Introduction :

Highly technical, but poorly formalised, French expertise

French engineering culture relies on technical rigour, business skills and field experience. Our schools train excellent engineers, project managers, or interim managers. However, project management, as a Structured discipline with methods, deliverables, and certifications, has not followed the same trajectory.

Unlike PMI (Project Management Institute, USA) or at AXELOS United Kingdom, no French public or public-sector body has not developed a national project management standard.

 

📚 International standardisation... timidly adopted in France

The only attempt at formal convergence remains the ISO 21500 standard, developed by the International Organization for Standardization (of which France is a member via AFNOR).

→ ISO 21500 is a Best practice guide in project management. It defines the key concepts, processes, and competence areas of a well-structured project. But this standard is neither binding nor certifying, and its adoption in France remains marginal compared to certifications such as PMP, PRINCE2 You Scrum Master.

 

A global alignment preferred over a local standard

In a context of international projects, multicultural collaborations, and digital transformation, French companies choose pragmatically Anglo-Saxon certifications recognised globally:

✔️ PMP® (Project Management Professional)– PMI Reference (USA)

✔️ PRINCE2®– Method developed by the British government

✔️ Scrum / Agile Methods from American IT culture

This allows for Common language among project stakeholders, regardless of country or sector.

 

What this implies for French businesses

The absence of national certification creates a positioning blur For project managers:

• Should teams be certified? If so, by which framework?
• How to structure a PMO without a standardised framework?
• Quels outils et processus adopter pour assurer la cohérence des projets ?

At Alvid Consulting, we help our clients to navigating this complexity, adapting the international benchmarks to their organisational context, company culture and ambitions.

 

🧭 Conclusion: Is French certification necessary?

The question remains open. But in the meantime, International standards are an opportunity, not a constraint. They allow French companies to to align with global best practices, whilst keeping their local DNA.

At Alvid Consulting, our conviction is clear:

It is not the method that makes a project successful, but the intelligence with which it is applied.

🔗 Do you have a need for structuring your projects or your organisation? Contact our team: alvid-consulting.com / contact@alvid-consulting.com