Dr Paul Chapman is a Fellow in Operations Management at Saïd Business School, where he is a leading expert on the learning and development of executives, especially the people responsible for leading the delivery of Major Programmes / Major Projects typically valued at $1billion+.

Two of the programmes Chapman is currently responsible for are:

(i) Oxford’s MSc in Major Programme Management, a two-year, part-time programme that attracts senior programme leaders from around the world (50% are based outside the UK) who lead programmes across a range of sectors.

(ii) the UK Government’s Major Project Leadership Academy, MPLA, a one-year, part-time programme for the Major Project Leaders responsible for delivering the UK Central Government’s portfolio strategic projects valued at over £500bn.

These programmes involve working closely with client organisations and participants to understanding their potential for development and growth through to realising these opportunities. This role also includes engaging teams of faculty and experienced practitioners to create the design and content required to ensure an engaging learning experience.

For example, in addition to the MPLA, Chapman’s work with the UK Government extends to include developing and delivering workshops for the Civil Service’s Permanent Secretaries and also for particular Departments that bring together Ministerial teams and their Senior Civil Servants.

This means that the insights and capabilities Major Project Leaders develop on the Academy receive better support and can be implemented more effectively in the workplace, which is leading to notable improvements in Major Project delivery.

Chapman has experience in working on and researching mega-projects, for example on the EPSRC funded ‘Super Value Goods Initiative’ and through managing projects in the aerospace sector.

He has also led work on delivering improvements to automotive supply networks and international retail supply chains, which means he has specific insight into industrial megaprojects as well as a broad understanding of the major programme management field.

Currently he is working on a research project for the Department of Health involving a literature review into the benefits of health ICT investments.

Before joining Saïd Business School, Chapman was a Senior Research Fellow at Cranfield School of Management and previously was a member of the Warwick Manufacturing Group at the University of Warwick.

He continues to be a member of the teaching faculty at Copenhagen Business School, where he has twice been elected teacher of year on the EMBA. Prior to this, Chapman took his BEng, MSc and Engineering Doctorate at the University of Warwick, UK.

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Benefits in an Agile World

Agile Project Management is arguably the leading IT project development methodology in use today. It is also becoming increasingly accepted that an Agile approach has potential applicability across all business units in a diverse range of industries.

The traditional view that the benefits of a project or change initiative are realized after a project is complete, however Agile’s incremental capability delivery approach encourages benefit owners to continuously focus on the value created with each deliverable, relative to the business case which supported the project investment.

The ongoing feedback from benefits focused stakeholders when combined with project delivery teams should a range of insightful performance-based Lead Indicators to be generated.

Matt Williams

Matt Williams is the Managing Director of Connexion Systems, an Australian-based provider of innovative services and systems that enable project organizations to maximize business value generated from portfolios of capital investments.

Matt has spent the past 15 years advising PMO’s on governance and controls, and is a regular speaker at PMI, AIPM [Australia] and APM [UK] events on the topic of Benefits-led Portfolio Management.

Matt received his Project Management Professional [PMP] certification from the Project Management Institute in 2003.

In November, 2015, after successfully completing the New York marathon, Matt spoke at the annual Project Management Institutes’ PMO Symposium, in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

Matt presented the latest techniques for maximising the return on portfolio investment to avoid the common pitfalls of value exaggeration, value destruction and value decay.
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Dealing with difficult stakeholders

Benita Cegarra is a practical and pragmatic business trouble shooter with 20 years of experience working from board level to front-line operations in the areas of sales, customer services, supply chain and operational management. A superb communicator, Benita has successfully facilitated and implemented major change across the globe.

A recognised authority on the successful implementation of large-scale change projects and programmes, she is also the author of “Get Off the Touchline… and Make a Difference” and has written many articles on successful project and change management for different specialist publications.

Benita believes that if you are clear and passionate about what you want to do, real transformation is much easier to achieve. Open and energetic, Benita’s approach combines a clear, practical framework with the ability to build relationships, understanding and alignment across different stakeholders.

Transformation Directors hire Benita because she enables them to deliver their objectives quickly and team members enjoy working with her because she makes the complex appear simple, thus enabling on-time delivery of great bottom-line results.

