PMI Global Insights

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.

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

Are you unsure about signing up for an Ask the Expert session at PMI Global Conference 2018? Don't quite understand how to use the 20 minute session? Review our FAQs to learn how you can make the most of this opportunity!

1. Why should I sign up?

Meeting one-on-one with one of our experts can help you refine your project or program implementation to better meet your requirements, serve your organization’s goals, and ultimately, make you more successful and your job easier. You may also receive advice from a peer that can help guide you as you continue on your project management career path.

2. What type of questions can I ask the experts?

Pretty much anything about planning, executing or closing your current projects is fair game. Experts are also open to discussing their experiences with career growth.

3. What questions aren’t appropriate for Ask the Expert?

Where to find your favorite celebrity's house in LA – While this may be a valid question, expert time is better spent discussing real project management problems and challenges.

4. What if I can’t think of a question for Ask the Expert?

You don’t want to miss this opportunity, so find a question! Open your project list for inspiration. If it helps, last year’s popular topics were starting a PMO, Agile transformations, scaling process in regulated environments, and tracking risks on active projects.

5. Who are the experts that I’d be meeting with?

It depends on your question! We have several experts lined up with expertise in nearly every area of project management. Find out more about them here!

6. What should I do to prepare?

You’ll have dedicated time with your expert focused entirely on your specific problem or question. Consider writing down the details of what you’re trying to accomplish, what you’ve tried, and prioritize your questions beforehand to be sure that you are making the most of your session.

7. How do I request an Ask the Expert session?

To start, you must attend PMI Global Conference on 6-8 October, 2018 in Los Angeles, California, USA to have an Ask the Expert session. If you’re not registered, what are you waiting for? Having an Ask the Expert session to discuss your business needs will help justify your attendance! Go.

Simply request an Ask the Expert session, either online using the link below or at the Community Powered by PMI area of the Exhibit Hall. Provide some specifics on your question, because we’ll use those details to help prepare your expert for your session.

8. What can I expect onsite for my Ask the Expert session?

The Ask the Expert area is located at the Community Powered by PMI section of the Exhibit Hall. You will meet one-on-one with your expert in a semi-private setting.

• If you already have a session scheduled: Come to Community Powered by PMI in the Exhibit Hall and we’ll guide you to your assigned table to meet with your expert.
• If you need to schedule an Ask the Expert session onsite: Stop by Community Powered by PMI and we’ll help you to fill out the request form, assign an appropriate expert, and schedule your session.

Reserve your Ask the Expert session today!

#ChampionOfChange, project managers, my fellow projectmanagement.com friends and online followers, I am back again signing in from Mumbai – Bollywood of India. In less than 4 weeks, I would be in the Hollywood – Los Angeles for the PMI Global Congress 2018.

Needless to say, the preparation is in full swing for this great conglomerate of #ChampionOfChange. As I build my schedule I retrospect on my learnings from #PMIEMEA18.

#PMIEMEA18 I focussed on the “projects of the future” and sessions which provided insights on artificial intelligence, machine learning and digital transformation.  What I learned from these sessions that we need to become more “human” in this era of digital disruption.

As a refresher Please check out the #PMIEMEA18 conference summary here. Keeping along the same theme this time, I will focus on area of robotics, artificial intelligence, along with the human aspects of problem solving, virtual teams, knowledge management, change management and diversity.  Here is my schedule:

Oct 6, 2018 : Day 1

#302 Opening General Session and Keynote Speaker: Jon Dorenbos - "Life Is Magic"

#313 Knowledge Management: An Emerging Competitive Advantage—Trends, Urgency, and Techniques

#328 Rogue One : A powerpoint story

#349 There's a Robot in My Meeting!

I plan to wind up my day by attending the Gala dinner, the Oscars of project management, an event which recognizes the best of the best #ChampionOfChange in the field of project management.

Oct 7, 2018 : Day 2

401 General Session and Keynote Speaker: Cam Marston - "Five Generations in the Workplace"

#407 The Future Lies in Diversity and Inclusion: Are You an Inclusive Leader?

#425: The Change lab :Part 1

#439 The Change Lab: Part 2 of 2

#444 Artificial Intelligence and Project Management: Beyond Human Imagination!

Oct 8, 2018 : Day 3

#506 Breakthrough Brainstorming: Fun, Fast Strategies to Unleash Your Brilliance!

Mid-morning, I would be leading a session

#517a Who Wants to Be a More Successful Project Manager? Here's Your New Lifeline: Ask the Crowd!

