PMI Atlanta Chapter - Announcements Test

The Ah Ha Moment: Toastmasters is the Platform for Empowerment

Written By: Juliette Johnson, PMI Atlanta Writer

Ever have moments when you want to say something but fear speaking up? Do you find it difficult to express your questions in a formal group gathering or meeting? Looking for an environment and a supportive team to develop your communication and leadership skills?  

Toastmasters’ provides the empowerment and positive learning experience for exceptional personal growth.

Newcomers are immediately welcomed. Veterans meet and greet all new faces like old friends catching up. Don’t worry about not knowing anyone, by the end of the meeting you will have that, “Ah Ha” Moment---I need to be a part of this energy.

Meet Our 2014 Recruiter Panel

PMI Atlanta is proud to bring back our Recruiter Panel! This year, we present 7 recruiters experienced in nearly every industry Atlanta has to offer. Tap into their knowledge to move your career forward.  Register Today!


Rachel LeClair, Technical Recruiter - MATRIX Resources

Rachel has been working in the IT staffing industry in Atlanta since 2008, with experience serving in both an Account Executive and Technical Recruiter role. She has been with MATRIX since 2011 as a Recruiter and has earned a number of accolades including Rookie of the Year 2012 and Performer of the Year 2013 for the Atlanta Central Branch. Rachel’s success comes from an aggressive and enthusiastic approach to recruiting while fostering strong relationships with her candidates and network; her goal is to establish and maintain long lasting relationships in order to be a trusted partner for others throughout their career.


Michael W. Patrick,  Sr Talent Acquisition Partner - InComm

Great people make all the difference for any team. Michael’s passion is connecting people with common traits, abilities and interests united through shared vision and exceptional service excellence with the right opportunities.  With over 20 years of focused experience, his specialties include Hands on Talent Acquisition Management, Leadership, Candidate Development and Recruiting, Service Delivery and Employee Retention specialist.  He has significant experience within Information Technology, Financial Services, Pharmaceutical, Transportation/Logistics, Sales and Marketing, Government/Public Sector (Federal, State and Local), Telecommunications/Service Providers, Healthcare, Utilities, and Professional Services and is known for Service Excellence and high achievement of business results.


Brent Winzeler, Senior Account Manager - Prestige Staffing

Brent is responsible for account management, recruiting leadership and managing the day to day operations of the Atlanta IT division.  With 8 years IT staffing experience in the Atlanta market, he has been successful by providing the highest level of service and delivering superior IT professionals faster than the competition while maintaining the highest integrity.  Brent graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor’s Degree in Management Information Systems (MIS) and has been with Prestige Staffing since 2005.


Shraddha Chegu, Senior Technical Recruiter – CCCi

Shraddha has over 10 years’ experience as a Technical Recruiter.  Her recruiting experience consists of full life cycle recruitment of contract, contract to hire and direct hire consultants.  She has worked on IT job requirements for various Fortune 5-500 clients.  Shraddha is passionate about continually learning new fields of technology and business.  She strives to have an ethical and transparent recruiting process and enjoys translating a client’s business needs into qualified job orders and identifying candidates that possess the skills to match these requirements.  She is very active on LinkedIn and even owns the following groups on LinkedIn:
                   -    APP(Atlanta PMP Professional) – 200+members
                   -    ACP(Atlanta CISSP Professionals)   - 50+ members


Monika Mueller, Operations Manager - Daugherty Business Solutions

Monika joined Daugherty in January 2011 where she brings extensive consulting experience to the DBS team having worked for PwC and E&Y before making her way to the Sr. Principal level here at Daugherty.  As a dual threat in both Program Management and Operations Management, she oversees client delivery while also overseeing the recruiting and on-boarding process for the Atlanta branch.  


James Miskell, Delivery/Recruiting Manager – DISYS

James joined DISYS in 2013 as Delivery / Recruiting Manager for the Atlanta operation. He has over 15 years of experience in domestic and international Recruitment and Project Delivery. James has worked with a diverse range of businesses and industries offering strategic insights into the employment markets in those industries. He remains current with key technologies and social media to identify and connect with top talent. James is a graduate of Cornell University with a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations.


