For a number of UK businesses, small or large, 2020 has been a year filled with adversity and challenges. However, there have been a few silver linings within this new era of remote working and lockdown measurements. At JB Associates, we have been able to spend more time planning and organising, therefore analysing whether our ways of working are the most productive practices possible. We have also spent more time refining our tech offerings; we re-branded the JB eDocs and reached the exciting stage of launching them on mobiles!
Perhaps the most beneficial silver lining of such a strange year has been the opportunity to learn new skills and expand our industry knowledge. Whether part of furlough, or simply as an extra alongside their current projects, many of the JB Associates team have dedicated time to developing their skills over the past few months. Here are some of the ways we have seen Team JBA upskill in 2020…
One of our Senior Quantity Surveyors used time on furlough to add an entirely new role to his construction skillset. Through training as a Principal Designer, he is now able to take the lead in planning, managing, monitoring and coordinating health and safety during the pre-construction phase of a project. Therefore, the JB Associates team can now provide yet another essential service in our cradle-to-grave offerings, while this Senior QS/Principal Designer can adjust his roles and responsibilities according to the best fit for his clients.
JBA Project Managers have also been up-skilling across the recent months. Enrolling in PRINCE2 training and completing the certification via e-Learning and virtual classrooms, we are thrilled to be supporting our Project Managers through further qualifications. PRINCE2 is a process-based method for effective project management, standing for PRojects IN Controlled Environments. It is recognised all over the world.
It is important to mention that it is not simply our most experienced professionals that are developing new skills and roles. As a company we understand that the younger generations represent the future of construction and therefore we employ plenty of bright and ambitious young professionals. We are proud to be supporting a number of these individuals through part-time university degrees as well as providing on-the-job training and mentoring. Starting from September, two of our apprentice team have embarked on new qualifications – one undertaking an HNC Apprenticeship to bolster his understanding of Project Management, another is starting a part-time Building Services Engineering degree in London.
Our final team member to be upskilling in 2020 is our Marketing Manager, who has been utilising LinkedIn Learning to develop a better understanding of Marketing Data and Analytics. Through a number of Data Science learning paths, she has been able to build skills in the visualisation of all the social media, website and campaign marketing data across the recent months. LinkedIn provides a fantastic resource for a number of industry professionals and it is particularly ideal for a time when e-Learning takes precedence.
Well done to all of the JBA team that have done their best to upskill in the last 12 months! Let’s carry on the good work into 2021.
