Every day there are hundreds of thousands of jobs advertised for professional project managers, whether that’s in IT, management consultancy, financial services or even construction.   But as technology changes the game, and the world responds to the complexities of this new order, all organizations – from large corporates to small start-ups, governments and political parties, and even the cash-strapped public sector – need to skill up in project management to achieve success.

Even Jeremy Corbyn and Seamus Milne agree!

This week the Labour Party advertised for a Deputy Director – Strategy and Communications, reporting directly to Labour’s chief spin doctor Seamus Milne.  A requirement of the job is “a proven track record of success in project management, through the complete project life cycle, preferably in complex situations”.

http://www.labour.org.uk/page/-/JD%20-%20Deputy%20Director%20-%20Strategy%20and%20Communications.pdf

The growing requirement for project management skills was also recently borne out by a survey conducted by PRINCE2, the world’s most-practised method for project management.  It found that, of the hundreds of thousands of professionals who apply the PRINCE2 method in their daily lives, over 65% were not in a specifically designated project management role; they were instead described as accountants, marketers, event managers, lawyers, doctors, HR professionals, and so on.

What’s more, of the professionals who held a project management qualification, such as PRINCE2, 88% said that it had aided their career progression and 85% said it helped in their current role.

The changing face of the project manager has also prompted a major update of PRINCE2, which in mid-2017 will see a change to its guidance.  Now, anyone, with a project to manage — even if he or she is not a full-time project manager – will find it easier to tailor the method in keeping with the complexity and specific requirements of a project.

As it happens, the updated PRINCE2 guidance, Managing Successful Projects, and examinations won’t be available until mid-2017, but we strongly recommend that Labour’s new Deputy Director, Strategy and Communications, should read up on PRINCE2 over the summer.  It might come in useful when planning for Labour’s Annual Conference in the autumn.

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In fact, the philosophy and practice of tailoring permeates the entire PRINCE2 2017 update; as a result, the method will respond reliably to the demands of today’s project management environment and its imperatives for versatility and agility. Now anyone with a project to manage – even if he or she is not a full-time project manager – will find PRINCE2 even easier to adapt to the needs of any organization and the project in hand.

The updated PRINCE2 guidance, Managing Successful Projects, will initially become available in an English version, with other languages to follow in due course. It has been developed in close consultation with over 100 project management professionals from the widest possible range of sectors and cultures – including PRINCE2 Practitioners, academics and organizations from across the world. The update has been shaped by their real-life experience of successfully applying the method, and of rising to professional challenges as technology changes the game, the expectations of customers and stakeholders grow, and it becomes imperative to achieve more with less financial outlay.

Peter Hepworth, Chief Executive Officer of AXELOS said:

“Time and again we hear that the only constant in the world is change, and PRINCE2 is evolving to respond to changes in business practice. At the same time, the key elements of PRINCE2 remain a constant – rooted in the realities of working life and as relevant as they ever were. The method’s strength, derives from decades of best practice in project management across diverse organizations and industries.

“As always, this latest evolution of PRINCE2 consolidates a wealth of real-life experience gained by the worldwide AXELOS-accredited community. This means it can be trusted to provide practical, authoritative and relevant guidance that enables anyone with a project to manage to get the best out of PRINCE2 – and to achieve success for themselves and their organization.”

■ PRINCE2: meeting the changing demands of project management

The update has been prompted by evolutions in business practice over the last decade. It reaffirms the validity of PRINCE2’s approach while responding to the shifting demands of today’s environment – half (50%) of organizations globally, and 80% of PRINCE2-certified Practitioners, acknowledge the value of working in an agile way.1

In a survey of 2,400 professionals, 88% of PRINCE2 practitioners said that the qualification had aided their career progression and was valuable in their current role (85%). The survey also found that a wide variety of professionals were applying the method, from full-time project managers (32%), IT (18%) and management consultants (15%), to a growing number of C-suite directors (6%)1  The survey shows that project management skills are becoming essential to any professional’s armoury, and this is recognized in the updated PRINCE2 guidance. Flexibility has always been a key factor in the success of PRINCE2, but now the updated method can be further successfully applied by anyone who has a project to manage, regardless of their job title.

■ Updated PRINCE2 Guidance and examinations

Business professionals familiar with PRINCE2 will notice that the update is characterized by an enhanced emphasis on:

–   tailoring PRINCE2 to the needs of organizations and project environments

–   the principles that underpin the PRINCE2 method

–   clarifying the link between the themes and principles

–   the restructuring of the themes guidance to accommodate specific examples of tailoring

–   the practical application of guidance, with updated diagrams, examples, hints and tips.

Reference

1.        Online survey of 2,400 business professionals, conducted by AXELOS between 22 February and 7 March 2016.

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