Basildon Council, located in the United Kingdom, serves a population across Basildon, Billericay, and Wickford. With 42 elected members representing 16 wards, the council is committed to delivering good governance, as outlined in its ‘Local Code of Corporate Governance.’ In response to CIPFA’s (The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) 2016 framework, Basildon Council emphasized optimizing outcomes, enhancing public accountability, and developing staff capacity and capability.

In early 2021, Basildon Council restructured and expanded its PMO to support the delivery of the council’s corporate strategic portfolio. The PMO identified a critical need for specialist project management training to establish a consistent skill baseline across the team. Wellingtone was selected to deliver a customized, APM-accredited training course training course to 75 staff members over nine months.

Overview

Customer

Basildon Council

Products and Services

Customised Project Management Training

APM Accredited Training

Industry

Local Government

Key Benefits

• An introductory course, fully customised to the PMO’s methodology and ways of working.
• 75 delegates trained so far, with a waiting list for further courses.
• APM Accreditation to reinforce course content and support professional development.
• An emerging project management Community of Practice, initiated by delegates.
• Five-star feedback for the course content and quality of delivery.

A Bespoke Approach, Aligning Course Content to the Council’s Ways of Working

The pair wanted a training provider who could adapt to their PMO’s circumstances, Alison explains. “We are a comparatively small council with around 900 staff, but we recognize that the world of work is changing. We wanted to prepare the organization for an enhanced focus on project delivery, to support our Local Code commitments. We were also moving to Microsoft Dynamics and Microsoft 365.

Our research suggested that Wellingtone, as a Microsoft Gold Partner, would align well with the IT transformation agenda as well as our training needs. So, we approached them with our brief, and they quickly understood what we were trying to do. In my experience, project management demands a wide range of skills beyond simply understanding and applying frameworks. For example, elected members review and decide on all business cases in our environment, so skills like effective communication and stakeholder management are important. Additionally, we a bespoke approach aligned to our thinking and to our PMO’s methodology. Wellingtone were happy to work with us to adapt to those priorities.”

The council has a five-stage minimum requirement for all projects, from our Project Initiation Document (PID) through to detailed delivery plans and milestones, closure and lessons learned. We wanted to equip our people with a confident understanding of those stages and to show them how our PMO and Risk Management Team can support and guide them. We also wanted to offer APM Accreditation–both to reinforce delegates’ confidence in what they had learned and to support their professional development.

Louise Evans, Programme Manager, PMO

Customized Project Management Training

Wellingtone customized their ‘Running Successful Projects’ introductory course and attached the APM PFQ (Association for Project Management Project Fundamentals Qualification). “Wellingtone assigned a Senior Training Consultant who worked with us throughout the program,” Alison says. “This ensured a consistent approach and messaging, plus our consultant took care of all the exam logistics for us. We found Wellingtone’s approach to be extremely flexible. For example, at our request they shortened the course from four days to two and a half, to avoid overloading our people. They also switched the agenda so that, instead of taking the APM qualification followed by a best practice module, they delivered that module first to ensure that delegates were confident about tackling the corresponding section of the exam. Their course content gave our delegates the skills and ways of working they needed, not just in project delivery, but in service delivery and BAU as well.”

Creating a Community of Practice to Promote Continuous Improvement

Cohorts of eight to ten delegates received training over a total of nine months. Before starting, the PMO collaborated with Wellingtone to create a buzz around the training, resulting in an enthusiastic uptake. “We are a small, friendly council, so our PMO was able to engage with people organically to promote the training’s value,” says Louise. “Wellingtone added some lovely touches, like sending out the training pack in advance complete with sweets and gifts that people really appreciated. Overall, we achieved excellent buy-in and feedback. I also attended to represent the PMO. It enabled me to relate the course content to real-life examples and our ways of working. As a PMO, we can help and support staff. In a virtual environment during Covid, that reinforced the message that the PMO’s door is always open, regardless of whether we are co-located or working remotely.”

Moving Forward

The course triggered another initiative: establishing a Community of Practice. “That idea came from the delegates themselves. The first few sessions were well attended, but we paused the initiative to accommodate other priorities,” says Louise. “We aim to relaunch it this year. It feels like the right time, as our PMO is moving to become more of an assurance function. So, we developing day-to-day project management but still stepping in where extra support is needed. The Community of Practice will allow members to share experiences and ideas, giving them a safe space to reflect on lessons learned and continuous improvement opportunities. We were oversubscribed for the original course, we have a waiting list for further sessions, and we can see the impact of the training on our staff’s day-to-day work. Now, we’re exploring how else Wellingtone might support us, which speaks volumes about the quality of their service and involvement.”

We had five-star feedback for the training itself and it has been a fantastic experience. Wellingtone is extremely knowledgeable, but also flexible and customer-focused. There was nothing they couldn’t do for us. I would say to anyone seeking training of this sort, there is no need to look any further!

Alison Sadik, Corporate Program Manager, Transformation