In ‘From the Frontline’, Project journal editor Emma De Vita meets project professionals who are working on cutting-edge projects, and academics whose research is at the forefront of project management techniques.

In this episode she speaks to the researchers behind Project X’s latest report, published by APM, called Rethinking Capabilities: Lessons for policy, scholarship and practice. Project X is an ESRC‑funded research collaboration between government, academia and industry representatives, aiming to generate unique insights into the performance of major projects and programmes in government.

So why do some major projects perform poorly, and others perform well – and what can you do about it? We hear about some of the key findings and what you can do to put them into practice on your projects right now.

On the panel:

Read the research paper here.

Find out more about Project X here.

Get in touch with us: [email protected]

In ‘From the Frontline’, Project journal editor Emma De Vita meets project professionals who are working on cutting-edge projects, and academics whose research is at the forefront of project management techniques.

In this episode we meet Gemma Roura Serra, strategic planning director at ABB Formula E. Formula E is the world’s first all-electric single-seater car racing series, conceived to accelerate electric vehicle adoption and demonstrate leadership in the sports world by becoming the only sport to be net-zero carbon since inception. Its races are held in 12 city centres across the world, including London, New York, Paris, Rome, Hong Kong, Moscow and Beijing, where it debuted in 2014. The 45-minute races predominantly take place on 3km circuits and the cars go from 0–100km in 2.8 seconds with a max speed of 160 miles/hour.

With over 20 years of experience in sports management, Gemma offers a strong hands-on background in the motorsports and events industries. In September she was promoted to strategic planning director focusing on calendar and event operations planning and roadmapping.

In this podcast, Gemma shares her experience of masterminding a pioneering project with a sustainable message at its core.

If you’d like a more detailed exploration of her work, please see Gemma’s APM webinar on Formula E, available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAOT9kbUIZI

Contact us: [email protected]

In this special episode to tie in with APM’s annual Think Differently conference, Emma De Vita, the editor of Project journal, speaks to three ambitious female project professionals to talk about how to have a thriving career despite the barriers that organisational or team culture still persistently put in the way of individual women – women who might also be contending with bias around race or age. Change needs to happen, so let’s find out how to go about doing it from women who are all flourishing in their careers despite the challenges.

On the panel are:

Get in touch at [email protected]

Find out more about Think Differently at https://www.apm.org.uk/think-differently/

In this episode, hosted by Mike Hine, online editor for APM’s Project journal, we’re looking at communication for project professionals.

Communication is a vital condition for project success. However well-planned, a project will not run smoothly if stakeholders are left confused and under-informed as a consequence of inefficient communication. With an ever-growing array of comms tools at their disposal, the project manager has some important decisions to make – as well as timing their communications properly, they need to ensure the methods they deploy are appropriate for the message and the audience. Projects of all sizes therefore need to have a communication strategy – particularly those which are complex or have a large number of stakeholders.

Joining the podcast for this episode are:

Resources:

Contact us: [email protected]

Contracts create legally binding obligations between the parties involved in a project. They describe the nature of those obligations and the actions that can be taken if they are not met. As such, the contract is a foundational document whose content will come to define the project and how the work unfolds. It is there to provide certainty and protection to the parties. But in a post-COVID world, there may be an opportunity for contracts to be used to create ongoing collaborative relationships, rather than simply defining strict requirements and being regarded as a tool to give parties leverage in the event of acrimony.

To find out a bit more, Project journal’s online editor Mike Hine spoke to two experts:

Further reading:

Contact [email protected]

In ‘From the Frontline’, Project journal editor Emma De Vita meets project professionals who are working on cutting-edge projects, and academics whose research is at the forefront of project management techniques.

In this episode we meet Dr Natalie Marguet, a senior lecturer in leadership and organisational development at Liverpool John Moores University, and author of APM’s recent research paper Detect, Reflect and Adapt: Factors influencing critical project decisions.

In this podcast, she shares the latest research into how project professionals can improve their decision-making. She’ll be giving practical advice on how you can become more effective in your work using simple techniques, as well as helping you to understand your personal decision-making style, how to adopt new styles and when to use them.

Bad decision-making on projects has been identified as one of the key reasons for poor project performance, so every project manager has room for improvement and can learn from this new research.

In ‘From the Frontline’, Project journal editor Emma De Vita is meeting project professionals who are working on cutting-edge projects, and academics whose research is at the forefront of project management techniques.

In this episode, we meet Emma Willson, who leads the National Audit Office’s Major Projects Delivery area of focus. She has worked at the NAO for almost 20 years, auditing a wide range of government programmes, from welfare reform to large-scale defence equipment projects.

The NAO audits every government department and some arm’s length bodies, like the BBC, and a large part of its work is looking at major government projects, like Crossrail, HS2, Test and Trace and the government’s vaccine roll-out scheme, to consider whether they represent good value for money.

The NAO also seeks to share lessons in how programmes can be better managed. Its reports include initial learning from the government’s response to the pandemic, and a report on learning from projects done at speed.

We spoke to Emma to find out more about the valuable lessons for project management that the NAO’s unique position affords, in particular to reflect on the successes and failures of the pandemic when it comes to project delivery.

In our From the Frontline season, Project journal editor Emma De Vita is meeting professionals who are working on cutting-edge projects, and academics whose research is at the forefront of project management techniques.

In this episode, we meet Jennifer Trosper, project manager for NASA’s Mars Perseverance project in its Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. Jennifer has worked on NASA’s Perseverance programme for eight years. When Perseverance finally landed successfully on 18 February after launching on 30 July 2020, there was a lot to celebrate. The Perseverance rover, complete with onboard helicopter, cost $2.4bn dollars to build and will cost another $300m to land and operate in its first year on Mars. Its mission is to seek signs of ancient life on Mars and bring samples back for further investigation.

Get in touch with us at [email protected]

In this episode, hosted by Project journal editor Emma De Vita, we explore why getting lessons learned right is incredibly important to project success. We also look at the main challenges around lessons learned, what knowledge you should aim to capture and how to best share it.

As APM’s Body of Knowledge 7th Edition makes clear, knowledge is intangible and complex. It encompasses much more than documents or information. It exists in people and can be tacit and difficult to express. What’s more, a supportive culture in which knowledge and learning are valued is essential for effective knowledge management.

On the panel for this episode are:

Get in touch with us at [email protected]

In this episode, hosted by Project journal online editor Mike Hine, our topic is project success, and how the definition of success is evolving to fit the challenges of the 2020s and beyond. At a time when the country is looking to build back better post-pandemic, projects will play a major role in determining the UK’s economic future. They are truly vital to the UK’s success on many fronts. But with so much riding on these projects, we need to ensure they succeed.

Historically, projects have notoriously struggled to hit their targets. So perhaps it’s time to revisit the very notion of project success. What constitutes a successful project? What are some of the most fundamental factors that underpin success? And has the project profession moved beyond the age-old metrics of time, cost and quality?

Thanks to our panel of experts:

All of the contributors to this podcast are presenting at APM’s Power of Projects Conference, which runs from 7-11 June, with a focus on redefining project ‘success’ for a post-pandemic world. Sign up or listen later on-demand at https://www.apm.org.uk/event/power-of-projects-2021/

Send us your feedback and suggestions at [email protected]