Association for Project Management (APM), the chartered body for the project profession, has embarked on a “Big Conversation”, encouraging project professionals to consider the future of the project profession and the challenges it is likely to face.

Launched in 2019, the APM has embarked on a conversational journey, encouraging the profession to look at 6 identified challenges and to ask itself 6 key questions. All with a view as to how the profession can thrive and how we might shape the future as a profession.

ProjExc are supporting the Big Conversation as an APM Corporate Partner. In addition our lead consultant John Williams, as a volunteer in the APM Midlands branch, is working hard to bring as many project professionals as possible into the conversation.

Resources

APM have a section on their website APM: Projecting the Future, dedicated to the Big Conversation.

There are also 2 super videos on YouTube:

• A brief introduction, and
• A fuller briefing which was originally presented by the projecting the future chair, Tim Banfield, as a webinar.

In addition there are a whole host of other resources and a growing set of challenge papers on the website.

The 6 Identified Challenges

• The 4th industrial revolution: data, automation & AI (up to 800 million jobs globally could be automated by 2030).
• Climate change, clean growth & sustainability (the UK is committed to cutting CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050).
• Demographics & ageing: the 100-year life (10 million people alive in the UK today can expect to live to 100).
• The future of mobility & transport (The UK market for autonomous vehicles could be worth £52bn by 2035).
• Future workplace, future skills (in the future 4 out of 5 UK businesses will need more high-level skills).
• Urbanisation, connectivity & building smart cities (global spending on smart cities could reach $135bn by 2021).

APM see 6 important questions, around:

1. the role of the project profession
2. what project management might look like in the future
3. skills and mindsets
4. driving the necessary change
5. the future role of the APM, and
6. who else can help shape the change.

Some more questions for you:

• How can you (and your employer) prepare for the future?
• What are you doing already?
• What can you contribute to the Big Conversation?