Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Students guidance and support all the way - its a requirement not an option.

We have found mbh students are keen to get in the classroom and learn new skills, tools, techniques and project management methodologies.

We often get the...

"WOW, that stakeholder analysis is simple and yet informative", "the network diagram has opened my eyes"  
"if only I had these tools when I was on the last project"
or 
"it's great to share experiences with people from other industries, they face the same issues we do".

Students thrive in this environment, bringing to the table all their knowledge and experiences, and absorbing new information. More often than not, they relate to having the same issues occurring on their projects, no matter what industry they are working in.

What happens once they finish face to face classroom activities?

At the end of the course students are always keen to get the assessments finished and say "we will get back to you within the month, I want to get this done and dusted!"

However, once out of that classroom, and back to their daily routines - assessments are not their priority, their work and home life comes first! Understandably, however sometimes there is confusion, as assessments are based on practical application of a work place based project- this aims to make the process a bit easier towards assessment completion. We want students to use their current knowledge, and introduce the new tools they have learnt, where applicable.

So, what's the issue with assessment completion?

Well, our experience at mbh training over the past 15 years, tells us, unless you engage with your students within 8 weeks of leaving that classroom, and organise a face to face meeting in their workplace, or regular phone hook ups- you will not get the assessment in the near future - maybe when the deadline date is close, and student syndrome rears it's ugly head, or not at all. 

The question I often ask is what can we do to get them through?

As students and companies commit to the training, as educators, and RTO's, we must provide that support, and actually take the time out to communicate to our students to assist them, answer questions, provide where possible assistance and samples. We need to undertake a collaborative approach, and get in touch with students, understand their business, and the types of projects they are working on. One size does not fit all in the land of projects.

Where we are able, if education is driven by the business, we should contact company HR managers, learning development partners and the like. mbh have found if we all work together to assist and encourage people to complete their assessment, they will get the qualification they are working toward.

Finally, if a student earns the qualification, we can see the value in improving their project management toolkits, they know they have put in the effort, and their work is recognised. As project management educators introducing traditional and new concepts to challenge the norm, companies will, over time, improve their methodologies and most importantly, find out what works for them and grow the project management maturity at an individual and company level.

As students - contact us, ask us to help, get that feedback - you deserve it.

No comments: