Aptima Creates New Business Opportunities with
Project Management Training from Boston University
Corporate Education Center

With its unique ability to integrate technologies with human competencies, Aptima, Inc. relies on the distinctive academic education of its employees to provide solid, scientifically-based solutions to large commercial and government customers. Recently, as the company was growing, the number of projects to manage was increasing rapidly. The company's research scientists, psychologists, and mathematicians, with primarily academic backgrounds, sought professional development education to help them manage these new projects and capture new business. Aptima partnered with Boston University Corporate Education Center to help these professionals gain vital project management skills.

A Pioneer in Human-Centered Engineering
Aptima provides sociotechnical solutions to improve organizational performance through a unique systems approach. The company engineers the structure and processes of an organization to make effective use of new technology through its scientific understanding of human behavior and performance. By combining social science theory with expert technical knowledge, Aptima provides companies as prestigious and as varied as Boeing, Boston Children’s Museum, Massachusetts General Hospital, The World Bank, NASA, Lexis Nexis, and Clemson University with important solutions that improve company performance.

Ranked as one of Boston Business Journal's 50 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in Massachusetts last year, Aptima employs more than 70 research scientists, cognitive systems engineers, industrial and organizational psychologists, mathematicians, software engineers and other professionals.

Challenge to Manage Growing Number of Company Projects
The company was growing steadily, which created larger and more challenging projects to manage. Most Aptima employees have strong academic credentials and expertise and little formal project management training, yet they were increasingly responsible for managing projects with complex technical components, intensive scheduling needs, and ongoing customer interaction.

Company employees, after discussions about professional development opportunities, zeroed in on project management skills as a priority. They wanted more knowledge, skills, and tools to successfully lead and manage projects on time and on budget. Aptima executives agreed that this critical skill of project management, which can be applied to any industry at any size company, could help the company develop products and services faster, improve project quality and timeliness, create a stronger team, and better position the firm in the marketplace. By providing project management training to employees, Aptima’s goal was to develop its own project management processes to standardize across the company and eliminate crisis management.

Aptima Goal: Train Every Manager
"Our goal was to train every manager at Aptima in project management, to provide them with these essential skills to help them better define, plan, and manage project scope, resources, and time," explained Daniel Serfaty, president and founder of Aptima.

Previously, Aptima relied on informal coaching and mentoring techniques, and occasional outside seminars, to provide employees with new skills and training, but sought a more complete and consistent training and education approach that was tailored to their unique needs.

An employee-led committee researched professional development options. Boston University Corporate Education Center met Aptima's first goal of working with a university-based program, an important factor because most of the company's employees have advanced degrees and place a great deal of trust in university programs and academic legitimacy. The second critical factor that Boston University met was the customization and modularity required. Because the types of projects at Aptima are a blend of innovation, idea creation, and software implementation, project management is different than for a typical software company. The customized content, delivery, and instruction from Boston University were the most important factors for Aptima.

Boston University Corporate Education Center is a charter member of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI®) global corporate council and the only university represented on the council. Boston University is also a charter Global Registered Education Provider through PMI. The University’s project management curriculum is compliant with the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) Guide, a collection of best management practices for project management. In addition to preparing project managers for certifications including Project Management Professional (PMP®) and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®), Boston University offers a wide variety of project management courses and certificate programs, and its curriculum can be customized to meet the specific development needs of customers.

The Boston University Corporate Education Center Solution
Boston University and Aptima designed a project management certification program that included 24 hours of courses in five modules. The courses were held in the Boston University Waltham facility, and attended by software developers, research scientists, psychologists, and more Aptima professionals, managers from across the company. As Serafty noted, Aptima employees are well-educated. In one learning group alone, 14 people had PhDs and the others had masters' degrees.

During the first program, 15 individuals earned a certificate in project management. That was followed by another 20 people who took a time management course. With very positive responses from attendees, plans are in place for the project management program to be offered in the fall again, on a twice a year schedule. Aptima expects also to move on to new curriculum.

Employees feel they are benefiting from the "hands-on" way the courses are presented. Boston University Corporate Education Center instructors are real-world practitioners experienced in business management and in their specific fields of expertise. All instructors are PMP certified, and many hold additional professional credentials and advanced degrees.

The Aptima employees are gaining numerous skills from the Boston University program, among them better organizational methods and improved time management.

"Everyone at our company is extremely busy. Learning proven methods to manage a heavy workload and still make a project successful is extremely beneficial to our people and our company,” noted Serfaty. “This project management training has given them greater confidence to manage projects, sort through information overload, put teams together, and prioritize."

Better Project Management, More Business for Aptima
Serfaty reports that his company's best business development strategy is a well-run project.

"When a project is successful, it is easy to get repeat business from that customer," he observed. “When we have a new customer, it is important to maximize their satisfaction with us, so that they too become a repeat customer. We want to have the right priorities, provide on-time delivery, and over deliver on content for all of our projects."

He sees improved skills among his staff and better teamwork because people now have a common frame of reference and common language. Project planning and work quality is improving, as is customer and employee satisfaction.

"With assistance from Boston University, we are able to provide more deliverables on time and on budget, and we are developing new business" Serfaty said. "I’m very satisfied with the project management training program from Boston University Corporate Education Center."

About Boston University Corporate Education Center Boston University Corporate Education Center offers award-winning programs in business, project management, process management, leadership, and information technology. Boston University provides customized corporate training solutions, instructor-led classes, and online training programs. For more information, go to www.BUtrain.com, or call 1-800-BU-TRAIN (288-7246).

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Aptima Learns from the Best
Boston University Instructors have:

Five years of experience (minimum) managing large, complex projects.

Three years of experience (minimum) managing project portfolios and developing business justification for projects.

Experience in at least two industries, typically IT, financial services, manufacturing or other "project-centric" industries.

A track record of successfully managed projects.

Engaging and practical group facilitation techniques.

Demonstrable track record of successful engagements with all levels of projects and business managers in Fortune 500 companies.

Aptima Creates New Business Opportunities with Project Management Training from Boston University Corporate Education Center

Aptima Creates New Business Opportunities with
Project Management Training from Boston University
Corporate Education Center