By Sheila Roberts
This has to be the most unusual time that I or others can remember. Never before has there been a complete closure not only of borders, but also most commerce and social contact. At the same time we have pressure on public services. It feels almost trivial to talk about projects in this situation but life will need to continue beyond the current situation and our projects and project teams will need to be in a positon to move forward positively.
Here are CUPE International we are aware that the government advice during this period is to keep busy and keep your mind active to avoid the side effects of working from home and social isolation. In this spirit we want to ensure you are aware that we can deliver all our courses and services using virtual approaches. This can be either live virtual working or e-learning. In case you are not aware of the differences they are:
Live virtual training – is using technology to link you to a trainer who is delivering the course as if you are in a classroom but online. We use go to meeting which is similar to others such as zoom. The materials are made available through our virtual learning platform and exams are also online. We can deliver every course which we have in this way. The exams are also all possible online, except the APM PMQ and the Facilitation Practitioner level. We can tailor this so that you have access to the e-learning after the end of the course and take the exam within an agreed period to enable you to consolidate your learning.
E-learning – is providing all the materials on our learning platform for you to be able to study at your own pace. This means that if you have other responsibilities you can study at times to suit you around these activities. You have the option to go for the minimum package which is the learning resources with the exam within 30 days; up to the full e-learning when we send out the official manual, provide all the online resources and also give you e-mail support from a fully qualified trainer. This is great when you need flexibility yet still want to gain the understanding (and qualification).
Live virtual workshops – we are now also offering live virtual workshops so that we can support your project team to undertake project planning, tackle difficult issues, learn new skills, agree ways of working or run a risk workshop. This works in a similar way to the live virtual training with a focus of group working using the collaborative tools available. Many projects will need to re-plan in this circumstance and this can be an ideal productive use of the time. We have some incredibly experienced and capable consultants who run these workshops. Add expertise to your team.
Online consultancy – our consultancy services can be utilised remotely, as we have globally for many years. We have provided remote centre of excellence support, PMO implementation, document reviews, method tailoring, project advisory services and earned value management outsourcing.
Using the tools available currently we can understand your requirements and respond to meet your needs. In these times of uncertainty let CUPE International support your project team to learn or develop the projects and programmes you are responsible for.