Benita’s presentation will cover the thorny topic of managing difficult stakeholders with the sub-title “Pride, Prejudice and People”, as it is the recognition that people are the key factor in determining whether a project or programme will succeed.  Benita will share her thoughts on getting people to commit to change, overcoming resistance and actually finding that you have a lot of support from areas where you don’t expect it.

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How to achieve business aims without going over budget or compromising quality? 

Steve Wake, Chair of APM Board: interviewed by Dave Baxter, Sunday Telegraph, Business Reporter

For full interview & article:
Collaborate for the common good, 13 April 2014

What are the most burning issues for project managers today?

They’re more or less the same as they were 25 years ago when I joined the profession and got interested in project management but if I had to decide on the top three they would be projects costing too much, projects running late and projects not delivering what they set out to do.

So if they were issues 25 years ago why have they not been dealt with?

The roots of that lie in the fact that there is no set way of running projects at the moment that is used by everybody. The introduction of standards and frameworks would help that enormously. And that’s where the APM can come in.

Before we get to the solutions what are some of the more specific issues that actually lead to waste and delays?

Things that contribute to slips on costs and time are often poor estimating. There is also something called optimism bias which is where people wish that things could be done cheaper,  wish that things could be done sooner, wish that things could be done better all without any changes to the overall estimate of time, cost or quality on the project. So it’s like making false promises. We can remedy that by professional project management.

So how do you ensure that someone is a good project manager?

Project manager is expressed in terms of the APM through what we call the Five Dimensions of Professionalism and that focuses on:

• Competence – i.e. are they the right kind of person to be a good project manager? Do they possess the characteristics or the potential to do the kinds of things that managers do.
• Experience – what have you done? What’s on your CV? What’s your track record of achievement?
• Technical knowledge – exposure to the latest thinking and techniques. We do that through our publications, meetings – branch meetings and specific interest group meetings where we share advice, experience.
• Qualifications – that go from apprenticeship right up to someone who is at the highest level in the profession which we refer to as Registered Project Professional.
• There is an ethical dimension to project management. We have to be seen to be truthful, open, with integrity and there are also other values that underpin which are those of listening, learning and leading. We have been seen as individuals who learn, who listen and who can lead. ¹

Where’s project management relevant?

It’s relevant everywhere. It’s used in the smallest undertakings to the largest. So it’s used in building a small house right up to running something as large as the Olympic Games, and it’s relevant in whole variety of sectors. The construction industry, the IT industry, Transport industry, utilities and the nuclear industry – even show business. 

Is project management now an established profession?

I would say wholeheartedly yes. The strongest indicators for me are that we have outside bodies, the people that we deal with corporate members, industry, government, education, other governments, all accepting that we have a significant role to play at the most senior strategic level in discussing how projects are undertaken. 

So is it easier to be a project manager today than it was before?

It is easier to become a professional project manager that everyone recognises as a professional project manager rather than someone who just says that they are a project manager. It’s easier to be able to judge what you are getting. When someone says they are a project manager and they are approved by the APM we have a very easy way to identify what that individual is capable of doing and it also makes it easier for an organisation to select those individuals. 

Was that not the case say 20 years ago?

Very few organisations were actively looking for project managers other than in the broadest sense of saying that we need a project manager. Now when they ask for a project manager they are asking for levels of qualification, levels of experience and these are things as an APM member you can prove and warrant by showing the qualifications that you’ve got. So the letters after the name do mean something.

See Video of interview Q & A : Success in Project Management

¹ Extract from The Project Interview, Feb 2014

“Listening is about engaging with the various communities and them engaging with us. This requires us to consider all parts of APM and beyond the current membership.

“The project management community is a huge earpiece that captures conversation from around the world. We can help that conversation by making it easier to process and highlighting things of importance and value. We want members to feel the impact of Listening, Learning and Leading at a personal level: it is what sums up a good project professional. This leads on nicely to learning. We need to learn from each other and, in doing so, learn as a profession.”

“We’re reshaping ourselves to our size, which is constantly increasing. The Leading exercise is across the whole community, which is quite a cultural challenge for APM. Within the project management community we set agendas and lead by example. There’s also the reaffirmation that we’re involved with delivering public benefit. That’s part of our Chartered campaign – a Chartered body has to serve the public interest. It’s not easy to get the balance right which is why listening is so important.”

Steve believes the Listening, Learning and Leading model is very much about engaging members, as well as non-members, and will ultimately support the APM’s 2020 strategy.

