26 January 2006

FIFE Council Seeks to Improve Project Management Consistency

The ILX Group, the UK’s leading provider of PC based training, has agreed with Fife Council to provide a training package for its entire project management (PM) workforce.  The internationally accredited course was chosen as it would not only further develop and improve employee skills but also increase the productivity and consistency of the council’s numerous publicly funded projects. 

The appointment of the ILX Group links with the council’s desire to make e-learning more readily available to all employees via desk top PCs.  Previously employees taking such courses would have had to drive to the council’s head office and use one of the five designated computers.  The new project management package was made available on the intranet and is now accessible via any of the council’s 12,000 PCs. 

Already more than 30 employees have started the Association for Project Management Introductory Certificate (APM-IC) course and by negotiating an “unlimited user” option, the council’s target is for more than 100 employees to take the course in year one.  Cost savings will be achieved once an initial group of 40 employees is reached.

The course, specifically designed to be as interactive and user-friendly as possible, can be followed at the user’s own pace and at the convenience of their desks.  The “bookmark function” also allows employees to dip in and out depending on other work or time constraints.

The APM-IC training package is hosted by the ILX Group on a dedicated server and linked directly to the council’s network, ensuring there were no firewall issues and the implementation was supported by the ILX Group’s technical team.

John Arthur, organisational development advisor and head of e-learning for Fife Council, commented: “We aimed to bring a greater consistency and productivity to project management across the council.  As an organisation we are responsible for very large sums of public money and therefore believe it is crucially important that we manage the projects as effectively as possible and deliver them on time and on budget whatever their size.”

He continued: “By adopting this e-based learning solution we were able to cost effectively introduce the principals of project management to a wide audience and bring a greater level of consistency to our project management teams.”

Fife Council continues to use instructor led training for some of its more advanced courses, however it is now looking at the feasibility to extend the AMP-IC training to home based employees. 

For further information please contact (586) 203 8263 or sales@ilxgroup.com.