Learn how training and culture work together to help your people master Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) and Predictability Thinking™
It is impossible to deliver a predictable capital project without well-trained people. In the complex universe of capital project delivery, competency is the undisputed king. This is why top companies compete for the very best talent, and why they invest millions in training and development.
But if competency is king, then culture is queen: An unheralded but equally powerful influence on your ability to deliver on-time and on-budget. Even the best and brightest can be brought down by a toxic culture, and conversely, a healthy culture will improve the performance of your entire team.
If you want to deliver a predictable capital project, the king and queen must rule together. When an organization embarks on a journey to predictability, training is almost always the first step. It is equally essential, however, to ensure that your newly trained team members will return to an environment that is receptive to and supportive of their new skills. If your internal culture is resistant to change, then the money you invest in training will be for naught.
If your internal culture is resistant to change, then the money you invest in training will be for naught.
Here’s what it boils down to: You must give your people new skills, and you must teach them how to apply those skills in the real world. Anybody can learn Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) on paper, but putting it into practice is an entirely different kettle of fish, as anyone who has tried will tell you. At Concord®, we teach your team members to do new things, but we also teach them how to think about how to do those things in the context of their own workplace, with its unique culture and colleagues.
Learning To Do vs. Learning To Think
Fundamentally, we believe that training isn’t just about step-by-step instructions, it’s about learning how to think. This is why we deliver free webinars and publications — we want to transform the industry by helping you and your team think about how new processes fit into what you’re currently doing. We call this Principled Project Management training.
Here’s an example. Imagine you’re a project manager, and you’re implementing AWP in your organization for the first time. You must, of course, understand how AWP works, and you need to understand the role of a project manager on an AWP team. But that’s not enough. It’s absolutely critical that you think about what you will need to change about how you do your job on a day-to-day basis. What work and communication habits will you need to develop in order to facilitate predictability-driven collaboration on your team? Equally important: What are you doing now that might undermine your efforts?
Leverage Training To Drive Cultural Change
It should go without saying that any training must support your strategic objectives, and for most capital project organizations that means every dollar invested in training is an investment in your capacity to deliver safe and predictable projects.
It’s also possible to leverage training to drive cultural change. Your most ambitious people want more training, and the increasing availability of engaging, interactive, remote training opportunities makes it easier than ever to give it to them. New online training modules are short, focused and typically consumed on the job, providing an extraordinary opportunity to apply new skills immediately.
In our own online training sessions here at Concord®, we have found that the emerging acceptance of remote learning helps your best people feel as though they are truly a part of the capital project organization’s journey to achieving safety and predictability. And they are.
If you’re looking for assistance in training and change management, the Concord® team is here to help. Contact us today.
