PMI Global Insights

Several of the experts have created graphics that illustrate areas they can help with.  I didn't want to be left out, so here's mine!   Think about making a reservation (online here) to talk to one of us or just stop by and see if there's a slot open.  

We'd love to talk to you. 

-- Dave

Ask the Experts - #PMICON18

#PMICON18 is just a week away now!   I’d like to encourage all of you to visit “Ask the experts” either by skipping a session or during a break.  You can pre-schedule time online. 

-----------------------------

Life after NASA

I’ve rambled on about NASA and the great things I learned while growing up there in other writings.  But, I’ve had a life after NASA too.  A group of us decided we could help troubled projects, programs and operations turn-around their troubles. So, we left NASA-Houston (and other places) and moved to Orlando, Florida (why not?) to start a company. 

Most of our work came from companies both large and small that had won US Government contracts and weren’t able to perform.  Why them?   Because there are very strict Federal procurement laws in-play that pretty much insist (legally) that for a fixed price contract, you MUST finish what you started.  It doesn’t matter what it takes, it must be finished and meet the customer’s needs.

At first, that was our niche.  We’d swoop in, understand the problems, give the poor company a bid for our services, put some of our key people in place and do our best to recover the project.  We never had one fail!  It was clear that after a few years of doing this, we saw the same reasons for failure over and over.  There were a few creative ways in which companies crashed while performing a project but not many. 

Well, word spread.  We started taking on commercial contracts (a different world from Federal contracts).  Surprise!  Commercial companies made nearly the same mistakes in their projects and programs as Government-suppliers.  There’s a continuity there, that would be an interesting study to do.  

Mistakes that stick out in my mind:

• A software company decided that no existing database application would fit their needs, so they decided they needed to write their own database system. 

• A systems integrator decided to save money off the final sale price by NOT conducting inspections of custom items that were ordered from vendors.  They just bolted things together and *knew* it would work.

• A large supplier to the project was “bankrupt and didn’t know it.”  Neither did the people that had the contract to include their product in the final deliverable.  They just couldn’t believe it when I told them.  We ended up buying the bits and pieces and hiring key employees. 

What’s common in these stories? (there are many, many  more)

1. Where is the boss?  Where is the Project Manger?  Where are the executives?  “Oh, we never talk to them except during our every 6-week review cycles. “

2. The executive desire to never hear bad news.  Or, “Don’t tell me what your problem is, tell me what your problem was.”  This is totally wrong-headed approach.  Executives exist to knock down the problems workers are having, not to shove them back at them. 

• This created a saying on our team “Bad news is good; Good news is Great" (the subject of a PMI paper I wrote years ago)
• You as the PM – NEED to hear bad news, all the bad news there is!  If you don’t hear it, you can’t do anything about it. 

3. Poor / no status tracking Many of these companies had a very high-level Gantt chart that they met once a month about and everyone said it was fine.  Risks were not discussed, budget was not discussed.  (see item one above).

The flip side of this was companies that had people planning down to the minute every action the project team should take.  Bathroom breaks, lunch… whatever.  That’s just plain silly and won’t work.

4. No or poor communication between groups working on the project.   It was common on troubled projects that one group had no idea what another group was doing.  Yet, both groups had components that needed to work together for the product of the project to work.

5. No WBS:  This used to get me very hot under the collar.  It clearly points to nearly zero project planning.

6. No cost accounting: No idea what was spent for what or when.  Overrun?  Maybe.  Funds remaining to help a failing area?  Maybe…

These are all true.  I could get a group of people on the phone to explain these and much, much more. 

I’d better stop now – I want to create a nice chart like my best buddy EM THE PM did.

-- Dave  (or DAM PM [my initials are DAM] not to be outdone by EM the PM) 

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.

#PMICON18 is coming up! Once again you're given the opportunity to book a session with some great Global Project Management SMEs to get advice, answer your burning project question or just to chat to. I've been fortunate enough to return to the Global Conference and will once again be looking to add and share knowledge to the wider community.

What can we talk about?

Below are a few areas that I specialise in and am happy to sit and talk about! I'm also open to wider topics like: gender inclusion in Project Management and successful adoption of user organisational change!

So, let's start the discussion already. What would you like to talk about during #PMIcon18? Have I missed anything that you'd like to see?

- Emily Luijbregts

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