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“We’re going to create a secret underground resistance movement? To fight a ruthless gang of art thieves intent on stealing priceless art? Stopping them from pulling off the heist of the century?”
It didn’t sound like your average assessment solution. But at TMPW, that’s when we’re at our best. Especially in Project Management, because we’re all about finessing great ideas and making them come to life.
I’m a Senior Project Lead, part of the broader Creative Services department, and this is a great example of what we do. Let me tell you the story.
Ultimately the job boiled down to this. We were asked to transform a financial service’s assessment process, moving on from the usual, single interview and creating memorable immersive experience.
This particular solution brought together minds from Creative Services and Assessment Design to create something special and innovative. They wanted to redesign the client’s whole assessment process for their entry level role. The point was to move way from a single interview which focused on existing know-how and was subject to bias, and to move towards measuring for potential while creating a brand-led experience that candidates and colleagues would remember for a long time.
Parallel Universe
This is where the art heist came in. For one day only, all candidates attending the client’s assessment centre were parachuted into a parallel universe. They joined a fictional resistance movement, who had to crack codes, discover information and identify crime targets. By creating this totally different world, we allowed candidates to relax and be their true selves, so that watching assessors could assess them for the behaviours and skills the client really needed. So, how did we do it?
The First PM Job: Scoping the Solution
Think spreadsheets, numbers, project plans, resources. We got under the skin of the solution and broke down the tasks, giving us all of the detail we needed to track the budget, and manage the timeline.
Collaboration
The solution needed the two specialist functions to work hand in glove. Coupled with different ways of working and a tight project plan, my role as Senior Project Lead was crucial to making sure the specialists not only worked closely, but also keeping abreast of any creative ideas or developments.
Bringing the Out-of-the-Ordinary to Life
Speaking of creative ideas… have you ever thought about how they come to life? The big ideas need careful planning, budget management and quality control, and that’s where project management comes into play again. Taking those creative brains and helping to realise the cool concepts. In this case we’re talking about immersing the audience into a fictional story with the use of props, scripts, films and bespoke print.
And that wasn’t all. The solution wasn’t just fun and creative. We had to make sure the experience allowed the client to measure candidate motivators and behaviours, so they could recruit the best people. All in all, the production was far from simple. Props ranged from famous artworks to fictional receipts for exhibitions and books. There were films scripted with specific instructions for each ‘task’. They were delivered by characters like the underground team’s CEO and a shadowy double agent – played by well-versed actors. The characters needed a wardrobe. The set needed to connect with the narrative. The clues for each task were to be hidden in plain sight, with the odd red herring thrown in for good measure.
Quality
With heaps of essential materials – whether for facilitators to run the assessment using a creative script, or assessor guides to direct scoring and evaluation, or print materials that were closely intertwined with scripts or other props – everything needed a close eye for consistency and storytelling. This meant quality control from Assessment Psychologists and cross-checking of amendments.
Test, and Re-test
The fun stuff needs to work. So we needed to ensure that:
- the tasks were achievable – in terms of time, complexity and actually working
- the narrative came through from the films and the space itself
- we allowed candidates to demonstrate the skills we need to observe
- facilitators were able to run the assessment smoothly, with all key instructions and prompts to hand, in a fair and consistent manner.
This meant organising, recruiting to, and supporting to run an in-house pilot session, where we observed and took invaluable learnings to refine the assessment design.
This was followed by a pilot with the client, using employees in-role, and using part of the team who’d be facilitating and assessing the live assessments, where we took further lessons learned, including practicalities.
Train to Deliver
After that testing phase, we’re ready to train the client’s assessors. This meant organising an on-site training day, complete with a training deck, a run-through of props and materials, and a demo of how to run the assessment and interview.
Great Early Results
To wrap it up, in true project management style, we evaluated the delivery of the project considering what could be improved for next time, with learnings shared across the teams. Paired with results from the live assessment (which took the client from 73% to 95% offer acceptance and 41% to 76% pass rate in the first couple of weeks) we already have a clearer picture of the measurement of success.
This has been a really memorable job for me. The big picture thinking, the complexity of delivery (with all these moving parts) and the professional satisfaction of seeing an ambitious idea become reality. That’s what gets a Senior Project Lead out of bed in the morning.
Innovation Isn’t Easy
But it’s worth finishing with one big point. This job wasn’t all plain sailing. Far from it. Things went wrong and needed to be fixed. People got very tense with each other when everything was on the line. But that’s innovation for you. Sometimes it’s a high-wire act. It involves some risks. But the rewards are 100% worth it. From a project management point of view, this project was one for the highlights reel.
