All In A Day's Work: Richard Collins, Training Consultant

Richard has been involved in consultancy and the delivery of Primavera software training for 15 years. Before that, he worked at Network Rail within the project controls environment as IT Senior Trainer, where he developed the skills and knowledge he now uses within RPCuk.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles...

As a trainer, I know I can find myself sent to all kinds of places. Often our courses and workshops are run from the office just outside Leeds; some are based at a training facility in London; many are held at the client’s premises, which can mean travelling all over the UK and even abroad – to wherever the delegates might be. Tina gives me the details – address, what I need in terms of manuals, laptops or anything else – and off I go.

On the 26th November 2019, she called to let me know that I am scheduled to deliver P6 Professional training course, starting on the 2nd December, to Pascall+Watson, an international architectural design practice with studios in the UK, Ireland and the Middle East. No planes or foreign travel for me this time, though, as the training is booked for London. It’s a three-day engagement to a maximum of 4 or 5 delegates and the company was looking to secure training at one location to avoid moving equipment (laptops) from one venue to another. That all sounds straightforward and a fairly normal arrangement; I live in London, so I don’t even need to book myself a hotel this time. I’ll take a taxi in from home in Cricklewood on the first morning, with all the laptops and manuals, book another for the return journey at the end of day 3 and then it’s an easy tube ride in and out each day and home comforts every evening. Perfect.

The next thing I received was a map of 2 locations, with the first day’s training scheduled at the company’s Chiswick Offices, and the second and third days at the offices in Blackfriars in the centre of London. The distance between the two is almost 10 miles and means travelling into central London, but never mind. The client’s staff are spread between the two London offices and if this works better for them, then we can work with that. 

But it gives me some logistical problems to ponder. In terms of transporting the equipment and training manuals, do I use my own transport on the first day in the hope I can park on the company’s premises and not on the roadside where parking is at a premium in Chiswick? Or do I order a taxi in the morning to take me along with the equipment and materials to the location of the first day’s training and another when training has finished on that day to take myself, the equipment and training materials back home at the end of the day? Client businesses and the delegates always have machines of their own, so it might seem an unnecessary hassle to be shifting computers around from A to B and setting them up for each new course when we’re working within a tech-savvy client environment, but it’s crucial that everyone on a course or workshop is working on the same version of the software, with the same database, so we always supply RPC laptops, fully loaded with a generic database that can be refreshed at the end of each course, ready for the next one. 

I was in no doubt I'd be taking the taxi option for training on the second day, as I would be travelling into the City of London, but I could leave the equipment there overnight and make the journey back home and in again the next day on the tube, because the third day of training would be in the same building, just on a different floor.

Normally for 3 days training, I would expect to setup equipment on day 1 and pack up the equipment at the end of day 3. Fortunately for this roaming engagement, it’s a fairly small group of delegates. I would only have 4 or 5 laptops to set up each time we change rooms, not the usual 8–10, which can be time consuming. 

The email to confirm training in one location didn’t arrive by Friday 29th November, so I planned for my two-centre gig and secured a 7.30am taxi for the Monday morning, allowing an hour to get to the offices in Chiswick and set up. I arrived at reception, signed in and waited for my host, who would help me with the equipment up to the next floor. It’s always fascinating waiting to meet the training delegates, as each group of people has its own dynamics and personality. Some groups like to chat and it can be hard work to keep them in line. Some companies have specific procedures that they must follow and we might need to tailor courses and workshops on the fly to accommodate or address those processes and how they can fit with the standard Primavera P6 solution. Sometimes delegates don’t quite have the foundation skills they need for the course they are on and I’ll need to back-track midway to cover off or refresh them on some of the basics. Expecting the unexpected and thinking on your feet all helps to keep the job interesting – and sometimes a bit too exciting!

The training was to be delivered in the IT Room. It’s really not much more than a large cupboard where they store equipment, and it’s freezing! But we won’t be disturbed and we’re only a small group – we can huddle together for warmth. As it turns out on this occasion, getting there early enough to allow this initial set-up time before the delegates arrive is really important, because there weren’t enough electrical sockets in the room, so my host went on the hunt for extension leads. The first day’s training went ahead successfully although the delegates – there were only 3 of them in the end – sat with their coats on to keep warm. 

For the second day’s training, I organised a taxi to pick me up at 7.30 to take me and the equipment to the second location: this time Blackfriars, in the heart of London. An hour or so later, according to the taxi's satnav we had arrived at the location. We’d come to what looked like a dead end down a mews: a really picturesque corner of old London, but no sign of an obvious office, so I got out of the taxi and went on the hunt for the address, which I found down what looked like an alleyway. Distance from taxi to front door approximately 100 yards and down a hill. I returned to the taxi driver, panting by this time, and explained that I was going to have to run back and forth collecting equipment and materials to leave them inside the doorway of Pascall+Watson as I couldn’t carry it all in one go and the driver couldn’t leave the taxi unmanned as he was waiting on double yellow lines. 

I was ready for a sit down by the time I’d got everything to the offices, but this is a listed building, so there aren’t any lifts! I had to carry the equipment and materials, bit by bit, upstairs to the next level to sign in at reception. Greeted with a smile I was shown the room where training is to take place, so I carried the equipment and materials into the room and set them up as I waited for the 3 delegates to arrive. The second day’s training ended on another successful high.

All I had to do now was carry the equipment and materials down two flights of stairs to the basement to set up ready for the third and final day’s training. All in a day’s work, as they say...