Stephanie Warner, Senior Talent Advisor – TrueBridge Resources

Stephanie joined TrueBridge in 2011. Stephanie brings more than 15 years of professional experience to TrueBridge Resources and has been successful in recruiting for both the corporate and staffing agency environments.   She also has experience in training facilitation and other areas of human resources.  Stephanie has consulted and been an employee of several major Atlanta companies such as the Home Depot, Scientific Atlanta/Cisco, Sapient, the State of Georgia, the Coca-Cola Company, and Spherion. 

 

Agile vs Waterfall Replacing Legacy Systems in the Healthcare Development Environment: April Healthcare Forum Summary

Written by Gregory Barnett

The April Healthcare Forum started on time with 15 – 20 people in attendance.
Karl J. Welch, PMP, formerly employed at McKesson, described his experience as Scrum Master on a legacy replacement project and led an engaging, interactive discussion on effective uses of Agile.  Karl also drew comparisons with the waterfall approach and highlighted the intricacies of replacing a legacy system.

First, Karl outlined similarities shared by all projects such as customer buy in and change management.  As with all projects, there are unique challenges, and Karl explained many that he faced.  Adding functionality or providing a different way to utilize existing functionality requires an understanding of the legacy system being replaced, which was not available in Karl’s case.  It is imperative that the replacement functionality not impact existing legacy systems.  The tendency of users is to want the exact same functionality regardless of the access method, and in most cases, users want the same access method.  Said another way, users don’t want any changes made to systems they’ve become comfortable using.  The nature of agile development teams present unique issues when it comes to planning and user interaction.  As the PM, Karl had to strike a balance between highly skilled developers and the user representative to insure that the functionality met the user community’s needs without impacting existing processes. Finally, replacing a legacy system or functionality as part of an existing legacy system is an all or nothing proposition.  There is no phased approach for a rollout that affects multiple hospital implementations.

Karl asked if any of the attendees had similar experiences or if they wanted to share their insights and many responded.   Karl shared examples of how he overcame challenges, such as not having proper user representation and project knowledge.  He provided his perspective on the use of Agile methodologies vs. the waterfall approach.    The major difference is the quicker turnaround time agile provides and the flexibility through the use of sprints.  However, Karl made it clear either methodology can be used, depending on the project. The strategy that Karl outlined for this project involved dedicating a number of sprints as phases to a specific user group such as providers and coders. Once the functionality was accomplished within all phases, and all defects were addressed, the product was available for rollout.  Product rollouts could be available in 3 to 4 months, in some cases, however, Karl discovered that most hospitals preferred implementations in 12 -18 month increments.  

This was an engaging and interesting forum.  Everyone participated and they were able to take away valuable tools to use on their next project.


ABOUT PMI
PMI Atlanta serves project managers in Metro Atlanta, and we’re an active resource to corporations, community and government agencies throughout north Georgia. With over 4,600 members, PMI Atlanta is the fourth largest chapter in the US and fifth largest in the world. Our professional expertise span across industries; we’re the professionals building healthcare information technology systems, the engineers developing smarter public transportation, and the planners growing our communities more efficiently.  

PMI Atlanta Chapter  | 3522 Ashford Dunwoody Road, Suite 348  | Atlanta, GA 30319 |  (678) 318-1805
memberquestions@pmiatlanta.org

Call for Presentations: ProjectSummit - BusinessAnalystWorld Atlanta 2015 Now Open!

CALL FOR SPEAKERS

Diversified Business Communications, in partnership with the IIBA and PMI Atlanta Chapter, is currently accepting presentation proposals for ProjectSummit * BusinessAnalystWorld Atlanta to be held from March 16- 18 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Atlanta Perimeter at Ravina.

We are currently accepting symposium conference session submissions.

This is an opportunity to share your knowledge and experience with other professionals involved in the business of project management and business analysis. The sessions are 75 minutes each. They should include at least 10 minutes of audience participation in the form of questions and answers, debate or other interaction.

PMI Atlanta Toastmasters Embrace Change

Written by Kathi Middleton, MPM, PMP

PMI Atlanta Toastmasters meeting on June 12th was packed out with a theme of “Change”.  The club’s newly elected President, Dean Gudlauski, serving as Sergeant at Arms, called the meeting to order. Laura Davidson, Toastmaster of the evening, shared the importance of persevering through change daily and demonstrated this ability when she filled in as Jokemaster for the meeting.   With a room full of lively visitors and members it was time for three intriguing speeches.