The Critical Path

Recently, a team of enthusiastic and dedicated project manager volunteers from the Project Management Institute Central Indiana Chapter (PMICIC) created and delivered a very special two day training class for a group of 25 teenagers from the Boys and Girls Club of Indianapolis.

PMICIC volunteers taught the teens the project management and communication skills they needed to create Youth Advisory Boards for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Indianapolis they represented. The teens learned to plan projects, brainstorm ideas, and how to write, execute and analyze surveys. They wrote and rehearsed presentations for their adult planning boards that discussed ideas for improving their clubs. It was two jam-packed days of fun, learning and collaboration.

Although PMICIC was the major contributor for this effort, the class was also sponsored by Taco Bell (limo transportation for the teens and their adult advisors) and Duke Realty, Indianapolis (who provided their awesome training facility).

Check out the video highlighting the experience – and contact Rep at [email protected] if you’d like to be included as a volunteer in one of PMICIC's upcoming teen classes.

Olfa Hamdi is an international researcher in the field of project management, independent consultant, founder of the Advanced Work Packaging Institute, co-founder of The Institute of Management and a tech entrepreneur in project management technology solutions.

She holds a Master of Science in Capital Projects' Management from The University of Texas at Austin, a Master of Science in Engineering from Ecole Centrale de Lille, and a graduate degree in Alternative Dispute Resolution for construction disputes from Texas School of Law. She is a fellow of the State Bar of Texas Construction Law section.

Olfa has numerous publications in prestigious academic and professional journals as well as media outlets. Olfa speaks four languages and is a firm believer in the role of interdisciplinary research in driving capital projects effectiveness and project management knowledge sphere expansion. 

We are glad to feature her as March's Member of the Month! Please take some time to get to know Olfa!
 

How did you get involved in project management?
 
When I was 13, my grand father delegated to me the responsibility of a part of the seasonal olive harvest in one of our lands in Gafsa, Tunisia. I remember he told me: “You’re in charge, and I hope you won’t disappoint me”. He simply meant in modern terms: “you’re responsible for the project, I’m trusting you with and you’ll be held accountable for the outcome”

In fact, he came through with his promise and I got a “fat” bonus considering my age at the time that I used to pay for my English classes. ? 
As a conclusion, the project management profession comes down to the basic idea of taking personal responsibility for a project and being accountable for its successful delivery.

This was true when I was 13 years old and it is still true today.  

Later on, when I completed my first master of science in engineering in France, I joined the University of Texas at Austin for a second master of science specializing in capital projects management; that marked the official start of my involvement in the project management field.   
 
Who or what inspires you to be the best project manager you can be?
 
By nature, in whatever I do, I have always been against all forms of waste. I see the project management field as a framework through which we, as wealth creators, can learn how to reduce and in some cases eliminate all forms of waste, whether in the public, private or personal spheres. Doing this will ultimately help us becoming more responsible individuals as well as successful investors in our industry. 
Projects that go wrong have indirect consequences that go beyond the extra cost paid to remedy them. In the medium to long run, they do impact the entire organization through its people, operations, culture and ultimately undermine the company’s shareholder value potential. Having seen and studied the impact of organizational failure in project management, I believe that every organization, aiming for a thriving future, should invest and protect its project and asset delivery capabilities because that’s the kind of expertise that you can’t just order out of the shelve; it’s the kind of expertise that is anchored in experience and in time. 
 
Putting aside the basics of the business and financial considerations of a project, I believe in the saying: “tell me how a company does its projects, I will tell you how solid is that company”.

So, in a word, what inspires me in this profession? I guess, the promise of success that comes with good project management and I always would like to take part of that success.
 
What is one thing you wished you'd known when you first started out in your career/project management?
 
Looking back at my beginnings in the field, I wish there were more resources to help and mentor young professionals such as myself at the time.
 
In your experience, what one skill does a project manager need to succeed? Why?
 
Reliability! 

A project is a promise and what matters most in a promise is the reliability of whoever makes that promise. I believe that successful projects are delivered by people who have grown to be reliable within their professional sphere and who are led by high-integrity project managers. With personal integrity comes reliability toward others. 
 
