PMI Global Insights

According to Prudential Financial’s Pulse of the American Worker survey, 1 in 4 workers are preparing to look for opportunities with a new employer once the pandemic threat has subsided. And more than 40% of people who responded to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index, a global survey of over 30,000 people in 31 countries, said they are considering leaving their employer this year. Article after article, discuss employees leaving their jobs, seeking new opportunities with organizations that will provide more career advancement, substantial employer-related benefits, healthier work-life balance, better company culture, and remote work options. If you have been questioning your current role in project management, you must attend PMI’s upcoming Virtual Experience Event 6-7 October to help you navigate your career pathway.

In addition to attending inspiring sessions featuring Fatima Ibrahim, Global Citizen's UK Hero of the Year, Gitanjali Rao, Young Inventor, Author and TIME Magazine's 2020 Kid of the Year, and Jordan Chanesta, LGBTQIA+ Rights Activist, who come together to discuss spearheading impactful global movements to make real change, PMI’s Virtual Experience will debut its CareerHUB to help you with your career change. The CareerHUB helps you at every stage of their career journey.  Based on your experience, it will offer a wide variety of professional tools, resume building and advice to help future-proof your career. By attending the Virtual Experience Event in October, you will have access to all the tools available within the CareerHUB such as the CareerHUB Theater, Career Expo, and Career Navigator.

CareerHUB provides access to PMI’s “Brand You Theater: to help define yourself as a successful project manager and the best ways to promote career-boosting content. “Brand+Brain+Wellness” topics are 15 minute On-Demand sessions to help you prepare for your next job in project management. Sessions include “Building Your Brand: What’s Your Value Proposition” to help you develop a plan that will help you to stand out and define your unique value proposition; “Plan Your Career Flight Plan” will help you to create an actionable career plan and goals to improve or enhance their professional journey; “How to Amplify Your Resume/CV will help you showcase your best self in your resume and online presence;  “How to Interview Like a Pro” will provide helpful tips to be better prepared and confident for an interview.

Career Navigator focuses on personalizing a career path for you based on your previous experience. You can enter all your previous jobs, projects, and skills with a free assessment to receive a personalized action plan that matches you with the perfect growth opportunities. By identifying your aspirations and career goals, Career Navigators builds a complete picture of all elements you need to achieve your next step in your project management career.  This platform also allows you to track your success and see your development from week to week, so you see how you are growing towards your goal.

Finally, Career Expo allows you to create a profile to promote your resume and successes so hiring managers can find you easily. With Career Expo, you won’t miss an amazing opportunity!  You can browse available job postings from companies looking specifically for project managers and apply for open positions that fit your career goals. Career Expo also provides an opportunity for you to connect live with companies on the event day.

We are so excited for this powerful virtual event because we know how much change happens when our incredible community comes together from around the world to share these experiences. We are sure you will become inspired about your role in project management and learn how to make your next career change.  

Join us.  Free for PMI Member, US$79 for Non-members. Register Now and we look forward to seeing you there!

As offices thought they had a plan to get back to offices in September and October, plans have been delayed. If these past 18 months haven’t been hard enough, now your organization needs to transform its business to adapt and succeed in the new normal world. Equipping leaders to quickly anticipate and react to the speed of change is one of the most challenging issues for organizations. At this point, burnout and attrition are other key challenges faced by organizations today. Do you need inspiration on how other project managers are dealing with change? If you do, you need to attend PMI’s Virtual Experience 6-7 October to rejuvenate your project management skills and learn from leaders to think differently so you can lead your organization through an ever-changing environment!

Hear from prominent rising leaders around the world who are spearheading impactful movements to determine what is needed to make real change. These inspiring sessions will help you to think differently and look out of the box to develop the solutions needed for your organization. PMI’s Virtual Experience has brought together a diverse group of influential speakers to share their experiences and outcomes. Get inspired by Fatima Ibrahim, Global Citizen's UK Hero of the Year, Gitanjali Rao, Young Inventor, Author, and TIME Magazine's 2020 Kid of the Year, and Jordan Chanesta, LGBTQIA+ Rights Activist, come together to discuss spearheading impactful global movements to make real change. Hear from author Peter Hinssen as he discusses his book, The Phoenix and The Unicorn: The Why, What and How of Corporate Innovation, and how organizations aren't afraid to reinvent and adapt to the new normal of digital disruption.

