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My first PMI event: AMM 2020

Author: Miguel Hurtado, CAPM

Miguel Hurtado

It was my first event with the PMI Swiss Chapter and I need to confess... I was nervous, like a first date or the first day in a new school. All efforts made to pass the CAPM exam made this possible so I was looking forward to meet new people with different ideas. So when I received the invitation as a PMI Swiss member I didn’t doubt to confirm my assistance.
 
And it was incredible, I had the opportunity to share ideas, cultural issues and questions with a lot of PMPs from different business areas. 

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But not only that, we had the opportunity to listen and learn from Sunil Prashara ( President & CEO at Project Management Institute) an incredible and inspirational keynote regarding the bright future will come and we are part of it.
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Listening different members experiences and activities regarding volunteering I had the opportunity to discover the passion of a group and the energy used to make great dreams possible.
 
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They inspired me to join the volunteering and to feel welcome in a group with different ideas and cultures but with the same dream : the passion and energy for PMI Swiss Chapter and PMI.
 
 
The new Board
 
volunteers of the year

The Art of Productive Laziness and Strategies for Project Sponsorship

Author: Daniel Rodellar, PMP

Daniel Rodellar 100x100

On the last events in Romandie before the cancellations, we had the pleasure to listen to Peter Taylor, the "lazy project manager", at CERN for an insight on productive lazyness and afterwards at Hôtel Montbrillant, to deep dive into Strategies for Project Sponsorship.

Let me start with one of the last slides on the audience with the Lazy Project Manager session:

in crisis

This one is particularly appropriate for today's pandemic crisis. Before you get the answer, let's review some of the key messages and the key learnings of the event, from my point of view.

We started reviewing the science of lazyness, and in this context the word lazy has the meaning of smart.

 

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It all starts with the Pareto principle. Peter says that the Project Managers (everyone in fact) should apply the 80/20 rule and start priorityzing important things.

Pareto

And where should we start? ... well, "eat that frog" he said. If you start the day by eating a frog, youcan be pretty sure your day will get better.

What to do in your projects with different kind of people and behaviors? follow the Helmuth von Moltke the Elder diagram of 4 types of military officers.

Elder diagram

 

Be ahead of the game! A bad begining will certainly make a bad ending. And manage your sponsors. 85% of companies report that they have roles of project sponsors, but what do they do to train them? Not much. Do they thing it is important? Yes, they say. Talk to other PMs that had same sponsor. And connect with them, as you need to collaborate together to get the project to a successful end.

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You must be joking! Who would breathe normally in case of an emergency in a plane?

  • Stay calm in a crisis
  • Plan for the crisis,
  • Breathe normally,
  • Filter, filter and filter,
  • Delegate, delegate and delegate,
  • And finally prioritise, prioritise and prioritise!

 (now you know the answer to what to do in a crisis...)

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We reviewed the project retrospective, and the questions to ask, and the use of an emotional seismograph, to find the gaps between groups of people (among your stakeholders).

So what should a lazy PM do? work hard at the start and the end, not as usually it is done.

Can anyone be a project manager? No, a good project manager is a character, an attitude and a mindset.

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The second event the same day was about Project Sponsors.

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The figures are showing how important is to have good sponsors for project success, but companies do not train them.

 Peter has written a book about strategies for project sponsorship. The most important point is not the classical triangle (time, cost and scope) but the benefits for the organisation.

If we look at the flipside of project success we can see this interconnection and the consequences of getting it wrong:

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Today sponsors are just accidental project sponsors, but sponsorship should not be a side thing, this has to be a main task!

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Two pearls on the answers to the audience's questions:

  • the perfect number of sponsors is 1.
  • Projects are about business, not IT, so the business sponsor should take the lead.

And, at the end of the event, we visited the cave for the networking drinks!

 

And for these days, staying at home, here are two books for all of you, as a gift!

 

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Event Report: Hybridization Tear Down the Wall Between Agile & Waterfall

Author: Geetanjali Bhat, PMP

Geetanjali Bhat

Today every company is a software company, and to be competitive in today’s marketplace, companies need to deliver products and services faster and better than competitors.  Companies have been using the Agile Framework in their own ways, for a few years. This evening event gave me a new perspective and insights on how we can use Hybridization between Agile and Waterfall. Today’s keynote speaker Mr. Stéphane Derouin is President (and founder) of PMI France Chapter,  founder of PMGS , a company dedicated to Project Management Training and also consultant. He not only brings great experience in Agile and WaterFall concepts but is also a founder & President of a think-tank on Hybrid. With such an impressive profile, I was very excited to listen to this talk!

Every Organization today is incorporating Agile in their own ways to successfully deliver products. 

For PM traditional approaches such as Waterfall delivery of anything less than 100% of project requirements is seen as a quality failure, but in Agile, quality of the solution or solution increment is judged against it meeting the customer needs. Using different tools & techniques, it becomes easier to achieve a better solution. 

Agile has 20 methodologies, with Scrum being the most popular. But the question here is if Agile methods are enough? If we analyse the different approaches to manage a project, what are they?

