APM partners with Mind to support project professionals’ mental health

Association for Project Management (APM) has partnered with mental health charity Mind to deliver a new support toolkit for project professionals and employers.

As a profession that often deals with fast paced, dynamic workloads, project management can be high-pressured at times. New pressures and challenges that people have faced as a result of the coronavirus pandemic means the need for mental health support is arguably greater than ever.

Now, the website Mental Health at Work, which is curated by Mind, has published an online toolkit in partnership with APM that contains useful resources and downloads on topics such as resilience, coping with change and advice on remote working. It also features the APM-funded research report The Wellbeing of Project Professionals, as well as an introductory message from APM Fellow Chris MacLeod.

Reflecting on the many factors that have affected people’s mental health this year in particular, Caspar Bartington, APM's head of volunteer and education engagement, said: “In this most extraordinary year, there have been so many pulls on our wellbeing – job insecurity, the lack of social interaction with friends and colleagues, and the challenges of adapting to working from home while juggling caring responsibilities. And this is to say nothing of the loss of loved ones. While the signs are promising for the rollout of vaccines in 2021, the effects of this pandemic will be felt for years to come. 

“APM’s mental health toolkit, developed in conjunction with Mind, supports the existing range of material available, but is given additional relevance by reflections from project professionals. Fortunately, the stigma surrounding talking about mental wellbeing is disappearing. We hope this toolkit can support even more open conversations.”

Ewan Main, product manager at Mental Health at Work, said: “Project managers have a unique set of pressures and expectations on them in any year, and especially this year. Wellbeing is a clear priority for Association for Project Management; we’ve been really proud to work with them to encourage project managers to think about what keeps them and their teams well.”

You can access the toolkit here