Steve continues: “We won’t hit Listening and Learning concurrently; we’llstart with Listening. For me, it’s about practitioners sharing information, all around the community.

“We haven’t yet engaged with enough people. We recognise that we need to do that to clearly identify, and to build on the Listening, Learning and Leading model. The beauty of APM’s Five Dimensions of Professionalism is that it’s allowed us to package and explain what we already do and communicate it better, and it identified the gaps and room for improvement. 

“Looking at things in a different way, or through a different model, identifies where we could improve, which builds on the theme of continuity and evolution. 

In saying this, I also recognise that we need to get into the public domain just how our Listening, Learning and Leading approach is operating and how people can engage: this is a key issue for the Board and a personal priority for me.

“Listening, Learning and and Leading is who we are, what we do and how we do it. It’s our mantra and modus operandi.”

These blues of mine. Communication Problems by Jack Pinter & Friends

Steve says “This conference aims to address that concern through EVA’s trademark blend of learning and professional development. Case studies and unusual presentations ,delivered by top-notch speakers and experienced practitioners, will again engage and entertain the audience. We’ve used string quartets to illustrate points in the past and this year we will be using a Blues band for the first time. Ladies & gentleman I give you Jack Pinter and friends …”

Jack Pinter (Facilitation, Horns)

Jack Pinter is the Director of Square One, which delivers innovative learning initiatives, projects and events designed to transform and revitalise the world of work. Recent clients include Cisco, Moody’s Analytics, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and ING and business schools across the USA and Europe.

Jack began his career as a musician, and has appeared recently with Yoko Ono, Boy George and Siouxsie Sioux. He has toured with diva Marianne Faithfull and Tim Robbins, with whom he headlined at the Blues festivals across Canada, the USA and Australia. Jack has also played with a wide range of artists including Tom Waits, Anastacia, Dizzy Gillespie, and blues legend Joe Williams.

Jack has composed music for film, television and for productions by The Royal National Theatre, Manchester Royal Exchange and Nottingham Playhouse, and many other theatre companies.

James Harrison (Guitar)

Blues guitarist James Harrison has recently supported artists including Ruby Turner, The Blockheads, Georgie Fame, Solomon Burke and Dr. Feelgood. James has also appeared on the former Manfred-Mann front man Paul Jones’ Radio 2 Rhythm and Blues show, supporting American Blues artist James Wheeler.

Besides performing in multiple venues across the world in various bands and as a solo artist, James continues to front his blues/funk outfit ‘JimJams.’ He has also collaborated with Deutsche Grammophon Executive Producer Christian Badzura and Pete Watson–best known as musical director for Kylie Minogue.

James also composed and produced ‘Deeper With You’ for a BBC 4 documentary ‘Jerry Love,’ and last year served as musical director of ‘The Arts Club,’ the legendary Mayfair music venue. James earned a BA in music from the ‘Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts,’ founded by Sir Paul McCartney.

Shane Beales (Drums, Piano, Guitar)

Shane Beales is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and music educator based in London. After studying with noted jazz drummer Peter Fairclough at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, Shane has gone on to appear at The Royal Festival Hall, The Barbican and many other concert halls, clubs and pubs up and down the country, performing music in a range of styles including Blues, Contemporary, Gospel and Jazz.

Shane has also written over 300 songs in a variety of genres and his releases, on his own independent record label, enjoy national airplay on radio and television. The Guardian newspaper praised Shane for his ‘yearning, electro-flecked and melodic song-smithery’. Shane is also an experienced music workshop facilitator, delivering Blues-based composition and song writing classes.

Jack Stevens (Bass)

Bassist Jack Stevens cut his teeth on the blues as a student in Liverpool, as part of the house band in Liverpool’s Tuesday Bluesday jam sessions. Jack has also worked extensively alongside British blues sensation Marcus Bonfanti, and has collaborated with many artist including Craig David, Blue’s Simon Webbe and Natasha Hamilton from Atomic Kitten.

He spent most of 2013 on a world tour with ex-Simply Red frontman Mick Hucknall, playing songs from the artist’s critically acclaimed American Soul album. The American Soul tour, which kicked off with two sold-out nights at The Royal Albert Hall. saw Mick exploring and revisiting the music that he grew up on: Blues, Soul and Rock & Roll.

