“A Lot Done – More to Do,” says IPMA President

Today companies, organisations, government entities and NGO’s alike have come to realise how connected the discipline of project management is to their success.

As a result, these same organisations are becoming project-centric or focused and believe that professionals with experience and the proper degrees or credentials are necessary to deploy the discipline. This means that careers in project management are absolutely booming all over the world.

Research indicates that projects in developed countries contribute more than 30% of national GDP and that a certified project manager leads 80% of “high performing” projects.

Professor Michael Porter, the Harvard strategy guru, states that “project management is now a new component of general management and key to managing change and innovation across the organisation.”

What we are witnessing is organisations:

• The rapidly becoming project focused on success.
• Demanding discipline and consistent approaches to carry out projects, and the professionals who are skilled and experienced in the discipline to lead the project teams.
• Drawing more and more people into the realm of a "project team".
• Recognising that careers and positions related to project management are prevalent in nearly every industry today, throughout the world.

Yet, there is no room for complacency. Globally we are still plagued with high project failure rates and billions of euros of unrealised investment return.

IPMA Council of Delegates

The International Project Management Association (IPMA) is a federation of 66 member nations that collaborate to promote the recognition of project management and engage stakeholders worldwide in advancing the discipline. 

IPMA’s Council of Delegates recently met in Sydney at a time of significant change and uncertainty in the global business and political landscape. The meeting reaffirmed the critical role that project management plays in delivering sustainable social and economic outcomes in organisations and countries of all levels of development across the globe. This was demonstrated by the increased reliance on project management capability to improve delivery and reduce risk.

For the first time from Sydney, the member nations are issuing a call to action for government and industry worldwide to pledge advocacy and support of the project management profession explicitly. IPMA is calling on all nations to formally recognise the profession of project management and dedicate certified project management resources to deliver their commitments to their shareholders and stakeholders.

IPMA President Reinhard Wagner stated that “IPMA is like the United Nations of project management, and our member associations create wealth for their nations. It will only be through harmonising our practices and approaches that the power of the project management discipline will force a collective global shift, and we will see tangible improvement in productivity, innovation and competitiveness.“