Author: Leandro Benda, PMP

We often think of the standard phases of project management, but one aspect comes up more and more to stir up trouble in the life of the project... This phenomenon is called... “Politics”

Are you intrigued in the political aspect of project management? 

Don't hesitate any longer, come and join us in this open space and discuss this fascinating subject!

You have thought about the initialization phase of your project, well prepared the planning, the management is going according to your plans and suddenly you are facing political obstacles, yes, this politics in companies which is sometimes a well submerged part of the iceberg, but which can prove to be crucial for the success of your project.

It is not always easy to identify and manage the stakeholders and their changing positions towards your project and their interests. How to act considering the risks when faced with such profiles, which are well versed in this aspect and have a strategic position within companies?

It is essential for a project manager to be involved as much as possible in the life of the project, but this often proves to be an obstacle course, particularly because of politics. What tricks exist?

In the same way, how to best exploit the mastery of this political dimension to succeed in projects and where are the limits?

We will try to find tracks with our participants on these different topics during this open space event “Winning Project Politics”, sharing your questions and / or different experiences on these situations is key.

About Open Spaces

A safe space to share experiences, tips, or discuss issues and questions you may have regarding project management. We have a variety of thought-provoking topics in store, so do come armed with some real-life problems you want to be solved by your trusted expert colleagues.

Who’s it for?

Are your PM/PMO concerns getting enough attention?

Are you creating good-quality connections online?

How often do you structure meetings radically differently than usual?  

We welcome you - anyone who has to manage projects, whatever their nature - to share the pressing points you'd like to talk about and perhaps get input for a solution.

Our main principles

Safe room - thus no recording, you are free to share and it stays within the few people in your breakout room.

Introductions in the main room by all participants - we aim to allow 15 seconds per person which is enough to share: name/position/ company or industry / what you’re coming with; in one sentence. This helps everyone to know who is who.

In small breakout rooms, it is easier to open up to a few people than to many.

Participants bring their own topics to discuss.  More topics => smaller groups => better interaction and engagement. 

In every breakout room, we want to ensure everyone gets a chance to provide at least some brief input into the question or issue.

We use the Slido tool to capture your suggestions in the Topics Backlog.

Whoever comes, is the right person.  Whatever happens, is the only thing that could have happened.

Do not hesitate to register to this Open Space which will take place online via Zoom on Tuesday, May 10th.

All our events can be found via this link: https://pmi-switzerland.ch/index.php/events

Author: Monika Keller, PMP

Years ago, I was asked to lead Project X. It would have been a big change management project, but I couldn't stand by it. It just didn't fit my understanding of sustainable and responsible business as it was clear it would not end well for the company and my colleagues. Perhaps you know what I mean. Yet I knew my sponsor had to implement it as it came straight from the top (he was showing them the effects by regularly stating facts and figures, but they had other priorities). - I looked for all kind of answers and excuses as to why I couldn't do it. At one point, my boss said, "Monika, I'm convinced you can do it. Because no matter what project I give you, it always turns out well! You have all the prerequisites to do it. The question is rather whether you want to do it..." -

He had caught me. And suddenly, the scales fell from my eyes. In fact, I didn't want to do it! And fortunately, the relationship between my boss and myself was so strong that I could be honest about it without fearing negative effects. I didn't have to say yes. I was psychologically safe and allowed to allow myself not to want to do it. All I had to do is say “no” and it would be okay. Why did I then have such a hard time saying it in the first place? The company had enough other projects for me to lead in which I could put my heart and soul into and feel comfortable with. Still there was a reason for me to be there and I could influence certain things the way I want!

Perhaps you had this situation too. How many times has your gut feeling told you, “You can’t do this”, and then you said to your boss, “Sure, no problem”, instead of asking yourself “Do I want to do this?”. You may have feared negative consequences if you had started a “real conversation” about it. It may have been embarrassing and depending on your cultural background, not appropriate to question anything that comes from your supervisor.

How about approaching the topic with a fresh mind next time and ask yourself the question “Do I want to do this?”.

