About Our Training and FAQs
About Us: Built in the Field, Not the Classroom
We don't believe in purely theoretical project management. Our training was developed by a veteran IT programme manager who has spent decades delivering high-stakes digital transformations where failure was not an option.
Our instructors have steered business-critical programmes and managed massive go-live weekends, dress rehearsals, and cutovers for top-tier finance organisations, prestige automotive brands, leading media organisations, and national charities.
We took the exact principles, frameworks, and practical methods used in those elite corporate environments and built them into our training programmes. Today, we help individual project managers, SMEs, charities, and blue-chip corporates bridge the gap between textbook methodology and real-world delivery success. Whether you are taking a tea break course or working with us on a critical project rescue, you are getting battle-tested expertise from professionals.
Training for All Organisations
The training and support are based on knowledge gained from delivering critical projects and programmes for leading blue-chip companies and charities.
We offer expert project management training and support for non-profit organisations. Please contact us for special rates for charities.
Beyond Classroom Training: One-on-One and Project Support
We don’t just train—we embed success. If your current project is stalling, we provide expert project rescue, consultancy, mentoring, and coaching to get your delivery back on track.
The scheduled courses are held in Milton Keynes, but on-site training and support are available anywhere in the UK.
FAQs
Where does Pathway IT Consultants deliver training and consultancy?
We provide expert IT project management training and consultancy in Milton Keynes and across the UK.
Do you provide free training requirement reviews?
Our free, no-obligation review can help you understand which areas would benefit most from training. We will provide you with recommendations tailored to your specific needs, helping you to make informed decisions about your training strategy. Contact us to schedule your review and unlock your IT team's full potential.
Do charities receive discounts?
Yes, we are committed to helping this sector and making training and support affordable.
At Pathway IT Consultants, we are dedicated to giving back to the community and supporting charitable organisations. We understand the importance of the work that non-profit organisations do and want to help them achieve their goals. That's why we offer special discounts to this sector.
Please reach out to us at enquiries@pathwayitconsultants.co.uk or use the book support form. We will be happy to discuss your requirements and provide you with the support you need at a discounted rate. Let us help you focus on your mission while we take care of your IT training and consultancy needs.
Do you offer monthly plans to help with budgeting?
Yes, we do. We appreciate that training budgets may be tight, especially for charities and small-to-medium enterprises. You need skills that deliver real results, not generic theory that sits unused. The difference between a successful IT project and a costly failure often comes down to specific, practical knowledge—the kind you gain from understanding what actually works when systems go live, data migrations happen, and users need support. Our affordable training is built on lessons learnt from delivering demanding projects for blue-chip corporates, SMEs and charities.
Monthly payment plans remove the barrier of large upfront training costs. You can access high-quality IT training that focuses on the critical activities project managers and IT teams actually need: dress rehearsals, cutover planning, risk management, and the hundred small decisions that determine whether your project succeeds or fails.
Key Takeaways
- Monthly payment plans make professional IT project management training accessible to organisations with limited budgets.
- Courses based on real project delivery experience teach the specific activities that prevent common failures during system implementations and cutovers.
- Dress rehearsal and cutover training are often overlooked but critical for reducing go-live risks.
- Affordable CPD training with certification helps your team build credentials affordably.
- Charities and SMEs benefit most from practical, scenario-based learning rather than theoretical frameworks.
Affordable, high-quality training for all companies means you can build internal capability rather than relying entirely on expensive consultants. Your team learns to manage projects competently, reducing the risk of costly failures and building skills.
Please use the contact form below if you have any questions or would like to discuss any training, coaching or mentoring.
Why is specialist charity training more effective?
Managing IT projects can be difficult for all organisations, but charities have unique challenges. People working on projects may wear several hats: stakeholder management is complex, coordinating the activities of volunteers can be difficult, budgets are usually constrained, it may be difficult to demonstrate value to donors and there may be a fixed deadline. A failed project can have a severe impact on a charity. In the worst-case scenario, its existence could be put at risk.
Off-the-shelf training programmes rarely cover issues faced by charities. You need specialist training that understands the unique challenges and opportunities of your sector.
I'm very busy. Do you have training for me?
Yes, we know how busy people are, and we also know the difference high-quality, focused training can make. Our Pathway Tea Break Training™ ensures everyone has the opportunity to learn the secrets to successful project delivery; we understand how full IT professionals’ diaries are! These courses have questions at the end of the modules, but no coursework to complete.
Is your training affordable?
Yes, our Pathway Tea Break™ training starts at only £59. All of our courses are affordable, and we believe they offer excellent value for money. We have deliberately priced our training to allow as many organisations as possible to take advantage of unique insights found in our courses.
Is your training flexible?
Yes, we offer Tea Break training, online and instructor-led courses. Our instructor-led courses are held in Milton Keynes, or they can be delivered at your premises. (Or off-site anywhere in the UK.) We also offer bespoke training, mentoring, coaching, workshops and training on live projects.
