Written By Adam Gazaleh

Presentation Overview

Tom McDonald, Consultant at Sherlock Resources, John Josserand, Partner Manager at Data Gumbo, and Peter Dumont, PE, Principal at OS2/PrairieDog Project along with members from the PMI Houston Chapter joined us for a thorough and groundbreaking presentation about a new way of managing construction projects. McDonald introduced the movement that is underway, which the team calls OS2 or Operating System 2. Through a question-and-answer format presentation, McDonald and Dumont explained how construction project management is only in its first generation of methodology or OS1. OS2 aims to increase the business performance of capital projects which continue to lag behind all other increases in productivity and efficiency. The core problem is that projects cost too much to build and profit margins are razor thin because of inefficiencies around processes that add no value to the project. OS2 is about financial health, keeping your company intact, and building a trusted network of suppliers that Dumont refers to as the network.

At its core, OS2 is an R&D project focused on business outcomes that investigates how emerging technologies like block chain, can be utilized to create a single source of truth that allows all stakeholders on a project to access the most up to date risk registers, contract statuses, and transaction information. Dumont along with Josserand, who joined DataGumbo during the pandemic, described how emerging technology could be used to translate legal terms in contracts into business logic that a software program could use to automatically check that terms have been met and automate an otherwise time consuming payment transaction process. The philosophy of OS2 is that a project team is made up of a network with no central point of failure, and where anything that can be automated is automated, so that companies are able to preserve as much profit as possible.

Takeaways

• Capital Construction Project management is still in its first generation of methodology and is in need of a technology based over haul.
• The nominal cost of construction projects has risen significantly over the past decade and will continue to rise if something is not done to automate inefficient processes.
• OS2 aims to utilize new technology like block chain to increase efficiency among project stakeholders and help companies preserve more of their profit.

Next Event

Join us at the next Architecture, Engineering & Construction Forum event on May 11, 2021

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

Written by Kay Abikoye

Presentation Overview

On March 24, 2021, the PMI Atlanta Governance Forum hosted speaker Abdul Badruddin, Senior Director of Governance Risk and Compliance at BeyondTrust. Mr. Badruddin delivered a presentation centered around the formation of a Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC) at BeyondTrust and organizational challenges that could arise during implementation.

In the realm of Information Security many framework and regulations such as (ISO 27001, AICPA SOC- American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Systems and Organizations and Controls; NST 800-53) assist in establishing the foundations of a solid GRC Program.

Mr. Badruddin provided insight to attendees on how to start and manage a GRC program and create adequate buy-in with leadership.

The key attributes of the Governance Model and a successful program include:

• Leadership Acceptance- supports the need and the basic functions of the Governance Model.
• Governance Committee- oversees the entire program and all respective units.
• Subcommittee- consists of functional leaders, performs risk assessment on an ongoing basis.

Mr. Badruddin’s discussed the organizational structure of a GRC which is split into four domains: Governance, Personal, Monitoring and Improvement. 

Takeaways

1. Subcommittees should be formed based on the industry standards and policies that support the GRC Program.
2. Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) must be implemented and presented to leadership on a regular basis to promote continued support of the program.
3. An Assurance and Auditing procedure must be in place in order to provide continued function of the GRC program.
4. The business should have an established process for obtaining a temporary exception to the Standards and Policies approval.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Governance forum on April 28th 2021.

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

Written by: Lakisia Jones PMP, CSM

Presentation Overview 

Wait....Did I hear that right? There is a 3-Step Agile Transformation approach? Tell me more!!

Max Ekesi, Enterprise Agile Coach at Whole Foods gave a high spirited and engaging presentation on a 3 step approach to an Agile transformation. In the last 20 years, the world has changed faster than ever before. In this fast changing environment, it’s not the company with the most money or most educated workforce that survives. It’s the company, organization or team that is most adaptable to change that survives. The 3 step Agile transformation approach is a method that can be deployed to adapt to changes in an organization.

