Written by: Paulette Hamilton

Overview

On September 23, 2020, the PMI Atlanta Governance Forum hosted speaker Jean Dahl, Practice Director at Deloitte Consulting. Ms. Dahl delivered an informative presentation on the current challenges faced by businesses when transforming their organization from “doing” agile to embracing an agile mindset and philosophy. She shared a multimodal delivery approach that allows the flexibility to implement projects using either traditional, agile, lean or hybrid methodology. She also discussed the benefits of the multimodal approach in comparison to other approaches currently being used.
In her role as Practice Director, Ms. Dahl has noticed executive management concern around measuring the effectiveness of their organization across different delivery methods. She discussed key metrics at each level of the organization, and pointed out the lag in tools that have the ability to align costs across delivery platforms. The Multimodal model dictates aligning the PMO with Enterprise Portfolio Management Office at the strategic level and the Lean Portfolio Management at the tactical level.

Ms. Dahl closed the discussion with a summary of crucial questions that organizations should ask when transforming their legacy PMO to a lean portfolio management organization. There was great audience participation and Ms. Dahl interactively answered questions throughout.

Takeaways

• Organizations are often too focused on “doing” agile and should shift attention to embracing and agile mindset and philosophy.
• The Multimodal Operating Model represents a “fit-for-purpose” approach that allows various work types to coexist.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Governance forum on October 21, 2020
Keynote Presentation: “Technology & Risk Governance”: presented by Paulette Hamilton, Managing Partner

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

About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves 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: Jacqlyn Shelton

Retrospective Meetings provide essential feedback that generate process improvements for each iteration of an agile project cycle.

Overview

Ordonna Sargeant (PMP, Certified Scrum Master, LSSGB, @ABlackPMP) explained how to structure a fun and engaging Retrospective Meeting that analyzes and evaluates a project to:
• Develop a list of critical steps in each iteration of an agile project to improve processes.
• Generate team synergy, growth, honesty, and commitment.

Team Engagement: Leaders can engage team members using a variety of structures. Regardless of the method used, it is essential that the questions: “what worked well,” “what didn't work,” and “how should we move forward" are answered. An example of a retrospective structure is the “Start, Stop, Continue” structure:
a) Start Process List (What should we start doing);
b) Stop Process List (What should we stop doing); and
c) Continue Process List (What is working well and should be continued).

The goal is to align the team so they can evaluate and improve the processes. All owners and development team members must be encouraged to engage in the discovery; asking team members questions can promote participation. Additional Retrospective Structures are:

• What? So What? Now What?
• Liked, Loathed, Longed for, and Learned
• Wishes, Risk, Appreciation, and Puzzles (WRAP)

Meeting Tools: A retrospective meeting requires the leader to actively engage participants in an analytical analysis that identifies issues and provides input to improve processes. Leaders must create an engaging environment of relaxation, participation, and excitement. Utilize:
• Communication Tools: Whiteboards and Webcams.
• Feedback Resources: Discussions, Polling, and Surveys, during and after the meeting.

Challenges: Identify when Lack of Engagement and/or Groupthink creep into a meeting; both can hinder the purpose of the retrospective meeting. Ask open-ended questions throughout the session to all team members to initiate project engagement, commitment, and team growth.
Informing the participants that their honest observations are valued and needed throughout the meeting will encourage an open forum of individualism that generates valuable ideas.

Takeaways

• Create a safe space for involvement and feedback.
• Encourage the team to think in action-oriented terms.
• Engage inclusiveness from all team members.
• Identify small results that lead to significant improvements.
• End the meeting on a high note, a positive reflection of results from the session.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Agile Forum on Tuesday, October 20, 2020, 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm.
Keynote Presentation: “Demystifying the Scaled Agile Framework” Presenter: Josh Kite

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

 About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves 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

Panelists

Andrew Greenberg, Executive Director, Georgia Game Developers Association https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-greenberg-9386377/ 

Llew Haden, Wales Business Management https://www.linkedin.com/in/llewellyn-haden-0961865/

Theresa Gilmore, PMP, CSM, SFC, Entertainment Casino Company https://www.linkedin.com/in/theresa-gilmore-pmp/

Overview

The conversation continues about COVID’s impact on the entertainment industry. Between computer gaming, managing the business of live music entertainers, and providing casino gaming at live events, the contrast was sharp.