  • Waterfall
  • Hybrid
  • Agile

We definitely hear and know about the Waterfall and Agile approaches. But what is Hybrid and how can we do it?

Hybridization meant first values and mindset. One can define it as a new spirit of agility that is being added to Hybridization - an agility to manage complexity. 

With a musical illustration , if a waterfall model is used, it sounds like a symphonic orchestra, and with Agile methodology, it’s like modern jazz. But when we use a Hybridization of both it's like rock ‘n roll.

The Hybrid Model integrates the Servant Leadership Model. The five primary duties of performing as servant leader in this role are: 

  • Shield the team from interruptions
  • On board the team and create dynamic
  • Remove Impediments to progress
  • Re(communicate) project vision 
  • Carry all necessary support

All in one, we can say tailoring is required as every project is unique in its own ways. Tailoring should be selecting the appropriate project management processes, techniques and tools which makes it Hybrid. Competing constraints like risk, quality, scope, cost, resources and schedule should be addressed. 

This makes us further question: “Can Hybrid be used in Portfolio level too?”  If we select the right method for the right project, we can derive at right solutions too.

Hybrid Project Management is how we can integrate Agile and Waterfall in any one of the following ways:

  • Deliver with Agile only with Waterfall Governance
  • Deliver in Agile and Waterfall Sequentially
  • Deliver in Agile and Waterfall parallelly

As a listener, I would like to summarize that Hybrid Methodology can be run as a process and a transformation journey where applied from Project kickoff to delivery, we can meet the right solutions at the right time for a successful Project delivery.

My PMI Journey as a Mentor

Author: Monika Keller, PMP

Monika Keller 100x100

I passed the PMP exam in 2014 and could take on more complex projects in the company I worked for. At the end of last August, I quit after 13 years as a Senior Project Manager and am now teaching project management to PMI standard at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and I have founded my own company, 3C Keller, to share best practice in project management across industries; consult, coach and communicate with organizations and teams, enabling them to complete projects successfully.

Moreover, having been a mentor in the PMI mentoring program since spring 2019, I have had the chance to test and sharpen my coaching and mentoring skills. My mentee was very grateful and she is now registered to take the PMP exam herself. I am very proud of her.

I truly enjoy having mentees and being part of the mentoring team at PMI Switzerland. Learning about other people’s companies and the difficult situations arising in their areas as a project manager are so exciting and remind me a lot of what I have experienced myself working in an international company with a great deal of change and reorganizations. It is so rewarding to share know-how and give back to the profession. This builds relationships that will last long after the mentorship will be over.

If you are interested in our mentoring program, check and apply here

 

Project Management – Skills for Life - The Football Foundation for Africa

Author: Karolina Letowska, PMP

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An unforgettable experience during “Project Management – Skills for Life” in Nairobi

The Project Management profession is changing; as a practice Project Management is evolving and as a specified role it will merge and grow with other roles with the diverse nature of responsibilities associated with it.

Project Management knowledge and skills are (and will remain to be) in demand, but they are slowly moving into the direction of general knowledge and skills for the next generation, a self-reliant and self-managed workforce. At the same time, Project Management as a profession will move more towards a people centric and leadership practice, where collaboration and co-creation will become the norm.

 

Karo

 

The Football Foundation for Africa is leading the way to a world where Project Management knowledge and skills can be applied and taught regardless of social, economic or hierarchical status.

Born out of the Obama Cup, The Football Foundation for Africa (FFA) is an international social enterprise seeking to drive investments into the development of grassroots football in Africa. The ultimate goal is to create employment opportunities while at the same time enhancing the employability of young adults in Africa through football. The organization works with 3 key pillars: Education, Infrastructure and Governance.

 

They are transforming the landscape through social good and educational foundation initiatives, where Project Management knowledge has been applied to support communities to help them overcome challenges rising from inequality or economical restraints by organizing a football tournament in Nairobi, Kenya. The tournament was preceded by a two day workshop where they were introduced to different project management principles and how to apply these techniques to help them succeed and reach their goals as volunteers.

As a football, adventure, volunteering and project management enthusiasts I couldn’t say NO to the Football Foundation for Africa when I was asked to lead the two day Project Management workshop in Nairobi by Brian Wesaala (Founder and CEO of FFA). The “Project Management – Skills for Life” workshop was facilitated by Ms. Janet Mbula from PMI Kenya and myself (representing PMI Switzerland). The initiative was positively received by participants as a welcome initiative by the organizers.

 

Furthermore, workshops such as these are seen as a way of injecting further professionalism into the football industry from a grassroots level. The 19 participants were chosen from the tournament’s community of stakeholders including the organizing committee, participating teams, partners and sponsors. The workshop was opened by PMI Kenya president, Mr. Clement Kitetu, who was keen to collaborate further and create more strategic engagements between sport and the project management practice. This is a sure way of promoting growth in the industry and ultimately creating opportunities for young adults in Africa.

The FFA is exploring collaboration with other Project Management associations and non-government organizations / associations to adapt and change the project management profession to keep the Project Management relevant.

 

To find out more about Football Foundation for Africa you can visit the page: https://footballfoundation.africa/

 

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