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Virtual construction site aims to help build people management skills

A new training centre is aiming to help construction managers develop their people management skills and to fully develop their potential through a combination of virtual reality computer techniques and the use of professional actors.

The ACT-UK Simulation Centre is set to open in Coventry in September 2009.

"Managing a construction project is hugely challenging," says ACT-UK managing director Michiel Schrijver. "Alongside technical knowledge of the build process, site managers need excellent people skills in order to manage subcontractors and other site staff. In addition, they have to work with clients, other consultants who might be involved in the project, such as architects as well as handling relationships with residents and the local community. Having the ability to interact effectively with all these different people is essential to completing a project on time and in budget."

The training facility incorporates a computer simulation of a construction site that is projected on to a 12-metre panoramic screen in the Simulation Centre. Trainees use a control stick to 'walk round' the site and can view the construction work in close-up.

Trainees work in site cabins of the kind often found on building sites. They are then presented with a range of site management scenarios - based on real-life situations - with site personnel, colleagues, and members of the public played by actors. Supervisors observe their behaviour via cameras and then work with trainees to give feedback and pinpoint areas for development.

Michiel Schrijver said: "The simulated scenarios are all based on the kind of situation that site managers regularly face, such as having to lay off a member of staff, talk to an angry resident or reason with a subcontractor threatening to walk off the job.

"The depth and detail of the simulation means that the experience goes beyond mere role playing and allows trainees to test themselves fully in a safe, controlled environment. We find that people very quickly forget they are taking part in a simulation because they become so wrapped up in the experience."

External links

For more information about the ACT-UK Simulation Centre, visit www.act-uk.co.uk/

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