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Since 1999 Pace Micro
Technology have used Project Learning for Project
Management and Microsoft Project training. Paul
Boocock - Pace's Programme Manager, explains the
relationship...
In this case study:
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Background
- Pace, projects and Project Learning. |
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Requirement -
Course requirements and course customisation. |
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Outcome
- Course delivery and conclusions. |
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Background |
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Pace Micro Technology
plc develop and manufacture high-tech consumer
electronics, for digital broadcasters worldwide.
This is a highly customer-focused sector, which
makes use of very rapidly changing technologies.
To ensure that we remain the fastest to market, we
need our staff to have effective multi-project
management skills and to make consistent and full
use of Microsoft Project - our standard PM software
tool. At any one moment in time, we have many
concurrent projects (currently 50+ at time of
writing) sharing the same highly skilled and scarce
people. We require our Project Managers and
their Project Coordinators, to be able to make
professional decisions; aware of the impact they may
have upon their colleagues or on their own project
success. Planning, standardisation and
reflecting reality is the key to running our
business.
Our first experience of
Project Learning (PL) was their co-running of a
number of training courses in the summer of 1999.
This training formed part of a deliberate programme
to revive the planning and general management skills
that had become diluted by our huge rate of new
staff intake, and this allowed us to set a baseline
across the department for further improvements.
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"Planning, standardisation and reflecting reality is
the key to running our business." |
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Requirement |
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Late last summer [2000]
we recognised the need for further (very detailed)
advanced level software training, to relate the Pace
ISO9001 standards and the development process, to
the tools and methods used. I invited PL to
work with us in creating a tailored training
solution. PL's Andy Jessop and I worked
together to specify the course content, basing it on
their existing advanced course material and
incorporating within it, our standards, practices
and procedures.
Following approximately
30 man-hours of course development, we were able to
make the initial presentation to a number of
handpicked delegates (and myself). This
presentation was well received and allowed us both
to identify areas of rework in the training
materials (very, very slight) our goals (we reduced
slightly the quantity of material to cover) the
duration of the course (we made it a 20hrs
presentation) and the examples to be used (some of
the original Pace material was just too realistic -
and complicated). When you consider the amount
of material that we are talking about here, I found
this a remarkably good experience - well done Andy.
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"I
found this a remarkably good experience - well done
Andy." |
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Since then we have
successfully trained a further 40 managers
(including Departmental and General Managers) in
getting the best out of Project. Feedback from
them has been very encouraging (although the course
does work them hard) and we have expanded the
training's scope to include our subsidiary companies
in Cambridge, Bracknell and the USA. All in
all, the collaboration between PL and Pace has been
a great success; our managers are able to plan and
control their projects better and our MIS
information is enhanced, since the plans feeding the
information are more accurate and up to date.
We are currently [early 2001] working with PL to
update our managers to Project 2000 - a
straightforward exercise, which will help us get the
best out of the new software available.
I am sure that this
focus on effective planning and control of our
projects will help us retain the lead that we have
over our competitors." |
"I
am sure that this focus on effective planning and
control of our projects will help us retain the lead
that we have over our competitors." |
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