APM Competence
Framework 2nd edition
Introduction and overview
APM North West Branch Conference
12th October 2015
Colin MacKenzie
What I’m going to talk about
Provide a high level overview of the APM Competence framework 2nd
edition
Summarise the benefits it can provide to organisations and individuals
Give you an insight into our new qualification and how this is aligned to
the competence framework
Capability v’s Competence
Capability:
“The power or ability to do something”
Competence:
“The ability to do something successfully or efficiently”
Competence Framework 2nd edition
Why did we need to change?
Previous framework had not been reviewed or updated since 2008
Edition 1 only relevant to Project Managers, not inclusive
Wanted to create a platform to build our product and service proposition that
enabled us to support our 2020 Strategy vision
We wanted to respond to customer feedback:
– Extend existing framework beyond just Project Management
– Ensure it becomes more relevant and practical for project professionals
– Ensure it’s flexible enough to integrate into existing frameworks and programmes
What’s different?
Streamlined and easier to use
– Number of competences reduced from 47 to 27
Addresses both application and knowledge of each competence
Relevant for Project, Programme and Portfolio Managers and PMO roles
14 new role profiles
New ratings scale
New complexity guidance
27 competences
Competence overview
Ratings scale and Complexity Guide
How should you use it?
Review the Competences and decide which are relevant to your role
Read the performance indicators for both application and knowledge then score
these holistically
Ask someone else to validate your scores
Measure yourself against a specific role profile
Use the gaps highlighted to develop and build into your PDP and CPD plan
Key benefits for corporates
Role profiles give you the professional body view of competence and provide a
trusted benchmark
Enables you to make (consistent) comparisons across your PM community
Identifies the differences between professional body benchmark and actual skills
within your organisation
Identify skills gaps and can be used to support professional development plans
Facilitates movement between the 4 project professional disciplines
Modern Framework that can be used as it is or integrated into an existing
framework
Flexibility - can be used for self assessment, line manager assessment, or as part
of a 360 degree assessment
In summary….
It enables organisations to assess their capacity and capabilities across the
breadth of their different functions
– Enables senior management teams to plan the skills development and
knowledge acquisition strategies in a common way for all delivery teams.
It enables individual project professionals to assess the knowledge and
experiences that they have against the knowledge and experience they
require to progress their career
– Identifies the study pathway that will best suit their individual requirements.
More information on APM website
Now forms part of your corporate membership and you should have
access to all these resources from your next renewal
Introduction to new APM qualification
Currently in Pilot phase until January 2016
Anticipate full launch in Spring 2016
It’s not a direct replacement for the existing Practitioner
Qualification, but it sits in the same space
Qualification overview
It’s based on APM’s Competence Framework 2nd Edition
Aligned to the intermediate level role profiles
It’s been developed as a multi-paper qualification taken in stages
It includes 3 universal papers around governance, leadership and project
controls, alongside one elective paper
3 role specific papers - Project, Programme and Portfolio Management
It will provide a progressive “qualification route” to become a Registered
Project Professional (RPP)
Target audience
• Typically have 3-5 years’ experience as a project professional
• “Fast track” project professionals
• Project professionals who have already successfully achieved the APM
Project Fundamentals APM Project Management qualifications
• MAPM grade members
• Project, Programme and Portfolio Managers who have been mapped to
the intermediate levels on the Competence Framework Role Profiles
A mix of core and optional papers
Professionalism
and Managing
Others
Planning and
Control Governance + +
Project Manager Programme
Manager Portfolio Manager or or
APM Certified Project
Professional Qualification
RPP
Three ‘core’ papers
1. Professionalism
and Managing
Others
2. Planning and
Control
3. Governance
• Ethics, compliance and professionalism
• Team management
• Conflict management
• Leadership
• Risk and issue management
• Schedule management
• Resource management
• Budgeting and cost control
• Governance arrangements
• Stakeholder and comms management
• Reviews
• Change control
• Business case
Three ‘elective’ papers
Project Manager
Programme
Manager
Portfolio Manager
• Procurement
• Contract management
• Requirements management
• Solutions development
• Quality management
• Transition management
• Financial management
• Resource capacity planning
• Frameworks and methodologies
• Independent assurance
• Financial management
• Resource capacity planning
• Frameworks and methodologies
• Independent assurance
• Asset allocation
Overview of qualification process
Successful completion of the 3 core and 1 elective exam paper will
result in the award of the qualification
Each individual exam papers will count towards the total
qualification, provided they are completed within a 5 year period
3 hour exam with 4 questions of equal value
Candidates must provide rationale, justification and evidence
– Need to be able to demonstrate an application of the knowledge
Benefits
Relevant to all project professionals
Fills a gap in the market
Provides that progressive route to RPP
Encourages project professionals to demonstrate the practical
application of knowledge
Questions