Pathway has been instrumental in rescuing business-critical projects for blue-chip organisations and leading charities. This experience can be invaluable if you have a project that stakeholders are concerned about or if you have one that needs to be rescued.
We can combine consultancy, mentoring and training to provide maximum benefit to your organisation.
Do you offer bespoke training?
Yes, we offer bespoke training programmes to build internal project management, analysis and support capabilities.
How does Continuing Professional Development (CPD) benefit me?
So, what does that mean for you?
● Quality you can trust: The course has been independently assessed for structure, content, and learning outcomes.
● Earn while you learn: You’ll now collect CPD credits just by completing one of our approved courses. (We have three approved courses now
with more being added.)
● Professional recognition: The training counts towards official CPD requirements across many industries and roles.
● Added value CPD accreditation gives you peace of mind that this course really delivers.
What CPD-accredited courses do you offer?
CPD Cutover Management, CPD Introduction to Project Management and CPD Managing Dress Rehearsals. (Please note that new CPD courses are being added.)
What if I complete a self-study course but then want to take the same course with an instructor?
If you complete the self-study course, say a dress rehearsal course for example, and then want to take it with an instructor, we will give you credit for the self-study course so you will only need to pay the difference.
I’m enrolled on an instructor-led course. Do I need to buy the Pathway Project Management Toolkit book?
No, a copy of the book is included with every instructor-led course.
Is it possible to reschedule my date on one of the instructor-led courses?
We understand the demands of projects and will reschedule your training date as long as you provide 24 hours’ notice.
Can I combine training, project health checks, mentoring, project rescue and consultancy?
Of course, our training courses are led by an instructor with over 25 years’ experience in successful project delivery. Pathway has rescued critical projects for blue-chip corporates and leading charities. We have the required expertise and understand that every business is unique. That's why we offer mentoring, consultancy and bespoke training courses tailored to your specific needs..
What makes Pathway IT Consultants' training and consultancy unique?
Our training courses are truly unique. We have developed our programmes based on proven principles and actions that you are not likely to find in any other training.
Eight Reasons to Select Pathway IT Consultants Project Management Courses
- All training is based on proven strategies from real-world projects.
- Outstanding value for money.
- There is no risk. If you are not happy with the training, we will provide a refund.
- All courses are based on the Pathway Project Management Toolkit™, which contains proven principles for project success.
- The strategy for project delivery works with any methodology. It also works if no formal approach is adopted.
- Flexible dates and locations.
- Choice of self-study or instructor-led courses.
- Pathway offers coaching, mentoring and project rescue training.
Pathway IT Training is based on lessons learnt from delivering some of the most demanding, complex, business-critical IT projects and programmes in the UK. You will gain the practical knowledge required to deliver your projects successfully.
Does Pathway IT favour any particular methodology?
No, selecting the correct methodology and enhancing it as required is critical. Be wary of 'purists' that believe a particular approach is right for all projects. This is not the case.
What are some of the important project lessons your training is based on?
Our training and consultancy are based on lessons learnt from delivering demanding, business-critical programmes. Pathway has an enviable success rate, and we hope the information is useful for your projects.
Agile and critical delivery date information
It isn’t uncommon to hear that the only information available is the sprint completion dates, not the contents of the sprints. This isn’t correct. A sprint should contain features that will be delivered, and if a critical feature isn’t going to be included, the product owner should review this with the team, analyse the impact and update the relevant stakeholders.
The value of dress rehearsals
You may have to explain dress rehearsals. Many people do not understand their objectives and activities. Dress rehearsals are not a formal part of Waterfall, PRINCE2 or Agile. (Unless they have been added since this was written.) They contribute more to risk reduction, successful cutover and increased productivity post-go-live than any other project assurance activity.
Dress rehearsals aren't a repeat of UAT or any other test phase. In dress rehearsals users complete the key business processes, replicating the first days, weeks or months after go-live. Test scripts are not used, and dress rehearsals are based on business scenarios.
There is no ‘best’ methodology
The great methodology debate: if you’ve been a project manager for any time, you will probably have been involved in discussions of this topic. People have strong views on this subject, and some of the voices can be very loud.
If you are starting out in your career as a project manager, I would like to give you some advice based on delivering many types of projects using different methodologies or combinations of methodologies.
My thoughts on the methodology debate are the following:
- There is no best methodology. If anyone says that a given methodology is the best for everything, you can assume that they haven’t worked on a wide range of projects.
- Many organisations use a hybrid Agile/Waterfall methodology, taking the best from each one to create an approach that works for their organisation, business model, and type of project.
- People say that PRINCE2 is a Waterfall development methodology. This assumption isn’t correct; PRINCE2 is a project management methodology. Furthermore, a common misconception is that PRINCE2 is a rigid methodology. This isn’t the case, and understanding the tailoring principle of PRINCE2 is important.
- Waterfall is used on thousands of projects yearly, despite claims that it's obsolete. Studies have found that over half of projects in 2022 used this methodology. If you are managing a safety-critical project, Waterfall will usually be the default methodology.
