Our client had struggled with project management for several years and had purchased a PRINCE2 foundation training software package in an attempt to provide e-learning on an annual £40,000 pa licence (plus £90 per examination for each candidate project manager).  The software was awful, came with no manual and could not be accessed by staff because they had no sound cards in their PCs and no budget for the examination.

Our task was to review project management capability and make recommendations for improvement.

After reviewing the software we quickly recommended cancelling the contract (which was due for renewal) saving £40,000 immediately.  We then created PRINCE2 foundation level training in-house and delivered the course and learning materials to the organization’s learning and development team – training a trainer to deliver the course and supporting the first 3 courses until they had the confidence and skills to do it without our assistance.

The tailored training was a much better fit for the organization’s current level of maturity in terms of PPM and introduced the correct governance principles and processes needed to build confidence and improve performance.

By utilising existing staff for the training and creating a suitably rigorous in-house examination we significantly reduced the revenue cost of training staff and accelerated throughput – training 15 staff per month for the following 6 months using 2 days pcm of a trainer’s time on a salary of £22,000 pa.  Course attendees thoroughly enjoyed the training, recommended it to colleagues and most importantly understood and could apply it in their day to day work.