well. You can also go for specialisations to learn a specific aspect or methodology with the project management courses from this platform.
edX
edX project management courses cover a lot of important areas in the domain such as leadership, sprint planning in Agile environments, risk management, and others. You can take up the platform’s popular MicroMasters program for this domain as well.
Many other online project management course providers are also available.
- Udemy project management courses
- FutureLearn project management courses
- NPTEL project management courses
Popular Industry Standard Project Management Certifications
Here are some top online project management courses in India.
Google Project Management: Professional Certificate on Coursera
Choose this online project management course if you are new to the field. It grounds your basics to understand traditional and agile scenarios, organisational dynamics, and stakeholder relations through hands-on assessments and projects. Overall, the specialisation covers six courses.
Recommended For: Any fresher willing to get a job as an entry-level project management professional.
Instructor: Google Career Certificates
Fee: Rs. 1175 per month
Prerequisites: None
The Project Management Course: Beginner to Project Manager on Udemy
It is one of the top-selling online project management courses on Udemy and was recently updated in 2024. The course instructor takes you through all the basics covering templates, MS Excel documentation and much more.
Recommended for: All levels of professionals
Instructor: 365 Careers
Fee: Rs. 3,699 (Rs. 599 as discounted price)
Prerequisites: None