The PRINCE2® 7 “tide” is turning in Filipino project management
Pablo Yambot – managing director of UBQTY
Pablo has over 28 years’ experience in the industry with expertise in the engineering and manufacturing sectors. He’s also a professor at the University of Philippines, where he specialises in IT project management and associated disciplines.
Over the years Pablo has gained several project management qualifications but the opportunity to be a beta tester for the new PRINCE2 7 came at an interesting point in the sector’s evolution.
“PMP has been a prevailing pre-requisite for many project management roles in the Philippines. There are fewer companies using PRINCE2 at present – and those that do tend to be European firms working internationally,” Pablo explained.
“However, the tide is turning, best evidenced by the government’s move to include PRINCE2 as a recognised accreditation for candidates applying for project management vacancies.
Pablo added that PRINCE2 7 has greater international gravitas and believes that it will serve his company well: “I read as much as I could about PRINCE2 before agreeing to take part in the beta programme and I could quickly see that, in terms of our company strategy, PRINCE2 7 would unlock prospects in the Asia Pacific market for us.”
He is now one of a handful of people to be awarded the internationally-recognised PRINCE2 7 certification and, when comparing it to other project management frameworks he’s studied and applied, Pablo believes PRINCE2 7 has retained the benefits of past iterations but gone further by introducing provisions for people management, sustainability and supporting Agile and Lean approaches.
“My impression before studying PRINCE2 was that it could be too rigid or suited only to waterfall projects typical in engineering and IT. But my experience has been different. The scenarios included in the learning illustrate how different sectors and varying sizes of organisation are adapting the seven principles of PRINCE2 and how they tailor the frameworks to suit the business and project context.
“I could quickly see how it would complement other project management frameworks we use at UBQTY. It’s given me a more comprehensive kit bag of ideas and techniques I can pick and choose from for the task at hand. In contrast to some frameworks best applied to mature projects, PRINCE2 7 is well suited to all kinds of projects, from those that need a ‘step by step’ approach to those that have no clear path. What’s most interesting is that my fellow candidates agreed with this and said it’s why they would encourage the use of PRINCE2 when returning to the day job.”
Pablo is in no doubt that PRINCE2 7 cements his learning and experience and has provided him with new ideas and concepts. What he especially likes is the way it’s designed to be attainable for people starting out in their careers.
“Where some project management courses require evidence of three years’ experience before being accepted, PRINCE2 is iterative, starting with Foundation. Candidates can evolve their capability as the PRINCE2 programme evolves. I think that’s a big plus for both individuals and the industry.”