January Book Club

 

We are excited to announce the ProjectManagement.com January book club!  The book club provides an opportunity to participate in webinars and discussions around selected books relevant to the overall practice of project management.  The book club occurs in three parts:

1. Opening pre-recorded webinar which will be used to introduce the book. During this 30 minute pre-recorded webinar, the author will provide a high level overview of the concepts in his/her book, familiarizing participants with the information.
2. Discussion thread on ProjectManagement.com with input from the book club host and author.  During the last week of the discussion, questions will be collected to present to the author in the closing webinar.
3. **PMI-member exclusive** Closing Q&A live webinar with the author responding to questions submitted both through the online book club discussion thread and during the webinar.  The webinar will be a panel style discussion with open dialogue between the moderator and the author.

The first 25 PMI Members registered for the closing book club webinar will receive a complimentary copy of the book and will be notified via email.  Additional participants will have the opportunity to purchase a copy of the book at their own expense.  All community members will be able to view the book club opening webinar and participate in the discussion forum.  PMI members will be able to participate in the book club closing webinar.  We will evaluate the content of each opening and closing book club webinar to determine the eligibility and breakdown for PDUs.   

Our book club book for January is Managing the PMO Lifecycle: 2nd Edition by Waffa Karkukly.

Dr. Waffa Karkukly, PMP, ACP, CMP is the Principal and Managing Director of Global PMO Solutions with over 20 years’ experience in IT, project management, and PMO establishments, Waffa has an extensive experience in establishing practical PMOs. Revitalizing and assessing the value propositions of existing PMOs to ensure alignment with organizational strategy. Waffa has helped fortune 100, midsize and small sized organizations improve their project management practices and PMOs establishments through building scalable standards and proven solutions that improved their delivery process.

Prior to establishing Global PMO Solutions, Waffa held many positions ranging from big 5 to small startups were she held the responsibility of establishing PMOs that included Portfolio, building governance models and benchmark process improvement. Waffa helped organizations achieve their value proposition through building and sustaining transformational change management to improve organizations’ delivery and performance.

Waffa holds a BSC in Information Systems from DePaul University, an MIT from Northwestern University, and a PhD from SKEMA School of Business. Waffa‘s dissertation was in the PMO realm an area of her expertise and passion. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP), and Certified Change Management Practitioner (CMP).  Waffa is an author, coach, and active industry member who has many publications pertaining to project management, PMOs and change management.  She is a frequent speaker, presenter, and panelist at the international level of various PMI and other project management events and forums.

About the book:

Managing the PMO Lifecycle (PMOLC) is a collective effort to highlight what goes into the set-up, the build-out and the sustainability of the Project Management Offices (PMOs). It provides the drivers, the benefits and the know-how. The book’s main purpose is to be a reference and a practical guide for practitioners investing in setting up, building-out or supporting new or existing PMOs through providing a practical step by step guide and practical case studies.

In addition the book addresses various audiences on the corporate ladder to help them understand their roles and contributions to PMO success.

Last, the book is a guide for students seeking a career in the project management profession, allowing them to gain practical knowledge in the domain, and for those academics researching in this area leveraging the insights that the book offer through a detailed literature review, case studies, and surveys.

"Whether you are sustaining success with your PMO, starting up a new one, or even thinking about transforming one, the PMOLC clearly articulates that not one size fits all - what must bring the greatest value to your organization is key to your design principle and ultimate success. A wealth of insights that all leaders and practitioners will benefit from." Ian Laliberté ,Vice-President, PMO, IT Strategy and Change MBA, PMP, Prince2 Practitioner.

Our January book club host is Tolitha Lewis, PMP.  Tolitha has been a PMI Volunteer Leader since 2008.  She was elected as a Director to the PMI Information Systems Specific Interest Group (PMI-ISSIG) in 2008 and served until the completion of the transition to a Community of Practice (CoP) in 2011. In 2012, Tolitha was appointed to the Leadership Team of the Consulting CoP, now referred to as the Consulting practice area, and has been a leader in the webinar program ever since.   Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Tolitha is a Sr. Project Manager.

To register for the closing live book club webinar, please visit the webinar page on ProjectManagement.com, find the book club closing webinar and click on the “Register for this webinar” link.

Please visit the book club information and discussion on the Project Management.com books page. 

For additional questions, please visit the ProjectManagement.com Book Club FAQ page.