PM Network

The Agile Manifesto is 15 years old, and the debate is on: Is the agile approach being diluted? This is the subject of a feature article in December PM Network, and we want your opinion.

There is no denying that agile approaches have spread beyond software development to other industries and organizations large and small. Some experts complain that agile is used as a “smoke screen” for project managers who don’t bother defining product features and a vision of the solution. Others say thought must be put into how agile approaches relate to waterfall. In sidebars, two manifesto co-authors give their take on the state of agile today.

What do you think? How does your organization use agile approaches? Do they work in providing customer value and bringing successful strategic outcomes? Please let us know in the comments below your experience and opinion on the agile debate.

We don’t often show children on the cover of PM Network. In this month’s cover story, kids are essential stakeholders in a project to build a beautiful new Sandy Hook Elementary School on the site of one of the deadliest shooting tragedies in the United States. Project managers rose to the task of sensitively considering the needs of the students, their parents, teachers, school administrators and the community.

Continuing its series of in-depth PMI Project of the Year finalist case studies, PM Network details the initiative to consolidate and centralize pediatric health care services in Queensland, Australia. The challenge was to cut down medical risks that came from shuttling patients among several facilities. Two existing public hospitals were merged and shut, and services from a private hospital were incorporated.

Next time you raise a glass of “suds,” consider the fact that the beer industry is a growing project hotbed, anticipated to have US$688 billion in sales by 2020. Trends include consolidation of larger brewers and growth and even globalization of smaller craft breweries—witness a U.S.-based brewery setting up shop in the beer haven of Germany. Plus, have you heard about the Belgian brewer connecting brewery and bottling plant via pipelines under the streets?

So you want to switch industries…what can you expect? A PM Network article tells you—expect to do a lot of learning. You need to acquire industry-specific jargon and learn about the new competitive landscape, as well as figure out what the priorities are in the field.

The global market for 3-D printers is forecast at US$41 billion by 2020. This potentially disruptive technology is making certain business activities, such as prototyping, much faster and easier. Project managers in a number of fields from biomedical engineering to construction will need to know the ins and outs of 3-D printing.

Where are the opportunities? PM Network’s Edge section lets you know. Learn about stadium-building projects, cloud-seeding initiatives, the government IT landscape and the challenges of modernizing old legacy systems. An infographic compares 10 countries in terms of factors related to the cost of doing business. We examine the risks connected with holiday retail projects and look into the future with a report on solar-powered aircraft. Did you see our highlight video this month? You’d see an animation related to yet another Edge story—creating extra-sensitive prosthetic arms.

PM Network taps into a wide network of practitioners and experts for more great tips about projects and managing them. Topics from our “Getting It Done” practitioners this month are working large construction projects and managing big data projects. Subject matter experts present their thoughts on making portfolio management more mature; improving communications by recognizing that what you think are shared understandings may not be; and how an enterprise project management office can fend off downsizing attempts. Plus there’s an interview with a Doctors Without Border official on why his organization launched a PMO and tackling resistance to that change.

Did you know…if your native language is español or Português and you are a member of PMI, we have you covered! You can read the current and recent issues of PM Network in your language.

Just a couple of weeks back, PMI bestowed its 2016 Project of the Year Award to a team from the U.S. Department of Energy. Their project, the National Synchrotron Light Source II, is a game-changer for scientists. This month’s PM Network takes a look at this project, which created the world’s most powerful photon microscope.

The device is allowing scientists to develop, understand and manipulate nanoscale materials at a single-atom resolution. The project team took advantage of global advisory committees to help them identify potential design problems and mitigate those risks. Sizable contingency budgets were set aside to cover procurement risks. The initiative closed six months early and delivered additional scope.

Speaking of awards, the 2016 PMO of the Year will be awarded next month at the PMO Symposium. This issue of PM Network previews the three finalists. These PMOs (from BC Hydro, Entel and Parker Aerospace) are relied upon by their organizations to meet their strategic goals.

Airports are the venue for many new IT upgrade projects. Requirements for these initiatives relate to security, reliability and ease of use, as well as ensuring that technology adheres to global safety and technical regulations. Nothing can be shut down for upgrades, even for a day. It’s critical to include all stakeholders, even minor ones such as airport store managers.

Trouble for a project manager can come from a team member’s negative behavior. A PM Network feature describes hotheads (easy to anger), credit hogs, chatterboxes, lone wolves (who hesitate to engage with the team) and minimalists (who only do what is assigned). It offers tips on how to deal with each of these characteristics.

The virtual reality platform has taken off, with sales of VR devices projected to hit US$40 billion by 2020. Software developers are finding agile approaches work best in an environment rife with untested technology and still-in-development hardware. Project managers sometimes have to decide between missing deadlines for the sake of quality or possibly reducing quality to make tight deadlines.

Design thinking is a process for generating creative solutions. It is being used more and more by organizations seeking to innovate while growing into new markets. Integrating design thinking and agile approaches helps organizations find and build the right customer-focused solutions. Those who have integrated the two approaches say design thinking can help passionate, energetic agile teams do what they’ve always wanted to do—create clever and relevant deliverables.

Follow the trends affecting your profession with PM Network’s Edge section. This month, Edge includes reports on governments adopting building information modeling for its construction megaprojects, projects that aim to save coral reefs, and initiatives in the growing waste-to-energy market.

