An important part for the development of older and younger member associations is mentoring. As indicated in the IPMA programme structure 2020 derived from the IPMA 2020 strategy, mentoring can be addressed for example to the board of the member association or to the Young Crew (in creation) of that same association.

In this context and thanks to the IPMA TAP-Training Aid Programme, IPMA was recently able to organise a 2 days workshop that took place from 30.09 to 01.10.2016 in the Algerian capital with the commitment of the Algerian Project Management Association (APMA). While Algiers was hosting at the same time an important OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) conference to agree on quota of oil production, a couple of miles away 20 young Algerian engineers, architects and economists teamed up to solve business cases and prove their project management talent. The objective of the workshop chaired by IPMA Vice-president Young Crew and IPMA Executive Director was to better understand IPMA Young Crew as well as the regulation of IPMA, which underlines that a fully functioning Young Crew is a condition to become a full member association. This will help any association to be sustainable and to prepare the change in generation in its governing bodies.

The mixture of knowledge and experience sharing, case studies and feedback sessions was successful as the commitment of the Young Crew teams was showing. In a country with 40 million inhabitants where 80% of the population is below 35 years, one might think it is easy to find the right people to start a young crew. This is not obvious for various reasons.

First, the educational system in project management in Algeria is lacking a multi-disciplinary approach. Very often, project management is mainly understood from a purely technical approach i.e. being able to use the usual software tools for project management . Secondly, the contextual competences such as stake-holder management or the consideration of the financial and legal framework are often neglected in the PM approach, especially in universities and engineering schools. Thirdly, the fact that project management is about people management and behavioral competences first was new to many attendees of the workshop. On the other side, the analytical skills, attitude to work, social competence and creativity of most of the attendees of the workshop were remarkable. This gives a lot of hope, confidence and trust in the success of the Young Crew in Algeria. Following the workshop, Young Crew Algeria is now able to form its own board, identify a Young Crew coordinator and start the formal application process for IPMA Young Crew. This would be the 2^nd Young Crew in Africa and the Algerian experience, the workshop material elaborated and the context in Algiers could serve as an example to the French speaking Africa and enable the creation of more Young Crews in the region.

En avant Young Crew !!