I attended the first of the two APM knowledgeshare special interest groups (SIGs) yesterday (Thursday 28th) covering key areas of the APM Body of Knowledge at University College London where four of the SIGs coordinated their events at one venue over two days. David Shannon opened the conference and explained how the SIGs were created as a form of support to APM members, by providing the opportunity to share specific expertise of current project management interest and the reasoning for bringing four of the groups together was to further increase networking and cross the boundaries. At this event the Project and Programme Assurance SIG tackled the following areas of interest:
- Success criteria for good Assurance
- The role of Assurance in the Heathrow Terminal 5 project
- The role of Assurance in the Channel Tunnel Rail Link project
- Intergrated Assurance for programmes and projects in the home office
- Assuring Governance (Joint session with Governance SIG)
The Governance SIG tackled these areas of interest
- Directing Change – The Governance of Project Management
- Co-directing Change – Governance of multi owned projects
- Sponsoring Change – Guide to project sponsorship
- Project Governance case study
The group was asked to choose which SIG they would like to join for the morning sessions between the assurance or the governance – this I felt defeated the object of bringing the SIGs together as personally I would have liked to see the groups interact and was looking forward to joining in all the listed sessions.
The two groups took different approachs with the governance group providing short case studies but focusing on discussing theory. The assurance sessions were mainly based around case studies and the emphasis on putting the theories into practice. The governance group sessions tended to be less engaging between the two groups and would have benefited from additional time factored in throughout the presentation for questions. The assurance group had an altogether engaged audience and was aimed at sharing knowledge on a more individual basis.
This is an excellent event for networking and if you pick the sessions well – a fantastic opportunity to gain an insight to the effectiveness of practices in reality. The event is managed well in respect of little waiting around between sessions and structured longer coffee/networking breaks and attended well with around 50 delegates present Thursday and a good proportion back again today. Worthwhile? Yes as with all special interest groups it’s a great opportunity to meet with other project professionals and share experiences. The theme throughout the day was that structured methodology though required isn’t enough for reality, business requiements must be realised. Studying tried and tested case studies and sharing knowledge through special interest groups and published papers will provide an all together rounded (and hopefully effective) solution to governance and assurance on projects and programmes.
Picture by SteveCadman via Flickr