You’ve reached a point in your project where you need to make a choice between delivery and quality. How do you proceed?
 
There is no short answer to this question. 

It really depends on the type of project, the business case, the contract terms and many other factors that shape this kind of trade-off. This question highlights an important aspect of the project opportunity shaping. In fact, when I teach the project management 101 class, I typically pend over 10% of the class time on the cost, schedule, scope and quality trade-offs definition because that’s what defines the value promised by the project and it’s important to get right from the beginning. This being said, it is indeed possible to reach advanced stages in execution where cost and schedule expectations change due to reasons outside of the project team control. In that case, a key practice is alignment between the client and the contractor from one side and between the multiple other stakeholders involved in the project execution from the other side.
 

Please introduce yourself to Olfa in the comments below and take some time to add her to your network! 

Is there a community member who you think deserves some recognition for their contributions to the community? Let us know! Email the member’s name and a brief explanation as to why you think he/she should be featured in our Member of the Month to [email protected].

Have you worked on a project that deserves recognition? Do you know someone who is doing amazing things in project management?

Honor project management excellence and earn worldwide professional recognition and esteem by nominating professionals, organizations, scholars, authors and continuing professional education providers for the project management profession’s most prestigious and globally recognized achievements.

The PMI Awards could highlight you or someone you know—the true leaders of the profession who are changing the world project by project, while serving as examples of success for the next generation of project managers to follow. 
 
Beginning with a single award in 1974, the program now offers a wide variety of accolades. In addition to the prestigious PMI Project of the Year and PMI PMO of the Year awards, PMI also honors individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the project management profession or to PMI. Other awards recognize those who have made sustained and significant contributions through research or literature, while still others acknowledge the outstanding contributions of volunteers.

The deadline for most of PMI's awards, 1 March, is quickly approaching! Go to www.pmi.org/awards for more information and to nominate yourself or your colleagues!

We’re celebrating love here at ProjectManagement.com during the next two weeks and have been talking a lot about the love of project management.

Project management is a profession practiced by millions of dedicated people all over the world who display their love of the profession in incredible ways.

So why do we at ProjectManagement.com love project management?? Because it keeps the world turning. Because it saves lives. Literally. There are a multitude of reasons why we love project management, but we want to hear from you.

Why do you love project management?

Why do you love being a project manager?

Was there a project that you loved working on?

Tell us about it! Join the discussion and post your love story here!

Want to take it up a notch? Send us a simple cell phone video of yourself sharing your love story for project management via dropbox and we’ll share it on our YouTube channel. Learn more by watching our YouTube video here.

All posts published between 1 February and 15 February 12:00 am ET will be considered for a feature in a future ProjectManagement.com publication!

We can't wait to hear your pm love story!

Congratulations community members! You had an amazing year in 2015!  Your community here on ProjectManagement.com saw INCREDIBLE growth in terms of contributions and engagement.

Check this out:

• Almost 400 of you contributed knowledge and content to the community in the form of a webinar, article, whitepaper or download!
• Over 15,000 of you interacted with the community by either rating content or posting comments, blogs or discussions!

Wow!!!

These numbers prove what a strong community you have built and continue to build upon every day. We are learning from each other, responding to each other and respecting each other. That in itself is invaluable!

One of our goals for the future here at ProjectManagement.com is to encourage more individuals to contribute by sharing their perspectives, project stories and lessons learned. This community is all about learning from each other and becoming better at what we do. Each new voice is another opportunity for us all to learn and grow.

If you are interested in contributing content please contact us via our Contribute Content page. If you are unsure, but want to discuss the possibility of contributing, please feel free to reach out to a community engagement specialist. That’s what we’re here for!

Going forward, there will be even more opportunities to contribute to the community. Be sure to create a profile in the Volunteer Relationship Management System (VRMS) to keep track of potential community content creation opportunities, as well as other PMI volunteer opportunities. An important point of note is that you do NOT need to be a PMI member to sign up in the VRMS! There are opportunities for everyone to get involved!

We thank you all for your contributions and look forward to continued success in 2016! Great job!