Tips and Tricks for Giving Back: Navigating the PMIEF Learning Resources Library

 

Volunteers have used project management knowledge and skills for social good in a variety of settings, ranging from spending a few hours training nonprofit or civic group members on the basics of project management, to creating intensive project management training programs for youth lasting for a semester of more. Many people are interested in using their project management skills to give back to their communities, but it can be extremely overwhelming to know where to start. 

How do I get started?

One tip given by experienced volunteers is to start by connecting with PMIEF and taking advantage of the resources in the Learning Resources Library. PMIEF staff can help make connections with others who have started similar programs to provide support and lessons learned, and PMIEF resources provide tested content.

The Learning Resources Library includes 31 no-cost resources directed at a variety of target audiences with varying depths of information, many of which have been translated into a number of different languages. This allows volunteers to focus on making connections with partners and working through the logistics that allow programs to succeed. Read on to learn how others have leveraged PMIEF resources to provide project management programming for social good in their communities.

How do I develop a program and choose an organization?

Experienced volunteers recommend starting small when trying to develop programming. One of the hardest parts of starting a program using project management for social good can be finding an organization to work with. Many people who are interested in developing programs find that the best place to start is with an organization that they already have a connection to, and many larger programs develop from shorter sessions of only an hour or two that helped to raise awareness and interest in further training.

Tools for developing a short program:

Individuals who are interested in this kind of short programming might follow the examples of Øyvind Johnsen or members of the PMI Heartland Chapter.

• Øyvind Johnsen, a PMIEF Chapter Liaison from Norway, who had the opportunity to present on project management to a local civic organization, turned to The Tower Game™ as a way to make his presentation engaging and interactive. This resource, which is available in eighteen languages, provides a fun and interactive introduction to project management by challenging participants to a tower building competition, which is scored on factors critical to project management. Many volunteers have found that this activity provides an engaging way to raise people's awareness of project management and make them interested in learning more, and Øyvind found that participants were enthusiastic about the success of his talk.
• Volunteers from the PMI Heartland Chapter have found success using Careers in Project Management™, available in four languages, in career day presentations. This resource is designed to help raise student awareness of project management as a viable career path by providing information such as an overview of the profession, how a student would prepare for a career in the field, and wage information for the field of project management. For individuals interested in partnering with schools, career days can be a great way to begin engaging with students. Many individuals have also had success combining The Tower Game and Careers in Project Management to provide a fun, interactive, and informative introduction to the idea of project management as a career, both at career days and in other settings.

How can I develop an education program for youth in my community?

Volunteers who are interested in providing project management education and training beyond the awareness provided by The Tower Game and Careers in Project Management have turned to Project Management Skills for Life®, available in eight languages. Volunteers have found that Skills for Life, which generally takes about 4-6 hours to complete, is extremely flexible and can easily be matched with any number of projects to create a customized experience. 

• Talibah Adenouga, a classroom teacher and PMIEF Chapter Liaison from Dallas has used Skills for Life in the classroom. She uses the resource as a basis for providing project management training to her high school Business and Technology students, then combines this learning with a project in which students plan and implement a craft day for patients at a local children's hospital. This approach provides students with foundational knowledge in project management, hands on experience in managing a project, and an opportunity to give back to their community.
• Volunteers from the PMI Honduras Chapter have used a similar program structure. In their workshops, youth go through the Skills for Life training, then complete a project to benefit their community, requiring no travel and no cost. Projects have included a community clean up, tutoring, and planting a garden with local plants. 

How can I develop project management training/education for adults?

While Skills for Life has been used as a part of many youth programs, volunteers have found it to be equally appropriate for work with adults, and a number of volunteers have used Project Management Skills for Life® as the basis for presentations and trainings for staff at nonprofit/NGO organizations.

• In Georgia, PMI member Frederick Griffin worked with Megiddo Dream Station, a nonprofit organization working with unemployed individuals, to provide project management training as a part of the organization's multi-dimensional training program. In Argentina, volunteers from the PMI Buenos Aires Chapter used Skills for Life as a part of their program to provide project management skills and training to their local Emmanuel Foundation, with an ultimate goal of supporting the organization in establishing a new community center. 

In-depth project management youth education

Many volunteers who are interested in providing in depth project management education to youth have turned to Projects from the Future™ and the Project Management Toolkit for Teachers™.

• In Italy, volunteers from the PMI Northern Italy Chapter used Projects from the Future™ to support a group of fourth grade students at a local primary school. Projects from the Future™ is designed for teaching project management as a life skill to primary school youth as young as six and uses simplified vocabulary and structured activities to help younger children learn to start thinking like project managers. It uses a partnership between a classroom teacher and a mentor in the field of project management, and includes guides for both the teacher and the mentor, in addition to the program materials. In Italy, the volunteers used this model to work with fourth grade students and their teachers on a project in which the students were able to create games that could safely be played indoors during break times. 
• In Napa CA teachers used the Project Management Toolkit for Teachers™ to support their students in projects such as investigating a crime scene, developing board games, and more. Many teachers are eager to have project managers help them embed project management into existing classroom projects. The Toolkit is designed for use by classroom teachers, but volunteers have found that its frameworks can be applicable in other circumstances as well. In Brazil, the PMI Amazonas Chapter used this resource to train representatives from Junior Achievement Amazonas on project management and the benefits of teaching these skills to children. 

Ready to get started?

If you're ready to get started volunteering to leverage project management skills and knowledge for social good, one of the best places to start is in the Learning Resources Library at pmief.org, where you can download all of the PMIEF Learning Resources at no cost. The full library includes case studies on how other organizations have implemented social good programming, short presentations targeted at a variety of audiences, curricula for use by secondary school teachers, and more.