Andrew says that the computer gaming business is up—both game sales and virtual live stream event attendance have increased. Game developers agree that their time is more productive now vs. pre-COVID-19. However, much of the real creative magic happens between game developers spontaneously, in-person, and most of this has not been possible.

Nearly all of Llew’s music business clients now offer only virtual performances, if at all. Due to severely reduced cash flow, he’s having to manage them back from prior, higher end lifestyle habits. Llew says he talks clients off cliffs about once a week. He is restructuring some of his agreements with clients, to separate the business from personal expenditures.

Theresa states that live gaming casino events have completely shut down, with companies in bankruptcy. Ancillary services like catering, cleaners, and equipment, are also dealing with reduced business. Various modifications are being done, like less people seated at tables, and disposable tablecloths and chips, to reduce risk.

Takeaways

• Vs. in-person events, virtual-centric activities now have a much better chance to sustain success, even to thrive, in this age of coronavirus.
• Severe cash flow reduction is forcing many to rethink if and how to continue and/or reinvent their businesses.
• Everyone is in major adjustment mode to adapt.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Entertainment forum on Thursday, December 17, 2020

Keynote Presentation: TBA

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

 About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves 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

Speaker: Desiree Connell, Producer and Production Management (Digital Thunderdome, LLC)

Overview

COVID has impacted entertainment production more than most industries. Previously, the time-honored routine was dozens or often hundreds gathering in very close proximity for 12-hour days of shooting film and TV. No more. The new protocol (changing daily) is much more rigid and cautious, with infection prevention the top priority.
Desiree’s normal crew of 60 has shrunk down to 10 people, and they film in phases. It’s a big learning curve that’s hard to implement, but they’ve developed new practices that have come from CDC and military recommendations and seem best-suited to film and TV production. Mandated daily health testing and monitoring is done by people dedicated to the task, with masks and gloves and maintaining distance required for everyone. All paper work has gone digital to avoid the risk of contaminated paper, along with many specialized shields, wraps, and other protective coverings.

Takeaways

• The entertainment production industry—already highly unusual and uniquely specialized—has been upended by COVID-19.
• Entertainment professionals worldwide are challenged and struggling to strategize and implement a new normal.
• Infection prevention is the top priority.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Entertainment forum on September 17 2020.

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

About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves 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 Lakisia Jones, PMP

Overview 

On May 18th, the PMI Agile forum presented “Stop Starting, Start Finishing!” by Karen Powell and Douglas Boling. Karen began the presentation by showing two slides of traffic. In the first slide, traffic was flowing smoothly. In the next slide traffic was jammed and at a complete stop. The traffic slides depict what can happen to a project. One day your project is running smoothly. Then suddenly, the project falls behind or may be halted altogether. This is where Kanban can help.

Kanban is not a software development lifecycle methodology, but it can be used to enhance the project management method already in use. Implementing Kanban starts with what you do now. Then identify current processes, existing roles and responsibilities, and job titles. From that foundation, gain agreement to pursue improvement through evolutionary change and encourage acts of leadership at all levels.

Kanban principles include visualizing with a Kanban board, limiting work in progress, managing flow, making policies explicit, implementing feedback loops, improving collaboratively and evolving experimentally. By using Kanban boards, team members can clearly determine work ready to start, work in progress, and work that has been completed. Limiting work-in-progress promotes finishing and improves quality. It also signals when capacity is available. Tracking the date work started and date work completed, enables you to apply metrics that answers when an item will be done, how many can you get done, and how long it will take to complete a certain number of items.

Takeaways

• Why Kanban? Kanban provides relief from overburdening, better quality, and customer satisfaction. It allows you to focus so you can deliver better quality and builds trust within your organization.
• Kanban starts with what you do now, allows you to visualize work and limit work in progress to enable flow.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Agile forum on June 16, 2020

Keynote Presentation: "Put the Fantastic back in Facilitation" presented by Kate Megaw, President of The Braintrust Consulting Group

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

 About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves 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.