Putting people first: Why human-centred project delivery matters

If you’ve been keeping an eye on project management trends in 2025, you’ll know there’s a growing shift toward putting people at the heart of what we do. From embedding social value in delivery, to embracing sustainability goals, to shaping projects through co-design with communities—there’s a clear movement toward work that genuinely matters to the communities and teams it serves.

Five reasons why human-centred project delivery is more than a buzzword

1. It delivers meaningful outcomes

When projects are designed with people in mind, from residents in our towns to teams working behind the scenes, we avoid the hollow checklists and get to the real stuff: neighbourhoods that thrive, services that work better and teams that feel valued.

2. It builds trust and engagement

Projects thrive when people are listened to and included. That means better buy-in, stronger teamwork and fewer blindsides. When teams feel their input matters, they’re more committed and that alone pushes projects forward.

3. It naturally aligns with social value and sustainability

Projects that start with human needs tend to tick those bigger boxes automatically: better environments, fairer access, safer places. It's not a side benefit, it’s often baked into the whole approach.

4. It keeps things agile and adaptable

Life throws curveballs. When delivery is human-first, it’s easier to adapt—because you’re constantly responding to real needs, not just buried in process and paperwork.

5. It leaves a real legacy

The projects that stick in people’s minds are ones that made a difference. Projects that responded to real lives and kept delivering benefits well past their completion.

A real-world touchpoint

Let’s talk about the Mayday Saxonvale project in Frome, Somerset. After a five-year community campaign, locals prevailed in transforming a 12-acre brownfield into a mixed use, community led development; 263 homes, workspaces, public squares, a boutique hotel, café and even a lido. It’s a vivid illustration of a project designed with people, not for them, which has created real outcomes that resonate with the town’s character and needs.

The trust here wasn’t passive, it was earned. Residents drove every step of the process, bringing grassroots energy together with professional project support to shape their environment. Frome councillor Fiona Barrows put it simply: “It’s about the sense of confidence and agency—and possibility—that it will give us as a community.” That is the essence of human‑centred engagement: when people feel they genuinely have a stake and a say.

How this connects to our wider profession

You don’t have to abandon your methodology toolbox, rather think of human-centred delivery as an essential lens. It’s about asking: Who are we serving? What difference will this make? How can people be part of every step? Simple questions, powerful outcomes.

For example, in Agile delivery, the emphasis on iterative development and stakeholder feedback already puts people at the core. A human-first perspective strengthens this by making sure the voices shaping those iterations are genuinely representative of the communities impacted, not just project sponsors.

When you look at APM’s Body of Knowledge, areas such as stakeholder engagement, governance and sustainability all align naturally with a human-first approach. Instead of treating them as checklists, we can use them as opportunities to embed empathy, inclusion and co-design.

Even maturity models like P3M3 highlight the value of moving from process-driven approaches toward integrated, outcome-focused delivery. Framing that maturity journey around human impact ensures organisations don’t just scale processes, but also scale trust and value for their people.

In practice, it’s less about choosing a methodology and more about asking:

Who are we serving?
What difference will this make to their lives?
How can people be part of every step, from strategy to delivery to benefits realisation?

By weaving these questions into our frameworks, we’re not replacing the structure of our profession, we’re enriching it.

Want to explore this more?

In the upcoming APM South Wales and West of England Network Conference—taking place on 21 October 2025 in Bristol—the theme is “Human First: Building Projects That Matter.” It’s a local gathering highlighting projects across the Southwest that exemplify people-centred thinking in action.