PMI Global Insights

So far I shared with you all several insights I got from some of the sessions I attended, but another big part of a PMI Congress is the networking fun you can have.

I reconnected with old friends and met new ones: what a great chance to establish year-long relationships!

PMI Congresses are always a great opportunity to meet practitioners outside my company, my Country and my industry.

It is also a great chance to talk to the speakers in a casual environment; below I am with Lily Murariu, Mike O'Brochta, and Frank Saladis: they all delivered awesome sessions, with takeaways I will apply to my job. 

They were so nice to answer some of my questions about their sessions!

It was also a great honour to meet again Jack Duggal, I attended his Seminar Word last year in Barcellona and it really changed the approach my Company have about our PMO.

I am also a Toastmasters and had the opportunity to talk with William who is not only passionate about ethics but...  he's also 10 times DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster). What a good surprise!

Can you believe you can even meet Jim Snyder, one of PMI Founders, having a photo and a chat with him? He is an extremely witty man, and sharing some thoughts about the future of our profession was a priceless experience!

But the most unexpected (and funny) part was meeting unknown people thanks to the PMI Event App.

Everything started with someone complaining (and making fun) about the colourful socks the keynote presenter had, stating they distracted him; therefore some people launched the hashtag #FancySocksChallenge. We had fun, we met, we talk, we created a bond.

Thank you Arlete, Mykyta and Burak for the great amusement!

It was a silly little thing that helped us to add a little fun to the learning we had, and we promised to continue our challenge next year in Berlin!

Auf wiedersehen!

Presenters: M. Khalifa and M. Ilyas

When I saw in the agenda that these two presenters were delivering two sessions at PMI EMEA, I was very excited as they are usually very informative and knowledgeable, but also entertaining and enjoyable.

PMI EMEA has 7 concurrent tracks, therefore I could attend only this session.

One of the most important pillars that must be added to the other three traditional pillars of PMO Implementation is Change Management.

Without it, the entire PMI falls down.

Then, among all the agile's enablers, they explained the importance of simplicity with the following example:

This is a bull portrayed by Picasso after several (many) steps of simplification.

In their case study, their challenge was how to move from complexity to simplicity without compromising governance and best practices. They reached that success by implementing the Picasso's approach:

• from 30 processes to 20
• from 30 steps in requirement gathering to 12

The feedback they had were supporting their approach:

And you, what experiences to you have to share in similar cases?

Presenters: N. Clarke and M. Higgs

First of all, let me tell you that the hidden word on the title is "ethical". I on purpose decided not to show it because I noticed that people tend to think "ethics is boring" or "I know it all".

Actually, there's an increasing interest in ethics due to an increase corporates scandals, so we should be much more aware of the impact of decision making.

Taking decision isn't always as easy, and we're moving from "normative" frames (we tell what is good and right) to a "descriptive" one (describe situation and scenarios).

What would you do - the presenters asked us- in the Trolley Problem (click here for the video): it isn't that easy to come to a decision, uh?

The presenters were sharing two extremely interesting studies, but I want to make sure you are aware that PMI has already provided an Ethical Decision-Making Framework (EDMF) available in 12 languages here.

The EDMF was created by PMI "to guide an individual in the project management profession through a process to make a decision when confronted with an ethical dilemma".

The presentation ended with a question I share with you start a pro-active discussion:

• Project managers need to think about how their behaviours can build high-quality relationships with stakeholders. How do you currently do this?

... and I hope next time you will see the word ethics you wouldn't run away!

Presenter: Mike Griffiths

I was really looking for Mike's session because I met him at one event back in January and only after I realised that I studied on one of his books!

The food for thoughts he gave us, the knowledge he has, and the passion for the topic made this session absolutely interesting.

Here are my main highlights from the session

Wicked Problems

Are problems that are characterised by uncertainties, that are difficult to plan and manage with project management methodology. Some examples are:

• evolving business problems
• changing requirements
• emerging technology
• intangible: transform ideas not concrete or steel
• requiring collaboration from different SME

As Peter Drucker analysed in 1999, we are moving from Industrial Work (visible, specialised, stable, etc.) to Knowledge Work (invisible, holistic, changing).

Solving Complex Projects

• Consensus Gathering - collaboratively gain consensus on direction, approach or decision
• Prioritization - build mindful business value and risk reduction
• Short Build/ feedback Cycles - iterate through short cycles of Planning, Exploring, Learning and Adapting
• Result Oriented Reporting - use metrics based on accepted work that gives meaningful indicators to likely completion rates.
• Respect and Empowerment - engage in respectful practices that encourage information sharing and organizational optimization rather than personal one

PMI's Agile Future

PMI has already delivered a lot for the agile community, as shown in the below timeline

and in 2017, PMI will release:

• PMI Agile Practice Guide
• PMBOK v6 Guide

PMI is offering best-in-class plan-driven and agile offering, providing pragmatic guidance on when and how to combine approaches

Hybrid Agile

Hybrid doesn't mean mixing or diluting two methodologies because Hybrid can addictive as done by Lockheed Martin in the following chart

Bonus Tip

The presenter suggested as a very interesting book on motivating people Daniel H. Pink's Drive. Did you read it?

Presenter: Te Wu

This presentations was extremely informative, well-documented, and full of insights about Strategic Business Execution

Key findings

1. The best of non-profit "out-execute" public for-profit companies (but the average non-profit organisations are significantly worse than for-profit businesses)

2.  Organisations go through growing pains.

3. Business Discipline, i.e. the more satisfied the respondents are the higher they perform in term of execution.

4. Aligning Strategy and Execution is clearly important!

5. Project Reporting Accuracy, as business decisions depend on them.

The Five Rules of Business Execution

1. Focus on the vital few

2. Determine what is "good enough" for the rest

3. Establish good metrics system

4. Nurture and motivate people

5. Develop a culture of execution readiness

Main takeaways

What can we do to serve better our customers? Always take ownership to have a SUSTAINABLE Execution Excellence.

I like the fact that this session was engaging but with immediate suggestions and insights I can implement as of tomorrow.

I am closing this blog with a quote from Aristotle, re-adapted by Mr Wu himself to better fit strategic business environments.