If you're attending the Global Conference and have taken the ACP exam, I would like to chat with you. Sign up for a time or just stop by as I will be "hanging out" here during the conference.
International Project Management Day 2018 Online Conference
November 1, 2018 | online
Are you a Champion of Change? What can you do to be one?
| Are you a champion of change? Do you set a good example to your team, your colleagues and your company for how change should be managed? During the recent PMI conference, I've been learning more about what i can do to become a champion of change and using what I've learnt at the conference to benefit me and my projects. There was a lot of great presentations and keynotes and for me, it really motivated my desire to push myself to become a better change advocate and "Change-seller". During this blog post, I'll give you some ideas for what you can do to become a champion of change and what you can do to make a difference within your own "world" but I'd also like to start a discussion in the chat about what YOU do already to make change work in your projects? What helps makes you unique? Here's some of my suggestions: 1) Be active, open and transparent Change is scary and frightening for most people. But not for you! You thrive on change and to do this, you are active about communicating the change and being transparent about what's going on. This has to happen with everyone you see in your working day to be successful! 2) Show the value With any sort of change management, you're on a PR selling mission. One way to promote the change is to show the value to the interested parties. Make it relevant to them and relevant to what they need to know and it'll help you get the message across. Perhaps ask yourself the question: "What's in it for them?" and "Why is this important for them?". This always helps me think about how I can best show them the value. 3) Communicate, communicate, communicate! One thing that you can't do enough of is communicate. Communicate in an effective manner, in the right ways (for your industry, company) and look at the best way of delivering your message. Communication doesn't just need to be verbal! A recent idea was to communicate the upcoming project go live over the company screensavers. So that every time you shut your PC or were idle, you'd get a visual showing you the Go Live date and some important graphic information. It's given us an additional way of communicating to people and something that they'll see several times in their day. If you can make it eye catching, all the better! 4) "Be the change you want to see in the world" - Ghandi. This is true for many areas of your life and especially when it comes to projects! If you're stalling, being negative, talking negatively then it'll transfer to your team and that's not worth it! 5) Look at what you can do differently Try different things, different strategies to see if your team/ organisation reacts to that more positively. When I'm coaching Project Managers I say: There is more than one way to get from A to B, if the first way doesn't work, then try another way". Sometimes to see what could be done, you need to think outside of the box for what might work with your team. This could be different visuals, broadcasting in different ways, using other media (instead of powerpoint slides, use video). Summary: Being a champion of change is something all of us can strive to achieve and strive to accomplish. How do you make yourself a champion of change? Let's connect and discuss more. |
Wanted: You.
| I've been talking to some colleagues recently about what makes a conference valuable and the overwhelming reaction has been: The audience and their participation. I've also spoken at several conferences (most recently at a national conference in the Netherlands) and the one thing that really made the event stand out to me was the quality of the questions and the feedback from the audience. Whether you think that it's valuable or not, sometimes the 'easiest' questions are the ones that make us think the most. The definition of "why", "how" can really help others understand a unique viewpoint or difference of opinion. As we start the ramp up to #PMICON18; there is one thing that I'd like to ask of you. Whether you are attending in person or following virtually; i'd encourage you to participate in the discussions and threads that are created. Actively discuss and question the presenters and keynote speakers with the information that you want to know and really try to share the knowledge that you have gained over the conference. Throughout the conference, my fellow 'Ask the Experts' and I will be posting here as well as on social media (@Em_The_PM) on our experiences, how the conference is going and perhaps some insights/videos from the breakout sessions. Is there anything that you'd like to see at the conference? Are you burning to know how the networking sessions look like? Do you want to see who the 'Ask the Experts' are? Let me know below and we can make sure that we try to cover it. |
What to expect at the PMICON18
