Tell us a little bit about your working relationship with BSI, how long you’ve been partnering with us and why you selected us initially?
A little over a year – and I have now engaged BSI for around three critical projects.
There was some ease internally to engage (due to an existing partnership) but supported this with reliability and quality of work… helped to solidify the working relationship for me. It was easy to engage with BSI for their services, and when this happened – we were given confidence that BSI was able to deliver in their proposed design approach (steps to get to the outcome) This was validated by the approach when we completed the project… Structure and detail in the proposal was clear and articulated how we were going to manage the engagement from BSI to deliver on the outcome.
What three words would you use to describe BSI’s team capabilities?
Flexible, Collaborative, Focused on Learning Design/Experience
What are some of the key learning projects and digital challenges you have had for us to solve?
In our first project we had a programme of existing content that needed to be contextualised (two separate four-day courses, a blended solution) needed to be delivered virtually. We’ve then moved on to a project about building facilitation skills and are also working on a blended digital induction project to re-design our approach for Risk and Quality team currently.
As a client, what has your experience been like working with us through the design and development process?
From the beginning, collaborative planning ensures we are all on the same page – we also see the value in putting in a lot of work in the early stages on a detailed high level design document to form the plan for the engagement.
BSI’s openness to working flexibly within the PwC environment, has meant content design, curation etc, has been really smooth and enabled us to easily work with our stakeholders. BSI’s adjusting of their project management approach underpinned this, ensured things are done within agreed timeframes and ensured open communication. This enables us to develop a more agile way of working (a hybrid approach was used) ensuring our two organisations were working together harmoniously.
How did BSI deal with setbacks, challenges, or bumps in the road?
Flexibility and communication whenever there were issues and being open and frank about it to come up with solutions. Looking at timelines and shifting plans as needed, to adjust to any challenges or unexpected issues, and ensure we delivered the outcome.
What would you say differentiated the BSI team from others you have worked with in the past?
Both Project management and managing stakeholders was really key to our success, and structuring the engagement with a lead designer, together with the project manager to keep things on track was really important. Maintaining flexibility was essential – and BSI’s ability to work within the google environment was a major differentiator.
Collaboration was another important element, there was a scenario where consultation was critical to the success of the project – is the content correct, is the design and approach fit for purpose and will it resonate with end users? Workshops that were facilitated upfront brought key stakeholders to the table, engaged them meaningfully, and ensured the end solution was elevated and really met everyone’s needs.
I appreciated the patience and flexibility through that process… and not being too caught up in one way of doing things, has allowed for the overall experience to be much better… An ability to work through ambiguity during the early stages of the process was a particular strength of the team.
What has been your biggest learning or highlight from working with our team?
Biggest success story has been the flexibility BSI offered in working in Google – and embracing this technology in workshops and through co-creating breakout rooms and using a facilitative approach to document a new approach.
Is there anything else you would like to mention?
It’s been an absolute pleasure working with BSI. If a potential customer asked about whether to work with them, they would have a strong recommendation from me.
Derick Brumley is Senior Manager, Assurance Business Learning at PwC