Leaders share insights on factors driving business growth and strategic success at APM event

Businesses are more likely to achieve their strategic goals if they empower people to lead projects and commit to understanding what motivates their teams, according to senior leaders at an event organised by Association for Project Management (APM).

A roundtable discussion attended by C-suite-level leaders at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, drew contributors from financial services, professional consultancy, technology and other sectors where transformations are driving success.

Topics discussed included the changing demands businesses face in a volatile and unpredictable world, how businesses can adapt, and how investing in transformational capability is helping businesses withstand headwinds.

The event was supported by Insider Media. APM will publish a white paper that summarises the key points from the conversation soon. But you can read selected extracts below of contributors’ responses to particular points here.

 

Empower people to deliver and lead projects

Bob Bradley, Business Leader, Speaker and Coach, said: “A key element of project management and leadership is delegation. How do you delegate and how do you get things done? One of the things I’ve come across again and again is that some people have a tendency to delegate a task or activity in a manner of ‘this is how to do it’. That means that when that activity is going wrong or when it needs to be done differently, you get dragged back in.

“One thing I’ve learned in my career is not to focus on the activity or task to be done but on the outcome.

“That certainly ties in with project management. Projects I’ve seen that go wrong often go wrong because they’re confused about the goal; the outcome. Be clear about the outcome and delegate an outcome to someone in such a way that they can just get on with it. It’s up to them to use their creativity to find the best way of doing it. This way is more motivational too.”

 

Understand people’s motivators

APM’s Salary and Market Trends Survey found two-thirds of project professionals are happy to stay in their current role, but a third say they’re likely to change jobs in the next year. While salary is an important pull factor, it is not the only one. Flexible working options, opportunities to progress and even finding the work interesting are all important motivators for people. Understanding what inspires people at work can aid recruitment and retention; both of which are growth enablers.

Laura Riley, Associate Director at Michael Page, said: “If you’ve got the right people, you can achieve anything. But it’s not just getting the right people. It’s knowing what their motivators are. Is it about career? Is it about their next promotion? Is it about psychological safety? Do they feel safe enough to fail and to take a risk and put themselves out there to lead a project?

“It’s also about capacity. If your people are swamped and overworked they won’t have capacity to drive a new project.”

 

Support productivty using technology

Research by APM has found that 43% of business leaders say the use of AI tolls has had a positive impact on productivity across their organisation, or parts of it. Only 13% reported a negative effect, while 18% are still unclear on the impact.

Of those who reported a positive boost in productivity, the areas where that impact is most felt are IT, finance/accounting, research and development, and customer service.

Matt Johnson, Head of Communications at APM, said: “Value extraction from the technology depends where that technology is being used. With professional services, people often want the value of a professional’s time and expertise. Using AI to free up that time is therefore likely to be better than using it to replace a professional.

“Corporate partners of APM have started using tools like Microsoft Copilot – a relatively off-the-shelf tool – which they have found tremendously useful for administrative work around tenders and procurement. Processes and workflows for that still need to be set up, so it does still need to be integrated into the workflow, but it is saving them an incredible amount of time.”

 

Interested in this topic?

APM shares exclusive insights and thought leadership for business leaders in project and non-project roles on its LinkedIn page, Leaders for Strategic Transformation.

Or visit the business leader content library on the APM website.

*Photo courtesy of Catherine Hadler/Insider Media