PE Assessors : IPMA Global Awards – International Project Management Association

Why become an Assessor? Important benefits of becoming an IPMA Project Excellence Award Assessor

How to become an Assessor? See what steps you have to take to become an IPMA Project Excellence Award Assessor

Assessor duties Check what the IPMA Project Excellence Award Assessors responsibilities are

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Why become an assessor?

Learn the apply the PE Model

Gain practical experiences

Practise carrying out an assessment

Learn from peers

Expand your international network

Gain unique experiences

Dive into fascinating projects

Over 200 International Project Management Experts involved

How to become an assessor?

The IPMA Award Assessors are the heart of the IPMA Award assessment process. They represent IPMA externally and are expected to be good ambassadors for IPMA in general and for the IPMA Global Project Excellence Award and project excellence in particular. The IPMA Award Assessors are also the main point of contact with the IPMA Award Applicant and have a key responsibility to establish good relationships with each Applicant enabling a continuation and deepening of the relationship with IPMA at all levels (personal, organisational, IPMA Project Excellence Award, IPMA certification etc.).

The main goal of the IPMA Award Assessors is to professionally assess projects submitted for the IPMA Project Excellence Awards.

Requirements for IPMA Award Assessors

An IPMA Award Assessor’s primary role is to professionally assess projects submitted for the IPMA Project Excellence Award. To do so, an assessor must:

be a member of a IPMA Member Association (MA)
complete in the IPMA PE Award Assessment Training and pass the IPMA Award Assessment test;
comply with the re-training requirements;
be recommended by the IPMA Award Assessor Trainers;
be active as professional in the field of project management;
have at least 5 years of experience as a project manager or at least 7 years as a consultant in project management (IPMA B-level equivalent);
achieve B2 language proficiency in English;
comply with the IPMA Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and the IPMA PE Award Code of Conduct;
be reliable and diligent in carrying out all duties in the IPMA Award process.

Candidates who do not meet these criteria will not be allowed to participate in an IPMA Award Assessment Team.

Active Assessors: Every year participation in the assessment process (also as a Judge for Small-/Medium-Sized projects) will permit the Assessor to qualify as Assessor by participating in an update training (or webinar) every 5th year only.

Breaks in assessments: Even a single one-year break in the participation in an assessment team requires the assessor to participate in the training (webinar) in order to be included in the potential assessors pool again. If an assessor is non-active for more than one year, he/she has to participate in a three-day training.

Changes: Any changes in the IPMA Project Excellence Model or the scoring process requires Assessors to participate in a three-day training.

Nomination of PE Award Assessors

The IPMA Awards Coordinator, IPMA Vice President and IPMA Awards PMO yearly compose the Assessment Teams for each Award application from the pool of qualified assessors. They do this by taking into account various selection criteria ensuring a well-balanced mix of qualified people with different and relevant backgrounds and experiences, representing various countries. Before announcing the assessment teams, the Awards PMO contacts the nominated Assessors and ask them to confirm that they are available for the whole duration of the Assessment process. The Award Assessors then have to inform the Awards PMO that the local IPMA Member Association – of which they are a member – supports their nomination. The number of qualified assessors that can be appointed to an assessment team depends on the number of award applications.

Step 1

Participate in an IPMA PE Assessment Training or webinar

To qualify for the pool of potential Assessors, you need to participate in a three-day PE Assessment training, pass the exam and receive a positive recommendation from the trainers. Active assessors are required to attend a three-day training course every five years. In the years in between, they should participate in an annual PE Award webinar to update their knowledge. Those assessors who do not participate in an assessment team in a specific year, must take part in a four-hour webinar to become eligible to join the pool of potential assessors in the following year.

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Step2

Carry out the individual assessment

The assessors individually assess a 35-page Application Report submitted by the Applicant organisation. The assessment is based on the IPMA Project Excellence Model, which is part of the IPMA Project Excellence Baseline. The individual results are submitted to the Team Lead Assessor.

Step3

Participate in the Team Virtual Meeting and prepare the 1st Judges’ Report

The Team Lead Assessors compile the results from their four team members and his/her own results. These results are discussed during the Team Virtual Meeting. This is the first moment when the team gets to know each other. The aim of the teleconference is to exchange views about the project, discuss any large variations in scores and findings and make the assessment more consistent. In addition, the team prepares for the site visit.

Step4

Submit the 1st Judges’ Report

The qualitative and quantitative scores of the project according to the IPMA Project Excellence Model agreed during the Team Virtual Meeting, as well as the comments of the individual assessors and the indicated challenges in the assessment are submitted to a five person Judges Panel. Based on those results, the judges prepare additional questions and issues for verification during the Site Visit.

Step5

Conduct the Site Visit and write the 2nd Judges Report

At the Site Visit, the assessment team gathers additional information. Interviews with important stakeholders and a study of relevant documents are carried out and the assessment team prepares the second Judges Report. On the fourth day, the assessors work on creating a detailed Assessment Report.

Step6

Submit the 2nd Judges Report and the Assessment Report

Evidence gathered during the Site Visit serves as a basis for the final evaluation of the project. The collected results and comments are passed on to the Judges, who will choose the finalists and the winners in each awards category. The Assessors also submit an Assessment Report to the IPMA PMO, containing the strengths of the project and areas for improvement for each of the IPMA Project Excellence Model criteria.

Step 7

Participate in the IPMA Global Awards Gala and World Congress

The winners in each category are announced at the IPMA Global Awards Gala event. All assessors are also invited to take part in several events organised during the IPMA World Congress: the Awards Winners Club, a Feedback session (two Judges and the Team Lead Assessor), the Awards Market place when they can support the assessed organisation, and network with other prestigious global Project Managers.

Related Events

PE Assessment Training

Join 3-day PE Assessment Training.

A three-day training is organised for potential PE Award Assessors who would like to understand and be able to apply the IPMA Project Excellence Model. In addition, much attention is paid to the assessment process itself, including interviewing and reporting skills.

The training focuses on developing participants:

Knowledge about the IPMA Project Excellence Baseline®;
Skills necessary to apply the Project Excellence principles in an organisation.

After the training the participants will:

Understand the IPMA Project Excellence Model (part of the IPMA PEB) including:
- The three areas of the Project Excellence Model;
- The assessment criteria;
- The feedback process (including a description of strengths and areas for improvement);
Understand how to apply the IPMA PEB in organisations.

The training approach is activity based learning, meaning:

Participants actively participate in group work and exercises;
Participants apply their own experiences and exchange experiences with and learn from other participants;
Participants work on real cases.

Successful participation in the training gives you the possibility to qualify as:

An IPMA Project Excellence Award Assessor for Large- and Mega-sized Projects (written application based assessment and a project site visit) or
A Judge for the Small-/ Medium– sized Projects (written application based assessment and judging process).

The training also provides you with all tools needed to implement the IPMA Project Excellence Model for internal evaluations of projects in your organisation.