The profession has changed. Now it has Standards to match — and we want your view before they take effect.
The IAM Professional Standards for Administrative Management are published in exposure draft on Friday 11 September 2026. Consultation is open until Friday 16 October 2026, 17:00 UK time.
The administrative management role has been transformed. Our members now sit at the centre of AI adoption and digital operations, hybrid working, data governance, sustainability reporting, and organisational resilience — and the market has been asking for a common reference point: employers want to know what good looks like, professionals want a clear map of career progression, and educators need a benchmark to build against. Today the Institute answers that need with the IAM Professional Standards for Administrative Management (IAM-PS-2026-001) — a unified statement of excellent practice, from first professional role to the boardroom.
The Standards define seven Competency Domains, four assessed Career Stages aligned to our membership grades, and nine Professional Values — brought together in a Progression Matrix that maps the whole professional journey, alongside the IAM Code of Ethics and our CPD framework. Two informative annexes complete it: what competence looks like in each domain at each Career Stage, and the international standards and frameworks most relevant to each.
For readers with limited time, the Lite Edition sets out the whole framework — all seven domains, the four career stages and the complete Progression Matrix — in fifteen pages.
Have your say
By Friday 16 October 2026, 17:00 UK time
We invite comment from members at every grade, employers, educators and centre partners, fellow professional bodies, and anyone with an interest in the profession. We would particularly value your view on:
| No. | Question |
|---|---|
| 1 | Do the seven Competency Domains cover the full scope of the role as you practise it today? |
| 2 | Does the Progression Matrix reflect how careers in administrative management actually advance? |
| 3 | Are the CPD obligations proportionate and achievable alongside a demanding role? |
| 4 | Would linking CPD to the domains at planning and year-end, rather than activity by activity (Section 10.2), work for you and your employer? |
| 5 | Are the two informative annexes — illustrative evidence of competence, and related international standards — useful, and is anything missing from them? |
| 6 | Is anything missing for your sector, organisation size, or jurisdiction? |
| 7 | Is the language clear enough to use with your employer tomorrow? |
| 8 | If you work at Affiliate or workforce level: does Section 6.2 describe your work accurately? |
What happens next
The road to the First Edition
- 11 September 2026Exposure Draft published; consultation opens.
- 16 October 2026Consultation closes at 17:00 UK time.
- 19 October – 6 NovemberThe Professional Standards Committee reviews every response and prepares a Consultation Summary explaining what changed and why.
- 30 November 2026First Edition and Consultation Summary published, endorsed by the IAM Academic Board.
- 1 January 2027The IAM Professional Standards take effect, together with the Code of Ethics, the Membership Regulation and the CPD Regulation, on the first day of the first CPD Year.
What this means for you now. Nothing changes until 1 January 2027. From the effective date, the Standards become the reference point for the Progression Matrix, membership grades, and CPD planning — and your first ally in explaining the value of what you do.
Try it now. The IAM Grade Navigator places you against the draft Membership Regulation, entirely on your own device. The Progression Profiler — a private self-assessment that maps your profile against the Progression Matrix and starts your CPD plan — follows with the First Editions on 30 November.
Your view, before the framework takes effect
This bulletin was sent to IAM members and registered contacts on 11 September 2026.