The Axelos 2017 PPM Benchmarking Report has an interesting and insightful title: “The value of Project Management Excellence”. As stated in the foreword by Cameron Stewart, Head Of PPM Product Development at Axelos: “This inaugural report seeks to lay the foundation for a yearly publication aimed at giving insight to the project and programme management (PPM) market for our members, community and accredited partners.” The findings from this research identified a range of issues that could all be categorized under one solution: project management excellence. Project managers, PMOs and organizations all have a responsibility to create this culture of excellence otherwise they could find that their investments don’t bring the competitive advantages they seek. “It comes as no surprise that project managers are being asked to do more with less. This is a trend that could be applied to any business function. However, a lack of resources or time is leading to cutting corners at both a strategic and operational level. Awareness of project management methodologies is high in the industry. However there is a gap between awareness and uptake. Unfortunately organizations are under-investing in the development of their project managers, which the research shows has far-reaching consequences.”

Today’s project management pressures

Project managers (and the projects they’re responsible for) are not immune to the effects of a changing global economy. In fact, the majority of project managers acknowledge that there is increased business competition which is causing a variety of knock-on effects. Some findings:

• 76% states that “The business environment has become more competitive”
• 74% states that “Budgets and timelines are tighter as clients/ stakeholders look for more value from projects”
• 65% states that “PMs are expected to deliver more projects over a shorter time frame”

Furthermore, evolutions in technology bring their own set of challenges resulting in greater complexity in project delivery, increased project risks and an impact on profit margins.

Project management maturity within organizations

The maturity of project management in many organizations is still behind where it needs to be to meet the increased demands of more projects within existing timeframes and budgets. One measure of maturity can come from the P3M3 Maturity Model, yet:

• less than 20% of organizations described themselves as having established processes in place, with ongoing improvements based on monitoring and feedback
• only 53% of project managers describe the project management function as “influential”

Although it is encouraging to see that PMOs are in place in more than half of organizations, their integration at the highest level is far from where it needs to be. If project management continues to be under-represented at a senior level then this will impact on the successful delivery of projects.

The challenges faced by project managers today

At the head of the list of the challenges faced by PMs today there is “over-ambitious timeframes” for projects, followed closely by “changing project briefs and moving expectations”. In the context of increasing project numbers to deliver in the same timeframe or less, plus the relative isolation of the PMO in organizations, these are serious challenges for project managers. Following in the list there are also challenges like “poor communication”, “absence of the right people for the job”, “unrealistic budgets” and “inefficient work practices”.

• Half of project managers felt their project didn’t have the right people in place, which led to project failure in 43% of cases
• 56% of project managers had witnessed significant changes to the project brief and expectations and this led to project failure in 48% of cases

Agile

Agile continues to be a hot topic within project management. There is a huge appetite amongst project managers for agile techniques, yet this enthusiasm isn’t apparent at an organizational level. Why are so many organizations wary about adopting agile? It could be due to a lack of understanding as ‘agile’ is still perceived as the latest buzzword. Project managers need to educate the business about the value of agile to help deliver the number of projects that organizations are now demanding. Organizations need to get on board with adopting agile techniques. Working in an agile way allows project managers to respond to evolving business needs but still the appetite for adoption at an organizational level is low.

• 77% of respondents seeing value in working in a more agile way and just 2% seeing no value in it
• Less than half (46%) of respondents said there is significant appetite for adopting agile techniques within their function and this falls further to 39% at an organizational level

Learning and development

This research has identified a lot of challenges facing project managers, but there were also some positive findings too, especially around ongoing development. Continuing professional development (CPD) is an activity that is commonly associated across professions such as accountancy, medicine and law. However, the majority of project managers recognize its importance and are actively participating in CPD. The only thing that could hold them back is a lack of investment from organizations. If you delve deeper both individuals and organizations are on the same page. Individuals want to do their job more effectively and organizations want to improve the effectiveness of their teams.

PRINCE2 is firmly established as the world’s most practiced method for project management and is globally recognized for delivering successful projects. In January 2017 AXELOS, announced the upcoming arrival of updated PRINCE2 guidance and Foundation and Practitioner examinations. Together, these form PRINCE2 2017 and represent the first major update to PRINCE2 since 2009. TITLE OF THE WEBINAR: What is the PRINCE2 2017 Update? All You Need to Know ABOUT THE EXPERT: David Maegerman has over 10 years of Project Management experience, performing various roles in different types of projects. As a Project Manager, he delivered IT solutions as well as sales/marketing projects in the distribution and insurance industry. He’s a multilingual trainer for PRINCE2 and Agile Project Management, able to perform courses in English, Dutch and French. ABOUT THE WEBINAR: With this informative webinar QRP International wants to introduce you to the changes, understanding not only what changes in the content, but also what are the main reasons for the update, and how these updates will impact (or not impact) on your actual certification, and/or training plans. To WATCH THE VIDEO follow this link!

