International Men’s Day: Men’s views on what helps a project succeed

To mark International Men’s Day on 19 November, Association for Project Management has released new data that reveals what male project professionals think is important for delivering a successful project, as well as opportunities and challenges in store for the profession.

A survey of 1,000 project professionals, including 692 men, asked respondents how their projects were performing in relation to budget, scheduling and quality criteria; it also asked what factors were driving performance.

• Among men whose main project is ahead of schedule, 41% attributed this to competent project teams.
• Among male project professionals whose main project is on or under budget, clear goals and objectives was most-cited as a contributing factor (42% of respondents)
• And for men whose main project is on track to meet its original quality criteria, clear goals and objectives was the most commonly cited contributing factor (45% of respondents)

The survey also shines a light on anxieties that men face when it comes to delivering their main project. The biggest concerns among male project managers are:

• Increasing costs (cited by 26% of male respondents)
• budget restrictions and the energy crises (25%)
• lack of skills within their team and the levelling up agenda (24%)*

Earlier in the year, APM highlighted the importance of political and economic stability for project delivery, with nearly two-thirds of project professionals in the UK saying instability was negatively impacting active projects. With ongoing economic concerns following the recent Budget, APM has echoed the survey’s findings by highlighting the importance of professional competence and clear goals in uncertain environments.

Professor Adam Boddison, Chief Executive at APM, said: “From apprentices and students, to Chartered Project Professionals, male project practitioners bring a huge amount of skill, knowledge and expertise to our increasingly dynamic and diverse profession. International Men’s Day is a valuable opportunity to reflect on the important contribution men around the world make to our professional community, so it’s important to take their views into account when considering what aids successful project delivery in a changing and challenging world.”

APM provides project professionals with the right resources. An example is one of our research papers, Dynamic Conditions for Project Success. This report established core factors that will help those delivering projects achieve organisational and professional success. Another resource we provide is our Competence Framework, an interactive online assessment tool that identifies the development of required skills across 29 different competences, which helps to highlight skill-gaps for project teams or individuals. Alongside these tools, APM’s articles, blogs, and publications are available to improve project knowledge. APM also holds events, webinars and interactive workshops to support project delivery success. These events are suitable for all levels of experience. Topics include project team competences, risk management, project skills and capability, to name a few.

*All figures rounded to the nearest 1%