If the answer is “no”, you can ask yourself why. Is it because you feel you lack training, experience and self-confidence? Then just say so and you can use it as an opportunity to grow your skills. Most likely, your company will support you by further training or give you a coach or mentor to help you advance your skills. It will be a win-win for all.

However, if your answer is “no” and the reason is your personal values that may lead to a conflict of interest, it is a different story. It may also be that you have other priorities in life at the moment that are equally important for your work-life balance, such as taking care of family members or seeing friends or doing sports or finishing that further training, and you see that this project really counteracts your deepest needs of balance. You are allowed to pause and then make a conscious decision. Have you ever thought about it that way?

Maybe you had a new year’s resolution for this year. You may want to work fewer hours in order to have more time for other things such as sports, meeting friends or doing a further education. Or you may finally want to create that “me time” to think about what you want to do the next 20 years of your life. Then you may find inspiration reading my blogs at Blog | 3C Keller (3c-keller.com). 

There is one about setting healthy boundaries that I can recommend you. As a PQ Coach, I also offer app-based self-paced learning by Positive Intelligence if you want to grow your mental fitness muscles to recover faster in challenging times, improve relationships, take laser-focused action and lead a healthier work-life balance. Just ask me for more information if that resonates with you.

Happiness starts with inner peace. If you make decisions that are in line with your values, you will be able to respect yourself. Others will also respect you more, not less, if you set healthy boundaries and advocate for change that is sustainable.

Here’s how to contact me: Kontakt | 3C Keller (3c-keller.com)

Author: Philip Springuel, PMP

Dear members and friends,

Welcome once again and thank you for being faithful readers of your monthly PMI Switzerland Chapter newsletter. Remember that you may share, access, comment and feedback on our social media platforms.

This month we open with a call to action from new Chapter President Stefan Vesenmeier. His Message from the Board informs us of the important steps initiated by the Chapter following events in Ukraine. Learn how you can help carry our spirit of volunteerism where it is most needed.

Benefit from our usual line-up of articles covering original work on subjects of critical importance for all project managers, including retrospective reporting or informative aspects of our future events. Please take careful note that your PMI Switzerland Chapter has planned many new and recurring networking events in Basel, Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich for you to re-connect and add valuable knowledge and skills to your resume. Do register early and enjoy a long awaited reunion with your peers. We are particularly honored that PMI Brightline Director Tahirou Assane Oumarou, will be speaking at PMI Switzerland's online event on 31 March, "Leading a dynamic people-centered transformation."

Most sincerely,

Philip SPRINGUEL, PMI Switzerland Newsletter Copy Editor

Author: Thierry Altenhoven, PMP

On the 10th of February, PMI invited the members to the Annual Members Meeting. This event was organized online and lasted from 18h00 to 20h00. It was moderated by the fantastic Pia Henzelmann. After 20h00, a session of virtual networking was opened for the participants.

The event was structured in 2 parts:

• The first part presented a summary of the year 2021 and an outlook of 2022 for our PMI Switzerland Chapter.
• The second part was a keynote called “Impact Warrior Excellence: How To Master Tough Times!”, presented by special guests Michelle Xue Wang and Florian T. Hochenrieder.

This article will cover the first part of this meeting.

Stefan Vesenmeier, our VP Events in 2021, now the newly elected Chapter President, introduced the event with a retrospective of 2021 for the Chapter.

A lot of things happened in this special year. Here are some highlights that he pointed to:

• 1st virtual annual members meeting
• Growing Social Media channel reach: 2’500 followers on LinkedIn
• First in-person evening event in August after 19 months of online events
• Tremendous celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Chapter
• Successful 10th PM Conference in Zürich with 115 attendees
• Fruitful on-site “Volunteers Day” with 18 volunteers
• New sponsorship agreements achieved: STS, ProPM-P and the new gold sponsor, PwC, for 2022

After this retrospective, Claudia Rassalski, our VP Finance, presented the annual financial report of 2021. To summarize it with trends, it would be as following (the appreciation is compared with 2020):

• Membership fees: less less less
• Event income: plus plus
• Total income: less
• Expenses: less
• Net income: less
• Assets: =

Of course, Claudia showed a detailed overview of the accounting of the Chapter, followed by the observations done during an audit conducted in 2021:

• A decreasing trend in membership revenue in the last 3 years
• Lost income without sponsorship in 2021
• A positive uptick of income from Events in 2021
• As a trend, expenses for events are higher than the income
• Administrative costs have decreased mainly due to tasks being taken over by the Operations volunteers team
• Budgeting practices are not well defined which have contributed to an unrealistic budget for 2021
• Lack of reserve policy

After announcing the identified risks and the audit opinion, Claudia could initiate the vote for this part of the event. The financial results were largely accepted by the members.

