Case study
Client: Save the Children UK
Sector: Charity
Benefits Experienced by the Client:
Effective Project Delivery
Save the Children’s capacity for project management has dramatically increased and is now supporting some very ambitious projects. Their line managers have commented on the quality of work produced by previous delegates.
Informal mentoring and additional facilitation have enabled some key projects to get off to a flying start.
Practical Project Management is still a firm favourite in the Learning Development training schedule.
Strategic Objective:
Deliver More Results with the Same Resources
Save the Children UK has a strategic objective to deliver dramatic change for children without a dramatic increase in costs.
They recognised that delivering effective projects would form a key tool in their approach and wanted to increase their project management capabilities in head office and in the field.
The Solution Provided:
The Save the Children Practical Project Management Course
- A simple project management methodology tailored to their needs
- A 2 day workshop
- A project management handbook (containing practical hints and tips)
- Flexible templates for key activities
The Practical Project Management course introduces the organisation’s straightforward project management approach and provides a safe environment to learn and practice new skills. Delegates include managers and staff.
Courses are booked as development needs are identified, allowing a flexible schedule, and courses are nearly always full.
A 1 day practical MS Project workshop was also developed for those delegates who wanted to use this tool to support their projects.
Working together:
The client’s objective as a project
The client wanted a simple project management methodology, supported by a course or workshop and a handbook, that would be easy to use and would have an immediate impact.
As a global organisation it was important to consider the range of project management methodologies being used around the world, as well as the terminology to ensure that the language used would enable project teams within Save the Children to communicate effectively with other organisations when working on combined projects.
Having established the requirements, a simple 5 stage gate approach was proposed, with language based on the organisation’s own terminology and the Project Management Body of Knowledge (which was also the basis for the Learning In Non Governmental Organisations methodology).
The drafting of the course and handbook used Emma’s experience as a Project Manager for Save the Children and liaison with a cross section of the staff at Save the Children and was tested with a group of willing participants in the head office in London. This enabled the timings of the workshop and the content of the handbook to be improved and the delegates reported that the course had benefited their everyday work as well as their projects.
The course was put through another trial in a country programme before being fully integrated into the UK Learning and Development schedule.
The Delegate Experience:
Practical Learning and Immediate Impact
“Really enjoyed this course – will be able to use the tools I have learned straight away.”
“The course should be given to all staff as it is also relevant to our day to day work.”
“Much better than the previous Project Management course!! More practical and user friendly.”
“This was a very useful, interesting course. Obviously it takes time and experience to be a good project manager, but this course has given me some tools, templates and the confidence to attempt (and look forward to!) managing a new project.”
“The underlining approach of the facilitator was great - not rocket science - but hints for practical use.”
Delegates support each other and share their learning with colleagues across the organisation.
The Maven Project Team:
Knowing the Organisation and its Needs
Emma Altman has considerable experience in strategic projects and programme management and had worked for Save the Children in a previous role. She has also experienced introducing a new project management methodology in the central departments of a multinational company in her project and programme management career. Emma’s philosophy is; “People are much more interested in something that they can already see working.”
The Next Chapter:
Taking Project Delivery to a New Level
Save the Children are still striving to deliver more change for children with the recession causing increased pressure on their funding – and after reviewing current working practices have now turned their attention to senior management development in this area. We have agreed delivery of a workshop for senior management, and are considering commissioning a review of project management in their organisation to see where they can make further improvements.
