Enduring Through Uncertainty: Move Forward with Character
By Peter Tarhanidis, Ph.D. Never has the new year’s greeting “wishing you health, wealth, and prosperity” rang truer. Over the last several years, we have all lived through uncertainty. This year, we hoped to lurch out of a post-pandemic crisis into a new normal with a vibrant outlook…yet quickly staggered into a slipping economic uncertainty that sharply cut short the prospects of our envisioned “normal” state. JP Morgan’s 2023 economic outlook for the United States indicates a slowing growth rate, monetary tightening, and curbing inflation, while healthy consumer and business balance sheets could offer some growth prospects. The Conference Board observes longer-term geopolitical, environmental, labor, and inflation risks beyond 2023. Many organizations will ebb and flow within this shifting cycle. Organizations that are well-positioned will have a better chance to adapt to the external challenges of shifting global markets to meet customer needs. They must simultaneously find the agility necessary to mitigate the internal challenges of a reduced workforce, increasing costs for goods and services, climbing interest rates, and the overall health of a company’s finances and workforce. This will challenge organizations to stay focused and chart a path forward. This is reminiscent of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew of the Endurance, which embarked on a daring expedition from the UK to Antarctica and the South Pole in 1914. Along the voyage, the crew became stranded for over two years. The Endurance became trapped in the ice while the crew waited 10 months for spring and the warm weather to thaw them out—only to be horrified by shifting ice that damaged the ship’s frame, finally sinking her. To survive, Shackleton mounted three lifeboats to traverse 800 miles of open sea to reach help on South Georgia Island—then return to the makeshift camp to rescue all 27 men who suffered frigid conditions, hunger, chaotic seas, and mental distress. This journey is one of the greatest examples of leadership, grit, and epic survival. In order not to succumb to the current economic and global undertones, leaders must:
Project leaders have always been confronted with the likelihood of project failure—yet they have developed a track record of delivering results. Project leaders are adept at converting strategies into clear tactics, ensuring team and stakeholder alignment, and executing projects to achieve the goals. At the core of the project leader’s success are the character attributes of authenticity, trust, resilience, focus, and courage. What else can you do to support your teams and move forward during this year’s challenges? |
AI To Disrupt Project Management
Categories:
digital transformation,
Human Resources,
Nontraditional Project Management,
Portfolio Management,
Tools,
Human Aspects of PM,
Generational PM,
Facilitation,
Cloud Computing,
Strategy,
Career Development,
Stakeholder,
Innovation,
Change Management,
Leadership,
Program Management,
Complexity,
Ethics,
IT Project Management,
Talent Management,
Teams,
Education,
Programs (PMO)
Categories: digital transformation, Human Resources, Nontraditional Project Management, Portfolio Management, Tools, Human Aspects of PM, Generational PM, Facilitation, Cloud Computing, Strategy, Career Development, Stakeholder, Innovation, Change Management, Leadership, Program Management, Complexity, Ethics, IT Project Management, Talent Management, Teams, Education, Programs (PMO)
By Peter Tarhanidis, PhD Technology has demonstrated tremendous benefits and efficiencies (many of them unstated) over time. The technology lifecyle enhancements that started with our initial computers, software programs and the internet of the past have given way to the modern-day cloud, Big Data and artificial intelligence. Throughout this maturing landscape, technology has affected all industries—especially how we collaborate. According to Peng (2021), here are some key impacts to consider:
Project management has benefitted from the overall technology lifecycle, either by implementing aspects of it or by being a user of its collaboration outputs. Yet project managers are at the doorstep of being part of the next wave of AI disruption. What a PM organization must consider is the methods and concepts used in managing past programs and become proactive in shifting to an AI-enabled PM organization. There is no doubt that the role of PMs and our methodology will be augmented with AI-enabled assistance. PwC identified five areas of AI disruption and decision making in project management:
To prepare for these changes, project managers should:
In order for these changes to emerge, there are a few considerations that may hold one back from the changes—such as organizational readiness, employee skills assessments, and the state of technical tools. PwC outlines a change approach to assist in the transition that relies on updating project management strategy, leveraging technology investments, integrating digital and AI, and a comprehensive communication plan to generate awareness through adoption by the future project management workforce. What other approaches have you used—or should be considered—to manage AI disruption in project management? Reference: |
Plan for the Velocity of Change to Keep Increasing!