The vote completed, Stefan could share the gratitude of the Chapter through the next section of the event: "Volunteer of the year".

First of all, he explained that at the beginning of the year all the volunteers were asked to nominate one volunteer who did a tremendous amount of work in the organization. Normally, each year, one volunteer is nominated. But in 2021, the board decided to enlarge their recognition to more than one person. Three of them were pointed out as outstanding volunteers: Benoîte Grisouard in the Social Good team, Ala Lutz in the Members team and Thierry Altenhoven, in the Branding team. Thanks a lot for your dedication in 2021 and enjoy further the journey by PMI.

The award "Volunteer of the Year" went to Pia Henzelmann. She has been a PMI member since October 2019, acting as the director of the Virtual team. Since she joined the virtual events team, Pia was an indispensable team member, and has been instrumental in making our virtual events a great experience for all involved. Well-deserved for you, Pia! Congratulations!

Next to this award, the president also rewards one special active member. The President's Award for 2021 went to Philippe Soupart. Karolina Letowska, Chapter President 2021, said about Philippe’s total engagement and motivation for the Chapter:

"Volunteers like you help make our Chapter a better and fun to be place with your time and efforts. Honestly, I don't think things would have run as smoothly without your help. Thanks a bunch". All of the volunteers can just confirm her sayings about his commitment. They are also very grateful to receive his advice and his support when needed. Congratulations Philippe!

Place to the game… In 2021 it was also a special year for the Chapter because it was its 20th anniversary. To celebrate this particular thing, the board decided to organize a game during the whole year. At the beginning of each event last year, the moderator communicated a word, describing a power skill of the project manager. The goal for the participants was to collect all the 20 words by the end of the year. The winner of this game would be the one collecting the most of the words: Pia Henzelmann won the prize "A weekend in the Swiss Alps". Excellent! Well done, Pia!

Finally, it was time to talk about the future. First with the election of the members of the board for 2022-2023: Adi Muslic, Stefan Vesenmeier and Joachim Dehais. We wish you a successful start for 2022! The board of director for 2022 was presented with Stefan Vesenmeier as our new President, Claudia Rassalski, as our VP Finance, Philippe Soupart as our VP Operations, Agnieszka Skalska as our VP Brand Management and Development, Joachim Dehais as our VP Volunteers, Adi Muslic as our VP Sponsors & Partners, Ala Lutz as our VP Members and Pia Henzelmann as our VP Events. We will have for sure an exciting year with you on board. We wish you all lots of great achievements in 2022!

To close this part of the event, Stefan, as new president, expresses his vision for this new year: it's all about VOLUNTEERS. The heart of the Chapter is our team of Volunteers. He will guide the Chapter to keep this heart beating with passion and commitment in 2022. 

He also communicated the outlook for this new year 2022:

• Resume on-site events as soon as possible
• Offer additional opportunities for networking
• PMI Switzerland Conference 2022, on-site (September)
• Continue our successful online events and keep them free for members to attend
• Grow mentorship & experience exchange
• Implement a Volunteer training program

Before the break, our PMI Brand Ambassador Team (Alexander Seeger, Lourenco Nunes and Loïc Hascher) was ready to welcome the participants of this event at the AMM Virtual Networking. A virtual chat room was at disposal to visit and to have a chat with the other visitors.

Are you interested to watch all the details of this event? Please watch the video on YouTube: [Click here]

Do you want to know more about the second part of the Annual Members Meeting 2022 with its keynote “Impact Warrior Excellence: How To Master Tough Times!”? Please enjoy the article: [Click here]

BR

Thierry Altenhoven, PMP