I will speak on crowdsourcing and how it can improve agility and innovation in this era of disruption. In this regard I would like to know your opinion on crowdsourcing.  Please take the polls to help me to get the voice of the “crowd”.

https://www.projectmanagement.com/polls/462418/Challenges-with-crowdsourcing-project-tasks

https://www.projectmanagement.com/polls/462408/Crowdsourcing-project-tasks---internal-and-external-can-add-equal-value-to-projects

https://www.projectmanagement.com/polls/462405/Do-you-think-crowdsourcing-of-project-tasks-like-design--coding--testing-improves-agility-and-innovation------

 #526-EXH Hands-On Lab: From the Golden Rule to the Platinum Rule the Character-Strengths Way

#532 Closing General Session and Keynote Speaker: Abigail Posner - "Cracking Creativity: Re-Engaging Our Innate Creativity for Greater Productivity and Growth"

Apart from the above, I would be in the exhibit hall at the “Ask an Expert” booth as an expert on Agile, Project management, digital transformation. If you are at the Congress in person, do not forget to sign up for the exclusive 1:1 sessions with me to gain insights from my experience of managing digital transformation programs. Keep checking this space for the schedule.

If you not able to make it to the Congress, fret not, I would keep sharing my experiences at the Congress on twitter , linkedIn or Facebook.  Keep following me as I join thousands of other #ChampionOfChange for three days of learning and fun !

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:

• Test teams in projects are often put under extreme pressure in completing a lot of work in very little time. Many project managers do not entirely understand the unique challenges faced by test teams.
• Investing in a separate Test Management Office can go a long way in improving the probability of project success.
• Typical roles in a TMO include Test Leaders, Test PMs, Project Coordinators, Defect Managers, and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs).
• Ten specific steps involved in implementing a TMO.
• Case Study of Success implementing a TMO in a large Pharmaceutical Benefits project

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:

• While 34.7% of German GDP came from projects, only around 30% of projects are successful.
• The “Half Double” project is all about placing extreme focus on three core elements: Project Impact, Project Flow, and Leadership.
• Halving the time to “Impact Creation” has the potential of “Doubling Impact.”
• Case Study of a successful implementation of the “Half Double” approach: Reducing baggage handling defects in a European airport by 33% from 12/1000 to 8/1000.
• Research results of nine pilot projects compared to a few using the “Half Double” method showed that the approach brought vastly improved results.

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:

• Mike Tyson’s famous quote, “Everybody has a PLAN until you get punched in the face!” is very relevant to project managers. Many well-crafted plans may fail when a PM came face-to-face with an angry stakeholder.
• Transparency to stakeholders is crucial. Jack gave the idea of the Reichstag building where tourists could go right to the top and watch elected representatives work. Similarly, many German government buildings had glass facades to signify transparency.
• A case study of a situation where a project crisis was creatively handled with a note of apology and candy bars to stakeholders.
• A practical 11-point “Application Checklist” on implementing the learnings from the session.

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.

• Can a hearing-impaired person enjoy a musical concert? Can a car drive itself to the mechanic when it has a serious issue that needs fixing? Can machines outdo humans?
• Answering all these questions in the affirmative, Inma said Artificial intelligence and machine learning are set to revolutionize the world in ways we cannot even start to imagine.
• However, all human jobs are not at risk. Tacit knowledge cannot be put into words. That's why humans will remain relevant.
• With many repetitive manual jobs being better done by machines, humans will truly have time to spend on relaxing and important activities such as meditation, listening to music, reading great books, and so on!

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.

This was my 3^rd PMI Congress and first EMEA Congress. My experience is every year the Congress is different. This year I particularly loved the “offsite” learning sessions – the BER airport and the Hauftbanhof excursions. An opportunity to experience the projects under the skin right at the site.

So what did I learn this time ?

As I write this post, midair on my way home to Mumbai, I retrospect on my learnings at the #PMIEMEA18 – Berlin.

Being a project manager of the IT industry, I focused on “Projects of the future” and sessions which provided insights on artificial intelligence, machine learning and digital transformation. What do we need to do different in the era of digital disruption?  What I learned was the solution lies in us, the humans. We humans need to start being “more” human.

Starting from

Thommas Wallenta’s opening note: 

“We are making dreams a reality. We are the #DifferenceMakers !”,

“Our volunteers make it all happen!”

Rowan Gibson’s opening key note:

“Build a great team, the right people in the right roles at the right time”

Read more about the opening note and Rowan Gibson’s opening key note here

Day 1 : #GameChangers

The BER – airport project manager Thomas’s presentation:

“I spend most of my time in stakeholder management”

More on my Day 2 experience is here

Day 2 : #BoundaryPushers

Inma Martinez’s closing key note:

“It is okay to be imperfect, machines are perfect, so we can afford to be imperfect, be more human”

Read more about Inma’s closing note and Day 3 highlights here

Day 3 : #FutureDefiners

It was all about people, teams and being human.

I have had an extraordinary time with everyone at #PMIEMEA18.

It is much more than the PDUs.

It is about the networking, learning and being inspired by world renowned experts to become a #DifferenceMaker

If you were in-person at the event or have been following our team online, we would love to know

How was your experience?

What did you learn from the conference?

What is it that you are going to do different tomorrow, next week and in the coming months?

Till next time I leave you with this twitter moment on my experiences of #PMIEMEA18- Berlin.

Auf Wiedersehen – Good bye in German