Lead the conversation
A 24-week online pathway for Operam Academy IM Practitioners who need other people to act on information management. You finish with the IM Professional Certification.
£1,799 +VAT per place. 24 weeks, fully online. Cohorts of 12 or fewer.
You’ll need the IM Practitioner Certification in place by your Kick-off Session to earn this credential. Don’t hold it yet? Start with the IM Practitioner Track or explore how certification works.
Step 1
IM Practitioner Track
Step 2
IM Practitioner Certification
In place by your Kick-off Session
Step 3
IM Professional Pathway
Step 4
IM Professional Certification
You know the standard. Getting others to act on it is harder.
You’ve earned your IM Practitioner Certification, and you know ISO 19650. But design managers, construction teams, asset owners and clients often still treat information management as your problem. So you become the single point of knowledge, making the same case from scratch on every project.
That’s tiring. Nobody should have to carry the standard alone. Communicating value and leading change is different work from running the process, and it can be learned.
Built around the part the standard doesn’t cover
“I’ve spent years watching capable practitioners carry the standard on their own. I built the IM Professional Pathway to give information managers the tools they need to get other people to adopt new ways of working.”
Paul Shillcock, author of ISO 19650-2
Every live session is run by an experienced Operam Academy facilitator, in a cohort of never more than 12.
Five capabilities that get other people to act
You build them in sequence, one module every four weeks. Each module ends in a live session where you deliver your work, get feedback and leave with something you can use.
- Kick-off
- Module 1
- Module 2
- Module 3
- Module 4
- Module 5
- Wrap-up
Module
1
Creating a Compelling Value Proposition
Weeks 1 to 4, live session in week 4
Build and deliver a value proposition for managing information, adapted to the stakeholders in front of you. You finish with a 5-minute pitch.
Module
2
Making the Seemingly Complex Simple
Weeks 5 to 8, live session in week 8
Explain the information management process to people who aren’t specialists. No jargon, and nothing distorted.
Module
3
Communicating Risk With Clarity
Weeks 9 to 12, live session in week 12
Use simple, structured techniques to map what could go wrong with information, why, and what stops it, then explain that to a project or business audience.
Module
4
Communicating the Need for Change
Weeks 13 to 16, live session in week 16
Make the case for change in 60 seconds. Then handle the resistance that follows, in a live role-play.
Module
5
Achieving Sustained Success
Weeks 17 to 20, live session in week 20
Work out what an organization needs in place to move from ad-hoc to repeatable, and draft a policy and a one-page plan for a pilot project.
“I’d written a company information management policy and had to get buy-in from each general manager. The training and the learning certainly helped me with that.”
Andy Boutle, Head of Digital Construction, Alec
One rhythm, built around a full-time role
Every module follows the same four weeks: Prepare, Develop, Review, Apply. You work through the pre-recorded lessons, develop a piece of work from a real scenario, review a peer’s, then bring it to a four-hour live session.
That’s around three hours most weeks, and more in a live-session week. Roughly 70 hours across 24 weeks, all online over Microsoft Teams. No travel.
Week 1
Prepare
Work through the pre-recorded lessons and handouts on the Learning Platform
Week 2
Develop
Develop a piece of work based on a real scenario
Week 3
Review
Peer interaction and feedback on the development work
Week 4
Apply
Live
Session
A four-hour live, facilitated session focused on application
A reflective case study on your own real work
Across the 24 weeks, you develop your Pathway Project: a reflective case study of how information was managed on a completed project or appointment. You look at what worked, what didn’t, and what you’d do differently at each relevant step of the information management process. It’s the assessed piece for your certification.
It’s where the five capabilities come together. You finish able to reflect on real information management practice and draw lessons you can apply to future work.
You choose the view that fits your work:
Project level
From the asset owner’s side, across the whole project and its appointments.
- 1Assessment and need
- 2Invitation to tender
- 3Tender response
- 7Information model delivery
- 8Project close-out
Appointment level
From the production side, on the activities of a single appointment.
- 3Tender response
- 4Appointment
- 5Mobilization
- 6Collaborative production of information
- 7Information model delivery
No suitable project or appointment of your own? On an open cohort you can work from a publicly documented project, and we’ll point you to a source we’ve already checked. On a closed cohort, the project or appointment comes from your own organization’s completed work.
Built for practitioners who’ve moved beyond the process
You’ll recognize yourself if you take responsibility for how information is managed, at strategic, project or team level. You might be:
setting the direction across a large or multinational organization, and making the case for change at scale
leading or supporting information management on specific projects, appointments or asset operations
newly tasked with information management in your team, and working out what good looks like
Who it isn’t for
It isn’t for absolute beginners, or for people who want to learn to produce information in tools like Revit. It doesn’t reteach ISO 19650 either. The only prerequisite is the IM Practitioner Certification. With that in place, you’ll get the most from day one.
Three steps to your place
1
Reserve your place on an open cohort. There’s no commitment, no obligation and no payment at this stage.
2
When registration opens, you’ll book on and have 14 days to confirm your place.
3
Meet your cohort at the Kick-off Session*, and begin the pathway.
*Payment is due before your Kick-off Session.
Earn a credential that shows what you can do
Complete the pathway and pass the Pathway Project, and you earn the IM Professional Certification. It’s a verifiable digital credential you can add to LinkedIn, your email signature, your CV and your tenders. You also receive a completion certificate showing your grade.
