Teams from TechnipFMC, Subsea 7, Worley & Schlumberger were the prize winners at the 3rd Virtual ECITB ACTIVE Cup held online delivered by Cranfield University’s School of Management. Worley took the prestigious winning place in a very closely fought competition.
The teams took part in the high-pressure project management competition, where teams oversee a simulated construction project. This year’s scenario saw teams of five deliver a high-tech environmental monitoring centre along an industrialised stretch of South American river to a fixed price, negotiating loans and working under intense time pressure.
Due to Covid-19, the competition was again online with teams participating from all over the country to take the coveted trophy back to their companies. This presented different challenges but demonstrated even greater collaboration between the teams during the 4.5 days of delivery and competition.
Chris Claydon, ECITB CEO, said: “Project management competence is the absolute bedrock of effective delivery of projects in our industry. Being able to forecast completion dates and the cost of a project is what keeps a project on track or enables people to make contingencies. I am pleased to see how well this high pressure, immersive training activity works in a virtual environment.”
Organised by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), the ACTIVE Cup is run in collaboration with and hosted by Cranfield School of Management. Now in its 28th year, the ACTIVE Cup is just part of the ECITB’s wider project management training programmes aimed at raising skill levels within the engineering construction industry.
Dawn Thompson, ECITB Senior Account Manager, said: “Running a project is not for everybody, but everybody should understand how a project is run, and that is what the ACTIVE Cup teaches industry.
“Our companies tell us this is one of the best ways of developing their staff – some even have it written into their training plan for staff for their graduate employees. With so many glass trophies in board rooms around the country, combined with the fact that some companies having won the ACTIVE Cup nine or ten times, there’s always plenty of competition.”
This year’s top prizes were shared by Worley, TechnipFMC, & Subsea 7 while the team from Schlumberger took the most improved accolade for their excellent performance.