PMI Atlanta Chapter - Forums Summaries

“Social Impact Agile: How Agile is Used to Improve the World” by Rocío Briceño: March 2024 Agile Forum Summary

Written by: Alex Leonard, PMP

Can you imagine an agile country? What if the values of agile could lead the social impact? Can we use Agile in the entire government to improve a country?

Presentation Overview Briceno-Rocio

On March 19, 2024, the PMI Atlanta Chapter Agile Forum attendees met virtually as Rocío Briceño presented on “Social Impact Agile: How Agile is Used to Improve the World”. During her presentation Rocío discussed how agile project management can be used to manage social governance projects.

To set the stage, Rocío began discussing the problems that big companies and country governments have. She emphasized that when you look at these problems closely, they are not all too unsimilar. The key to dealing with these problems is not to focus on all that is wrong, but instead, focus on the solution. And that is where Social Impact (SI) Agile comes into play. In the SI Agile Manifesto, there are five commitments:

  1. Share clear objectives
  2. Actively involve beneficiaries
  3. Action teams with social passion
  4. Be transparent
  5. Provide visible and frequent results

These five commitments are the pillars of SI Agile. While you concentrate on solutions, you will uncover problems, but they are not your focus. The solution to addressing country governance problems lies in the united application of the SI Agile commitments. During the event, Rocío walked us through a case study explaining how SI Agile was applied to solve solutions in Chile and the National Army of Columbia. Furthermore, she explained how the five SI Agile commitments, and a combination of agile frameworks and approaches, were used in a plan to put the entire country of Costa Rica on the path to progress and well-being while humming to the social mantra of “pura vida” which means “everything is going to be alright”!

Takeaways

  • Agile frameworks and approaches are not limited to the business sector; they can also be used successfully in a social governance context.
  • When we work together in a unified way, there is no national problem to big that cannot be solved with the commitment and resilience of the people.

Next Event

Join us at the next in-person PMI Atlanta Agile Forum at Motion Recruitment on Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Keynote Presentation: “The Agile Lifestyle” by Emanuella Altidor

Register at www.pmiatlanta.org/events/event-calendar 

Event Pictures

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PMI Atlanta Announces Spring 2024 Scholarship Opportunity for College Students in Georgia

The Atlanta Chapter of The Project Management Institute (PMIAtlanta.org), the world’s leading professional membership organization for project managers, announced today that it will be offering Spring 2024scholarshipto undergraduate majors enrolled with our university partner, University of North Georgia.The essays will be based on the topic Powering my career with project management skills."Essay writers should choose at least one project management skill / trait under the PMI Talent Triangle and write about how they will use it to help grow their career.

UNG-Scholarship-Spring-2024About The Scholarship

We have created an essay-based scholarship of $2500, to be awarded to one student this Fall, who is interested in pursuing project management studies and making a difference in our profession. One scholarship will be awarded to an undergraduate student at University of North Georgia this Spring.

Scholarship Award Requirements

Applicants must be an undergraduate student who is enrolled full-time and pursuing a degree at the University of North Georgia.Proof of residency will be required on submission. The winning applicants must be someone:

  • who has at least a 2.5 (on a 4.0 scale) grade point average
  • who is a resident or whose parents are a resident of the State of Georgia
  • who completes the application and submits it by the deadline
  • who submits a high-quality essay on project management that meets the application format and content requirements
  • who attends a PMI Atlanta In-Person Chapter Meeting to accept the award in person.

Deadline for Application

The deadline for applications is a postmark, or email mark of May 17, 2024, midnight for studentsof the University of North Georgia.

Application Format and Submission

Applicants must complete and submit an application with an original essay of no more than 2,500 words and no less than 1500 words. The length includes the title, notes, and other text and footnotes. Following PMI’s talent triangle, the essay should include at least one area of the PMI Talent Triangle:Ways of Working, Power Skills, and Business Acumen, with a career path informed by those skills in the essay topicPowering my career with project management skills.

Sources must be properly cited.We will not award scholarships to submissions using AI applications to assist in writing.

Essays will be reviewed for plagiarism, grammar, and writing quality. All essays will be initially reviewed by PMI Atlanta Engagement Vice President and anonymized before evaluation by a separate review committee.

Applications must be submitted by email. All applications must include proof of residency (copy of drivers’ license, or state ID, or copy of utility bill), along with a copy of transcripts from the most recent semester enrolled. Essays must be submittedin PDF format.

About PMI

PMI stands for The Project Management Institute. We are an international organization. PMI is the world’s leading project management organization with over 600,000 Global Members and over 300 Local Chapters Internationally. The organization supports professional growth and development of project managers through education, professional development, certification, networking and other initiatives. The PMI Atlanta Chapter celebrates 40 years in 2021! The PMI Atlanta chapter is one of the largest and most dynamic chapters in the world with a leadership team that is diverse in origins, experience, expertise, and thought. Our chapter values are inclusiveness, volunteerism, and servant leadership. We have approximately 6,000 local members.

Visit us at www.PMI.org, and www.pmiatlanta.org,LinkedInFacebook, and on Twitter @PMInstitute.

PMI Atlanta Members Get Leadership Lessons to Savor at First Chapter Meeting in New Venue

By Karen Jacobs, PMP

March-2024-chapter-meetingPMI Atlanta’s first in-person Chapter meeting at Maggiano's, held on March 11, served up a warm welcome for newcomers and a keynote address full of lessons from great leaders past and present. 

