As the agency designed to bring Victoria’s planning, local government, environment, energy, suburban development, forests, emergency management, climate change and water functions into a single division, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) needed external support for project management capability.

Here’s how PM-Partners delivered tailored project management training to help DELWP become a high-performing agency.

Highlights

• DELWP needed project management capability training to reach the goals set out in their DELWP 2020 strategy.
• PM-Partners created a custom training and capability package that focused on the DELWP project lifecycle.
• PM-Partners delivered an open and engaging style of training that resulted in 77% of attendees saying the material was either ‘fully’ or ‘mostly’ valuable to their role within the agency.

Customer background

DELWP takes on multiple functions in order to strengthen connections between the environment, community, industry and the economy. The agency is committed to supporting Victoria’s natural built environment to ensure not just economic growth, but also liveable, sustainable and inclusive communities that are resilient to the impacts of climate change.

The challenge

DELWP’s senior executive team identified the need to develop their project management capability in order to deliver the goals set out in their DELWP 2020 strategy.

DELWP 2020 is the strategy that guides the department on how it delivers water, energy, environment, fire and emergency management, climate change, planning, suburban development and local government services in an integrated way. It is regularly reviewed to ensure the agency’s work aligns with government priorities.

Because adaptability, planning and efficiency are critical components of running any number of projects across its multiple portfolios, DELWP sought out the support of project management experts PM-Partners to deliver capability training to help the agency reach their core goals.

How PM-Partners helped

PM-Partners worked closely with DELWP to understand their pain points and their long-term needs. Armed with this data, they created a custom training and capability package to boost the agency’s fundamental project management skills. ‘Project Management Fundamentals’ focused particularly on the DELWP project lifecycle and how, through the use of their integrated project management (IPM) system, the agency could manage projects effectively and report appropriately.

The purpose of the training program was three-fold:

1. To build or consolidate a fundamental understanding of project management.
2. To understand the DELWP project lifecycle and key governance requirements.
3. To identify techniques, templates and tools to manage, control and deliver projects.

This comprised 38 training sessions attended by approximately 650 staff from all agency groups.

Outcomes delivered

PM-Partners group worked with its team of knowledgeable, experienced facilitators to provide an open and engaging style of training, with some internal pre-work required by attendees.

Attendee feedback noted the experience of the facilitators, as well as the format of sharing ‘war stories’ – these helped individuals learn through real-life examples from the diverse range of project management experience in the room.

Thanks to this comprehensive training, DELWP narrowed the project management capability gap that senior staff had initially identified. The program also brought awareness to the use and benefit of tracking projects in IPM. This resulted in a common feedback trend among participants who now have an appetite for further knowledge/training of Sycle – the department’s integrated online system designed to manage business performance, risks, audits and projects.

“Project Management Fundamentals was well presented by PM-Partners. It was run at a good pace while giving a comprehensive overview of project management with worthwhile practical exercises in a range of groups. We appreciated the opportunity to train as a group and collectively reflect on the challenges we face as an agency, and to then find practical solutions that suit our organisation and functions specifically. It gave many of our team greater confidence in applying the broad principles and methodologies to their everyday work.”
– DELWP training attendee

To find out more about improving your organisation’s project management capability contact us or call 1300 70 13 14 today.