City of Roseville employees receive local training

ROCKLIN -- The City of Roseville Information Technology (IT) department embarked on formal project management training and selected the Sierra College Center for Applied Competitive Technologies (CACT) to design a 24 hour course tailored to its needs.

As the City of Roseville grows, employees are managing large business oriented technology projects, destined to increase efficiency for city employees and produce better results for residents and businesses.  Several complicated business technology projects are underway involving public safety, utility and planning departments, according to Carrie DeMuth, Project Coordinator/Program Management, City of Roseville.

"The goal of the training was to increase the IT department's comfort with a consistent project management methodology and use new tools to work effectively with other business units," said DeMuth. "Everyone has varied experiences so the training delivered by Sierra College CACT formalized our approach to project management. As a result, employees are familiar with uniform methods and standard practices."

To make the training relevant, training instructor Jes Vargas asked the staff to select a real project to work on during the sessions. "It was wonderful to pick an active project that was approved but didn't have a project management plan," said DeMuth. "The end result was that employees were able to immediately use the outcomes from the class exercises."

Members of the business units involved in the projects attended the workshops. By working collaboratively with their colleagues, staff gained a deeper understanding of the goals, opportunities and constraints that needed to be addressed. "This is just one example of the 'One City' philosophy; we all benefit by working together," said DeMuth.

Employees have new confidence in asking for what they need from the project manager explained DeMuth. "The training positively impacted on our culture. We didn't just learn new information, we are putting it to use. Employees are more proactive in communicating, collaborative in setting timelines and thoughtful in developing project management standards."

"This training was very beneficial to the IT department and other business units that participated. By working on a real project, the final outcomes were usable and relevant. The tools we learned definitely enabled our team to manage projects more effectively and collaboratively."

The Sierra College CACT is funded through the Workforce and Economic Development program of the California Community College Chancellor's Office.  Since 1992, the Sierra College CACT has provided customized training for organizations, manufacturers and technology companies throughout Northern California. Additional information is available at www.sierracollegetraining.com or contact Carol Pepper-Kittredge at 916-660-7801 or cpepper-kittredge@sierracollege.edu.