Jack is also a long-time columnist for Bass Guitar Magazine, and has devised and led educational music and song writing projects across London.

The complete #eva19 Conference Programme

Early booking is highly recommended & discounts are available.

eVa in the UK – Building better project managers

EVA19, the established Earned Value conference, took place in 2014 towards the end of May. The venue again was the magnificent Armourer’s Hall; steeped in tradition and just a stone’s throw from St. Paul’s Cathedral. The plan to explore the ‘ABC’ of project management – Agile, Benefits and Complex was executed masterfully

The backdrop proved to be as poignant as ever, as Steven Carver regaled the audience with the story of Alfred the Great, using real-life actors and Jonathan Crone provided Lessons from WW1, and the heroic battle of Vimy Ridge.

The military theme culminated with Lt. Colonel Tom de La Rue explaining what Leadership means in the context of an Apache Helicopter squadron on active service, and as the commanding officer of Prince Harry, in Afghanistan.

The two days, which included a banquet in the impressive livery dining hall, were engaging and intimate with the emphasis on personal development and learning together. The speakers were practitioners and professionals of the highest calibre, with many having taken time out from their day-jobs as managers and directors of mega-projects and programmes, to share their considerable knowledge and experience.

Steve says “The emergent themes from the conference this year were the importance of people and culture. Organisations need to move beyond slavishly following process and create an environment where project managers can really thrive.

It is vital in any project that stakeholders are properly engaged which underlines the fundamental need for project professionals to Listen, Learn and Lead.”

Steve’s events have a reputation for being innovative and edgy – and this year was no exception. Peter Taylor, the project manager who smiled, entertained the audience with anecdotes and stories, including a personal favourite about a genie, a project manager and the task of building a bridge over the Atlantic.

was masterful in teaching members of the audience how to write the project management blues, which he went on to perform with his band throughout the day.

eva19 ABC Conference – Day 2 by mervwyeth

The feedback from the audience was extremely positive including this example.

“The strength of the conference for me is the thread between the sessions that allows me to join the dots to meet my needs. I can create my own landscape from the wealth of knowledge and experience shared [maybe not the one I was expecting] and, perhaps most importantly, gets that mental recharge for the next set of challenges. Roll on next year!”

Steve says “The ‘eVa in the UK’ series has a reputation for giving something back to the profession. One way it does this is by creating a rich learning legacy. With the help of its many speakers, supporters and generous sponsors, most notably PM Channel, it has been able to accrue an impressive archive of presentations, video programmes and podcasts which can all be accessed from the archive section of this web site”

Magna Carta of Projects

Steve says “#eva20 is set to return to the UK at the Armourer’s Hall next year on 16^th and 17^th June and I am already dreaming up plans to go one better with my next event.”

Meanwhile, I would encourage you to find out more about what we are doing to build better project managers at http://evaintheuk.org. Why not subscribe, connect or speak to me, to be part of the story.”

Powerful Communication. Deaf Tips

Bruno Paul Kahne is Head of Leadership Faculty at Airbus Group Corporate University.

He is the author of “Deaf-Tips, powerful communication.”

Mr. Kahne is an expert trainer, facilitator, consultant, and conference speaker in leadership, management, personal development, communication and change management.

He has worked for companies specialized in fields as varied as the nuclear, aviation, food, and construction industry in many parts of the world.

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Conference welcome & description of ITER

On 5 March 2015, the ITER Council appointed Bernard Bigot, from France, Director-General of the ITER Organization.

Bernard Bigot has been closely associated with ITER since France’s bid to host the project in 2003. Following the ITER site decision in 2005, the signature of the ITER Agreement in 2006 and its ratification by all Members in 2007, Mr Bigot was delegated by the French government to act as High Representative for the implementation of ITER in France, a position that he has occupied since 2008.

With the responsibility of coordinating the realization of ITER and ensuring the representation of France to the ITER Members and the ITER Organization, he has followed the project for some twenty years.

In his long and distinguished career, Bernard Bigot has held senior positions in research, higher education and government. Prior to his appointment at ITER he completed two terms (2009-2012 and 2012-2015) as Chairman and CEO of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, CEA. This government-funded technological research organization – with ten research centres in France, a workforce of 16,000 and an annual budget of EUR 4.3 billion – is active in low-carbon energies, defense and security, information technologies and health technologies.

