BAE Systems – Improved Forecasting & Corrective Action Planning Training
For Control Account Managers (Project Managers)

BAE Systems were contracted by the Department of Defence to deliver the parts of the Wedgetail AEW&C Project. Wedgetail would supply the Australian Defence Force with the capability to provide surveillance, air defence, fleet support and force co-ordination in defence of Australian sovereignty and national interests.  Being a major Defence procurement project, BAE Systems were required to adhere to validated Earned Value Management systems and processes including defined Variance Analysis reporting.  Both the Department of Defence and BAE recognised the need to improve the Variance Analysis reporting.

Core Consulting Group was engaged by BAE Systems to conduct four courses for Control Account Managers.  After some analysis and review it was decided a blend of planning basics, problem resolution and report writing was to be the focus along with a subtle cultural change.  Variance Analysis reporting was perceived by many to be primarily a compliance task, the CAMs didn’t appreciate that the report was indicative of problem identification and resolution.

In a class environment, the one day course was presented to four groups, in Adelaide and Sydney, with a blend of Project Controls, CAMs and Program Managers.  With a blend of hands on exercises, discussion and “how to” presentations, the participants understood the difficulty in interpreting a poorly completed report and how badly that reflected on themselves and BAE Systems.  Feedback from BAE was that after the training, the quality of the VAR reports and the supporting schedules improved dramatically.  The training was well received by the participants that gave possitive feedback.

Melbourne University, Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering - IT Project Management

Melbourne University first engaged Core Consulting Group in 2007 to run the semester 1 “IT Project Management” subject as part of their Master's level postgraduate studies.  The decision to find an external lecturer was taken after a poor feedback result in the previous year, mainly due to department lecturers not having the necessary experience or passion in Project Management. 

Core Consulting Group, through the efforts of Martin Vaughan, redesigned the lecture material, assignments and workshops, building in practical sessions, role plays and guest lecturers.  With extensive use of MS Project, the 65 students ran through a full project lifecycle, working in groups to apply the skills learnt in workshops and lectures.  Feedback from students was very positive and the student results were very good.

It was the first time the department had trialled an external lecturer and Melbourne University was very happy with the result.  Both CCG and Melbourne University valued the industry collaboration and CCG was again engaged for the subject in 2008 and 2009.
 

AIPM Assessment

Core Consulting Group is regularly engaged by organisations and individuals to complete assessments for  Australian Institute of Project Management CPPP, CPPM and CPPD Accreditation.