APM Endorsed for alignment to the APM Competence Framework
RELATIONAL INTELLIGENCE FOR PROJECT PROFESSIONALS
RELATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
FOR PROJECT PROFESSIONALS
Projects can have good methodology, sound governance and technically capable people – and still become far harder than they need to be because of what happens between people.
Develop the relational capability to build trust, navigate difficult conversations, influence stakeholders and keep delivery moving when pressure rises.
APM Endorsed | 9.5 PMI Education PDUs | Flexible, self-paced
Projects can have good methodology, sound governance and technically capable people – and still become harder than they need to be because of what happens between people.
Build the relational capability to strengthen trust, navigate difficult conversations and keep delivery moving under pressure.
APM Endorsed | 9.5 PMI Education PDUs | Flexible, self-paced
APM Endorsed for alignment to the APM Competence Framework
Relational friction doesn’t appear in the project plan. But the project still pays for it — in delay, rework, avoidance, escalation, wasted effort and lost momentum.
You’re responsible for delivery through people you often don’t manage — and sometimes can’t compel.
Sponsors who control resources and direction. Senior stakeholders whose decisions affect your timeline. Subject-matter experts with competing priorities. Teams that report elsewhere but whose contribution your programme depends on.
That means your ability to influence, listen, challenge, build trust, create alignment and navigate difference isn’t an optional extra — or simply a personality trait you either have or don’t.
It’s part of your professional capability.
And without it, good project management becomes harder to turn into successful delivery.
On projects where the stakes can easily run to millions of pounds, that risk isn’t abstract.
You probably already know that strong professional relationships matter to successful project and programme delivery.
And you probably know many of the principles:
The project profession recognises the importance of these Human Skills. They are reflected in professional competence frameworks and in the growing emphasis on Power Skills.
But there’s a harder question:
Can you still use them successfully when pressure rises?
Knowing what good relationships require is an important first step.
But knowing isn’t the same as doing.
And doing when things are calm isn’t the same as having those behaviours available when priorities collide, a stakeholder pushes back, emotions rise or a relationship you depend on is being tested.
Other high-pressure professions deliberately practise the capabilities they need before the difficult moment arrives.
Pilots rehearse how they’ll respond when normal conditions break down.
Emergency teams practise responses they may need when clear thinking becomes harder.
Human Skills deserve the same developmental seriousness.
They can be learned, practised, reflected on and deliberately developed – rather than simply being something good project professionals are expected to pick up along the way.
That’s the Relational Capability Gap.
And it’s the gap the Foundation Certificate has been designed to address.
Better project relationships don’t replace good project management. They help good project management work.
The Foundation Certificate brings together more than 30 years of relationship-centred research, practice and work with organisations – and applies it to the realities of project delivery.
Dr. Andrea Taylor-Cummings & Jonathan Taylor-Cummings
Co-Founders, The 4 Habits Institute
Most professional development can increase what we understand. The harder task is turning that understanding into behaviour we can actually use – and rely on – when the moment demands it.
The Foundation Certificate has been designed around that journey.
The 4 Habits® give you the HOW.
Simple to understand. Much harder to practise consistently when pressure rises and relationships are tested.
You’ll apply what you’re learning within a live project or delivery environment and focus on a real stakeholder relationship. You’ll notice what happens, reflect on your own response, practise different behaviours and keep developing.
We know you’re already under pressure.
The Foundation Certificate is designed to fit around the work you’re already doing. Much of the practice happens within the relationships and conversations your delivery already depends on
Foundation learners can also join a dedicated peer discussion space within the Human Skills Network – a place to share reflections, compare experiences and learn alongside other professionals putting the ideas into practice.
We call this EDCAPA®.
EDCAPA® helps you understand where relational pressure shows up. The 4 Habits® give you practical behaviours for responding differently. Practice turns that understanding into capability.
The Foundation Certificate is self-paced. But the development happens in your real work – not just on a screen.
The Foundation is designed to strengthen relational capability as a professional capability — while also contributing meaningfully to the continuing professional development requirements project professionals already work within.
APM ENDORSED: This learning programme has been Endorsed by APM (Association for Project Management), demonstrating its alignment to the APM Competence Framework.
The Foundation Certificate provides approximately 10 hours of structured professional development, contributing towards APM’s annual CPD requirement.
APM members and Chartered Project Professionals are expected to complete 35 hours of CPD each year — so completing the Foundation Certificate represents close to 30% of that annual requirement.
APM CPD is based on relevant development hours rather than course “points”. Learners should record the activity in their own CPD record.
Project Management Institute (PMI) certification holders can claim 9.5 Education PDUs, primarily in Power Skills, towards their Continuing Certification Requirements.
For PMP® holders, 9.5 Education PDUs represent more than a quarter of the minimum 35 Education PDUs required during each three-year renewal cycle.
Develop a capability directly relevant to your work while making meaningful progress towards maintaining your professional certification.
Eligible PMI certification holders should record the 9.5 Education PDUs in line with PMI’s Continuing Certification Requirements.
