Doesn't a year go by fast?

Doesnt a year go by fast? We are already coming up to the APM conference and nominations are being taken for the APM Awards (deadline 27th June 2013). The Board has no jurisdiction on either of the above, but we do help guide the direction of the APM and thereby, indirectly, the themes of those landmark events.

A theme that came up during a discussion at the last board meeting was success. Not just how to define it, which was a topic at the most recent Branch and SIG, but more how much can you talk about it?

Maybe its a profession thing, or perhaps its cultural, but we could be accused of shying away from telling people our success stories prioritising self-deprecation over the fear of boasting. But surely if we want all projects to succeed, we ought to start countering the stories of a project gone wrong (those oh, so famous case-studies) with those projects that have gone so right that they passed without creating even a ripple in the pond of project management?

What are the characteristics of those not a ripple projects? Stakeholder communication and engagement would come high on my list of priorities. A recent opportunity to take project leadership training really underlined that it is easy to fail if you fail to tell people where you are at and do not consult them to understand their wishes. (In light of my first point, I hasten to add we did really rather well at the training it was the debrief that showed us where the pitfalls might lie). There are more and more tools in this evermore technologically based world that help us to communicate this is forming an entire stream at the APM Conference, the Evolve stream. Do track it if you are interested.

At the end of the day, your stakeholders will do your PR for you they will decide whether you failed or succeeded. Engage, consult and communicate with them and you stand a good chance of it being the latter. In the meantime, please do not be a wallflower if you have succeeded apply for the APM Awards and let us know!