- Organisations use different methodologies based on the types of projects they are delivering.
- Scrum for Safety can be considered in a safety-critical environment, but be aware that some regulators require separation of development and testing functions. If you plan to use Scrum for Safety, verify all requirements for the organisation, regulators and third-party stakeholders. It would be very disruptive (and expensive) to find this out during your final sprint.
What really counts is delivering the highest quality product possible on time and to budget. Whether you are using Agile or Waterfall, it’s essential that you understand the requirements, write quality code that can be maintained, test thoroughly, plan and prove the cutover, train the users, work with the support team to provide the information they require and support the users during the warranty period.
The value of work packages
Work packages are very useful for estimating effort and for managing progress on a project. A typical work package will contain the following information:
- Work package title/name.
- Code.
- Status.
- Total budget. (Based on days of effort.)
- Start date.
- Completion date.
- Personnel/resource.
- Project code.
- Comment.
- Purpose of the work package.
- Key objectives.
- Success measure.
- Tangible deliverables.
- Type of deliverable.
- Key dependencies.
Cutover dress rehearsals: Critical for reducing risk
What are cutover dress rehearsals?
Dress rehearsals are the most effective activities for managing cutover risks that you can undertake on a project.
In cutover dress rehearsals the team completes all the steps in the cutover runbook to ensure that it is complete and all timings are correct. The process takes place in an isolated environment. Desk-based reviews are no substitute for running cutover dress rehearsals.
Parallel runs
If you are implementing a new finance system, your plans should include parallel runs. There are options for this activity:
- Complete parallel runs in the dress rehearsal (or another isolated) environment before going live.
- Go live and continue to run the legacy system for a period of time.
The importance of documentation on an Agile project
The Agile Manifesto was created in 2001.
The Agile Manifesto describes the four principles of agile development:
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
- Working software over comprehensive documentation.
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
- Responding to change over following a plan.
Manifesto for Agile Software Development (agilemanifesto.org)
Many people misinterpret the principles, and these errors can have serious implications for projects. They mistakenly assume that the items on the right are not important (or don’t apply at all) on an Agile project, but their assumption isn’t correct.
The Agile Manifesto's principles prioritise the left items, but the right items are still included. They are important, and the degree of importance depends on:
- The complexity of the project.
- The type of project. (Does it include new infrastructure, dependencies with other teams and complex data mapping?)
- Scope of delivery.
- Number of people on the project and number of teams.
- The type of project.
- Third-party documentation requirements. For example, a project in a regulated environment.
- On the topic of development in a regulated environment, be sure to confirm that Agile will be accepted. Some regulators stipulate that development and testing must be separated.
- The contract negotiation requirements based on the scope of activities and responsibilities of third parties.
- Requirements for post-go-live documentation.
- Processes and tools definitely have a place in Agile. Test automation is one example.
It is important to prepare the appropriate level of documentation for your project, regardless of methodology.
How can SMEs implement IT project management without breaking the budget in 2026?
SMEs have ongoing challenges delivering IT projects within budget constraints. Robust project management is required to ensure successful delivery and minimise risk to the organisation.
Organisations are under pressure to update systems, increase efficiency and profits and remain competitive in a business climate that is undergoing rapid change. However, using expensive consultancies may not be viable. The good news for SMEs is that effective IT project management doesn’t require the budget of a blue-chip corporate.
SMEs and charity organisations can achieve successful project delivery by implementing holistic planning, appropriate tools, the correct methodology, critical actions and the right external support.
Do you provide training on JollyDeck?
On our online and instructor-led courses you’ll learn how to use JollyDeck to create professional material. It is designed to help business stakeholders and IT teams understand the following:
- JollyDeck basics. How to use this powerful, easy-to-use authoring suite to prepare high-quality, interactive learning material.
- Options for creating courses with JollyDeck.
- How to use your existing Microsoft Word®, PowerPoint® and PDF documents to create courses using JollyDeck.
- How to enhance course material generated by JollyDeck AI.
- Using JollyDeck Copilot AI to create images.
- How to use the standard collection of stock photos, slide layouts, templates and more to create professional, engaging content.
- How JollyDeck supports multiple languages.
- Ways to enhance the standard courses JollyDeck produces.
This training covers the key principles of content creation using one of Pathway IT Consultants’ courses as an example.
Do you have any free items?
Yes, we have some free items that we think you will find very useful. They include a cutover checklist, training requirement review, project initiation template and a free digital copy of the Pathway Project Management Toolkit.
Copyright Pathway IT Consultants Limited 2025-2026
Pathway IT Consultants Registered Office: Mansion House, Manchester Road, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 4RW
Company Number 6200503
VAT Registration Number 975 9277 52
enquiries@pathwayitconsultants.co.uk
Training locations in Milton Keynes and throughout the UK.
Images have been created using JollyDeck Copilot AI or they are stock images.