Categories:
ROI,
Agile,
Human Resources,
Portfolio Management,
Best Practices,
Human Aspects of PM,
Generational PM,
Project Planning,
Facilitation,
Strategy,
Career Development,
Stakeholder,
Innovation,
Change Management,
Leadership,
Lessons Learned,
Program Management,
Complexity,
IT Project Management,
Talent Management,
Teams
Categories: ROI, Agile, Human Resources, Portfolio Management, Best Practices, Human Aspects of PM, Generational PM, Project Planning, Facilitation, Strategy, Career Development, Stakeholder, Innovation, Change Management, Leadership, Lessons Learned, Program Management, Complexity, IT Project Management, Talent Management, Teams
By Peter Tarhanidis, Ph.D., M.B.A. Today, developments in emerging technology, business processes and digital experiences are accelerating larger transformation initiatives. Moore’s Law means that we have access to exponentially better computing capabilities. Growth is further fueled by technologies such as supercomputers, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, Internet of Things (IoT) and more across industries. Emerging Tech Business Process Maturity According to market research group IMARC, automation and the IoT are driving growth in business process management (BPM); the BPM market is expected to grow at a 10 percent compound annual growth rate between 2020 and 2025. Customer Experience Customer experience is redefining business processes and digitizing the consumption model to increase brand equity. Gartner reports that among marketing leaders who are responsible for customer experience, 81 percent say their companies will largely compete on customer experience in two years. However, only 22 percent have developed experiences that exceed customer expectations. Economic Forces The Way Forward I’ve developed a few guidelines to help navigate this change:
Change is now inherent and pervasive in the annual planning process for organizations. Given that, I like to ask: What is the plan to prepare staff and colleagues to compete in this hyper-transformation age? What observations have you made to keep up with this new era’s velocity of change? |
Is Your Company Mature?
A good definition of the word “maturity” is the state of people or things that have reached full development. For entities such as business organizations, maturity needs to be associated with a specific expertise. This can apply to operational, technical and also project management maturity. Project management maturity means that an organization is conditioned to evolve qualitatively in order to increase the chances for project success. To this end, there are both paid and free maturity evaluation models on the market. The application of one of these models allows you to achieve the first important objective: identifying what stage your organization is at. This step is difficult, given the complexity in trying to compare whether an organization is doing its projects well in relation to others, without being contaminated by individual and subjective perceptions. Often, most models will question various aspects of how projects are executed and produce a score for ranking. With this result, the models will classify the organization's current maturity level. Once this level has been identified, the next step is to try to plot an action plan to move to the next level. Here is another benefit of a good maturity model: Many offer references to the most common characteristics expected in each level. With this, it is easier to draw up a plan of action focused on the characteristics expected at the next level. This progress should be incremental—one level at a time. The action plan should be thought of and executed as if it were a project, following the good practices and methodology of the organization itself. It should be scaled to be completed in time to allow its gains to be observable and perceived by the organization. This will then cause the expected positive impacts in the next cycle of a new maturity survey. In summary, the steps to be followed are: 1. Apply a maturity search. 2. Evaluate and disseminate the results of the first survey. 3. Develop an action plan. 4. Rotate the project to the evolution of the level. 5. Go back to step one and continuously improve.
By following this sequence, you can foster a constructive cycle in your organization as you continue to evolve your ability to execute projects.
I’d love to hear from you: Have you used maturity models in your organization? |
The Project Initiatives That Influenced My Career
By Peter Tarhanidis, PhD I’ve been fortunate to have a career that constantly challenges me and my team to apply new approaches to achieve an organization’s mission. I believe that adapting these contemporary management practices and innovative operating models has helped me become the project leader I am today. Below are select project initiatives that have helped me develop my skills:
What themes have you identified in your career? How have you broadened your range? |