Introducing Best Practice Project Management in Worthing Borough Council's IT Dept
Worthing Borough Council’s Requirement
Worthing BC’s IT Department, like those in many other local authorities, is undergoing a culture change. The technical emphasis is reducing as applications become increasingly standardised and, with an increasing amount or work being undertaken with strategic partners, the trend is for managing projects through SLAs and Service Specifications. Training was required to help Worthing’s technically oriented IT staff broaden their skills to suit their new, more project-focused, environment.
WPM’s Involvement
WPM was asked to provide training to give Worthing’s IT staff a broad understanding of best practice in Project Management in the context of the local government environment.
WPM Delivered
A two day on-site course on the Principles of Project Management. All key Project Management concepts were covered without going into the detail of any particular methodology. This enabled the original objectives to be kept in sight and not be clouded by detail. The level of the course was suited to all Worthing’s IT staff - there was no need to be selective as to who attended.
Benefits
- The course encouraged a more flexible approach to working, considered essential for meeting the overlapping demands of the key business drivers - Best Value, Electronic Government and Performance Monitoring
- The course put into context the importance of a systematic approach to ensure estimates are as accurate as possible, an increasingly important aspect of the Department’s work
- By having an on-site event there was minimal disruption to the Department’s everyday functions
- All the staff could be trained cost-effectively
- Everybody enjoyed it!
Summary
Just like the private sector, Local Authorities need to estimate the cost and duration of projects; the private sector to ensure profitability, the public sector to ensure efficiency and budgetary control. In both cases effective Project Management is key as, whatever the size of a project, there are always cost and time constraints. Above all, as public servants, local authorities are accountable and structured Project Management is a key tool for minimising risk.
