First 3months of CITB Funded Productivity Training: Training across Interfaces

Our consortium team, led by Berkeley Homes, reports on 3-month sprint' initiation of training pilot scheme:

Berkeley Homes, Hochtief and Sir Robert McAlpine, supported by Hoare Lea and Bennetts Associates have now completed the first of six sprints' associated with the CITB funded Training Across Interfaces to address issues in design management and construction planning.

The training was initiated with kick-off meetings between consortium partners, along with delivery partners Think Up and Hard Hat Training. The consortium put together a Project Charter, to capture and agree the aims, objectives and success criteria for the project. Delivery programmes were set out and agreed for the full project period, detailing input requirements from each consortium member. A collective review of project risks was undertaken, with discussion taking place around mitigation / avoidance of risks. The consortium progressed discussion around the Research Specification, agreeing in principle which measures would be best suited to assessing impact of the training on error avoidance, namely Requests for Information (RFIs) and culture surveys. Action points were agreed and circulated following the meeting, with detailed arrangements being made for sprint one activities and timeframes.

An R&D focus group followed, hosted by Sir Robert McAlpine, and fifteen industry experts and stakeholders convened to input into the design of the first training module for the Training Across Interfaces Programme. The focus groups discussed and agreed what would be relevant and appropriate learning outcomes and training content for each of the modules: M1 Design Scrum' training and M2 Construction Scrum' training. Together with GIRI /Think Up, the consortium started the process of producing the draft learning outcomes and framework. Requirements for supporting materials, video content and online resources were also discussed and agreed. Attendees completed some initial questionnaires, the results of which will be used to inform the design of a culture survey, which will be used to help measure the impact of the training on the cost/ volume of error.

Module 1 pilots: Following the R&D session, GIRI /Think Up produced the delivery script, powerpoint slides, learner materials, trainer materials and group activities. GIRI /Think Up delivered three initial pilots of the M1 Design Scrum' training module, with 29 attended the training in total. Each of the consortium members hosted a pilot session. To ensure the relevance and appropriateness of the training content to all future audiences, attendees were invited not just from the consortium member companies, but also from Hoare Lea (Engineering Consultants), Bennett Associates (Architects) and Weightmans (Construction Law).

Module 2 pilots: Following the R&D session, GIRI /Think Up produced the delivery script, powerpoint slides, learner materials, trainer materials and group activities. GIRI /Think Up delivered three initial pilots of the M2 Construction Scrum' training module, with 27 attended the training in total. Each of the consortium members hosted a pilot session. To ensure the relevance and appropriateness of the training content to all future audiences, attendees were invited not just from the consortium member companies, but also from Hoare Lea (Engineering Consultants), Bennett Associates (Architects) and Weightmans (Construction Law).

Following the research and development focus groups, N-genuity have been engaged to start designing the video content that will support the training modules. A brief has now been agreed with N-Genuity and they are now working with the consortium members and design team to create the supporting video materials.

Training and evaluation: Three pilot sessions of each of these first two modules have now been run (i.e. six in total) with each consortium member hosting a pair of sessions. Initial assessments were completed by trainees to establish baseline understanding prior to attending training. End assessments were carried out to test comprehension and movement beyond baseline following the training. Trainees were also asked to complete post training evaluation questionnaires to help assess the relevance and quality of the materials and training.

Over 70 attendees have received at total of 18hours worth of training. Feedback to these sessions has been generally positive with comments including:

Good course, more like this should follow.

Training on design management has been missing from the industry for a long time. This course is a good start at addressing this issue.

It has given me a renewed focus on the review of possible errors and I will try and bring the technique of the scrum into the management of my works.

Hard Hat submitted the CITB required package of evidence, which was approved in June 2018. The Consortium met on 29^th June for a formal Sprint 2 Kick Off meeting' to agree and progress with the project plans for Sprint 2 activities. In sprint 2, the design and testing of the Train the Trainer programmes will commence and modules M1 & M2 will be tested again once the evaluation from Sprint 1 has been fed into the design process.

The Project board/ steering group are scheduled to meet on 9^th July 2018 to fully review project progress and monitor any issues that may affect the project success going forward. The aim is that all training modules will be developed and completed by September 2019.