Professional Practitioners & the Professionalisation of PPM - July 2010

The Best Practice Showcase 2010 held recently at Victoria in London provided a lively day of discussion, networking and learning for the Arras People team and the many programme and project personnel who attended. Attracting over 500 delegates, the format of the event was highly interactive and Arras hosted a series of round table discussions during the day on the subject of professionalism as well as running a short survey on the subject.

The aim of the discussion was to explore professionalism and its many aspects in terms of the field of PPM (Programme & Project Management) and with specific reference to the APM’s (Association for Project Management) push for professional recognition.

The starting point for the discussion was to explore the views of the individuals involved in the discussion to ascertain their personal views regarding their own status and that of PPM in the wider community. Unsurprisingly the consensus was that the groups saw themselves as “professionals” and the art of programme and project management as a “profession”. However there was significantly less confidence that the wider world shared their view, the majority agreeing that it is still seen as an occupation.

The groups further explored the reasons as to why they saw themselves as professionals and identified many elements that are widely accepted as being indicative of this status. The list included;

• Specialist Skills
• Accreditation
• Accountability
• Responsibility

In summary, we agreed that as individuals the group all possessed levels of applicable knowledge, the knowhow to apply this knowledge and a commitment to our field of expertise. After further discussion we also agreed that we had some sort of “personal code of ethics” against which we set our standards of behaviour and also judge others.

Pushing further the point of Accountability and Ethics, we discussed the next level of influence which impacts how we operate as professionals, namely our environment. Be this the employer if you are an employee or the company within which you are operating as a contractor, our environment has a significant impact on our professionalism at all levels. The highest impacting element of environment being the rules and regulations which we are requested to adhere to, which may formalise or go against the “code of ethics” which we personally used to define our own professionalism.  As a member of a community we may still have personal freedom in our pursuit of professionalism, though this may well be constrained or influenced. In all probability we will also be subject to levels of accountability which we have no control over.

So we have moved from being an individual to being a member of a community, though this may well be a community of one! Our professionalism at this level is still not consistent, nor measurable, as environments A to Z may all define their standards differently.

Taking the issue of standards to the next level we examined the external influencers who look to shape or impact the way programme and project management develops both in the UK and internationally. The list of influencers differs by sector or discipline within PPM, so we kept it simple for the cause of the discussion. In this band we included the APM-Group/OGC, PMI, APM and the IPMA, all of whom are relatively well-known in the PPM space in the UK. Again this group looked to influence our state of professionalism, offering us shrink wrapped knowledge, bodies of knowledge, badges, access to continued professional development and even their own brands of ethics and accountability.

As individuals we may choose to adopt any of these offerings as we see fit, within the context of our own professionalism. Our environment may also influence how we see and interact with these influencers as organisations and markets adopt their standards or cherry pick what they feel is applicable. The wider environment may also impact on us individually, such as the situation caused by Prince2 becoming for many a de-facto standard in project management.

Each organisation brings along a brand, theme or flavour of PPM which is aligned to their individual thinking; all of them being aimed at shaping the market with the offer of consistency. Unfortunately, we are still left in a position where we do not have a singularly recognisable path to become a profession; we may align as individuals and organisations, but once again, fragmented consistency takes its toll.

To take the discussion forward we looked at the question of consistency in terms of traditionally recognised professions such as Doctors, Dentists and Accountants, where this is progressed through the act of formal charter. The major differences that these professional groupings would appear to have over PPM are:

• Public recognition & acceptance
• Practitioners’ recognition & acceptance
• Acceptance as a regulatory body
• Defined entry criteria for practitioners
• Accepted and publicly accessible disciplinary procedures
• Longevity of the practice

There would appear to be differing methods of implementation, such as the GMC, which registers doctors to practice medicine in the UK, with the stated purpose of “to protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public by ensuring proper standards in the practice of medicine.” Accountants, meanwhile, have six accountancy institutes which operate under Royal Charter which make up a singular body CCAB (Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies).

Whatever the form, these bodies are seen as the monopolistic controller(s) of the individuals who choose to operate within their domain with influence over all matters of professionalism and particularly accountability and ethics.

Ultimately it would seem that if we wish to move on from our state of individual professionalism to that of being a recognised member of a profession, we will have to be willing to give up some of our personal freedoms.

Maybe this is a step too far at this stage for PPM practitioners, though maybe as the domain matures suitable bodies will evolve who can gain the trust and respect of practitioners and the wider population to secure this advancement in the field of programme and project management.

Survey Results

During the Best Practice Showcase 2010 held recently at Victoria in London, Arras People conducted a mini-survey entitled PPM Professional?, which questioned practitioners about their views on professionalism. There were 48 respondents and the data was compared against the 2010 Arras People Project Management Benchmark Report to check for consistency.

When asked for their primary function the respondent groupings were as follows:

Compared to the 2010 PMBR the demographic for this mini-survey has an increase in the percentage of Programme / Project Support practitioners whilst the Project Managers are consistent. In terms of status, the number of contractors is down by 10% which may be a reflection of the audience drawn by this kind of event.

When asked about their membership in a professional association they grouped as follows;

This breakdown is again roughly consistent with the PMBR 2010 responses in that of those that are members, 59% are associated with the APM, whist PMI has 22%. The numbers of those who are not associated at 44% is 10% lower than the PMBR, which is probably influenced by the narrow respondent group.

*One note of interest is the ongoing confusion regarding membership of the APM, where it still appears that some practitioners believe they are members when in fact they are confusing this with their dealings with the APM-Group.

Moving on to the key question of professionalism, we asked the respondents to identify how the see themselves: as either practitioners or professionals?

Overall the professionals have the vote with 54%, though as can be seen from the table the more senior the role status the higher the classification as a professional. Programme Managers being the highest group with 71%. This result suggests that respondents see themselves as professional as they accumulate the skills and knowledge required to undertake their assigned roles and climb the career ladder as identified in previous surveys and the PMBR 2010.

We then asked the respondents to identify how they see Project Management: as either an occupation or a profession?

Once again the respondents fell heavily on the side of a profession, with an 80/20 split in favour of Project Management as a profession. Of those totals, programme managers held out the strongest amount of dissent, with a mere-by-comparison 71% favouring profession, down eight points from the profession favourites amongst all participants. The disparity is still so strong that it would suggest that within the group of respondents there is the aspiration to achieve the recognition and status of professionals.

Finally in this group of questions, we asked the respondents how they believe the market views Project Management at this time.

The respondents offered a result that once again presented an 80/20 split though this time in favour of the market seeing Project Management as an occupation.

So we have a result that suggests we have a situation where the individual practitioners aspire to be professional, they believe their function deserves professional recognition but are realistic enough to realise that the market (their employers) currently see the function as an occupation!

It would appear that we still have much work to do if we are to raise the bar and achieve the goal of professional recognition. The outer circles of our diagram are still evolving and need to push on to drive the “profession” forward, not only with the family of practitioners but also in the wider public domain if this vision is to become a reality.