Takeaways

• The 3 step approach to Agile transformation include: Need -> Ways of Working -> Processes:
  • Determine what customer needs can be addressed with Agile values: Speed to Market, Iterative Product Delivery, Adapt to changing Roadmap.
  • Determine the team’s WOW (Ways of Working). Is the team distributed or colocated? What’s the team's communication pattern? Access the team’s maturity.
  • Determine which process framework to use: Scrum, XP, Safe, Waterfall, etc. OR dare to create something new
• In the case study, too many meetings took time away from team productivity. By deploying the 3 step Agile Transformation approach, the teams were able to utilize WoW for effective communication to get creative with meetings. They created Pods on Demand for part of the team to go and do chunks of the work.
• Utilizing Pods on Demand process, established expectations with backlog accessible to full team, same sprint cadence (2 week sprint), and return back to home team.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Agile Forum on Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Keynote Presentation: “Implementing GREAT Agile Project Management Across Different Levels of Your Enterprise” presented by Kelly Moncrief - VP Planning, Execution, and Automation of Equifax

About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves the Project Management Community in Metro Atlanta, and we're an active resource to corporations, community and government agencies throughout north Georgia. With over 5,000 members, PMI Atlanta is among the top 5 chapters 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.

Written by: Mike Ososki, PMP

Presentation Overview  

For big time ticket sales, it doesn’t get much bigger than the Atlanta Braves. This is where Celeste works, specifically in “New Ticket Initiatives.” She grew up as a huge fan of baseball, so it’s a great fit with her sales and project management skills.

Like all the world, she’s striving to figure out how to best bring back people getting together in person. April 9 is a big date: Truist Field opens to the public again, at 33% capacity. Health protocols will be in effect, including 6’ spacing and masks. More here ... www.braves.com/LetsPlay.

Celeste has kept very busy with the details: A-List memberships, ticket accounts and packages, refunds, credits, groups, value plans, discounts, special events, mobile ticket sales, to name a few. Plenty of personal touch customer service conversations, too.

Flexibility is key, as they have “Plans B through Z” moving forward. It’s tough for the waterfall-style planning mindset, but we don’t know yet where we’ll be as the weeks unfold. Celeste says, “It’s crazy how many different scenarios there could be.”  Being optimistic and shooting high, the stadium is hoping to reach 100% attendance by the All Star Game in July, a big revenue stream. Go Team!

Takeaways

• One step at a time, keeping the fans safely engaged.
• Minimize physical points-of-contact.
• You can’t replace live events.

About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves the Project Management Community in Metro Atlanta, and we're an active resource to corporations, community and government agencies throughout north Georgia. With over 5,000 members, PMI Atlanta is among the top 5 chapters 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.

Written by: Kay Abikoye

Presentation Overview

On February 24, 2021, the PMI Atlanta Governance Forum hosted speaker Eric Norman of Norman and Norman Consulting, LLC. Mr. Norman delivered a presentation on the challenges faced by PMOs due to varying organizational structures. He shared insight on current trends in PMO structures and the attributes of an effective value-add organizational component. In his role as a Management Consultant, he noticed that it is critical for the structure and the PMO construct to be well defined throughout the organization as many constructs may put communication at risk.

Challenges PMO’s face includes complex organizational structures and unsighted interpretation of issues from leadership or external pressures. These challenges pose struggles with human resource utilization, mission-critical performance, and delimited communication across functional offices. Mr. Norman highlighted four key value enablers found in successful PMO’s:

1. Decision Support- providing critical information to executives and management so that it can be used to produce effective outcomes that may affect the PMO and the organization.
2. Demand Management- implementing tools such as resource analysis, resource allocation, and initiative scaling; knowing the current state of the resources to allow for effective planning.
3. Governance- establishing a set of baseline criteria and holding the organization to those procedures; this includes project selection, approval /denial, and implementing performance measures. project selection, approval/denial, and tracking performance measures
4. Initiative Support-gathering tools, processes, methodologies, and resources that will lead to organizational success.

To centralize the PMO with the organizational alignment, Mr. Norman closed with strategies for practitioners to communicate effectively with executives and functional managers. By providing vital business intelligence to functional leaders and executives, the PMO needs to be a decision-making contributor within the organization. Mr. Norman provided practical guidance and answered questions throughout the presentation.

 Takeaways

• The four key enablers of a successful PMO include decision support, demand management, governance and oversight, and initiative support.
• The PMO should be a member of the decision-making team within the organization and should adopt other functions that contribute as a value-add to the organization.
• To meet the objectives, Mr. Norman suggested moving away from PMO and using a name such as Strategic Initiative Management Center, or the Business Intelligence Center of Excellence.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Governance forum on March 24th, 2021 Register at www.pmiatlanta.org/events/event-calendar