Project Management Training Case Study:

First Engineering invests in Project Delivery Excellence

First Engineering (FE) is a leading multi-disciplinary rail infrastructure company operating in the UK.  With a pure history of rail, which makes them unique, they are committed to providing their clients with a cost effective and quality infrastructure design and build solution, with safety as a paramount objective.  Critical to this multi-disciplinary capability is excellence in project management.

First Engineering’s focus on continual improvement extends to project management and includes training for employees and the development of processes, methodologies and supporting software systems.  John Logie, FE’s Business Systems Manager, explains “Project Management is the lifeblood of First Engineering, it is essential that we continue to maintain our clients’ confidence in our ability to deliver projects on time, within budget and to the correct quality.  As a business we recognise that having people with the right knowledge and ability in conjunction with the most advanced management systems is core to our continued success”.  To further enhance this project management capability, FE has been working with PMProfessional Learning (PMPL) Rail Division to develop project management processes, procedures and training.

Since 1989 PMPL, have been establishing an enviable reputation for the provision of project management training and consultancy services to a wide range of commercial and industrial sectors.  However, in 2001 they decided to create a dedicated Infrastructure Division to help promote excellence in the management of rail projects.  This involved taking their established approach and products, and adapting them to the specific challenges presented within these environments'.

The division has met with enormous success with many very prominent organisations such as Network Rail and TfL.  This experience in the Rail and Transportation sector was critical in First Engineering selection of PMPL as a partner. PMPL’s involvement was structured around the creation of specific deliverables including a bespoke Practice Manual, a Training Manual and an extensive training programme.

Where appropriate, PMPL choose to align their training content with the qualifications offered by the APM, most usually their APMP qualification, giving delegates the opportunity to secure professional accreditation.

As well as recognition of an individual’s ability, accreditation enhances confidence in their dealings with others and encourages further self-development.

However, alignment of training to such qualifications can lead to the offering of a standard product, regardless of the nature of the client.  It was important to both FE and PMPL that this would not happen and that the deliverables were specially tailored to FE’s precise objectives and circumstances.  This was ensured in a number of ways including the use of a special version of PMPL’s “Knowledge Assessment Tool” (KNASTO) to prioritise the course topics.

This tailoring led to the adoption of FE’s project lifecycle model throughout, and a strong focus on commercial and contract related topics.  In addition, PMPL were able to structure the courses into three-day modules scheduled to minimise the impact on FE’s ongoing business commitments.

The benefits of the approach are being felt by all involved. Paul Naybour, Director of Rail at PMPL explains “It’s always great to help an individual organisation to improve their performance but now our involvement throughout the procurement chain is such that we can achieve more.  In a number of instances we have had the opportunity to work with both the client and supplier to the same contract.  The neutral and constructive perspective offered to each party has helped them address and manage previously contentious issues.  We have had delegates raise this very scenario and comment that the training has helped.  That’s just fantastic because we know it is not just one party benefiting, indeed it’s not just the two. We know that the whole procurement chain is working better and that delivers real benefit to the rail industry, to taxpayers and ultimately to passengers.”