Founded 1915

About the Institute

More than a century of setting the standard for administrative and business management.

Our Story

A professional body, not a training company

The Institute of Administrative Management was founded in 1915 and has spent more than a century on a single proposition: that administration is a profession, that it can be described, taught and assessed, and that the people who do it deserve a body that says so.

Our motto — Non Sibi Sed Toti, not for oneself but for all — is the reason the Institute exists as a professional body rather than a training company. Everything we publish serves the profession as a whole: the standards that define it, the code of ethics that protects it, the membership framework that recognises it, and the programmes that teach it.

Standing

Registered, recognised, and verifiable

The Institute is an approved professional body on HM Revenue and Customs’ List 3, so UK members may claim tax relief on their subscription, and a registered learning provider on the UK Register of Learning Providers, UKPRN 10064134. Every credential it awards can be verified by anyone, free, at any time.

Public registrations Tax relief for members

Our history

From a London forum in 1915 to a worldwide professional body

The Institute's authority to set professional standards rests on an institutional history that begins in 1915, when Lawrence R. Dicksee — a chartered accountant who taught accounting and business methods at the London School of Economics — founded the Office Machinery Users' Association in London. As the work of the office widened — from machinery to method, from method to management — so did the Institute, through eleven decades of continuous service to the profession.

1915

One year into the First World War, the Institute begins life as the Office Machinery Users' Association (OMUA), formed in London by Lawrence R. Dicksee — the chartered accountant who taught accounting and business methods at the London School of Economics — to address the effectiveness of office and administrative work as office machinery replaced paper-based methods in wartime.

1936

The OMUA merges with the British Works Management Association to become the Office Management Association (OMA). A year earlier, the declaration of intent that would define the Institute for the next eighty years had been set down: what is an office manager, how may their status be improved, and how may industry be shown the importance of engaging them? In 1936 the OMA announces its first programme of studies and examinations.

1939–45

By the outbreak of war the OMA is firmly established, with over 600 members across five branches. Through the Second World War it plays a role of national importance: council member D. G. Robertson, as Head of the Treasury Investigation Department, spearheads the Cabinet's edict that every government department secure expert advice on the best use of its staff.

1942–50

The OMA publishes the first Clerical Salaries Analysis with the London School of Economics (1942), advises on British Standards for office organisation and practice (1943), and publishes pioneering guides to payroll methods and the brand-new PAYE tax system (1944). In 1947 the forerunner of Manager — 'Office Management: Journal of the OMA' — appears, and by 1950 companies such as Unilever, ICI, Philips, Shell-Mex, BP, and J. Lyons & Co. are contributing know-how to its publications.

1960

The OMA becomes the Institute of Office Management (IOM). Membership grows from 1,000 in 1954 to 4,000 by 1965, as the Institute pioneers professional engagement with the computer age — a one-day conference on small computers in 1963, and a five-day 'Computer Appreciation' course so oversubscribed in 1965 it had to be repeated.

1972

The IOM takes its present name: the Institute of Administrative Management. The following year the IAM produces ten television programmes on administrative management for the BBC, with an accompanying textbook by Oliver Standingford, one of the Institute's first Presidents.

1984–96

Membership reaches 10,000 (1984). The Institute launches a fully revised modular qualifications scheme (1989), its Continuing Professional Development Scheme — with roots in the very first meeting of 1915 — in 1994, and holds its first Graduation Days at Stationers' Hall in London and in Hong Kong (1995). In 1996 Manager: the British Journal of Administrative Management is launched.

2003–10

The IAM launches the BA (Hons) in Strategic Administrative Management (2003), celebrates its 90th anniversary (2005), introduces National Qualifications Framework programmes (2006), rebrands (2008), and welcomes the Institute of Professional Administrators into the IAM (2010).

2014–15

Following a period of difficulty, the Institute is purchased by the awarding organisation Industry Qualifications, is re-launched with the support of Companies House and key stakeholders, and marks its centenary in 2015 — one hundred years of inspiring professionals.

2020

The IAM becomes independently operated under its new administration, renewing the Institute's governance and setting the direction for its modern professional framework.

2026

The Institute publishes its refreshed framework — the IAM Professional Standards, Code of Ethics, Membership and CPD Regulations — and opens worldwide centre recognition for the IAM Certified Programmes.

From the Institute’s archive

Archive photograph of members in suits examining office machinery at an exhibition — **The founding purpose**Members examine office machinery — the very subject on which the Association was founded in 1915.

Archive photograph of a crowded office equipment exhibition floor — **Exhibitions and know-how**A crowded exhibition floor, where members exchanged experience of office systems and equipment.

