Leading project management company Acando is working to upskill the industry and the future generation of project managers through its wider education programme in 2012.
The firm, which has three offices in the UK, has put weight behind its drive to stamp out project failure by working closely with leading UK companies, industry bodies and universities to ensure current project managers continue to develop and students have the skills they need when they enter the industry.
Instrumental to Acando’s education programme is Acando’s Programme Manager, Dr Steve Rivkin, a Fellow of the Association for Project Management (FAPM) and a member of the APM Northwest Committee. 
He says: “As a company we are working hard to raise the bar for project management and stamp out project failure. While we are undertaking a lot of work within the industry through initiatives such as white papers, key note speeches and research, we know that the key is to start right at the roots and pass on best practice to aspiring project managers still in education.”
Earlier this year Dr Rivkin ran a workshop for students of the MSc course in Project Management at the Salford Business School, University of Salford. Although the central theme of the presentation was requirements management, the material covered many aspects of project management and included: requirements-driven design; project support environments; process integration; compliance to international standards; profiling regulatory requirements to specific industry sectors; whole lifecycle management and project and programme governance.
He also talked to students about some of the large projects he had worked on.
Dr Rivkin added: “While students cover a lot of theoretical material on their courses, hearing about the practical aspects of real projects is vital for them.”
More recently Dr Rivkin contributed to the APM’s Body of Knowledge (BoK). The essential resource provides information written by industry professionals which provides the foundation for the successful delivery of projects, programmes and portfolios across all sectors and industries. It is a sourcebook for both new and experienced project professionals offering common definitions, references and a comprehensive glossary of terms.
As an industry expert, Acando’s Steve Rivkin was a contributing author for the BoK Revision 6, co-authoring the Requirements Management section with Robert Buttrick (BT).
As part of its education programme Acando also sponsors students studying masters degrees and PhDs in project management, helps others with dissertations and offers work placements for rising stars to gain valuable on-the-job experience.
Managing Director for Acando UK, Phil Jacklin, says: “We’re dedicated to learning lessons and communicating them, not just internally as best practice, but to the wider project management community and future generations of project managers, whether through thought leadership pieces, white papers, industry talks or working partnerships with higher education bodies such as the University of Salford.”
Acando produces quarterly white papers on project management, which are now available through the company’s new website at www.acando.co.uk.
Acando is the UK’s largest project management company and is accredited by the APM. It is a global business management and IT consultancy company that identifies and implements sustainable business improvements through information enabled technology.
The group’s head office is in Stockholm, Sweden. The company operates out of seven countries in 19 offices: with a turnover of over 170million Euros. The company employs over 1,100 professional consultants across the group.
The UK arm of the organisation has been in operation since 2007 and has three offices located in Warrington, Frimley and Macclesfield.
The company works across a range of industries, but has considerable expertise in manufacturing, telecommunications, healthcare, financial, energy, consumer products, retailing and service companies.
Sounds like a very progressive organisation. Good to have you as part of the project accelerator community.