Join breakout sessions to hear how other project management leaders are managing change and learn from their best practices and mistakes. Sessions include:

• Measuring the Maturity of Your Digital Transformation Efforts: Christine Aykac,  Transformational Coach, Akuna Consulting
• Tools to Identify and Fix Trust Breakdowns in Project Teams: Yoram Solomon, Founder Innovation Culture Institute, LLC
• Change or Get Left Behind: Why Organizational Change Management Is Imperative Now: Nancie Celini, President, THINK-OCM.org
• Collaborative Leadership in the Age of Artificial Intelligence; Erik Agudelo, Founder of Play Learn and Develop.

In addition to all the great sessions and speakers, Virtual Experience Series 6-7 October has multiple ways to connect and network with the PMI global community. The Lounge chat is where you will meet attendees from all around the world. Join industry chats where you drive the conversation! Chats are focused on the following areas: Construction, Energy (Electric, Gas, Mining, Oil), Financial Services, Government/Legal, Healthcare/Pharmaceutical, IT, Manufacturing, Telecom, and Training/Education.

We are so excited for this powerful virtual event because we know how much change happens when our incredible community comes together from around the world to share these experiences. We’ve had past attendees tell us they’ve never felt more connected virtually — and that is something we are truly proud of and will continue to strive for.

Join us. Free for PMI Member, US$79 for Non-members. Register Now and we look forward to seeing you there!

Conversations, dialogue help garner perspectives outside of what has been seen as normal. Similarities, contradictions, opinions; just some of the possible outcomes.

When we think about capacities for conversations, we have our home, workplace, and social events. But every so often, an opportunity comes along to be a part of something bigger; something completely new that is at its very core, a synergy of great minds in an encompassing industry.

Imagine an event that offered accessibility to deep experience and unlimited potential. Imagine that the purpose of this event was for sharing and collaborating. Imagine that the event was also dedicated to a select group to explicitly summarize their insights into a verbal narrative.

Don’t lose sight of the vision just yet. What if this event also were to offer the prospect of meeting individuals, of whom, only had been built virtually?

This is the picture PMI’s 2019 Global Conference painted for me. An absolutely fantastic experience that was amplified by the amazing folks I got to spend it with. Certainly, not discounting the great food and drinks either, and even with all the interesting sessions, for me, the takeaway were the personal relationships, individual conversations, and shared experiences.

Thank you to Kimberly, Laura, Marjorie, Kiron, Lori W., Dave D., Lorelie, and Dave M. And thank you to those that signed up to speak with me. I truly hope I was able to provide you with valuable insights and recommendations that help to make your path to success just a little less bumpy.

Andrew Craig

PMI EMEA 2019 is over and just slowly I start to realize what a great Congress it was. And foremost, it was a fantastic opportunity to meet fellow project managers from many different countries and backgrounds, share experiences, and celebrate PMI's 50^th anniversary. It has been a week since I arrived back home, enough time to organize some thoughts and reflect on the experience.

I initially attended the Congress to get more involved as a volunteer, learn from global thought leaders and practitioners, and to look out for inspiration. I have realized for why I am passionate about the profession of project management: It’s all about mind-set. Furthermore, it's the freedom of choice and personality to use a variety of tools, insights, methods, processes, and competences to achieve goals. The people I have met in Dublin all had these things in common: Personal drive, the willingness to communicate, being results driven, working passionately towards personal goals, and foremost: curiosity. These are exactly the traits that distinguishes a good project managers.

I can’t speak for the rest of the attendees, but inspiration is what I found. Most of the speakers transported a real passion for what they do and what they talked about. That’s probably the reason for why some sentences and learnings still occupy me every day at work.