The 4 Habits Institute’s work draws on more than 30 years of relationship-centred research, practice and organisational work.
Dr. Andrea Taylor-Cummings and Jonathan Taylor-Cummings have worked with leaders, teams and organisations to strengthen the Human Skills behind trust, communication, conflict, alignment and performance.
The TEDx talk, The 4 Habits of ALL Successful Relationships®, has been viewed more than 3.7 million times worldwide.
Their work has been shared with project and change communities including the BBC Project & Change Management Conference and PMI UK.
“Jonathan and Andrea delivered an engaging and highly practical session that gave project professionals useful tools to strengthen trust, stakeholder relationships and delivery under pressure. The feedback showed how strongly the session resonated and the value participants saw in applying the learning to their work.”
Ona Tambula
Director of Finance, Digital Events & AI, PMI UK Chapter
The Foundation Certificate is now open to its first group of project professionals.
This isn’t a cut-down beta version.
You’ll receive the full APM Endorsed Relational Intelligence for Project Professionals – Foundation Certificate from The 4 Habits Institute, with:
12 months’ access • Approx. 10 hours of structured professional development • 9.5 PMI Education PDUs
The programme can contribute towards APM CPD requirements, while eligible PMI certification holders can claim 9.5 Education PDUs towards their Continuing Certification Requirements.
We’re offering a Founding Learner price because we want our first 50 learners to help us build the next stage of the evidence base.
In return, we’d value your:
You’ll also be able to join the dedicated Human Skills Network learner space to share reflections and learn alongside other Foundation participants.
Standard price: £349
Available to the first 50 learners
✓ Full APM Endorsed Foundation Certificate
✓ Approx. 10 hours professional development
✓ 9.5 PMI Education PDUs
✓ 12 months’ programme access
Secure checkout and programme access through the Human Skills Network.
Relational capability isn’t only an individual development opportunity.
Where teams are responsible for delivering complex change through multiple stakeholders, developing a shared behavioural language and stronger relational capability can create better conditions for collaboration, constructive challenge, alignment and implementation.
We can support organisations wishing to make the Foundation Certificate available to a project, programme, PMO or transformation cohort, with options for organisational enrolment, team-based learning and wider capability development.
The Foundation Certificate is designed to build the core relational capability project professionals can use in everyday delivery.
For those who want to go further, we’re also developing:
PRACTITIONER
For professionals ready to deepen their practice, work with more complex relational challenges and develop greater consistency under pressure.
ADVANCED PRACTITIONER
For experienced professionals seeking to extend their relational capability further and apply it in more complex, high-stakes project, programme and organisational environments.
Practitioner and Advanced Practitioner are currently in development. Register your interest or book a private conversation to discuss which level may be right for you.
Yes. The Foundation Certificate doesn’t teach project-management methodology. It focuses on the Human Skills and relational behaviours experienced professionals rely on when influencing stakeholders, navigating difference, addressing difficult issues and delivering through people they may not formally control.
No prior knowledge of The 4 Habits or Relational Intelligence is required.
Very. You’ll apply the programme to a live project or delivery environment and a real Focus Stakeholder throughout.
The emphasis isn’t simply on understanding ideas – it’s on testing different behaviours in the real working relationships your delivery depends on.
No. The programme is designed for project, programme and transformation professionals who want to strengthen their relational capability.
Approximately 10 hours of structured learning, self-paced with access for 12 months.
The learning itself requires time. But much of the practice takes place within your normal project relationships, allowing you to apply and reflect on what you’re learning as you work.
The programme itself guides you through learning, application, reflection and practice.
Foundation Certificate learners also have access to a dedicated peer discussion space within the Human Skills Network, where they can share reflections, compare experiences and learn alongside other participants.
This is a peer-learning environment rather than live teaching or coaching.
APM ENDORSED: This learning programme has been Endorsed by APM (Association for Project Management), demonstrating its alignment to the APM Competence Framework.
APM Endorsed status is specific to this programme. It does not mean The 4 Habits Institute generally is APM Endorsed, and the Foundation Certificate is not an APM qualification.
Eligible PMI certification holders can claim 9.5 Education PDUs, primarily in Power Skills, towards their Continuing Certification Requirements.
A Foundation Certificate in Relational Intelligence for Project Professionals from The 4 Habits Institute, together with your structured learning/reflection record and 90-Day Relational Practice Plan.
Yes. Individuals can enrol online. For teams, cohorts or organisational deployment, contact The 4 Habits Institute through the organisational enquiry link above.
The Foundation Certificate is the current starting point. Practitioner and Advanced Practitioner Certificates are in development for professionals who want to deepen and extend their relational capability further.
If you’d like to discuss which level may be right for you, you can book a private conversation or register your interest.
But better project relationships aren’t built simply by knowing more principles.
They’re built by practising how you show up when relationships are tested – and deliberately developing the capability to influence, challenge, listen, build trust and keep working relationships moving when pressure rises.
APM Endorsed | ~10 hours professional development | 9.5 PMI Education PDUs | 12 months’ access
Standard price: £349
Founding Learner price available to the first 50 learners.
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