Because when projects succeed, society benefits

APM Chief Executive Professor Adam Boddison on media bias against success.

In November 2021 I attended the UN climate change conference COP26 in Glasgow. APM hosted two tables at the conference dinner and we invited some guests from our volunteer community and our corporate partners. The key message from the conference was clear. Countries are not doing enough to combat climate change, and the projects and programmes that they have in place are not always successful or sufficient. There was also some discussion about the projects and programmes that are successful. However, it struck me that the discussions about project failures were disproportionately high compared to those about project successes.

One of APM’s guests at COP26 was Jo Stanford, an experienced portfolio manager working in the healthcare sector. Jo and I discussed this over‑representation of project failures within discussions, which is when she pointed out to me that the issue is much broader. Jo described it as ‘trial by media’, which is essentially the notion that project successes are too often deemed as invisible and un‑newsworthy, while project failures seem ripe for amplification and tend to be broadcast far and wide.

To this day, I remain frustrated that project successes do not get the level of media attention they deserve. This is not just about celebrating project successes and the individuals who make this happen, but also about ensuring that the general public have a good understanding of the impact that projects are having on their day-to-day life. As it stands, the general public only tend to hear about projects where there are problems, such as going over time or budget.

As a registered charity, a core part of APM’s mission is to ensure there is public benefit from projects. This requires us to make an explicit link between project success and its impact on society, and we have sought to do this as part of the APM rebrand. The strapline associated with the rebrand reads ‘Because when projects succeed, society benefits’. The next step is to ensure we are ‘loud and proud’ about successful projects so that we can all be more ambassadorial for the profession.

Highlighting world-beating projects, and sharing positive stories of project success, plays a vital role in inspiring even greater success in the future. It will attract talented people to the project profession because they can see the impact they could have on improving society. It will further encourage the public and private sectors to increase investment in projects and to design them in ways that maximise societal benefit. It will give the project profession the status it deserves. Ours may not be a regulated profession, but it certainly needs to be a recognised profession.

APM is doing its part by fostering collaboration and encouraging communities of practice to come together. Whether it be through our specific interest groups, the APM Community app or our events, the reality is that sharing project successes within the project community is equally as important as sharing them beyond the project community. Knowing you are having a positive impact on society encourages retention within the project profession. Similarly, sharing those impacts allows them to be replicated in other projects.

Collaboration between individuals and organisations in the project delivery environment is important, but it is also important that this takes place at every level of the profession. APM is the most significant body for the project profession in the UK and it is the most mature organisation within the federation that is the International Project Management Association. We collaborate with our equivalent organisations around the globe because we understand that we are one project profession. It is incumbent on us to work in partnership and collaboration for the good of the profession, because this means that projects can benefit society on a global scale. Whether it be climate change, poverty or food security, the problems are global and the solutions are global, so the projects also need to be global, and this is underpinned by effective collaboration.

Looking ahead, it is sensible for us to think about benefits realisation. Projects have pre‑determined benefits that they are trying to achieve, but we need to be much more proactive at what I call ‘closing the loop’. This means checking several years after a project is formally complete whether the intended benefits actually materialised and had the anticipated impact. In practice, it may be there are some unintended consequences from projects, perhaps even some unexpected benefits.

Ultimately, it is about combining the benefit of hindsight with the luxury of insight to provide the privilege of foresight to improve project outcomes. Why? Because when projects succeed, society benefits.

THIS ARTICLE IS BROUGHT TO YOU FROM THE WINTER 2022 ISSUE OF PROJECT JOURNAL, WHICH IS FREE FOR APM MEMBERS.