Author: Adi Muslic, PMP

VP Sponsors & Partners

If you have not, here is the chance. On 16 March, we are going to play Strategy Planning in Lausanne. After the game we will have a nice networking apéro.

That’s it. I cannot tell you more. The rest is a big surprise. But, be sure that you are going to miss a great opportunity to learn and have fun at the same time if you do not participate.

You can maybe find more details in the previous article: https://tinyurl.com/yrwemvka 

See you,

Adi

Author: Joachim Dehais

VP Volunteers

Old habits die hard, and volunteers are undefeated. We have voted once more for our top volunteers this year, and I sure hope you were a contender.

Coming hot in the top 4 is Daniel Rodellar, who's been instrumental in our communications and particularly the newsletter. Next is our very own Martin Härri, who has kept the engine on high RPM for the conference and the Swiss Corporate Networking Group. Finally shines Valérie Pierre, who has grabbed the Zurich events team and run with it to new heights.

Each of them will receive a book, you know me, and having had our AMM in Bern, they could not avoid receiving Mandelbärli, either. Thank you, Daniel, Martin, and Valérie, for your engagement and company, it has been a pleasure, and I hope it will continue.

The volunteer of the year for 2022 is Leandro Benda! Leandro has shot up since he joined and has found a place in the heart of others with his great efforts and disposition. Leandro first gets this negotiation & supply game, to strengthen his skills while beating his friends. Second, a book on using your voice for good, a discussion we had when he arrived. Finally, I received access to an experimental tool from Rutgers business school. Leandro can now help us survive the geopolitical climate by training us on competitive supply chain management.

The President’s Award went to Prasanth Nair who was recognized for his long service to the Zurich events team, where he has been the event director from 2014 to 2022 after joining the chapter in 2009! “Prasanth made a difference for the Chapter and especially for the event region Zurich, which he led over the last 8 years,” said Stefan Vesenmeier, Chapter President 2022.

We also thank Thierry Altenhoven, Gessami Sanchez Olle and Benoîte Bargeton Grisouard who have contributed enormously before moving on last year. May your path be as bright and sweet as having you here was pleasant and productive.

Finally, we extend our thanks and gratitude to the board members who stepped down this year, Agnieszka Skalska, VP Brand Management & Development, Claudia Rassalski VP Finance and Pia Henzelmann, VP Events & PMIEF.

And with shameless self-promotion in mind, I hope you will be tempted to join us as a volunteer and participate in this grand adventure too.

Joachim

 Author: Philip Springuel, PMP 

Dear friends,

This February, we begin your PMI Switzerland Chapter’s newsletter by reminding you of the many networking opportunities available in different parts of Switzerland: Truly, I have never seen another professional organisation offer so many opportunities to connect and grow! As highlighted here, PMI Switzerland offers pure networking lunches and many workshops to build your skills. Do check out our coming event links and sign up early to ensure you benefit from irreplaceable in-person connections.

In this newsletter, we’re delighted with Martin Härri and Adi Muslic’s summary of the Chapter’s corporate networking meeting of 25 January at RUAG’s premises in Thun. The talk was about data driven projects and the feeling that AI has so far mostly failed to live up to expectations.

We also bring you reasons why you will want to sign up to upcoming events on developing modern project communication skills and how to creatively approach strategic planning inside project teams. Other upcoming events include ‘Women in Project Management’ and ‘How to foster and build teams to solve complex problems.’

Volunteering has never been more rewarding at PMI Switzerland: Read Marco Chiletti’s article about our Chapter’s Positive Impact program, where your help contributes to partnerships with non-profit organizations to impact society worldwide.

With best regards,

Philip SPRINGUEL,

PMI Switzerland Newsletter Copy Editor

Co-author:

Martin Härri, PMP, PMI-SP, PMI-ACP, DASSM, Director Corporate Relationships

Co-author: Adi Muslic, PMP, VP Sponsors & Partners

On 25th of January, over 30 senior project professionals from 20 organizations gathered at RUAG’s premises in Thun, to talk about data driven projects and the application of AI in project management.

It was the 35th meeting of the Swiss Corporate Networking Group. This network, created back in 2010, is bringing together representatives of 25 organizations based in Switzerland that are sharing best practices and experiences about project management topics of relevance to their companies. More about the PMI SCNG can be found here.

Five presentations looked at the topic from various angles. First, PwC talked about how AI has been hyped, and is being hyped as a disruptor of almost everything, but has so far mostly failed to live up to the expectations. There are however a few niches where AI is successfully applied, and these niches are growing bigger. One of them was then presented by INAIT, which has developed an application which scans contracts for meeting specific clauses, a use case which is certainly very relevant for large organizations. IBM also presented an interesting use case where they applied AI to monitor the health of their projects, and a case where they had used the technology in a customer project, predicting the right moment to do maintenance on electricity generators.We could see that there was some progress in implementation of Machine Learning technologies, helping to better track and deliver projects. But we also learned that for efficient use of AI, we need a lot of well structured and consistent data.

So two further presentations then focused on data quality. A speaker from Procter & Gamble presented how he keeps track of the status of a huge program which involves 2,000 people at the company, and Holcim talked about how they managed to get the accuracy of their project estimates to within +/- 5%, a very impressive number!

While data driven projects exist, making use of detailed measurements and automation to drive project execution and ensure high predictability, the story about AI in project management is not that bright yet. It seems that there is very little use of AI in project management yet. So, to round off the day, the participants brainstormed about ideas how AI could be applied in projects, the result was a very fascinating list. We are very curious about what might be put into practice in the next few years.

At the end of the day, it was clear to everyone  that AI will not replace humans, or if you like, project managers. But, it will help them maximize their efficiency by augmenting their capabilities.

If you are interested in this topic we invite you to read Marc Lahman’s interview given in October 2022 in the chapter newsletter.

And to quote a statement which is currently widely used:: “Do not forget, AI will not replace you, a person using AI will.”

Worried? Would you like to know more? How do you surmount the obstacles to implementing AI in project management? .

Martin Härri & Adi Muslic