Major achievement Option 3

Option 3: Projects

These entail a report in English on a major insurance-related project which you have either led or in which you have been a key member of the project team. If your project is employer-based, you must seek their written approval before submitting your project report.

Choice of project

Make sure that you choose a project which will enable you to answer the questions required. However important a project may have been to you or your employer, you are being assessed on your evaluation of the project, rather than the success (or otherwise) of the project itself. Ideally, pick a project from which you learnt a lot about the way in which you work and from which your skills have developed. These are important issues in the marking scheme.

The project must be led by you or you must play a significant role in it. Significant means that you must represent your company, or a large group, on the project team, must contribute or be responsible for a significant proportion (generally at least 20% of the key inputs to or outcomes from the project group) and be seen by others on the project team as being a significant player in the project.

A project may be your own idea, or an existing one. Although projects must be insurance related, they need not necessarily involve a work-related project for your employer. In keeping with the status of being a major achievement, projects should be major for your employer and in the context of your own professional development. As a guide, it is likely to involve at least 60 working days’ input from you.

If the project does not meet all of these criteria, you may submit a further project. Up to three projects in total may make up a Fellowship major achievement.

Examples of acceptable projects

• Development of a new product or service.
• Acquisition of, or merger with, another insurance-related organisation.
• Business development idea with a core insurance related organisation.
• Research project.

Examples of unacceptable projects

• Non-strategic, routine issues.
• Acquisition of, or merger with, a non-insurance related business.
• Development of a non-related product, service or business.

If you choose this route, your project report(s) should:

• be typewritten in English;
• be 3-5000 words long each, regardless of how many projects are covered;
• take the form of a written report;
• be clearly set out – using the ‘categories for assessment’ headings here;
• not contain any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors;
• include a word count.

The project report(s) should include the following sections:

• definition of the project: what the project was;
• rationale: reason for the project;
• background to the project;
• methodology: how the project was run, including budgets;
• project team members: names and/or responsibilities;
• project timescales;
• measured outcomes and an overview of the project’s successes and failures;
• your personal inputs and outputs and your project responsibilities;
• key learning points from the project for you personally;
• any skills and knowledge gained or enhanced as a result of the project.

Please include a statement of how much time you spent on the project, counter-signed by the project manager or, if you are the project manager, by an authorised signatory of your employer.

Structure

Make sure that the categories for assessment are clearly covered in your submission. To gain maximum points establish a structure, using a contents page and suitable headings and sections such as those mentioned above, which make it clear where points are being addressed. It is easy to become so close to your project report(s) that an assessor may not identify what you perceive to be obvious.

The categories for assessment

Introduction and rationale of the project. This includes assessment of the clarity of the objectives, parameters set by, or for, the project group and the methodology used to achieve the desired outcomes.

Your input to the project. Over a third of the marks go to this section. It includes how decisions are arrived at by the project team and evidence of the use of innovation to achieve desired outcomes. There should be evidence to demonstrate the quality of your input to the project and a detailed post-project analysis of your input to the project.

Methodology. The assessors look to see how you have gone about your tasks, how you have conducted or commissioned research, how you have used available resources (within your organisation and outside) and how you have organised your workload, making allowance for any other responsibilities you had outside the project group. An explanation of how the project has affected your other work areas should be included.

Your input into team objectives. This rewards candidates who think and contribute outside of their own areas of responsibility. Effective teamwork is a prerequisite of a good project and these factors are evidence that you played your part in developing the team ethos of the project group.

Presentation. Remember the importance of accurate spelling and grammar. You should take care to ensure that your report is well presented, and free of spelling mistakes, poor grammatical construction and poor syntax. Pages should be numbered and simply stapled together – papers will have to be photocopied so do not use professional bindings or colour (especially if using graphs). A contents page and clearly defined sections within the report are worthy inclusions.

Outcomes of the project. About a fifth of the marks go to this section. You should draw together measured outcomes, budgetary and time compliance of the project. The information should be presented in a balanced and logical order. The solutions should be appropriate to the needs and requirements of the project sponsor. The project outcome should be related back to the original objectives and you should demonstrate that efforts have been made to resolve all issues.

Each section of the project will be assessed separately.

Assessors look at your input rather than that of any others involved in the project. You are not marked down if other members of the project group performed poorly unless you were responsible for their input. Assessors do not expect every project to be exceptionally successful – not every project can succeed in meeting its objectives – but they do look to see that the project’s outcomes were in line with what could reasonably have been expected and that lessons have been learnt.

Evidence

Although the project analysis is restricted to a maximum of 5,000 words, you can include documents in an appendix which clarify or prove points that you make in the main text. Appendices are not included in the word count. However you should not include excessive information within an appendix unless it is directly relevant to the project report.

Revise, revisit, refer

Compiling your project report will take some time. It is important that you keep referring back to these guidelines and checking that you are still making the points you initially intended to. Some applications include references to sections which have been deleted, or the introduction identifies different points to those which are eventually found in the conclusion. This happens because a candidate has become so immersed in their paper that their view of the issues changes over time. Try to pass a final draft to someone who has the time to read it carefully. Ask them to consider it against these guidelines and listen to their feedback carefully, the assessors will not have the luxury of asking you what you meant to say. But remember, this is your application, so if a colleague asks you to make changes, you must be happy with them. More than one candidate has failed because they were advised by a friend to remove significant detail which the assessors felt should have been included.

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