Responsible Project Management, supported by The Schumacher Institute

This is a series of ten, interactive, small-group sessions that will explore practical techniques for systems thinking on projects.  We will focus on how projects can build resilience and contribute to adaptation.  

Each workshop will highlight one principle from the Manifesto for Responsible Project Management.  Relevant techniques will be introduced and there will be opportunities for practice and discussion.  The first principle, and focus of this session, is Purpose.

Projects and project management create the future, yet projects are frequently managed as a set of siloed activities and outputs.  It is time to see projects differently.  Responsible Project Management (RPM) aims to support individuals and organisations re-imagine project management as a series of interventions into a set of existing systems.  We need to uncover ways that projects can contribute to creating a better future.  A future that enables people and nature to flourish together. 

In all the sessions, you will be encouraged to apply the techniques in a project context that you are familiar with, past or present, to share ideas and explore management challenges from a range of perspectives.  To enable you to optimise the experience, you can choose the workshops most relevant to you.  Each session is booked separately.

SESSION 1: PURPOSE This first session will introduce systems thinking and explore how context, complexity and interconnections among projects, people, and natural resources impact perspectives of project purpose and scope.  We will develop context diagrams to identify and understand project resources, constraints and the intentions underpinning projects from different perspectives.

SESSION 2: AWARENESS This second workshop will consider project success and sustainability as a means of raising awareness of potential impacts, opportunities and unintended consequences of projects.  We will examine how techniques for guided visioning and harnessing emotional responses can contribute to project planning by exploring preferred, possible and probable futures, and seeking opportunities for improving project outcomes.

SESSION 3: ENGAGEMENT In this third session we will develop understanding of how projects can deliver value.  Techniques for uncovering the connections among projects, results, uses and benefits will be introduced, and discussion will focus on how these techniques can be used to identify common interests, improve decision-making and build resilience in projects, programmes and outcomes.

SESSION 4: CURIOSITY This fourth session will introduce selected techniques to support our curiosity about system interactions and help to uncover hidden ethical complexity and influences on projects.  Together we will investigate connections between data and observations, underlying structures, and ways of thinking that influence projects and outcomes.

SESSION 5: UNCERTAINTY The objective in this session will be to recognise gaps in knowledge and develop ways of encouraging information sharing among diverse groups of people, communities and organisations.  We will consider approaches to analysing gaps, assessing risks and generating options.  Metrics for assessing the scope, clarity and diversity of risks and opportunities will be introduced and practiced.

SESSION 6: ANTICIPATION  This sixth workshop will explore the need to anticipate change and mechanisms for incorporating adaptation into project plans.  With a focus on delivering value and benefits, techniques for adaptive project planning and metrics for monitoring change will be shared.  We will discuss ways of identifying change, evaluating options and promoting informed decision making.

SESSION 7: CREATIVITY In this session, ideas from the circular economy will be explained and applied to projects as inspiration for improving outcomes.  Techniques for analysing processes and introducing circularity into projects will be shared and you will be encouraged to apply a chosen technique to an example from your own context.

SESSION 8: TRANSPARENCY The objective of this workshop is to explore how to encourage transparency among those involved in a project.  We will consider ways of making meetings open for sharing visions, thoughts and feelings, as well as structured and collaborative techniques for problem solving.  Participants will be invited to share experiences of successes and challenges of incorporating diverse perspectives into projects.

SESSION 9: STEWARDSHIP In this session we will explore how project professionals can be effective stewards for protecting, restoring and developing social, natural and economic resources in the development of a prosperous future for generations to come.  Together we will share approaches to adaptation, regeneration and sustaining resources, including examples from nature and indigenous communities. 

SESSION 10: BALANCE This final session will address the need for projects to seek harmony among stakeholders and balance needs over the short, medium and longer time horizons.  Techniques for backcasting and evaluating progress will be introduced, and the importance of storytelling in shaping action and perceptions of success will be discussed.

Further information about the programme can be found at: https://www.responsiblepm.com/the-rpm-studio

Early booking is recommended because the sessions are interactive, and numbers are limited. 

The cost for each session is £10*.  If you join all ten workshops, the last one will be free to attend. 

*plus booking fee