Between 2016 and 2018, Surrigo worked with Pearson to deliver submissions to the DfE so that new BTEC Nationals and Level 2 Technicals could be approved for inclusion in performance tables. We provided project and process management, as well as fulfilling a leadership role within the team, and all of the submissions were completed on time.
This was a significant undertaking. In total there were 136 qualifications that went through the process from set-up to delivery and subsequently to approval, working to tight deadlines that could not be moved in a high-stakes environment. There were also a significant number of internal stakeholders within Pearson as well as different teams managing different stages of the process.
In order to achieve the required outcomes, Surrigo opted to take a very hands-on approach, working closely with everyone involved in the project. Although all of the standard project management tasks such as scheduling, tracking, risk and issue management and reporting were carried out, Surrigo’s role also included defining and refining the process and building close relationships with Sector Managers in order to ensure that they had a very clear understanding of what was required and that actions were completed on time. This required Surrigo’s team to develop an excellent understanding not just of the business and its requirements but also of the needs of the individuals involved in order to ensure that everything ran smoothly. We also needed to adapt some of our ways of working in order to align with the working styles of the various teams.
Significant lessons were learned along the way and the process became more efficient over time as a consequence of this constant review, led by Surrigo, and it was this willingness to change and develop that was the key to the success of the project. This was an exceptionally complex piece of work, with multiple stakeholders and interdependencies as well as government-defined deadlines, and Surrigo’s approach was central to the qualifications being submitted on time and at the quality required to be approved by the DfE.