The new Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 official manual has just came out (on May 18th) and is now available to be ordered (follow this link to get our copy). But Axelos decided to trigger your curiosity even more by allowing the FREE download of the "Content summary" of the 2017 version of the PRINCE2 manual and furthermore the download of the Chapter 4 "Tailoring and adopting PRINCE2", the NEW chapter that promises to make PRINCE2 even more scalable and flexible. As stated in the chapter itself: "The tailoring guidance provided in this manual is not exhaustive, as the application of PRINCE2 is limitless. This guidance is provided to illustrate things to consider ad some example tactics that can be applied". CHAPTER 4: TAILORING AND ADOPTING PRINCE2 The fourth chapter of the official PRINCE2 2017 manual has the goal to show how to use the inherent flexibility of PRINCE2 to tailor it for any project and build an organizational PRINCE2-based project management method. This chapter includes situations that the project manager may encounter. In fact, the chapter that is now available for download includes:

• what you can and cannot tailor
• who is responsible for tailoring and documenting
• examples of different project environments
• tailoring and embedding PRINCE2 in an organization

The chapter also contains specific lists of tips that refer to how to ensure that the tailoring of the methods actually adds value, and illustrates 5 common situation where to tailor PRINCE2:

1. PRINCE2 in simple projects
2. PRINCE2 in projects using an Agile approach
3. PRINCE2 in projects involving a commercial customer and supplier relationship
4. PRINCE2 in projects involving multiple owning organizations
5. PRINCE2 in projects within programmes

TO READ AND DOWNLOAD THE FULL CHAPTER: simply follow this link!

Direct community feedback from practitioners, trainers and consultants made it clear that an evolutionary update was requested, that responds to higher expectations of stakeholders in today’s working environment. The 2017 update of PRINCE2, that will come out in July 2017, builds on the proven strength of PRINCE2 while responding to current imperatives for flexibility and agility. Together with new Foundation and Practitioner exams, that highlight the core and the practical application, the 2017 PRINCE2 update provides practical, accessible and authoritative guidance for anyone managing a project. TITLE: PRINCE2 2017 update: more practical, flexible and scalable ABOUT THE ARTICLE: This article explains clearly what has changed and what did not change in this updated version of PRINCE2. The 2017 update of PRINCE2 builds, in fact, on the proven strength of PRINCE2 while responding to current imperatives for flexibility and agility. You will discover how the core of the PRINCE2 method, like principles, processes and themes remain unchanged, while a renewed focus on the importance of tailoring has been added: the chapter on tailoring has been, in fact, elaborated and more prominently placed at the beginning of the manual. Furthermore, the distinction between tailoring, adopting and embedding is explained in more detail and there is guidance on how to adopt and embed PRINCE2 in an organization. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mr. Niels Van Bemmelen is “Organisational Change Management Specialist”. Niels has 20 years of experience in projects and programmes for organisational change. He has been involved in complete business change projects in challenging international environments. As project manager, business analyst and in assurance roles Niels has worked in projects in finance, public sector, tourism and education. He is a multilingual accredited trainer and consultants for PRINCE2, MSP, MoP, P3O, PRINCE2 Agile and Change Management and he teaches in English, Dutch and Italian. TO READ AND DOWNLOAD THE FULL ARTICLE: simply follow this link! ON THE SAME TOPIC:

• PRINCE2 2017 UPDATE: WHAT'S THE FUTURE FOR PMs? - Read more
• PRINCE2 2017 UPDATE: WHAT CHANGES IN THE CERTIFICATION? - Read More

The 2017 updated version of PRINCE2 has been developed closely with the PRINCE2 community worldwide and taking into considerations several drivers for change. One of the most urgent one is the increased professionalism within the PM community: project management will be more and more considered a wide business skill and this will, as a consequence, require a continuous improvement from every PM working in the field. But what changes in the certification scheme? Does the validity of the Practitioner certification remain the same? What is the Membership Programme? Keep reading the article to have the answers to these and more questions! TITLE: PRINCE2 2017 Update: NEWS for Practitioner and PRINCE2 Membership ABOUT THE ARTICLE: With this article we explore how the 2017 version of PRINCE2 will change the certification scheme, and how these changes may impact (or not) on your current certification. We want to explain in  clear and easy way:

• How to remain current with your PRINCE2 certification;
• What are the changes to the PRINCE2 Practitioner validity;
• How to remain up-to-date with the NEW Membership Programme;
• What are the CPD points and how to obtain them.

TO READ AND DOWNLOAD THE FULL ARTICLE: simply follow this link! ON THE SAME TOPIC:

• PRINCE2 2017 UPDATE: WHAT'S THE FUTURE FOR PMs? - Read more
• PRINCE2 2017 UPDATE: WHAT CHANGES IN THE METHOD? - Read More

If we see Project Management through the lens of the so called “big picture”, projects are the tools a company possesses to realize its strategy: from projects, all the way up to portfolio, projects are the concrete and practical results of where the organization decides to invest its money. This should make clear why project management is getting more and more importance in the business world. Over the last few years there has been an increasing interest in the analysis of how the future of Project Managers will look like. There are many reports and researches on the topic, and the most recent one is surely the “The Future Project Management Professional” from Axelos. This report identifies the key trends that will most impact the project, programme and portfolio management profession, as well as the technical and interpersonal skills that will be required. Keep reading to find out how the changes in the Project Management world have played an important role into the PRINCE2 2017 version: new article available for download! TITLE: What’s the future for Project Management? Understanding PRINCE2 2017 Version ABOUT THE ARTICLE: This article from QRP International has the goal to explain what's the general status within Project Management world, and how the changes in this environment have helped raise the need for an updated version to PRINCE2. By analyzing the latest report in Project Management, the “The Future Project Management Professional” from Axelos, the article examines the 4 main aspects of change for the profession of Project Manager, and highlights how these changes have a great impact on a well-known and internationally recognized certification like PRINCE2. The article also mentions the main areas where PRINCE2 has been updated. TO READ AND DOWNLOAD THE FULL ARTICLE: simply follow this link!