| This year will be second PMI Global Conference so I wanted to give you some ideas and expectations for what you can expect at this upcoming conference. Networking: One of my favourite parts of PMI conferences are the networking opportunities. At the recent EMEA Conference, I not only met new colleagues and connections that I could talk to but I was also able to make new like-minded friends! During the conference, you'll have a series of different networking breaks that give you an opportunity to grab a drink, snack and meet other PMs doing the same thing! There are also some great lunches where you can sit down and eat with the speakers that you've just heard lecturing with and there's the ability to ask further / personal questions for advice. In the evenings there are usually some great activities and networking events to make sure that you're getting the most of these sessions. Great talks: Every presentation that you see at the conference has been peer reviewed, processed, rehearsed and given a lot of attention! The talks that you see will be the best of the project management community at the moment and allow you to access some of the latest thoughts from the most experienced SMEs in the world. Learning I will always bring a new notepad to the conference and by the end of it, it is jam packed with notes, actions, ideas, further learning opportunities.In every talk that I go to, I like to write down: What is my biggest take away from this topic? and really try to focus on what I will be getting out of it. This could be an action to learn more or it could be a question that I want to raise with the presenter. Advice from Ask the Experts: During this years conference, you have the ability of being able to book into a session with some of the leading Project Management Professionals in the world. There is the stand called: Ask the Experts where you can get personal and private access to some of the best minds in Project Management today... and you can ask them whatever you want! Do you want to ask about career advice? An issue in your project? Networking opportunities? Certification advice? or just to talk about how they managed to get where they did today. I will be there as well and I'll be ready to ask and support you with any of your Project Management queries! You can sign up here! Summary: This conference is presented by people like you. They're normally all Project Managers with extensive experience in their industries and they want to share their knowledge with you! So, let's start a discussion: How do you prepare for conferences? Do you take a notepad along with you? Do you just like to 'go with the flow'and see what happens? - Emily |
ACP Certified, I'd Like to talk to you
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Why am I interested in talking to you if you have an ACP cert? I have a couple of reasons: 1) I mentor some aspiring project managers and would like to be able to set their expectations for the exam and to share stories from people what have the cert. 2) After PMBOK 6 and the Agile Addition, I am curious if you felt the exam covered the agile knowledge with the 10 PMBOK Guide Knowledge areas. 3) Do you have any study tips for future ACPers? Your personal experience is a story waiting to be heard (Agile pun intended). 4) Has your career changed after getting the cert? 5) Can you still tell me what the CRACK acronym represents? In closing, I am interested in talking to you whether you have the cert or not. I figure information I can get from Cert holders, I can share with Cert seekers. I'm hoping to be able to create stories for this blog to recognize achievement and to inspire our professionals to grow! INVEST in your profession ;) Dave
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Day Three, a Truly Triple Treat at #PMIEMEA18
| Guten Tag (Good day in German)! The third day of #PMIEMEA18 gave me and Berlin Congress attendee a truly Triple Treat! I learned about TMOs, the Half-Double technique, and the Copernican revolution in Project Management. A terrific bonus was the thought-provoking closing keynote by Inma Martinez. For those who could not be there, here are short videos interviews that summarize the key takeaways from some of the sessions: Michael Ehlers & Per Svejvig, “The Half Double System for Project Success”: http://bit.ly/MPEMEA18 Olivier Lazar, “Ethical Leadership & Decision Making: The Business Case & The Construction Tools” bit.ly/OLEMEA18 Jack Duggal, “The Copernican Revolution in Project and Business Management”: The TMO (Testing Management Office): Amruta Oak
We’ve all heard of PMOs. What are TMOs? In a fascinating session, Amruta Oak made the case for Testing Management Offices. Here were some key points in her session:
The Half Double Project: Michael Ehlers & Per Svejvig
Achieving DOUBLE productivity in HALF the time? That is indeed a bold proposition! Michael and Per presented concrete results from the bold “Half Double Project” initiative to significantly improve project success rates. Key pointers from their session:
The Copernican Revolution in Project and Business Management: Jack Duggal
What does Copernicus have to do with a revolution in Project and Business Veteran PMI Conference speaker Jack Duggal started the session with this interesting question. Jack made this important point. Copernicus controversially postulated that earth orbited around the sun. Today’s most successful projects and businesses put the customer at the center of their compared to others that have their projects or businesses at the center. Other key points in the engaging presentation:
Developing Creative Approaches in the Workplace in the Times of Accelerated Digitalization – Closing Keynote Speaker Inma Martinez
Are robots set to take over our jobs, maybe even the world? What will then happen to humans? In a terrific keynote laced with excellent humor, Inma Martinez candidly answered these questions that are in the minds of many.
I hope you enjoyed the continuous coverage of the EMEA Congress 2018 by the Community Engagement Team. In addition to tweets by @PMInstitute and @PMIEvents, regular updates were also posted on the Twitter handles of our team members, @PriyaPatra, @KarthikPMO, and @Em_the_PM Meanwhile, have a wonderful day, or as they say in German, “Ich wünsche ihnen einen wunderbaren Tag!” Please look for my summary of the Conference in the next blog post. Look for a special surprise on a thought-provoking conversation with a project management legend.
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