Chapter Communications Blog
Editorial March 2019 Newsletter
Author: Adi Muslic, PMP
Recently I met with a friend who started looking for a new job after many years spent in the same organization. It is a story about changing everything that you have been used to for a long long time. This is not an easy change. It is a life change. It is also a story about going out of the comfort zone. And this is another challenge.
We can think or say to ourselves that we are ready to face new challenges, it is right time to change etc, etc. But are we really ready?
In my experience we are never ready enough. This is an emotional change and working with emotions is never easy. Also, by working in a certain environment for a long time we lose capability to see how world is changing around us. It is also much harder seeing what needs changing from inside than outside.
if you are really ready for the change you will have your plan before this day comes. You just need to execute it. If you have not got a plan you need one. It is very likely you also need a change manager. You need someone who will help you see what needs to be done. If you have a friend with recent experience in the job market make a contact. If not, there are self learning options. To validate the result of your hard work you may need one of those agencies offering help in developing a competitive profile. It is always better to do it locally, in person, as online agencies are usually not very familiar with the Swiss market. In short, you have to make that change with or without help.
Best regards, Adi
Mentorship Program
Transformation Assurance: Benefits management, more than a mere buzzword ?
Marc Lahmann, Leader Transformation Assurance, PwC Switzerland
Thomas Parlitz, Assurance Manager, PwC Switzerland
Transformation Assurance: Benefits management, more than a mere buzzword in today’s demanding and changing business environment?
In the world of project management, amid efforts to sell large-scale business transformation programmes and control their success, ‘benefits management’ and ‘benefits realisation management’ are terms that are becoming increasingly commonplace. However, these processes often stop after the business case has been approved by the sponsor.
How can this be in a highly competitive business environment where change is omnipresent, investments are micromanaged by financial controllers, and failed business transformation programmes can endanger the careers of executives and managers?
An organisation’s success is not built on the capacity to adapt to change, or the right investment in new markets or products. Instead success, perhaps the very existence of an organisation, hinges on the overall benefit realised by implementing change through a transformation programme.
Continue reading here: https://www.pwc.ch/en/insights/risk/benefits-management.html
Download the pdf version here: https://www.pwc.ch/en/publications/2019/Benefits_management_EN2019_web.pdf
To a person with a hammer all challenges look like nails
Author: Geetanjali Bhat, PMP
To a person with a hammer, all challenges look like nails
“To a person with a hammer, all challenges look like nails”. What a thought-provoking quote on our perspectives. At this evening’s event, speaker John Carton shared great insights on how we can face challenges with different perspectives. "Think and Analyse" is the need of the hour!
Generally, people learn a technique that they use for all problems. Sometimes we see only different solutions to fix the problem rather than actually analyse the problem.
John explained this beautifully through an interactive session.
If we are compelled to do something, then we do it out of conviction and not because its required to be done. We go further and we do an extra mile when we are convinced about something.
He spoke about NEMAWASHI decision-making to actually “go around the root” of a problem. NE means “from root” and mawashi MAWASHI means “to go around”. When we analyse our decision-making techniques and take on a different route, we can achieve a better solution.
John mentioned that “sometimes chances of success are just 30% and the reason for success is most importantly PEOPLE”.
Too many times we do have a great solution that is easy and simple to work on, but we tend to be so engaged and preoccupied in achieving success in a short time that we fail to see the simple and easy solutions which can be achievable. Many people tend not to take the time to "pause & think".
We should consider our techniques of decision-making wisely by deciding slowly, considering alternatives and implementing rapidly. To follow this technique, we need to pause and think by taking a step back and considering all alternatives.
We put on our thinking caps when challenged with the question, ”what are alternate uses of a paperclip?” we were amazed to find so many uses of a paperclip other than its actual functional use.
The fact that time invested upfront to evaluate a problem thoroughly is repaid by a swifter implementation, brings one to a very insightful realization. When we engage time to think well, we develop more alternatives. The more the alternatives we have evaluated and analysed the better the decisions.
This can be illustrated more through a simple example:
If a room full of people is too warm, what are the possible solutions to make the people more comfortable?
- Open the windows--- > Windows cannot be opened
- Have the people come out the room -> Outside its very cold
To generate the right alternatives, we have to understand the problem correctly. In this case, the AC actually may not work or the AC temperature is set too low. If another room is available, we can shift the people or we can set the right temperature of the AC.
The audience enjoyed a great knowledge sharing session when the speaker gave us some insights to deriving the best solutions through “voice of the customer” and “true need”.
- Analyse the voice of the customer
- Define the true need
- Define the measurement of success
The test measures divergent thinking or flexibility in our thinking in different areas, and gives us the ability to generate several possible solutions to a problem. Sometimes multiple brainstorming techniques give us different possibilities of best solutions.
John engaged all of us with an exercise of convergent thinking. He asked us simply, “How does one make a fire?” This exercise illustrated how we can make a long list to the most important requirement.
The audience gained great insights and knowledge from the evening’s session. As Mr. John Carton would say, “To a person with a hammer, all challenges look like nails,” but choosing the best tools from our repertoire helps us remove the nails and take the best decisions to implement the best solutions.
Post-Kerzerslauf 2019 impressions
PMI Running Team - a sunny start to the Kerzerslauf season
Would you like to be part of the next race? Then send a message to Julia, 076 566 10 44 - and you will be automatically informed about the next run.
The Kerzerslauf is THE idyllic spring run for the season opening. The PMI Running Team was there, and we enjoyed the beautiful nature reserve in a sunny atmosphere. Together with thousands of running enthusiasts we start into the 5, 10 or 15 km long course.
Only a few hundred meters after the start in the village centre we leave the village on a long gradient. My first walk... For two kilometres the route leads over open cultivated land with a view of the snow-covered Jura heights.
Afterwards it goes over country lanes through dense forest area. At the halfway point we reach the Aare and then follow the idyllic reservoir near Niederried. Up to Golaten we overcome a steep climb, which demands everything again - my second walk, as sleek as Adriano Gelentano. For the remaining five kilometres, the running track is flat until we continue down the side roads to the finish line supported by steel bands and alphorns. On the last kilometre we mobilize our last reserves like many of the runners; I enjoy the strong applause of the numerous spectators and, together with my husband, sprint over the red carpet underneath the finish arch decorated with colourful balloons. We did it!
Happy and satisfied we meet our PMI colleagues in the Höfli Pub. With fine “plättli”, bruschetta and crispy pizza we meet new colleagues from the other regions, exchange running tips and the conversations take their course...
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