It doesn’t expire. And your place includes 12 months of Operam Academy NETWORK, starting at your Kick-off Session.
“Gaining an IM professional certification was a massive milestone for me. It really felt like joining an exclusive club of the industry professionals.”
Yi Lu, Digital Engineering Coordinator, KiwiRail
What changes when you’ve done it
Without it
You stay the person who explains why information management matters, from scratch, on every project. The case gets made one conversation at a time, and it rests on you.
With it
You’ll have built and delivered a value proposition, a plain-language explainer, a clear picture of information management risk, a case for change and a plan for a pilot, in front of peers who push back. You’ll have reflected properly on a real project or appointment – and you’ll hold a credential that shows it.
“Learning with Operam Academy has changed the way I communicate with stakeholders and has given me the confidence to challenge the norm more often.”
Tom Bush, Balfour Beatty
“Now in conversation with colleagues or stakeholders, I find myself also explaining things with a bit more emphasis on the impact, and not just what is happening, but also what are the risks, what are the consequences, and what are the options to avoid bad consequences.”
Silvia Gioja, BIM Lead Mobility and Resilience, Arcadis
Bringing a team through together
A closed cohort is private to your organization: up to 12 of your own people, on dates you choose, with module outputs shaped to suit your business.
One clear price, with a guarantee beside it
Open Cohort Place
£1,799+VAT
Next cohort: Wednesday, 27 January 2027, EMEA
Satisfaction Guarantee
Take part in the Module 1 live session. If the pathway isn’t right for you, tell us within 72 hours of the end of that session and we’ll refund your pathway price in full. It’s a money-back guarantee, on top of any statutory rights you have.
The small print: only the pathway price is refunded. On a closed cohort, the organization decides for the whole cohort. Read the full guarantee terms
Upcoming open cohorts
Every session date is fixed before you book, and the full schedule comes with your joining instructions.
| Region | Kick-off Session | Live sessions | Wrap-up Session | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) | Wednesday, 27 January 2027 | Wednesdays, 09:00 UK | Wednesday, 21 July 2027 | Reserve your place |
| Asia-Pacific (APAC) | Tuesday, 02 March 2027 | Tuesdays, 11:00 Sydney (13:00 NZ, 08:00 Singapore and Perth, 09:00 from April) | Tuesday, 17 August 2027 | Reserve your place |
Each cohort is capped at 12 places.
No date that suits you? Email sales@operamacademy.com and we’ll tell you when the next cohort is scheduled.
What’s included
The five modules, with every pre-recorded lesson and handout
The Pathway Project and its evaluation
Every live session: the Kick-off Session, five four-hour module live sessions and the Wrap-up Session
12 months of Operam Academy NETWORK from your Kick-off Session, which also carries your Learning Platform access
If your place comes through a TEAM or ACADEMY Licence, the Learning Passport you were using is freed up for a colleague
On completion, the IM Professional Certification as a digital credential, and a completion certificate showing your grade
Not included: the IM Practitioner Certification, which is a separate prerequisite.
Need to train up to 12 people? A closed cohort is £17,999 +VAT.
The questions we’re asked most
Is this different to the IM Bootcamp?
The IM Professional Pathway replaces the IM Bootcamp. It’s been rebranded and restructured into five four-week modules, so you can better study around a full-time role.
Do I need the IM Practitioner Certification first?
You can start without it. But you must hold it, and complete the pre-pathway self-assessment, by your Kick-off Session to be awarded the IM Professional Certification.
How much time does it take?
Around 70 hours over 24 weeks: roughly three hours most weeks, plus a four-hour live session every fourth week.
Does the pathway pause for public holidays?
Yes. Where a cohort crosses certain holiday periods the schedule allows for it, so some cohorts run a little longer than 24 weeks from Kick-off to Wrap-up. You’ll see every session date before you confirm your place.
Is it online or in person?
Fully online, over Microsoft Teams. No travel and no in-person sessions.
Who runs the live sessions?
An experienced Operam Academy facilitator runs each live session. Paul Shillcock, who built the pathway, may join some sessions or facilitate them himself. The subject expertise sits in the pre-recorded lessons, and the facilitator makes sure every delegate practises, delivers and gets feedback.
What if I can’t make one of the live sessions?
You can declare one module live session in advance and complete offline work in its place. Your joining instructions give the deadline for declaring it.
What if I don’t have a suitable project or appointment?
On an open cohort, you can use a publicly documented project, and we’ll point you to one we’ve checked. On a closed cohort, it comes from your organization’s own completed work.
What if it’s not right for me?
Take part in the Module 1 live session. If it’s not for you, tell us within 72 hours of the end of that session for a full refund of the pathway price.
Does the certification expire?
No. The IM Professional Certification isn’t tied to a particular edition of the ISO 19650 standards. The five capabilities it gives you are yours for life.
Can I get funding for this?
You may be able to. Operam Academy is CITB registered, so UK employers that pay the CITB levy may be able to claim grant funding toward a place. Employers in Ireland may be able to access funding through CITA Skillnet. If there’s another scheme you’d like to use, talk to us and we’ll look at it with you.
Is there an academic discount?
Not on the IM Professional Pathway. See academic discounts
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