Not ready to listen to our podcasts yet?
Find out more about the APM PMQ
APM PMQ (2024) Lifecycles (LO1)
1. Life cycles – This podcast discusses the distinct life cycle stages used to structure and organise a project, and covers:
a) The distinctive features of linear, iterative and hybrid life cycles (including why projects are structured as phases in linear life cycles) and when each is applicable.
b) The differences between a project life cycle and an extended life cycle.
c) How the context and culture of an organisation, and the needs of a specific project, influence the choice of life cycle and any adaptations that may be needed to the life cycle.
d) The strengths and limitations of different life cycles.
APM PMQ (2024) Transition Management (LO8)
8. Transition Management – This podcast discusses the integration of the outputs of a project into business-as-usual, and covers:
a) The basic requirements needed to support a successful transition, including considering business-as-usual throughout a project and planning for transition from the outset of the project.
b) The importance of knowledge transfer in the transition process, including learning from experience and continuous improvement.
c) How to engage stakeholders to agree a transition plan, including transfer of risks.
APM PMQ (2024) Assurance (LO7)
7. Assurance – This podcast discusses the ability of assurance to provide confidence to the governance board that a project is on track to deliver its objectives and the purpose of assurance within a project, including awareness of the scope, priorities and strategic aims of assurance activities.
APM PMQ (2024) Reviews (LO6)
6. Reviews – This podcast discusses how reviews are a way of gathering information to provide an assessment on the status of a project and the ongoing viability of the work, and covers:
a) The benefits of conducting reviews throughout the life cycle (including decision gates, benefits reviews and audits).
b) The factors which would typically be reported on to help ensure successful project outcomes.
c) The importance of producing information and collecting data to inform decision making and communicate actions and decisions to stakeholders.
d) Why activities may be re-planned after a review.
APM PMQ (2024) Leadership (LO12)
12. Leadership – This podcast discusses leadership as the way to empower and inspire others to deliver successful projects, and covers:
a) How leadership impacts on team performance and motivation (using models such as Maslow, Herzberg and McGregor).
b) Why it may be necessary to change leadership styles depending upon the situation.
c) The importance of a coaching and mentoring style in leadership, and the role of emotional intelligence.
APM PMQ (2024) Governance Arrangements (LO2)
2. Governance arrangements – This podcast discusses governance structures as a framework of
authority and accountability for the delivery of a project, which align with organisational practice, and covers:
a) Knowledge of different types of permanent and temporary organisation structures and their features (including functional, matrix, and project),and that an organisation’s governance approach will inform the approach used for a project.
b) Why there are distinct roles within project management and what the responsibilities of each role are (including users, project team members, the project manager, the project steering group/board and the product owner), and the differences in responsibilities of the project manager and project sponsor throughout the project.
c) Why aspects of project management governance are required (such as the use of policies, regulations, functions, processes, procedures and delegated responsibilities), and the impact of a project’s life cycle on its governance framework and the limits of financial authority.
d) The importance of linking projects to an organisation’s objectives.
APM PMQ (2024) Business Case (LO4)
4. Business Case – This podcast discusses the business case as the justification for the initiation, investment and/or continuation of a project in terms of benefits, costs and risks, and it covers:
a) The tools and techniques used to determine factors which influence and impact a project’s business case (including PESTLE, SWOT and VUCA).
b) The importance of regularly reviewing the impact of any changes in a project to the business case, and how the business case forms the baseline for the project.
APM PMQ (2024) Benefits Management (LO9)
9. Benefits Management – This podcast discusses benefits management as the monitoring of benefits realisation throughout a project, and covers:
a) What is meant by benefits management (including identification, definition, planning, tracking and realisation).
b) The importance of aligning benefits with strategic objectives and ways in which the benefits of a project can be communicated to stakeholders.
APM PMQ (2024) Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Management (LO10)
10. Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Management – This podcast discusses the ability to work with people internally and externally to achieve intended outcomes, and covers:
a) The relationship between stakeholder analysis, influence and engagement.
b) The relationship between stakeholder analysis and an effective communication management plan.
c) The benefits to a project of a communication plan.
d) The importance of managing stakeholder expectations to the success of the project.
e) The range of communication methods available and the importance of tailoring messaging to meet stakeholder requirements.
f) The factors which can positively or negatively affect communication.
APM PMQ (2024) Requirements Management (LO16)
16. Requirements Management – This podcast discusses the ability to capture and monitor the requirements of a project, and covers:
a) How to establish scope through requirements management processes (such as gather, analysis, justifying requirements and baseline needs).
b) How to manage scope through configuration management processes (such as planning, identification, control, status accounting and verification audit).
APM PMQ (2024) Solutions Development (LO17)
17. Solutions Development – This podcast discusses the ability to determine the optimal solution to satisfy agreed requirements, and covers:
a) How to evaluate and prioritise requirements in order to deliver the optimal solution, and the different approaches for different life cycle models, e.g. the use of MVP and MMP in iterative life cycles.
APM PMQ (2024) Procurement (LO5)
5. Procurement – This podcast discusses securing the provision of resources, choosing strategies for obtaining best value from supply chains, and covers:
a) The purpose and importance of a procurement strategy and the typical contents of a procurement strategy.
b) The stages of a supplier selection process, including how to plan the procurement process and conduct negotiations (for example ZOPA, BATNA and ‘Win Win’).
c) The features of different contractual relationships and why different methods of supplier reimbursement are used and when it is appropriate to use them (including fixed price, cost plus fee, per unit quantity and target cost).