From 2003 to 2009 Bernard Bigot served as France’s High commissioner for atomic energy, an independent scientific authority whose mission is to advise the French President and the French government on nuclear and renewable energy policy and in all the other scientific and technological domains where the CEA intervenes.

On his long experience in the field of energy, he says: “I’ve always been concerned with energy issues. Energy is the key to mankind’s social and economic development. Today, 80 percent of the energy consumed in the world comes from fossil fuels and we all know that this resource will not last forever. With fusion energy we have a potential resource for millions of years. Harnessing it is an opportunity we cannot miss.”

Bernard Bigot was trained at the Ecole normale supérieure de Saint-Cloud and holds an agrégation (highest-level teaching diploma in France) in physical science and a PhD in chemistry. He is a high-ranking  university professor (classe exceptionnelle) at the Ecole normale supérieure de Lyon, which he helped to establish and which he directed from 2000 to 2003. Author of over 70 publications in theoretical chemistry, Bernard Bigot was also in charge of research at the Ecole normale supérieure and Director of the Institut de recherche sur la catalyse, a CNRS laboratory specializing in catalysis research.

In parallel to these academic responsibilities, he worked at the ministerial level as Head of the Scientific and Technical Mission (1993-1996), Director-General of Research and Technology (1996-1997), and Deputy Director for Research from 1998 to 2000.

In 2002, Bernard Bigot was appointed Principal Private Secretary to the Research and New Technologies Minister and Assistant Private Secretary to the Minister for Youth, Education and Research. It was during his tenure in this office that France proposed a site in Cadarache (southern France) to host the ITER Project.

Bernard Bigot is a Commandeur in the French Order of the Legion of Honour, a Commandeur in the Royal Swedish Order of the Polar Star, and an Officer the French Order of the National Merit. In October 2014 he received the Gold and Silver Star in the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun.

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The Wonder of Fusion

Professor Steven Cowley became Director of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority’s Culham Laboratory in September 2008 and Chief Executive of the UK Atomic Energy Authority in November 2009. He received his BA from Oxford University and his PhD. from Princeton University.

Professor Cowley’s post-doctoral work was at the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy and he returned to Princeton in 1987.  He joined the faculty at the University of California Los Angeles in 1993 rising to the rank of Full Professor in 2000.

From 2001 to 2003 he led the plasma physics group at Imperial College London.  He remains a part time professor at Imperial College.  From 2004 to 2008 he was the Director of the Center for Multi-scale Plasma Dynamics at UCLA.

His main research interest is in realising fusion power. He has also published over 150 papers on: the origin of magnetic fields in the universe, the theory of plasma turbulence and explosive behaviour in both laboratory and astrophysical plasmas.  Professor Cowley co-chaired the US National Academy’s decadal assessment of, and outlook for plasma science.

He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the Institute of Physics and the recipient of the IOP’s 2012 Glazebrook Medal for leadership in physics.  Currently he is also a member of the Prime Ministers Council on Science and Technology.

In 2014 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

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Addressing the challenge of climate change: The power of portfolio, program and project management

Peter Morris was Head of The Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management, at the University College London until August 2012 and is widely respected as one of the leading thinkers in project management.

During this period the School tripled in size and was rated top in its Unit of Assessment for its research. From 1996 to 2009 Peter was also Executive Director of INDECO, a consultancy specializing in the management of projects.

Prior to these appointments he was Professor of Project Management at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology and was a main board member of Bovis Ltd., a global construction company. He has worked all over the world in advisory and management roles for numerous projects.

Peter Morris was Chairman of the Association for Project Management (APM) from 1993 to 1996 and Deputy Chairman of the International Project Management Association (IPMA) from 1995 to 1997.

He received the Project Management Institute’s 2005 Research Achievement Award, IPMA’s 2009 Research Award and APM’s 2008 Sir Monty Finniston Lifetime Achievement Award.

He is the author of over 130 papers and Reconstructing Project Management [Wiley, 2013]. Peter’s work covers the energy sectors [oil & gas], ICT, general manufacturing, drug development, and construction. Through his research, Peter has shown that managing the front-end of projects is key to their success; that managing them in relation to their context (environment) is also important, as is managing the technical and commercial issues; and that above all, projects begin and end with people.

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