Five key sentences from the Congress really got stuck and already made a difference in the way I look at projects in my organisations and at the effectiveness of project leaders today. I use these sentences to challenge my own thinking at work. They are thought anchors, not actual learnings. Maybe they will have an impact on how you go to work tomorrow, as well:

“People are drawn to their most dominant thoughts”: Change the way people think, then you can change the way people feel and act; it’s all about mind-set – Jamil Qureshi

“Key emerging competences in project management will be agility, customer empathy, advanced analytics, and curiosity”: Traditional roles will be disrupted by a more complex and uncertain environment organisations are embedded in, be part of that change – Hilary Baker

“Many companies measure how they implement change, but not the actual change itself”: A change is no longer a change when it is part of the DNA of the organisation. It is often difficult to attend change until full implementation as Management or Sponsors prioritise new initiatives, when change management projects are perceived to be completed. – Olivier Lazar

“The next big challenge will be to standardise terminology of agile beyond the small task group and define an integrated framework with the 3Ps: project, programme, and portfolio management”: The hype around agile methodologies is profound, however, they still fall short of providing an integrated framework in relation to the 3Ps on organisational level – Nicholas Clemens

“How does your behaviour support you in achieving your goals?”: The one who asks the right questions leads. The importance of coaching skills for effective communication cannot be underestimated for project managers – Maria Fafard

What do you think? Will these five anchors provoke your thoughts and actions, too?

Thank you Kristin Jones for providing me with the opportunity to volunteer as community correspondent at this years’ congress. I hope there will be a chance in the future to volunteer once more.

A big thank you also to my team of community correspondents, Emily, Stephanie, and Karthik – it was fun working with and learning from you. Hope to see you all soon.

It's been a week since PMIEMEA19 and since I've been back at work, I've had the chance to really let the conference sink in. I think it's really important that after any conference or intense knowledge gathering, that you allow yourself time to process all of the knowledge that you've received and see what what you can learn from in your daily life.

I've been really fortunate to be part of a great group of correspondents who really have shown such different sides to the conference which I really hope the online audience has found useful.

Here are some of my key takeaways from the conference.

1. Everyone is a potential ally. The first session with Pat Lucey and Norma Lynch gave me some of the biggest takeaways from the conference with regards to influencing potential stakeholders. Since the conference, I've been trying to see how I can really influence those around me and in what ways would be the most beneficial to my projects. The slight shift in mentality has really affected how I talk to people and look at them from a more positive mindset.
2. Seize every opportunity when it happens: This was something that came up during both the TEDTalks but also the offsite experience at the Teeling Whiskey Distillery. During the TEDTalks we were inspired with tales of human perseverence and endurance, whereas The Teeling Distillery we learned about utilising the opportunities that appear in your industry. For me, this has really hit home about changing my outlook towards any opportunity that could appear (both positive and negative!).
3. Understand the impact of your network: There are great things that can be achieved with utilising and understanding your network and it's capabilities. After listening to some of the talks and attending the different networking events that were available, it's really made me appreciate how valuable the contacts are in my network and who I could really call on for advice/support. During one of the lunches, we were having a discussion about issue resolution and it was a 'live' coaching session with some of the most experienced Project Managers I know. You couldn't buy this sort of knowledge! It also highlighted to me that there are networking opportunities available everywhere! During lunch, at the coffee machine, walking to the bus etc. You can really use this to your advantage in furthering my first point: Everyone is a potential ally.
4. What can you do to simplify your life? On the last day, Dan Lefsky presented his topic on which technology we can use as Project Managers to reduce down the complexity of our communications and to make our lives easier.

Since the Conference, this has really been on my mind and I've been talking to my colleagues about how we can be more effective and efficient in our communications both externally and internally. This has started some really positive discussions and I'm really pleased that I'm working in a team where this behaviour is encouraged.

If you've not already had a look, I can recommend the videos that I have uploaded sharing my perspective of the conference. Please comment below if they are the sort of videos that you like to see or if you'd like to see anything else.

Perhaps the most important thing for me coming from this conference was just how inspiring a profession I am a member of! This was made very clear during the closing keynote when we were told that PMI has surpassed the initial plan of 50,000 hours of volunteering. If you want to read more about the Global Celebration of Service - please check out this website and see how you can contribute.

What's next?

This conference has given me a new appreciation to share ideas and experiences that we have in our projects and daily lives. Since the conference, I've already looked at the 1% of change that I can make to become a better Project Manager.

If you're looking for a similar development opportunity, then I can highly recommend the PMI Global Conference. This conference will not only build on the great networking opportunities but also fantastic knowledge sessions that you can participate in to develop your skills as a Project Management Professional. This year's conference is being held in the home of the Project Management Institute; Philadelphia. Make sure that you're there to take part in the networking, knowledge and support over the three days.

Signing off from an amazing 3 days and a wonderful experience!