Project Management E-Learning Academy Developed for Engineering Construction Industry

The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board’s (ECITB) Project Management Steering Group (PMSG) has rolled out a suite of e-learning content to support the development of project management skills in industry.

The PMSG Academy, which sits on the ECITB’s award-winning Learning Experience Platform (LXP), has been developed for both current and aspiring project managers in the engineering construction industry (ECI) and aligns to the APM Project Management Competency Framework.

The 27 courses rolled out fall under one of four categories that form the Association of Project Management’s (APM) framework.

These categories are:

• People and behaviours
• Planning and managing deployment
• Preparing for change
• Setting up for success

To ensure all content is fit for purpose, the list of courses was curated by a working group made up of members of the PMSG, industry professionals and representatives of the ECITB’s LXP team.

The PMSG is an industry-led group that drives improvements in project management capability, competence and leadership across engineering construction sectors.

Working group chair David Manson, Business Manager at Altrad Sparrows, said:

“Project management as a discipline is something that some people move into without formal coaching or a common career path.

“There’s a wide breadth to the role of being a project manager, so it’s valuable to share knowledge and tools to help raise awareness of what the different skills entail.

“While the PMSG Academy does not provide a formal qualification, it will benefit those who work in projects, from helping new starters develop to reaffirming knowledge with existing project managers.

“The content we selected was broken down into the different project management competencies before being peer reviewed across a range of skills and competencies by employees at Subsea7 and other members of the PMSG.

“The positive feedback we received helped reinforce that the content is accessible, engaging, intuitive, easy to navigate, relevant and appropriate, while aligning with project management standards and frameworks.”

The peer review group which sense checked the content was made up of 12 employees at Subsea7, which delivers offshore projects and services for the energy industry.

This group was made up of people with varying levels of project management experience, including graduates, mid-level career professionals and senior project managers with up to 10 years’ experience.

Craig Bean, project manager at Subsea7, was one of the 12 in the review group. He said:

“As a project manager, it can be difficult to find time for training and development.

“The LXP’s bite-sized modules were easy to access, and I was able to fit these into my week without having to re-arrange my calendar.

“The LXP covers a broad range of topics and provided a good opportunity to refresh on aspects of project management that I hadn’t read up on in some time”.

The PMSG brings together employers and professional bodies to share best practice and support the delivery of targeted initiatives to improve project delivery performance.

This includes working with the ECITB to support its Project Management Mentoring Programme (PMMP), Chartered Project Professional (ChPP) Programme and Project Management Conference.

Matt Knights, ECITB Director of Regional Operations, said:

“Ensuring the industry is equipped with skilled project managers is vital to ensure projects are completed on time, within budget and to the expected quality of work.

“The PMSG plays an important role in positively influencing skills and competence development for project management and project leadership in the ECI.

“The PMSG Academy will prove a valuable information resource for project professionals at all levels in the ECI. The flexible nature of the content means it will be used by organisations for self-directed learning, as part of a structured programme or embedded into project or role onboarding.

“While the academy is just for in-scope ECITB employers initially we hope to be able to roll this out to the wider industry in the future.”