Our members and guests enjoyed a delightful meal with rigatoni, baked cod, and eggplant parmesan served family style at Maggiano’s Little Italy at Perimeter Mall—the Chapter’s new venue for in-person Chapter Meetings. Dessert was strawberry cheesecake and a rich chocolate layer cake.

Dick Teters, founder and executive director of The Center for Accountable Leaders and a professor at Kennesaw State University’s Coles College of Business, delivered the keynote address focused on Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle concept of inspiring action and its applicability in project management.

He highlighted the importance of knowing “the why” behind ambitious goals, pointing out the examples of notable figures such as former President John F. Kennedy, who led the charge for the US space program to land a man on the moon, and entrepreneur Elon Musk’s current goal to build a Starship rocket that could transform space travel. He discussed the differing approaches of explorers Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott to their 1911 expeditions to the South Pole, with Amundsen’s team using better navigation and traveling every day regardless of weather in the freezing Antarctic, while Scott’s team operated only in good weather. The efforts of Amundsen’s team ended in triumph with his team being the first to reach the Earth’s southernmost point, while Scott’s team died on the return journey home. Teters’ point was that planning and preparation can make a difference.

The meeting included announcements of available volunteer positions, including in-person and virtual meeting facilitators for the operations team; facilitators for newcomer sessions for the engagement team; and social media and content managers for the marketing team.

Our next in-person Chapter Meeting will be held Monday, May 20, 2024 at Maggiano's Little Italy. Be sure to register today!

"Why 65% of Project Executions Fail & How to Mitigate Costly Pitfalls" by Marcia Brown-Rayford: March 2024 Clinical Research Forum Summary

Written by: Kayla Burrell, MS, CMS

Skilled project leadership is essential for guiding initiatives toward success and meeting goals and intentions. Capable leaders are crucial for keeping projects on track and delivering on their promises, underscoring the important role of experienced project managers in managing the complexities of diverse project resources.

Presentation OverviewBrown-Rayford-Marcia

On March 14, 2024, Marcia Brown-Rayford presented to the PMI Atlanta Clinical Research Forum attendees on "Why 65% of Project Executions Fail & How to Mitigate Costly Pitfalls". During this event, Marcia explained that for most mission-critical projects in life sciences today, missed deadlines and project failures have massive consequences that can result in billions of dollars in lost revenue. These projects fail largely due to challenges with people resources and process tools.

According to leaders in the field, the coordination of remote and office workers is the number one challenge, with the second challenge being the coordination of people from multiple firms onto one project team. Without capable project leaders at the helm, initiatives go astray, and a project's original goal or intent gets lost.

Among life science survey respondents in North America, 58% said teams composed of individuals from multiple organizations are important to successful project execution, but 63% expressed that managing such diverse and distributed team members made critical projects more difficult to execute. This observation highlights the need for experienced project managers who are adept at managing diverse project resources. The key to project execution is the "PEOPLE" (team); changing the composition of a project team (as needed) is essential to success.

Takeaways

  • Clinical trial delays are costly, but they can be mitigated.
  • For successful project execution, leaders must focus on how best to coordinate their team.
  • There are seven (7) ways to win in a new project execution environment:
    1. Invest in or become project quarterbacks (i.e., leaders)
    2. Upskill and get equipped to excel in the new environment (i.e., bridge the skills gap)
    3. Centrally coordinate and effectively prioritize the project portfolio
    4. Remember and trust the power of the WBS (work breakdown structure)
    5. Leverage external and/or supplemental expertise
    6. Conduct team readiness assessments
    7. Foster a collaborative work culture

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Agile Forum on Thursday, May 09, 2024

Keynote Presentation: TBD

Register at www.pmiatlanta.org/events/event-calendar 

Event Pictures

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"Understanding SaaS for Project Managers" by Neil Rivenburgh: February 2024 Technology Forum Summary

Written by: Rishea Johnson, MHI, CAPM

According to MarketsandMarkets, the global cloud computing market may reach as much as $832.1 billion by 2025. According to Gartner, SaaS (Software as a service) dominates as the largest segment of global cloud spending, at 34%.

Presentation Overview RivenburghNeil

A Google search for SaaS Project Manager or SaaS Program Manager jobs shows thousands of posted positions (e.g., between 1000 to 6000) on SimplyHired, Indeed, Glassdoor, LinkedIn, etc. This calls for strong project managers who have acquired the additional skills to lead implementations of cloud computing initiatives. During this month’s Tech Forum, SaaS was demystified, and information was shared to encourage project managers and leaders to pursue roles implementing cloud-based solutions that operate on third-party servers via the Internet.

The rise in SaaS implementations since the 2000’s is largely due to its promise of cost efficiency, agility, seamless integration, and innovation. The presenter spoke of the big wave of integrating AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning) in cloud-based applications. Project managers armed with the knowledge shared in this forum are better prepared to lead transformative initiatives and drive SaaS programs.

Takeaways

  • Examples of Top Companies in U.S. SaaS Market:
    • Alphabet Inc.
    • Amazon.com, Inc.
    • Microsoft Corporation
    • Salesforce Inc.
    • ServiceNow, Inc.
  • Pros of SaaS (Customer View)
    • SaaS provides a scalable infrastructure supporting multiple locations/geographies
    • SaaS providers are responsible for maintenance, updates, and security
    • SaaS products have built-in reporting and analytical capabilities

Next Event 

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Technology Forum on Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Keynote Presentation:  "Improving Employee Performance During Change Initiatives" by Glen Hasling

Register at www.pmiatlanta.org/events/event-calendar 

Event Pictures

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