Deanna LandersFounder and Chairman of the Board| Project Managers Without BordersDenver, Co, United States
I'm curious whether PMs are using their project management skills and experience for humanitarian purposes, outside their regular job scope. And on top of that, in that role, are you doing, teaching, or both? Thanks!
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1 reply by Ida Harding
Dec 30, 2016 6:43 PM
Ida Harding
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Hi Deanna, I'm fortunate in that I am able to use many of the project management related skills I've accumulated over the years (strategic planning, risk management, leadership skills, negotiation skills, speaking skills, goal setting, task breakdown, volunteer recruiting and management skills,...) in the non-profit organization I helped to found in 2008. The organization is Wells Bring Hope (www.wellsbringhope.org). We drill wells in Niger, West Africa, one of the poorest countries in the world. I am a member of the Advisory BOD and Director of Volunteer Management. It took a lot of persuasion, but over the years I've implemented some good business and project management methodology into our organization. And I am absolutely certain this has made us the successful organization we have become (436 wells drilled in 435 villages, helping about 450,000 villagers).
Saving Changes...
Bruce HarphamEditor & Author| ProjectManagementHacks.comToronto, Ontario, Canada
Hi Deanna,
I'm actively working on PM skills in the area of higher education.
I'm actively working to develop a mentorship project (I'm wearing multiple hats on the project: visionary, project manager, analyst & recruiter!) with the University of Toronto Alumni Association.
My observation is that one tends to have more success in non-profit project management/leadership only after "paying dues" (i.e. taking orders and doing what the organization wants) before coming up with new ideas and projects.
I volunteer every year as a PM/BA at the Cleveland Give Camp (http://clevelandgivecamp.org/), a charity event that brings together over 200 developers, UI/UX, designers, and PMs/BAs to do development work for selected charities over a weekend. Most commonly the charities need new website designs, but groups have also developed applications for iPhones or the web in the same time.
It's a fully agile experience, with most teams using some form of scrum and a scrum of scrum every 2-3 hours to ensure the resources are coordinated across all teams.
I've now done 4 of these events, and PM'd for 6 different charities. It's intense and crazy and very rewarding and I've learned an enormous amount from the experience. Saving Changes...
Priya PatraDelivery Director| Capgemini India Technology Services LtdMumbai, India
I sometimes wonder are we really exploiting a project managers experience and skills to the maximum, even in the boundaries of the project he / she executes.
Are we leveraging innovative practices, processes, tools and technologies in project management, or just executing projects in the same mundanne way.
In times when budgets are going south, we need to take project management to the next level for "Greater Good" with innovative delivery, operational model to maximize business value.
Any thoughts of this ?
Saving Changes...
Andy KaufmanHost| People and Projects PodcastLake Zurich, Il, United States
Great question, Deanna!
I've found that project management skills and ideas come in handy for a non-profit that I volunteer at. Even simple PM questions, such as "How would we determine success?" and "Who else would be impacted if we do this?" provide value in so many ways.
My sister runs a photography business and was navigating a tricky conflict situation. I was able to coach her through the minefield based on ideas that project managers use all the time.
Thanks for the reminder to keep looking for opportunities to make the world better through what we learn in our profession! Saving Changes...
Tony Van KriekenProject Manager| RetiredStouffville, Ontario, Canada
I work in Project Management and IT Industry for a number of years. I have extensive volunteer experience with PMI Education Foundation in the area of project management and disaster management as SME. I was Community Manager of International Development Community of Practice, PMI, for over 4 years. Now, I am developing tracking packages for Scouts Canada, schools and NPOs as a member of the Social Responsibility Group, PMI Southern Ontario Chapter. I been accepted to do PhD on community resilience and project management in England. Saving Changes...
Eberhard BalmacedaProject Manager| IndependentPanamã¡, Outside Usa/Canada, Panama
Working on other social groups, for instance in my case i volunteer for a local Scouts Group in my community helping young kids and teenagers on helping develop leadership skills, and inside PMI working on different roles in my chapter and with PMI Communities of practice. Saving Changes...
Deanna LandersFounder and Chairman of the Board| Project Managers Without BordersDenver, Co, United States
Kudos to all of you! I've noticed that people who are active in humanitarian and other Greater Good causes tend to be active in many! I think Andy put it well, that we in the project management profession should keep an eye out for opportunities to make the world better through what we learn (or already know) in our profession. Thanks for the responses and keep up the good work! Saving Changes...
Navdeep JoshiSr. Consltant - CA PPM| TBDBangalore, Karnataka, India
When I started working on the PPM tool (currently working as a Sr. Consultant CA PPM), I had no knowledge about project management. Whilst working with the business, we got trained on the PPM tool usage (6 months after we started providing functional support on the tool). Thanks to the VP who attended the PPM accreditation class along with me, I was able to grasp the project management basics.
Also, a big thanks to one of the personnel from the business side, I had a better understanding of the WBS, the hierarchy, the programs, etc (the last I heard of her, she was the Program Manager)
As I dived deep into understanding the PPM tool usage, the project management concepts started to make sense - beside providing PPM functional support, I had started developing a keen interest in understanding the PM concepts.
7 + years hence, when I have to provide training to the new recruits on the PPM tool, I start with the PM concepts. This helps the new recruits to relate with the business usage of the tool in a better fashion.
Of-course there would be some customizations made on the tool (per the business requirements), but the overall PM concept remains the same -
Project Management :
- ideas (as a pipeline / business case)
- hierarchy for the investment roll-up
- WBS structure / scheduling (ETC for tasks)
- Baselines
Resource Management :
- role / resource allocation to the project
- resource assignment to the task
- ETC for resources
Financial Management :
- cost plans / forecast
- benefit plans
- budget plans (approved cost plans)
- actual costs for the resources
Regards
NJ Saving Changes...
George MARKProject Manager| myProNotes.comLane Cove, Nsw, Australia
I experimented within social circles and events ... in engagements with friends, family and meeting with other people in various setups (strata meetings, local council events, outdoor activities, sporting events) and I realized that sometimes people lack the knowledge to solve life challenges (in a effective way). I am sure when faced to any challenge, any of us would do it, but at what cost and how much pressure.
I presented several times in such social events, aspects of the PMBOK in a specific context and voilà, it turned out that life in general is just a big project.
Sometimes I wonder if it was just experience, rather then methodology ... Saving Changes...
