As a manager of several large government funded projects, I asked to be seconded to an organisation responsible for managing similar large regeneration government projects. What better place to observe and learn than with the Delivery Partner for the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA)!
On my first day I attended a meeting of the Equality and Inclusion team, which gave me a really good introduction to the team and also an overview of the roles they perform.
I was so pleased to learn that they all talked ‘my language’, and terms such as ‘performance indicators’, ‘targets’, ‘milestones’, ‘training plans’ and ‘equality’, all bore resonance to my day-to-day life at KCC both as manager overseeing the development of several large Skills Training Centres in Kent and working with the Building Schools for the Future team!
I was even more fortunate to spend two days on site at the Olympic Park talking with members of the team based there, and to have a tour of the site to see the exciting developments taking place. I was so impressed with the progress being made and the opportunities for local people to be part of the workforce on the site.
Everyone I met was extremely welcoming and took the time to explain in detail their roles, and the systems they use to keep everything running smoothly. I was very impressed by everything I saw and to observe what an extremely ‘tight ship’ the team members run so efficiently and effectively.
Of particular interest was the overview of the ‘Award’ monitoring system and the Quality Assurance system which closely monitors the performance of every project.
Of course, being located in Canary Wharf also had its added advantages!
Thank you again to everyone involved – especially Kevin Bowsher CLM and Deb Sen from Education for Enterprise who set it all up for me!
