International Recognition for Project Management in Public Sector

December 19^th, 2016 marked the launch of the Project Managers' Network and the Project Management Handbook for the Irish Civil Service at Dublin Castle. The context of today’s economic and social background means that developing Project Management capacity is a necessity across the Civil Service, rightly identified by the Civil Service Renewal Plan.

Some 300 project managers and project team members from across the Civil Service attended the event to launch the Project Management Handbook, developed by a cross-departmental team from the Irish Civil Service and presented by Derek Tierney (IPMA – Level A) from the Department of Finance.

The event presented case studies and also announced were a number of training supports to project managers/team members to be also delivered under the Civil Service Renewal Plan.

Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act

This event marked a powerful imprint internationally during December on the role of Project Management in the public sector.

In the USA, the Senate unanimously approved the Program Management Improvement and Accountability Act which aims to:  

• Create a formal job series and career path for program managers in the federal government.
• Develop a standards-based program management policy across the federal government.
• Recognize the essential role of executive sponsorship and engagement by designating a senior executive in federal agencies to be responsible for program management policy and strategy.
• Share knowledge of successful approaches to program management through an interagency council on program management.

“This critical legislation will help maximize efficiency within the U.S. federal government, thereby generating more successful program outcomes and increasing the value that Americans receive for their tax dollars,” said PMI President and Chief Executive Officer Mark A. Langley.

Congress for the Future

In Berlin, 1400 participants attended the ‘Congress for the Future’, an event organised under the patronage of the German Minister of Defence and the Minister of Interior with the support of the IPMA national German Association GPM.

Central themes were ‘Transparency and Efficiency in large public projects’, ‘Project Governance in the public sector and ‘Organisational Project Management Competence’.

Research by (GPM) shows that nearly 40% of the national GDP is based on projects – hence its view that project management should be promoted as a national competence requirement.

Project Management Handbook for the Civil Service

At the Dublin Castle event, the Civil Service Management Board endorsed the Project Management Handbook that provides a framework for developing, managing, and delivering projects for Government Departments and Offices within the Civil Service.

The Civil Service manages billions of euros of current and capital expenditure. As such, well-managed projects are critical to the achievement of Government priorities and objectives to deliver value-for-money and minimise wastage and the burden to our economy through improper selection and/or improper formulation and execution.

The benefits of project management are wide-ranging. For individual Departments, it allows the establishment and identification of milestones to be achieved across projects that deliver on the overall strategy while providing management with appropriate information to enable decision making. If you wish to improve these skills, take a look at IPM's course.