In Depth Training to Improve Work Methodology 1 / 2

Using the Deming Cycle, often without saying so, Pentalog committed itself in 2009 to three major areas of improvement for the company:- Improvement of its training methods;- The establishment of project management metrics;- The evolution of its production activities by integrating practices from CMMI references.In terms of training, Pentalog launched in early 2009 it’s first unprecedented challenge, that of setting up and deploying a common training curriculum for all its project managers; they were enrolled in a comprehensive 13 day program by groups, spread out over 3 years and presently 8 groups have already been identified.A small vade mecum (handbook) for project leaders, the first course of 6 days will have a common core, which aims to upgrade the general knowledge, vocabulary and common management practices; this will be for all company project managers.Then all the concepts discussed during the first 6 days will be studied in depth through additional modules from a half day to a day each, spread out over 7 days over the next two years and will be focused specifically on:- Risk management;- How to manage the project boundaries;- How to manage his team;- Quality assurance and testing;- Time management and personal organization;- How to conduct meetings and public speaking;- The specificity of MRI, the iterative development;- Measures and indicators.Our consultant Pierre de Thelin piloted the first course in the 2Q, for the French project managers and Moldovan project leaders; now Ludovic (project director), Cornel (CTO) and Aleth (Quality Director) have taken over the responsibility for the deployment of this in-house training program.This trio, which combines theory, field experience and practical discipline, aims at making the course more dynamic and inter-active which is required for this type of training, and applying specific business cases, adapting the material, over time, to our practical experience and our own feedback.Before the end of 2009, 20 Francophone project managers from Chisinau, Iasi and Brasov, 4 project managers and 4 branch managers will have completed the program … already 18 days of training multiplied by the number of trainers involved, and preparation time involved, this is by no means a small thing! Pentalog will not skimp on resources used, and this is just the beginning!And early next year, we will expand this program to include our English speaking project managers. We already know that about fifty people will be on the list for the first course in 2010 … Adding to these courses the supplementary courses that will be offered in 2010 … you can quickly see that this program is taking off rapidly!!If there are any internal volunteers, to help us, (amongst those who have completed the first course in 2009), the call for applicants is now open!And we have yet to talk about planning and implementation of technical training … that Cornel and the Incubator must organize, with the active assistance of our project managers and branch managers who will help in identifying the various needs in further training programs.Again, if we had volunteers, they would be happily accepted!