Good News, Professional Society News (PMI, APM),
New Contracts (BAE Systems, Cummins, Rolls-Royce, ASCO,
Landmark Power Holdings), the politics of green energy
and the famous Lincoln Imp
REPORT
By Miles Shepherd
Executive Advisor & International Correspondent
Salisbury, England, UK
INTRODUCTION
This is a very short report this month as I am in the field and have left my carefully garnered notes in the office while I am birding on the North Sea coast. I have the assistance of a local character – the famous Lincoln Imp (right), a close relative of various other Imps who support my work. This report mostly covers professional society news plus a bit of new project stuff.
Image: Piggot Sculpture
GOOD NEWS
First up is news of a small wildlife recovery project on the Lizard peninsula in south Cornwall, arrowed in the image below, the project has received £350,000 in funding from Natural England. The scheme aims to help rare coastal lichens, wildflowers and butterflies across the Lizard National Nature Reserve. The conservation work is being headed up by the National Trust, which is burning heathland and cutting off firebreaks. Seth Jackson, National Trust project manager, said the new funding would help protect species and microhabitats, and link the whole landscape together. He said: “Working closely with tenants, graziers and the local community will ensure a joined-up and long-term sustainable approach to habitat management. Here on the Lizard, despite the wonderful landscape and the rich biodiversity it supports, we are not immune to the pressures that climate warming and habitat change bring, and many rare species are struggling“.
Natural England species recovery programme manager, Karen Shelley-Jones, added: “We are delighted to be working with the National Trust on this project which epitomises what our species recovery programme is all about: delivering targeted bespoke action to reduce the risk of extinction for some of our most threatened and often overlooked species”.
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY NEWS
The two main Societies have extensive programmes of Branch meetings, or at least they did until APM abandoned Branches (see below). Project Management Institute (PMI) Aberdeen held a meeting on Tools and Techniques in April, while the Midlands and Derbyshire Branch have two sessions (I think) on Sustainability including a visit by Dr Karen Thompson on RPM in action.
APM Abandons Branches! It is not as drastic as it sounds as this is part of the rebranding the Association for Project Management began earlier in the year. Branches have become regional networks. All original branch names remain but new Leads and Deputy Leads to spearhead its Regional Network teams have been appointed. This is apparently in response to calls for APM to build greater accessibility and awareness of its volunteering activities. It is not immediately clear what benefit this brings to ordinary members but it is early days and the plan to deliver a range of localised activities to the profession will take time to evolve. The Leads have been recruited through a new selection process introduced as part of APM’s broader volunteer strategy. More detail and the names of Leads and Deputies may be found at https://www.apm.org.uk/news/apm-announces-local-regional-network-teams/
Specific Interest Groups have also morphed into Interest Networks under the new volunteering structure, which apparently offers flexibility and greater opportunities for collaboration. For followers and volunteers of APM Interest Networks, this is made possible thanks to a new online space where Network Teams, Volunteers and Members can come together and discuss the latest developments in their specific areas of interest. While this may be a surprising new departure for some members, it will be nothing new to long term SIG members.
More…
To read entire report, click here
How to cite this report: Shepherd, M. (2024). UK Project Management Roundup, report, PM World Journal, Vol. XIII, Issue V, May. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/pmwj141-May2024-Shepherd-UK-project-management-roundup.pdf
About the Author
Miles Shepherd
Salisbury, UK
Miles Shepherd is an executive editorial advisor and international correspondent for PM World Journal in the United Kingdom. He is also managing director for MS Projects Ltd, a consulting company supporting various UK and overseas Government agencies, nuclear industry organisations and other businesses. Miles has over 30 years’ experience on a variety of projects in UK, Eastern Europe and Russia. His PM experience includes defence, major IT projects, decommissioning of nuclear reactors, nuclear security, rail and business projects for the UK Government and EU. His consulting work has taken him to Japan, Taiwan, USA and Russia. Past Chair and Fellow of the Association for Project Management (APM), Miles is also past president and chair and a Fellow of the International Project Management Association (IPMA). He was, for seven years, a Director for PMI’s Global Accreditation Centre and is immediate past Chair of the ISO committee developing new international standards for Project Management and for Program/Portfolio Management. He is currently Chairman of the British Standards Institute project management committee. He was involved in setting up APM’s team developing guidelines for project management oversight and governance. Miles is based in Salisbury, England and can be contacted at miles.shepherd@msp-ltd.co.uk.
To view other works by Miles Shepherd, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at http://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/miles-shepherd/.
