APM PRESENTS
CONNECTING
THE DOTS
At the recent APM Presents event, project
management professionals were able to
listen and learn from the association’s
14 different SIGs. Sally Percy reports
I
n October 2014, APM hosted its
first-ever conference to feature
all 14 of its specific interest groups
(SIGs) in one place. Project
management professionals working for
a host of different organisations and from
all over the country attended the event,
which was entitled APM Presents and
took place in central London. Attendees
were able to choose from a wide range
of sessions, depending on their area
of interest.
PEOPLE POWER
At the People SIG session, Russel
Jamieson, chair of the People SIG and a
delivery lead at telecommunications giant
BT, explained how “people are really
important in life and in projects”. The
session addressed coaching, mentoring
and active learning, highlighting the
main differences between the three
and the benefits that they bring.
Mentoring tends to be a two-way
conversation to address a particular
development lead while coaching can
be used to help an experienced project
management professional to develop
their approach. Action learning is an
extension of coaching, which is used at
middle- and senior-manager level. With
action learning, a business problem is
put on the table and explored from a
group perspective.
Delegates at the session learned that
mentoring is a good way to tackle an
individual’s skills gap, but coaching is a
better way of helping a leader to change
their approach and action learning is
effective in an organisational context.
They were told that mentoring, coaching
and learning are never a substitute for
formal training; they are just the means
for identifying areas where skills need to
be developed. Addressing the session,
Robert Blakemore, a Home Office civil
servant, said: “Mentoring and coaching
need management to take a leap of faith
because the benefits won’t be seen until
two or three years down the line.”
GET WITH THE
PROGRAMME
Those who attended the Programme
Management SIG heard that programme
management is all about connecting
the dots. John Chapman, programme
director for Touchstone Energy,
defined a programme as “a group of
related projects that come together for
beneficial change” and pointed out
that programmes are about outcomes
whereas projects are about output.
Andrew Gray, principal consultant with
management consultancy BMT Hi-Q
Sigma, said that a key part of programme
management was “understanding where
you are now, where you want to be and
how you want to get there.” He said it
was acceptable to mix and match the
methodology used within individual
projects within a programme.
The benefits of programme
management include bringing clarity
and focus to the group of projects,
coordination of stakeholder engagement
and the ability to pool resources.
MANAGING RISK
Peter Campbell, risk management trainer
and chairman of the Risk Management
SIG, told delegates at his session:
“Projects are all about change”. He
added: “If you change things, there
are going to be things that are difficult
to overcome.”
Campbell emphasised that it is better
to manage risk, than to simply ignore it.
“Risk management is the most important
thing you can do,” he said, but he noted
DECEMBER 2014
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APM PRESENTS
“Female project management
professionals don’t get to work on
prestigious projects to the same
extent as their male counterparts”
that project managers did not necessarily
budget for investigation into risks. This,
in turn, presented further risks. “Projects
could be delayed because you’re not
undertaking a risk-mitigation exercise,”
he said. “You need to factor the cost of
mitigation into the project budget.”
At the session, delegates were taught
how to use a risk register to log and
monitor risks. Campbell emphasised
that because every project is unique,
professionals cannot just use the same
risk register used on another project.
Summing up, Campbell said: “Risk
management is the most positive
thing that you can do in your life.”
THE NERVE CENTRE
Did you go to
APM Presents?
Share your views by
emailing sally.percy@
projectmagazine.co.uk
At the Programme and Project Support
Office SIG session, delegates learned
that programme management offices
(PMOs) are a key driver in enacting
transformational change.
The responsibilities of PMOs include
tracking and reporting on the progress
of individual projects, acting as a nerve
centre for communication and assuring
project delivery.
But despite the benefits that PMOs
bring, Emma Arnaz-Pemberton, a PMO
consultant and chair of the PMO SIG,
explained that their average livespan
is five years. Among other reasons,
this may be due to a lack of leadership
support for the PMO, its value not being
obvious to the rest of the organisation,
cost constraints or a change in the
organisation’s strategic direction.
PMOs need to be adaptable, ArnazPemberton said. She advised delegates
that when setting up a PMO, it is
important to understand the business’s
needs and the context in which it
operates and to “keep the journey in
mind”. She added: “Engage, engage,
engage. PMO is all about people. Unless
you tell them you’re changing their world,
you’ll never be on their radar.”
WOMEN IN PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
Teri Okoro, a practising architect
and chair of the Women in Project
Management SIG, addressed the issues
with career progression that face female
project management professionals.
Around a quarter of project management
professionals are female with just a
small percentage of women making
it to senior manager level.
Talking at the Women in Project
Management SIG session, Okoro
advised: “Just putting your head down
and doing your work won’t get you
anywhere.” Female project management
professionals need to develop a
structured approach to managing their
career, she explained. This includes
taking steps to increase their own
visibility, personal development, getting
a mentor or a coach, building up allies
and growing their own internal and
external networks. “Be aware of the
politics of your organisation,” she said.
“Where is the organisation going?
What direction is it going in that
could align with your career?”
Okoro quoted research suggesting
that female project management
professionals don’t get to work on
prestigious projects to the same
extent as their male counterparts. So
she suggested that women in project
management should ensure that they
have a sponsor who can ‘drip-feed’
good information about them.
AND FINALLY…
The conference concluded with a
keynote speech from Vince Hines of
Wellingtone Project Management (see
below). Then, after a day of discussion,
reflection and networking, project
management professionals were able
to start putting everything they had
learned into practice.
Sally Percy is editor of Project
CARE E R FOCU S
Project management professionals
have similar skills to entrepreneurs,
according to Vince Hines, managing
director of APM’s career development
partner, training consultancy
Wellingtone Project Management.
Speaking at the plenary session of
APM Presents, Hines highlighted three
key skills that project management
professionals and entrepreneurs have
in common. These are the ability to
drive a team, a willingness to take
risks and being prepared to take
28
DECEMBER 2014
responsibility. He pointed out that
project management professionals’
skills are very transferable as they
have to know how to plan, manage
costs and lead people to deliver.
Project management professionals
who want to succeed in their careers
need to get appropriate qualifications,
Hines advised. “Invest in yourself and
get the qualifications so that you are
recognised as an expert,” he said.
“Engage with your industry through
APM chapter events and SIGs.” It
is sensible for project management
professionals to get experience on
different types of projects within the
organisations for which they work.
Looking ahead, Hines predicted
that project management professionals
would enjoy greater opportunities
within the legal profession, which
was waking up to its benefits. He
also said that benefits realisation was
an area where project management
professionals would increasingly
be able to prove their worth.