WebConnect

9 June 2012

 APM Application for Royal Chartered status

Recently, APM (Association of Project Management) applied for Chartered Status within the UK. However, we do not believe they should be granted this status. We are keen to advocate what is in the best interest for the project management profession and ultimately,  project management bodies in the UK are not ready for Chartered Status.

You are most likely reading this as a fellow project manager and we want you to be involved in this decision. APM do not represent the majority of project managers in the UK, they have higher membership numbers than we do (c. 19 500), but even that number is less than 10% of project managers in the UK. We recognise that not all project managers want to be part of a membership but we are holding our ground that most of you want to further invest in your career, whether that be through membership or training with an organisation of your choice. PMI UK are here to provide that from a global perspective, we're not just claiming our stake on this land. Please read below for further details and what you can do to support our initiative.

In order for APM to be granted Chartered status, it needs to have been judged by the Privy Council, the decision-making body, to represent most of the project management profession. APM’s acquisition of Chartered status would be an acceptance that it exclusively represents the vast majority of project managers in the UK. This is clearly not the case. The APM proposes to create a "Chartered Project Manager" credential, to be the premier credential for UK project managers. This would disadvantage other credential holders.

As you know, with over 6000 members and many more credential holders, PMI also represents a very substantial number of project managers in the UK. PMI plays a valuable role in the UK both through the activities of the Chapter and through its world-leading credentials and publications, making a significant contribution to the project management profession. I am therefore very concerned that the Privy Council has not taken into account that due to PMI’s large UK membership, APM cannot claim to represent most of the profession, and so cannot legitimately be awarded Chartered status.

As a PMI member and as a project manager who works for the benefit and advancement of the profession, I would encourage you to write to the Privy Council Office to raise the following important points about the process:

1. With a UK membership of 6000, PMI represents a very substantial proportion of the UK’s working project managers and makes a valuable contribution to the British project management profession that needs to be nurtured. The Privy Council Office’s own guidance states that ‘the institution concerned should…have as members most of the eligible field for membership’. As this is not the case, it is not legitimate for APM to be granted Chartered status.

2. It is in the public interest and the interests of the profession that there is diversity in the marketplace for project management qualifications and tools. The Privy Council Office has not accurately assessed the detriment to the wider project management profession that would arise from APM being granted Chartered status and being given the exclusive protection such a Charter entails

3. The project management profession in the UK benefits from the plurality of approaches on offer. With over 600 000 members in 185 countries, PMI brings a unique global perspective to project management to its UK members, something that APM, as a UK-only organisation, cannot replicate.

4. The Charter application process has not taken into account the views of all project managers, particularly those that utilise the global approach championed by PMI. The voices of such project managers have therefore not been heard.

You can write to the decision-making body, in your capacity as a member of PMI’s UK Chapter, at the following address:

The Clerk of the Council
Privy Council Office
2 Carlton Gardens
London
SW1Y 5AA

Or by e-mail to PCOsecretariat@pco.x.gsi.gov.uk.

I do hope you will be able to lend your support to this important campaign. The integrity of the project management profession depends on there being a plurality of membership organisations with different complementary offerings. This application, if successful, threatens the world’s only global project management body’s ability to operate in the UK and may remove the opportunity for UK project managers to gain a global perspective on their profession.

If you do write to the Privy Council, please let me know by sending an email to duncan.chappell@pmi.org.uk.