Archive group photograph of a large OMA conference assembled outside a brick building — **The Association assembles**A national conference of the Office Management Association at mid-century.

Archive photograph of two officials signing documents at a desk — **Agreements that built a profession**Signing ceremonies marked the partnerships — with the LSE, standards bodies, and industry — that shaped office management.

Archive photograph of a council meeting around a desk in a panelled room — **Governance from the start**The council in session — the Institute has been governed by its members’ representatives throughout its history.

Archive photograph of a large conference audience beneath chandeliers and the Institute’s arms — **Conference under the arms**A packed hall beneath the Institute’s coat of arms — the profession gathered in number.

Archive photograph of three Institute officers standing at a microphone, one wearing the presidential chain of office — **The presidency**Officers of the Institute at a formal gathering, the chain of office worn by the President.

Archive photograph of three men with a woman wearing a ceremonial chain of office — **Office and ceremony**The chain of office marks an institution that has taken its own governance seriously for over a century.

Archive photograph of two men shaking hands while presenting a copy of the book In Search of Excellence, with Institute of Administrative Management papers visible — **In search of excellence**A presentation at an IAM event — the Institute has always brought the best management thinking to its members.

Colour archive photograph of an international group of IAM members on the steps of a country house — **An international gathering**Members from several countries at a residential conference — the Institute’s reach was international decades ago.

Archive photograph of members in black tie in conversation at an Institute dinner — **The annual dinner**A profession is also a community. Members in conversation at an Institute dinner.

The Institute today

The framework in numbers

IAM Certified Programmes

From Essentials Foundation to Strategic Leader

Masterclass programmes

Live and taught, on three levels, 54 PLH each

250

CPD Professional Courses

Fifty at each of the five membership grades

300

Practice Library lessons

Sixty at each grade, fifteen to twenty minutes each

Role Mastery courses

Four families, three bands, a designation for the role you do

Competency Domains

The published description of the whole discipline

Assessed grades

AInstAM, MInstAM, FInstAM, SFInstAM

Routes to every grade

Certified Programme, prior learning, experience

Now in consultation. The exposure draft of the Professional Standards is open for comment until Friday 16 October 2026, 17:00 UK time. Read it and respond.

The Foundation

The IAM Professional Standards

The IAM Professional Standards for Administrative Management define the profession through seven Competency Domains. Every professional is expected to show competence across all seven, though depth and emphasis vary by role, specialism, and Career Stage. Every membership grade, Certified Programme, and Masterclass is written against them.

#	Competency Domain	In brief
1	Administrative Operations and Office Management	Design, delivery and improvement of administrative systems, processes and working environments; records; quality and service levels; business continuity.
2	Communication and Stakeholder Engagement	Professional communication across all channels; meeting facilitation; executive, board and committee support; confidentiality.
3	Digital Proficiency, Technology and Data	Digital tools and platforms; data management and analytics; AI and automation governance; information security; digital accessibility.
4	People Development, Leadership and Teamwork	Team leadership; performance management; coaching and mentoring; EDI and neurodiversity; wellbeing; distributed teams.
5	Financial Acumen and Resource Management	Budgeting and variance analysis; cost management; resource planning; procurement decisions; sustainability in financial decision-making.
6	Governance, Risk and Organisational Compliance	Governance structures; policy and compliance; risk management; data protection; ESG reporting; audit readiness.
7	Strategy, Innovation and Professional Advocacy	Strategic analysis and planning; innovation; change leadership; evidence-based practice; advocacy and thought leadership.

The Standards also define four assessed Career Stages — Practitioner, Professional, Strategic Professional, and Strategic Leader — each aligned to a membership grade and a Certified Programme, with a Progression Matrix describing the competence expected at each intersection of domain and stage.

Professional Conduct

The IAM Code of Ethics

The IAM Code of Ethics sets out nine Principles and applies to members and candidates alike. It is taught within every Certified Programme at the pitch of the Career Stage — the practitioner's judgement, the manager's climate, the senior leader's policy and precedent — and it carries the own-work rule that governs every submission.

Compliance with the Code is a condition of membership and of enrolment on every IAM programme. It is the reason the Institute can stand behind a certificate.

Our Documents

A published framework

The Institute's framework rests on four core public instruments, each on a two-year review cycle:

IAM Professional Standards for Administrative Management
IAM Code of Ethics — nine Principles for members and candidates
IAM Membership Regulation — grades, admission, and Good Standing
IAM CPD Regulation — the continuing development obligation

How the Institute is governed All documents on the IAM Portal

Take your place in the profession

Explore the membership framework, or see how the Certified Programmes teach the discipline at every career stage.

Apply for Membership Programmes