Projecting for the Future
Harmonising Energy and Environment
A five-year update on the big conversation
The third cycle of reflection on the future of project management explores key trends shaping the profession. The report situates project management within historical industrial revolutions and evaluates its current state through APM’s initiatives and member discussions.
It presents ten recommendations, including redefining the profession’s role, enhancing leadership development, refining certification frameworks and integrating commercial and sustainability competencies. This report also highlights the need for strategic positioning, corporate alignment, and greater modularity in infrastructure projects. Additionally, it calls for research on mission-level change and equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).
The insights in this piece aim to guide future developments and contribute to the ongoing conversation about where we are heading and how we are positioning both ourselves and the profession for the future.
Why is this research relevant?
This report is fundamental to APM’s mission of advancing project management knowledge and practice. This initiative identifies key future trends, challenges, and opportunities, developing in a fast-paced context, while ensuring the profession remains relevant, adaptive and impactful. The recommendations support APM’s role in shaping industry standards, enhancing leadership, refining certification and integrating sustainability and diversity.
APM is at the forefront of the ongoing conversations and debates that will shape the future of project management. We will continue to provide guidance to professionals and organisations to ultimately contribute to economic and societal progress.
Who should read this report?
This report should be read by:
- Project management professionals – To understand future trends and adapt their practices.
- Industry leaders and corporate decision-makers – To align project management strategies with evolving business needs.
- APM members and certification bodies – To refine certification frameworks and professional standards.
- Policymakers – To shape regulations and policies supporting project management growth.
- Educators and researchers – To develop relevant project leadership and sustainability programmes.
How was the research undertaken?
The research was conducted through a multi-phase approach. It included a review of past reflections on the profession’s development, analysis of The Golden Thread reports (2019 and 2024), and structured focus group discussions with APM members.
Insights were gathered from six challenge papers, social media interactions, meetings, surveys, and a Focus Groups with APM’s corporate partners. Additionally, stakeholder engagement, case studies, and industry reports, including McKinsey’s net zero investment analysis, informed the findings.
Lessons from past industrial revolutions, the COVID-19 response, and emerging trends like digital transformation and sustainability were also examined. More details are available in the full report.
What did we discover?
The research revealed key insights into the evolving project management profession. It highlighted the increasing complexity of projects, driven by digital transformation, sustainability challenges and stakeholder engagement. The profession must adapt to these changes, placing greater emphasis on leadership competencies rather than traditional technical skills. The findings stress the need for a resilient talent pipeline, stronger integration of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), and a focus on continuous learning. It also highlighted the importance of project managers securing strategic roles within organisations, as well as embedding sustainability into core practices.
Key recommendations
- Evaluate the profession’s ownership of the role of ‘projector’.
- Position project management as the convening profession and assess its implications.
- Review corporate project management development programmes to align with career paths.
- Focus on leadership development, collaborating on complex project leadership reviews.
- Evaluate and develop a suite of certifications for specializations in project management.
- Review integration of commercial competencies within project management certifications.
- Commission research on how modularity and industrialisation will shape infrastructure projects.
- Sponsor research on the mission level of change and the project profession's role.
- Develop a framework to measure project-level sustainability aligned with UN SDGs.
- Reflect on the role of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in psychological safety.