PMI Europe Leadership Institute Meeting 2024
Author: Thando Dube (PMI Swiss Chapter VP, MBA, PMP) 
I am thrilled to share insights and key takeaways from the recent PMI Europe Leadership Institute Meeting (LIM) held in Lisbon from December 1st to December 4th, 2023. This event provided an exceptional opportunity to connect, learn, and collaborate with fellow chapter leaders from across Europe.
Over the four days in Lisbon, Stefan Vesenmeier and I had the honour of representing our chapter at this annual gathering. Engaging with Chapter Leaders offered invaluable insights into their challenges, successes, and the impactful outcomes of volunteer-driven initiatives.
The LIM featured enlightening presentations on various topics, including PMI's global initiatives. Notably, the introduction of a Single Payment for PMI membership (Pilot Phase) and the forthcoming changes to PMI Global's strategy, set to be fully unveiled in Berlin in April 2023, were presented.
Thematic workshops designed to meet specific requirements for chapter functional areas were proposed. These workshops underscored the importance of learning and exchanging insights with other chapters, emphasising that the value of interacting and connecting with fellow Chapter Leaders far exceeds that of virtual meetings alone. Regretfully we were unable to participate in all workshops covering Volunteers, Membership, Partnership, and other functions, however, I did manage to attend the functional workshops on Marketing, which shed light on challenges faced by the chapters in aligning due to the broad and diverse tools being utilised. This emphasized the need for common marketing tools and affordable solutions globally.
During the event, 42 chapters were represented, and this year, our chapter proudly joined the ranks of the Top 6 chapters in Europe! With 1800 members, our chapter attained a major milestone, placing us amongst the top-performing chapters. It was a pleasant surprise for Stefan and I, to find ourselves grouped with the other 5 chapters in Europe, namely: France, Germany, UK, Italy, and Ireland. Although our two-person representation may have been humbling when compared with that of Chapters, who literally brought their entire Board Member Team, the atmosphere was characterised by a strong sense of sharing, and a dynamic that transcended chapter size.
A major highlight of the LIM Conference 2024 was the Awards Ceremony, where we celebrated the achievements of individuals and chapters. Congratulations to: Olalla Garcia Perez (PMI Galicia, Spain Chapter), the recipient of the 'Rising Leader Award'; Andreas Madjari (PMI Austria Chapter), the recipient of the 'Chapter Leadership Impact Award'; and the PMI Southern Italy Chapter for achieving 'Chapter of the Year'.
27 chapters received special mentions for projects that embody PMI's cultural values. Our Chapter was recognized for its exceptional commitment to Social Impact & Youth Initiatives. Kudos to the entire team for their great achievement.
As a closing note, the event was a wonderful opportunity to connect with other chapters. Today, in my department, we are working closely and sharing ideas with 5 chapters that I would otherwise not have connected with, had it not been for introductions at the LIM conference. Further, our chapter has initiated organisation of joint events, in collaboration with other chapters. A key message that I want to share with the project community at large, is that AI is now part of the daily landscape. We need to embrace it and not view it as a threat, but as an enablement to project management.
Thando Dube
Connect with the author on LinkedIn.
Connect with Stefan Vesenmeier on LinkedIn.