Turner and Townsend is one of the most known construction and program management consultancy in the world and in 2012, they embarked on an e-learning project management program. This program enabled Turner and Townsend professionals in project management for achieving international status with APM (Association for Project Management) qualifications. The aim was to increase and improve the qualification levels and standards of all project managers so that the consistent and reliable results of the company in the field of top quality project management were continued. These are the standards for which they are known globally and in the UK, and those standards were upheld. So far, the results show that a 95% pass percentage has been achieved by about 150 trained UK project managers who appeared for the APM PMQ exams (previously known as the APMP qualification).
Parallel Project Training (PPT) are delivering this excellent training programme in project management by Turner and Townsend and as this programme is already approaching its 2nd anniversary, the results have proven to be cost effective, pretty successful and extremely popular with the managers. The e-learning program includes an introductory session lasting for 1 day and an independent study session lasting for 6 days with support from conventional printed guides, active online community, phone support and e-learning resources. To finally prepare for the exam, another 1 day support session held where any concerns regarding the exam are addressed and clarification, if any, is offered. After this final session, the APM PMQ exam follows after a couple of days. The training is targeted at a wide range of project management professionals – from those with less to no experience to those with extensive experience but no formal educational qualification. Thus, everyone, no matter what their expertise and experience level is, has something to gain from this training program.
For the purpose of Professional Project Management (PPM) accreditation, the APM qualification is the qualification of choice for Turner and Townsend. This is because APM, with its commitment to project management, knowledge based approach, and in depth training provides a structured approach to the development of professional of project managers. In the months to follow, Turner and Townsend is be planning to seek Association for Project Management Registered Project Professional (APM RPP) status for its project managers more experienced project managers. This is seen as a precursory chartered status for project professionals.
Turner and Townsend’s Learning and Development coordinator, Adrian Maguire, commented that “previously, PPM was delivering certain ad-hoc courses for them but the 2012 e-learning program was focussed on their style of training and thus, has proved to be extremely successful”. He also mentioned how the model was also “tailor made for their project managers in such a way that they could learn flexibly, choosing a time that suited them with the e learning programme and spend minimal time away from their usual roles”. He lauded the project by pointing towards the great 95% APM PMQ pass percentage which was reflected in the form of better quality work, qualified project managers and the staggering amount of work they had won recently as a result of the training.
Most of the training sessions were delivered by Programmes Director at PPM, John Bolton, who explained that “the balance between e-learning and traditional printed study material allowed Turner and Townsend project managers to fulfil their day to day responsibilities and revisit specific topics as and when they could find the time”.
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