Registered Project Professional: What You Need to Know, 6 June 2016

The Branch had held a similar event for members interested in applying for RPP in 2014 and decided to repeat the event in another area in the South West region, this time in Taunton.

Peter Wakeling, who is an RPP Assessor, gave a presentation addressing 4 questions: What does RPP mean for me?; What do I need to know?; What do I need to do?; and How can I achieve success?

RPP is the standard for extraordinary project professionals, and is Chartered in all but name, and takes the project professionalism to a new level.

Peter explained the requirements and the emphasis placed on leadership, professionalism and ethics, along with 29 core competences. RPP candidates need to clearly demonstrate that they have led others in the successful delivery of complex projects.

Peter gave an insight into what APM meant by the management of others, which included not only direct reports, but also senior management and stakeholders.  Candidate are expected to provide evidence of leading others in each of the competences. He also explained how APM defined a complex project and that it is not just about technical complexity.  The APM’s complexity questionnaire is available to assist potential candidates assess their own readiness for RPP. 

Peter detailed the two stage assessment process, how the portfolio of evidence is assessed, and the format of the professional review together with the 10 minute presentation that is required.

He shared some of his personal learning points and emphasised the need for potential candidates to use the tools available on the APM web site to assess themselves to check if they are ready to apply.  When completing their portfolio, candidates should read, understand and follow the guidance documents and ensure that they have supplied evidence against at least 50% of the indicators for each competence. Make it easy for the Assessor to find the evidence in the place they expect it to be. It is important to talk about what you did, not what the team did, and to show evidence of leading others across all competences. Be prepared to provide an example of where you have faced an ethical situation and how you managed this. A final tip for the professional review is that the Assessors are looking for the attitude and confidence expected of a senior professional.

The RPP standard is current under review, benchmarking it against other professional designations and will be updated to incorporate the revised APM competence framework. It is planned to launch the revised RPP in Spring of 2017. In the meantime, assessment will be against the old competence framework.

Following Peter’s presentation, the members split into smaller groups to ask more detailed questions of the 4 RPP Champions: Peter Wakeling, Paul Johnson, Gary Mainwaring and Martin Gosden.

Supporting material, including candidate guidance, complexity questionnaire, RPP competencesis available on the APM website here.   The Branch RPP Champions are available to help and offer guidance, and can be contacted via: Chairman@apm-swalesandwengland.org.uk.

View below the slides presentation or on the Resourse page on the APM website.

Martin Gosden
Branch Chairman