Sitting on the ECITB’s award-winning Learning Experience Platform (LXP), the PMSG Academy, has been created for current and aspiring project managers in the engineering construction industry. 

The academy aligns to the APM Project Management Competency Framework.

The platform has been launched in two phases, enabling continued enhancement of content and resources within the second stage. 

The 27 courses in phase one sit within one of four categories that form the Association of Project Management’s (APM) framework. These categories are people and behaviours, planning and managing deployment, preparing for change and setting up for success.

The list of courses has been curated by a working group consisting of PMSG members, industry professionals and representatives from the ECITB’s LXP team.

Working group chair David Manson, business manager at Altrad Sparrows, said: “Project management as a discipline is something that some people move into without formal coaching or a common career path.

“There’s a wide breadth to the role of being a project manager, so it’s valuable to share knowledge and tools to help raise awareness of what the different skills entail.”

Sparrows added: “While the PMSG Academy does not provide a formal qualification, it will benefit those who work in projects, from helping new starters develop to reaffirming knowledge with existing project managers.

“The content we selected was broken down into the different project management competencies before being peer reviewed across a range of skills and competencies by
employees at Subsea7 and other members of the PMSG.”

Content for the PMSG Academy from the LXP’s library of more than 30,000 e-learning courses was reviewed by the working group. The group chose those that fit the APM competencies.

The peer review group that sense checked the content consisted of 12 employees at Subsea7, which provides offshore projects and services for the energy industry.

This group consisted of people with different levels of experience in project management, such as graduates, mid-level career professionals as well as experienced project managers with up to a decade of experience.

Craig Bean, project manager at Subsea7, was a member of the review group. Bean said: “As a project manager, it can be difficult to find time for training and development.

“The LXP’s bite-sized modules were easy to access, and I was able to fit these into my week without having to re-arrange my calendar.”

Bean added: “The LXP covers a broad range of topics and provided a good opportunity to refresh on aspects of project management that I hadn’t read up on in some time.”

Matt Knights, ECITB director of regional operations, said: “Ensuring the industry is equipped with skilled project managers is vital to ensure projects are completed on time,
within budget and to the expected quality of work.

“The PMSG plays an important role in positively influencing skills and competence development for project management and project leadership in the ECI.”

Knights added: “While the academy is just for in-scope ECITB employers initially we hope to be able to roll this out to the wider industry in the future.”