PM Network’s Voice section speaks to you with practical advice from practitioners, subject matter experts and executives. In October, Voices includes the popular “Career Q&A” column, with recruiter Lindsay Scott answering reader questions on increasing experience in project initiation and planning, describing classified projects on a résumé without sharing sensitive information, and getting the most out of PMI membership. Practitioners are “Getting It Done,” sharing with you tips on bringing order to a project in chaos and how to deal with managing more than one project at a time.

Did you know…if your native language is español or Português and you are a member of PMI, we have you covered! You can read the current and recent issues of PM Network in your language.

News reports are dominated by events that could be considered mega-risks for megaprojects: terrorism, droughts, floods, failing states, revolutions and large-scale migrations. In this month’s PM Network cover story, experts advise those handling project risks to be resilient in the face of all that is happening. Make sure your disaster management plan includes potential cascading failures. Know when to escalate a risk and have an understanding of an enterprise’s risk appetite.

One category of megaproject is happening in countries around the globe—initiatives to upgrade wireless networks. These networks will support a more data-rich environment that includes the Internet of Things. The global 5G market could reach US$247 billion by 2025. These networks will have to handle the safety demands of self-driving vehicles, making risk management important.

Risk management has led to another type of project—initiatives to improve food safety. When people are sickened by food, it affects organizational finances as well as public health. The article includes case studies on rooting out disease in the Australian banana industry and using social media to identify restaurants having food-safety issues.

Recruiters are finding that strategic thinking is a hard-to-find skill among project managers. If you wish to adopt a strategic mindset, you should ask questions throughout a project’s life cycle, questions such as “What is the business case?” “How does the business landscape shape this project’s success?” “Does this project still make strategic sense?” and, at closing, “Was this project a strategic success?”

To get ready for the exciting PMI Professional Awards Ceremony later this month (held just prior to PMI Global Congress 2016—North America), PM Network presents a summary of the three Project of the Year Award finalists. Want to find out whether the big winner is the U.S. Department of Energy’s photon microscope project, the Guaiba 2 low-environmental-impact Pulp Mill in Brazil, or the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in Australia? Come to congress!

Beyond the global risks highlighted in our cover story, there is much going on in the world affecting the projects you work on now or might work on in the future. That is the raison d’être of the Edge section of PM Network. This month, Edge covers the rush to mine lithium, a metal feeding the demand for device and electric car batteries; the effects of Brexit on British construction projects; and the growth of tall-building construction projects using wood instead of steel.

Hear practical advice from practitioners, subject matter experts and executives in the magazine’s monthly Voices section. Andrew Robinson offers a framework and process that organizations can use to ensure strategy gets implemented. Kareem Shaker, PMI-RMP, PMP, provides a detailed list of traits and practices that can be used to build a team that thrives on innovation. Chris Burner, chief project officer of a public authority in California, tells how a public-sector megaproject can finish on schedule and within budget. Practitioners offer “Getting It Done” articles on why project management often fails in tech-driven companies and how coaching can help project managers gain confidence and unlock potential.

Did you know…if your native language is español or Português and you are a member of PMI, we have you covered! You can read the current and recent issues of PM Network in your language.

Healthcare and IT are two major industries on their own. These two powerhouses are being integrated in many interesting ways that are helpful for patients and efficient for companies in both fields. The August PM Network cover story reports that project managers are seeing increasing opportunities in initiatives involving electronic health records, video consultations and smartphone apps for diagnosis. Particular challenges in these projects are scope creep due to the high degree of customization, privacy concerns, prevention of hacking and gaining engagement from doctors and nurses.

How do Enterprise Project Management Offices (EPMO) secure C-suite buy in in order to deliver results? Four EPMO leaders provide their ideas on increasing alignment to organizational strategy, dealing with C-suite turnover and the best ways for EPMOs to deliver value.

Big elections are making the news this year. In the project world, what’s new and growing (slowly) is the concept of online voting. New South Wales, Australia held the largest-ever online election in 2015. Estonia is a pioneer in online voting. Project teams taking this on must tread carefully because of security challenges. Online voting systems need rigorous requirements management and robust testing and risk mitigation.

In the latest entry of the periodic feature Projects on the Map, PM Network looks at Vietnam, Asia’s newest manufacturing powerhouse with the world’s ninth-fastest growing economy. To sustain this growth, the country needs US$200 billion in infrastructure projects, creating opportunities and challenges. Projects tend to be late and over budget, but leaders are aware that increasing fundamental project skills will help.

A case study in this month’s issue dives into how research scientists and engineers needed to embrace the value of project management to complete a €1 billion, 20-year initiative to construct an experimental fusion device in Germany. Another profiles a project to create the National Gallery Singapore from two colonial-era buildings.

The Edge is PM Network’s news section and highlights include projects to coordinate anti-terror data among countries, a report on creating high-tech textiles and information on a trend showing increased corporate relocations.

Practitioners, executives and subject matter experts come together in the Voices section of PM Network to provide advice and interesting reading. For example, Arctic Portal senior project manager Kamil Jagodzinski tells how his organization, which facilitates cooperation among Arcitc stakeholders, created his position to help get involved in larger projects. Lindsay Scott from Arras People answers questions on how young project managers can grow their reputation, how to move out of the oil and gas industry and whether a project manager should train in agile. Other articles cover project pet peeves, using a PMO to translate high-level business requirements into lower-level requirements and preventing problems when you have to leave a project team.

Our “Getting It Done” practitioner-writers cover mindfulness techniques and managing anxiety prior to taking the PMP exam.

Did you know…if your native language is español or Português and you are a member of PMI, we have you covered! You can read the current and recent issues of PM Network in your language.