APM PMQ (2024) Integrated Planning (LO19)
19. Integrated Planning – This podcast discusses the ability to incorporate multiple plans and processes into an integrated project management plan, and covers:
a) The format for an effective integrated project management plan and its typical contents.
b) The importance of producing an integrated project management plan.
APM PMQ (2024) Schedule Management (LO20)
20. Schedule Management – This podcast discusses the ability to undertake time-based planning with an emphasis on activities and resource, and covers:
a) How to define scope in terms of outputs, outcomes and benefits (including the use of product, work and cost breakdown structures).
b) The links and dependencies between activities within a project and business-as-usual activities, for example how business-as-usual activities, costs, quality, risks and scope can all impact the schedule for the project.
APM PMQ (2024) Resource Management (LO21)
21. Resource Management – This podcast discusses the ability to identify and schedule the required internal and external resources, and covers:
a) How to determine the resources required and their availability to deliver activities within a project.
b) How an organisational breakdown structure is used to create a responsibility assignment matrix (RACI).
c) How resources are categorised and allocated to both linear and iterative life cycle schedules.
d) The differences between resource smoothing and resource levelling.
APM PMQ (2024) Budgeting and Cost Control (LO22)
22. Budgeting and Cost Control – This podcast discusses the ability to estimate costs, develop and agree budgets and monitor actual costs against forecast costs, and covers:
a) How to create a budget (including the use of a cost breakdown structure) and the different costs included in a budget (fixed, variable, direct, indirect etc.)
b) How to forecast and refine budgets using cost control techniques e.g. earned value.
c) How to monitor and report financial performance (including different types of financial reports).
d) How to close down finances at the end of a project.
APM PMQ (2024) Risk and Issue Management (LO23)
23. Risk and Issue Management – This podcast discusses the ability to identify and monitor risks (threats and opportunities); plan responses to those risks and respond to issues, and covers:
a) The benefits of risk and issue management and the role of contingency planning in projects.
b) The purpose and importance of each stage in a risk management process (such as identification, analysis, monitoring, escalation, response and closure) and an issue management process (such as logging and analysis, escalation, and assignment of actions), and why these stages are different for linear and iterative life cycles.
c) How to proactively and reactively respond to risks (such as avoid, reduce, transfer or accept and exploit, enhance, share or reject).
d) Why governance is important in risk and issue management.
APM PMQ (2024) Quality Management (LO18)
18. Quality Management – This podcast discusses the ability to ensure that outputs are delivered in accordance with requirements, and covers:
a) What is meant by quality planning, including an understanding of quality indicators and how these relate to the business case.
b) How quality control techniques are used to determine whether success criteria are met.
APM PMQ (2024) Team Management (LO13)
13. Team Management – This podcast discusses the ability to work with team members to create and sustain teams, and covers:
a) The different stages in the development of a team, including creation, development, maintenance and leadership, and understanding the factors which influence these stages, including the knowledge of the models that are used to understand team development (such as Belbin, Margerison McCann, Myers-Briggs, Hackman, Tuckman, Katzenbach and Smith).
b) The characteristics and benefits of effective teams and teamwork.
c) Why different leadership approaches are needed to support virtual and hybrid teams.
APM PMQ (2024) Conflict Resolution (LO11)
11. Conflict Resolution – This podcast discusses the ability to identify and address differences between individuals and/or interest groups, and covers:
a) The sources of conflict within a project.
b) How conflict can have both positive and negative impacts within a project.
c) How conflict can be addressed in different situations (such as Thomas Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument).
APM PMQ (2024) Change Control (LO24)
24. Change Control – This podcast discusses the ability to manage variations and change requests in a controlled way, and covers:
a) The purpose and importance of each stage of a typical change control process (such as request, initial evaluation, detailed evaluation, recommendation, update plans and implement) and where these stages are different for linear and iterative life cycles.
b) What should be captured and recorded in change requests.
c) Ways in which to assess options related to a proposed change and the high-level impact of the proposed change.
d) How to justify recommendations about whether to approve, reject or defer changes.
e) The importance of updating plans and schedules to reflect and communicate changes.
APM PMQ (2024) Sustainability (LO3)
3. Sustainability – This podcast discusses balancing the environmental, social, economic and administrative considerations that will impact a project, and covers:
a) Why sustainability responsibilities, principles and priorities are considered within a project and the impact they may have.
b) How sustainability measures are monitored and reported on.
APM PMQ (2024) Diversity and Inclusion (LO14)
14. Diversity and Inclusion – This podcast discusses the ability to build and maintain an inclusive environment that embraces a diverse culture, and covers:
a) Knowledge of diversity, including characteristics which may cause a person to be treated less favourably, such as: age, disability, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
b) Why incorporating diversity into all parts of a project, from team members to customers, is a factor in creating a positive working environment and the importance of embracing diverse thinking in teams as a means of generating innovative solutions.
c) How conscious and unconscious bias can affect actions and how to treat people fairly, including adapting behaviours to support individuals’ needs and facilitate their contributions.
APM PMQ (2024) Ethics, Compliance and Professionalism (LO15)
15. Ethics, Compliance and Professionalism – This podcast discusses the ability to work consistently in a moral, legal and socially responsible manner, and covers:
a) The importance of continuing professional development, which should cover both knowledge, skills and behaviours, and the individual’s role in identifying and addressing their own competence gaps.
b) Knowledge of the sources of specialist advice and standards that need to be adhered to.
c) The impact of the legal and regulatory landscape on projects (such as the impact on working conditions, risk management, governance and sustainability).