WIREDGOV

Following on from the annual Association for Project Management Volunteer Achievement Awards, we speak with committee members from one of our Specific Interest Groups (SIGs) about what goes into running an award-winning group and how it benefits its many followers.

APM’s Benefits and Value SIG is dedicated to sharing insight, innovation and best practice on all aspects of value management and benefits realisation in the project profession. Formed in 2019 from the merger of the separate Benefits Management and Value Management SIGs, the group now has more than 3,000 followers, ranging from veteran specialists to project professionals who simply want to know more about these areas.

Like all APM SIGs, the Benefits and Value SIG is led by a committee of volunteers who are passionate not only about this specific facet of project management, but about helping the profession to deliver projects better.

This dedication was recognised at the recent APM Volunteer Achievement Awards, at which the SIG and its members were shortlisted in four out of six eligible categories, including two nominations in the Volunteer of the Year category. Committee members Kevin Parry and Dr Hugo Minney, ChPP, were jointly named winners of the Volunteer Innovation Award.

Sparking ideas

The Benefits and Value SIG prides itself on being a collaborative and caring community where creativity can thrive. As well as undertaking research and holding virtual events, the SIG also operates a thought leadership group and even informal drop-in sessions, which have helped to keep members feeling connected during the pandemic.

Kevin Parry yesterday explained:

“We’ve created an environment that fosters innovation.

“We [the committee] all get on. There’s genuine chemistry among all the people in the SIG. Everyone also brings great professionalism to everything they do.”

The work the SIG undertakes is driven by a series of working groups that are structured around functions like research and thought leadership. People are able to transfer between groups, creating a fluid structure that allows people to participate in projects they have a particular interest in, or to which they think they can best contribute.

Hugo Minney, who co-chairs the SIG, yesterday said:

“The working groups spark the ideas. People are thrown together from different backgrounds, contexts and different stages of their careers.

“Because there’s such diversity in each working group, they have a lot of innovative ideas.”

Click here for the full press release