This December was packed with thrills and spills thanks to our IAPM whodunit advent calendar on Facebook and the three whodunit competition rounds. We gave our readers the chance to play sleuth right up to Christmas.

Certification is an advantage in tenders and international collaborations The Bogies Business Segment in the Siemens Infrastructure & Cities Sector’s Locomotives and Components / Rail Systems Division Business Unit requested Ottmann & Partner to certify 80 project managers as IAPM standard compliant. Around 40 employees who work in project management, purchasing, quality management and engineering at Siemens AG Graz / Austria were trained and certified between 2011 and 2012, while another 40 staff who already had certification from another certification body exchanged their existing certificates for IAPM certificates.

How I decided to embrace randomness. I’ve never had a problem admitting that I've been wrong when it's true. For decades - half of my career as a project manager, in fact - I’ve been basing my assumptions on incorrect facts. From the very first day that I was given project management responsibility to the present day, which finds me embroiled in a complex Asia-Finland-German project, I had believed that random occurrences were rampant weeds that had to be exterminated. Random occurrences. I had always viewed them as my enemy and waged a personal war against them. They caused too many hours of overtime. Too many costs. Too many complications. Too many unscheduled meetings. I genuinely wanted to rid myself of them entirely - so I spent a lot of time working with best practice models.

The IAPM held its 13th IPMM in Nuremberg on 24 November 2012. It was attended by project managers from all over Germany and generated some very positive feedback!

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published the project management standard in September 2012 after a five-year development period. ISO 21500:2012 "Guidance on project management" was developed with the objective of the international standardisation of the project management terminology, processes and central concepts used by all project participants as the basis for a common understanding in transnational and transcontinental projects.

The German Association of Company Physicians recently implemented a new online survey to draw attention to the damage caused to the economy by burnout. Around 30% of the surveyed employees said that they felt they weren’t performing well in their jobs as a result of stress and psychological problems.

Software developers, architects, designers and testers will be discussing scrum trends, techniques and innovations at Agile Testing Days 2012 in Potsdam, Germany, from 19 to 22 November. 400 participants are expected to attend the international conference – twice the number of people who attended the first one three years ago.

The IAPM has replaced bureaucracy with flexibility by launching the first international scrum management certification that is indefinitely valid, so re-certification isn’t necessary. This new certification also reflects the special needs of IT teams in many other respects. Certificate candidates can learn at their own pace with web-aided learning tools and they take the certification examination at their chosen time rather than having to fit the rigid, classroom teaching-like methods of the old-established associations in their busy schedules.

Interview with Antje Funck, M.A., IAPM Representative EU The IAPM’s new project management certification system kicks off a project quality campaign that targets both German and international organisations. Freelance journalist and marketing expert Martin Droschke talked to the IAPM’s German representative, Antje Funck, about the advantages of her organisation’s unique e-certification system, dynamic global economic developments, global participation and employee values.

On the 24th of November the 13th IPMM takes place in Nuremberg. As an IAPM certificate holder, you are a proven expert on the subject of project management. We’d like to discuss new trends in project management with you. This will help us to identify the issues that we project managers will have to consider and possibly develop concepts for in future so that we can continue to implement successful projects in a globalised world. Our thirteenth International Project Manager Meeting (IPMM) is being held on 24 November 2012. In 2011 the venue was Florence. This year, for the second time, the IPMM is taking place in Germany - in the ancient imperial city of Nuremberg. As participants of previous IPMMs are already aware, the IPMM is a chaired open space meeting with an open agenda.

Employers believe that Bachelor of Engineering degree courses need some optimisation when it comes to teaching students project management competencies. This is one of the findings in an EU-financed study implemented by the University of Luxembourg in collaboration with the Institut Universitaire International de Luxembourg (IUIL).

Dear Mr Völler, On behalf of the IAPM International Association of Project Managers we are delighted to award the IAPM Project Manager of the Year title to you.