Association for Project Management Qualification (APM PMQ) Roles, Responsibilities and Stakeholders Syllabus

Roles, Responsibilities and Stakeholders syllabus — full chapter and topic list

Expand any chapter to see its topics and sub-topics. This is the whole examinable outline for Roles, Responsibilities and Stakeholders in Association for Project Management Qualification (APM PMQ), not a summary of it.

1. 1

   Roles and Responsibilities

   5 topics

   • The sponsor role
     • Owning the business case and benefits realisation
     • Championing the project and chairing the steering group
   • The project manager role
     • Day-to-day responsibility for delivery
     • Balancing scope, time, cost and quality
   • The steering group / project board
     • Composition and decision-making authority
   • Users, the project team and other roles
     • Defining the users and end-beneficiaries
     • Subject matter experts and assurance roles
   • Relationship between sponsor and project manager
2. 2

   Stakeholder Engagement and Communication

   5 topics

   • Stakeholder identification
     • Internal and external stakeholders
     • Capturing stakeholders in a register
   • Stakeholder analysis and mapping
     • Power/interest and influence/impact grids
     • Attitude and supporters versus blockers
   • Stakeholder engagement strategies
     • Tailoring engagement to stakeholder needs
     • Maintaining engagement through the life cycle
   • Importance of effective communication
     • Benefits of good communication to a project
     • Barriers to communication and how to overcome them
   • The communication management plan
     • Audience, content, frequency and channel
     • Feedback loops and two-way communication
3. 3

   Leadership and Teamwork

   5 topics

   • Leadership principles and behaviours
     • Vision, motivation and influencing
     • Situational leadership and adapting style
   • Factors that influence team performance
     • Clear goals, trust and shared purpose
     • Co-located versus virtual and dispersed teams
   • Stages of team development
     • Forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning
     • Belbin and team-role balance
   • Motivation theories
     • Maslow's hierarchy of needs
     • Herzberg's hygiene and motivation factors
     • McGregor Theory X and Theory Y
   • Building and sustaining high-performing teams

Roles, Responsibilities and Stakeholders flashcards for Association for Project Management Qualification (APM PMQ)

21 of 51 cards from the Roles, Responsibilities and Stakeholders deck — real questions with worked answers.

1. In an APM project, who is the sponsor and what is their primary accountability?

   The sponsor is the senior individual who owns the business case and is accountable for ensuring the project delivers its expected benefits and value for money. They secure investment, make key go/no-go decisions, and provide direction throughout the life cycle.

2. List four key responsibilities of the project sponsor.

   1) Owning and maintaining the business case; 2) Securing funding and resources; 3) Providing direction and championing the project; 4) Making decisions at key gates/reviews and resolving escalated issues. They also realise the benefits after handover.

3. What is the role of the project manager in APM terms?

   The project manager is accountable for the day-to-day management of the project and for delivering the required outputs to time, cost and quality. They plan, monitor and control the work, manage the team and stakeholders, and report to the sponsor.

4. Distinguish between the sponsor's focus on the business case and the project manager's focus on delivery.

   The sponsor focuses on the 'why' — the business case, benefits and continued viability. The project manager focuses on the 'how' — delivering the outputs/deliverables to time, cost and quality. The sponsor owns benefits; the PM owns delivery of outputs.

5. What is the steering group (project board) and what does it do?

   The steering group/project board is a body of senior stakeholders that provides governance, direction and oversight. It supports the sponsor, approves plans and changes beyond delegated tolerances, reviews progress at gates, and helps resolve major issues and conflicts.

6. Who are the 'users' in a project and why are they an important stakeholder group?

   Users are the people or groups who will operate, use or benefit from the project's outputs. They are important because they define acceptance/operational requirements and their adoption of the deliverables is essential for benefits to be realised.

7. Define the project team and its core function.

   The project team is the group of people, led by the project manager, who carry out the work to create the project's deliverables. They provide the skills, effort and expertise needed to deliver outputs to the required specification.

8. Describe the ideal relationship between the sponsor and the project manager.

   It should be a close, collaborative partnership built on mutual trust, open and honest communication, and clearly defined roles. The sponsor provides direction, support and decisions; the PM provides accurate progress information and escalates issues promptly. Regular two-way dialogue is essential.

9. Why must communication between sponsor and project manager be two-way and regular?

   Because the sponsor needs timely, honest information to make decisions and keep the business case viable, while the PM needs direction, decisions and support. Regular two-way dialogue prevents surprises, builds trust and enables early issue resolution.

10. What is a stakeholder?

    A stakeholder is any individual, group or organisation that has an interest in, can affect, or is affected by the project or its outcome. This includes both positive supporters and those who may oppose the project.

11. What is stakeholder identification and why is it done early?

    Stakeholder identification is the process of recognising all parties with an interest in the project. It is done early so their needs, influence and expectations can be understood and managed from the outset, reducing later resistance and risk.

12. Give examples of techniques used to identify stakeholders.

    Brainstorming, interviews, reviewing previous/similar projects, organisation charts, checklists, prompt lists, and consulting subject-matter experts. The aim is to capture a comprehensive list of internal and external stakeholders.

13. What is stakeholder analysis?

    Stakeholder analysis is the process of assessing identified stakeholders to understand their interest, influence, attitude and needs, so that appropriate engagement and communication approaches can be planned.

14. Describe the power/interest grid for stakeholder mapping and its four quadrants.

    The power/interest grid plots stakeholders by their level of power (vertical) and interest (horizontal). The four resulting strategies are: High power/High interest = Manage closely; High power/Low interest = Keep satisfied; Low power/High interest = Keep informed; Low power/Low interest = Monitor (minimum effort).

15. For a stakeholder with high power but low interest, what engagement approach does the power/interest grid recommend?

    Keep them satisfied. They have the ability to affect the project significantly, so their needs must be met even though they are not closely engaged, to avoid them becoming a threat.

16. For a stakeholder with low power but high interest, what is the recommended approach?

    Keep them informed. They cannot greatly influence the project but care about it, so providing regular information maintains their support and uses their interest constructively.

17. What does it mean to 'manage closely' a stakeholder on the power/interest grid?

    It means giving full, active engagement to a high-power, high-interest stakeholder — involving them, consulting them, and meeting their expectations closely because they are critical to project success.

18. What is a stakeholder engagement (or communication) strategy?

    It is a planned approach for involving and communicating with stakeholders according to their needs, attitude and influence, with the aim of building support, managing expectations and reducing opposition throughout the project.

19. Name typical stakeholder attitudes assessed when planning engagement.

    Stakeholders may be supporters (advocates/champions), neutral, or opponents/blockers. Engagement aims to move neutral or negative stakeholders toward support, or at least neutralise opposition.

20. Why is effective communication considered critical to project success?

    Communication ensures stakeholders share a common understanding, are kept informed, expectations are managed, decisions are made on accurate information, and the team is aligned. Poor communication is a leading cause of project failure.

21. What are the main components/elements of a basic communication model?

    A sender encodes a message and transmits it through a medium/channel to a receiver, who decodes it; feedback confirms understanding. 'Noise' (barriers/distortion) can interfere at any point.

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