APM People Interest Network

Welcome to the APM People Interest Network.

Ready to make a difference? Dive into our network and become part of something truly special. Whether you're passionate about volunteering, seeking valuable resources on People, or eager to network with like minded project professionals at our exciting events, there's a place for you here.

Volunteer opportunities await. Join us to create positive change! From webinars to networking events, there are countless ways you can contribute your time and skills to make a difference.

Discover valuable resources. Empower yourself with knowledge and tools to drive progress forward. Explore our resources below filled with insightful articles, practical guides, and useful tools designed to support your career.

Our purpose? To raise awareness, inspire thinking and influence opinion around people and project management. Our primary focus is communications, leadership, stakeholder engagement and equity, diversity and inclusion. 

What do we do? Where there are projects, there are people, as all project-based work fundamentally relies on effective collaboration. 

Instead of focusing solely on project methodologies and technical skills, we examine things like people’s relationship patterns, emotions and instincts and how they affect projects. 

Our current workstreams explore the dynamics of communication, the development of effective leadership and the cultivation and maintenance of stakeholder relationships. We also look at how promoting equality, diversity and inclusion fosters a richer and more productive environment. 

What we offer our followers? We explore the ways people work together and, as a result, we are not constrained by rigid methodologies. We are therefore always prepared to challenge norms and embrace disruption. 

With this in mind, our group welcomes all volunteers to channel like-minded initiatives through our current and future workstreams. 

We provide support for project leaders and teams, performance improvement, and research tools and techniques. 

How to get involved? We organise presentations, workshops, and events, with volunteers hailing from various sectors including industry, military, transport, commerce, local government and education.  

Our members also come from different cultures, backgrounds and levels of experience - there truly is something for everyone! 

“All project professionals need to continually develop their people skills,” says network volunteer Teri Okoro. “You can’t delegate this responsibility to just one person, as we are always interacting with team members, external stakeholders and users to get better outcomes.”  

People: All project-based work relies fundamentally on the ability of people to work together.

Leading a group of people so they can become a high-performing team is, some would argue, the most important skills that a project professional needs to develop.

Definition from APM Body of Knowledge 7^th edition

The APM People Interest Network has a vision of ‘Inspired and inspiring project managers’ and a mission to raise awareness, inspire thinking and influence opinion around people and project management. Our primary focus groups are: Communications, Leadership and Behaviours. 

Our primary objectives are to:

• promote the inclusion of people aspects of project management;
• research and promote tools and techniques;
• provide support for project leaders and teams;
• provide support for performance improvement.

We plan to achieve these by:

• engaging with other Interest Networks, Regional Networks, the wider PM community and other like-minded bodies and organisations outside APM;
• engaging with the Stakeholder Engagement Focus Group where you can find various resources about stakeholder engagement;
• presentations and workshops;
• proposing, conducting and encouraging research into people aspects of projects;
• building our reputation as a centre of excellence for people aspects of P3M delivery;
• communications and publications using appropriate media.

Relationship building

Our aim is to lead the project management community forward in the areas of project and organisational culture, communication, structure, leadership and teamwork. We encourage relationships to be built through networking and educational events.

People are then able to share knowledge, experience and insights, leading to the development of innovative approaches and best practice. This knowledge can then be disseminated throughout industry via APM.