Support for project and programme management is a critical strand of BCS as is evidenced by the fact that PROMS-G, the Project Management Specialist Group of BCS is the largest specialist group in BCS with over 4,300 members.
The group provides a forum for its members to enable the exchange of information, skills, techniques and methodologies, which will enhance the professional status of project and programme management within the IT and related industries. Membership of the group is free to all BCS members.
PROMS-G aims to provide BCS members with the opportunity to develop their awareness and competence in project and programme management, encourage research and promote the use and development of standards.
The majority of events are organised in London and the Thames Valley. However, we are keen to provide a wider national coverage and are working with BCS branches, if they wish us to help organise project management events as part of their programmes.
We arrange a wide variety of event evenings, which are free to PROMS-G members and guests. We actively encourage excellence and have asked a number of IT Industry Award winners to come and present to us, so that members can see what a really good project looks like. There is a modest charge for educational events such as the schools we run.
Each year the group organises a Spring School, which this year was on the topic of project governance, and was held on four consecutive Mondays in March, culminating in a lively forum debate on the final evening.
These are always popular and highly rated by attendees as a means of obtaining more in depth analysis and an opportunity to raise issues and network with experts. Schools in previous years have included topics such as stakeholder engagement, risk management and soft skills. We are always interested to hear ideas from our members for future topics.
Annual award - As part of our initiative to promote good project management, we introduced the annual PROMS-G Award in 2001. The award goes to the candidate with the highest marks in the project management paper in the BCS Examination each year. The award is worth £500 to the recipient, who also receives an engraved glass award.
The most recent winner from Sri Lanka is Dushani Dunukara, a state university student majoring in physics. Dushani considers it one of the most prestigious awards from BCS and highly recommends BCS to those wishing to acquire professional IT knowledge and experience.
PROMS-G’s official notification newsletter containing news on our activities is the magazine Project Manager Today, which is published monthly and is available free to all registered UK members of PROMS-G for whom we have a current address and who wish to receive the magazine through the post.
The aims and objectives of the group are:
- promote best practice in project and programme management;
- facilitate the sharing of skills, techniques, tools and methods;
- positively encourage members to participate in professional project, programme and portfolio management activities;
- provide opportunities for networking and interaction enabling members to share experiences and lessons learned through a regular series of meetings and schools and joint events with BCS branches;
- represent and promote the interests of PROMS-G members with other organisations and professional bodies;
- develop awareness and competence in the application of project, programme and portfolio management techniques;
- support research and development of project, programme and portfolio management related standards;
- through PROMS-G activities, attract new members;
- encourage membership of BCS;
- abide by the BCS charitable objectives.
