March 2009 Project Management Trends for 2009

							Project Management Trends for 2009 – March, 2009
Summarized by Pamela Hollington & Andrew McClure

Introduction                                               that does not necessarily mean there is a
                                                           virtual team
This month we had a group discussion based on
an article of the Top 10 Project Management               Time zones can make it extremely
Trends for 2009.                                           challenging to manage communications and
                                                           to manage your own “work-life balance” – if
The trends identified were:                                you are needing to get in early to meet with
                                                           one group of the team in one time zone, and
1.  The Sandwich Generation: Middle                        then at the same time, stay late to be
    Managers’ Emerging Role in Change                      available for another group, your hours as a
2. Navigating Virtual Teams through Change                 PM or team member can become
3. Sharper Distinctions Between Project and                unreasonable
    Program Management                                    Nothing beats face-to-face meetings – it is
4. Leveraging Communities of Practice To                   good on any project to be able to have at
    Hone Skills                                            least one face-to-face meeting early on to set
5. Strategic Selling of the Project Management             the stage and allow everyone to meet each
    Office                                                 other
6. Back to Basics for Successful Project
    Portfolio Management                               Leveraging Communities
7. Right-sizing Staff with Demand Driven                  PMI-WC / PMI ISSIG is all about
    Resource Management                                    community
8. Improved Requirements Metrics                          It is felt that the PMP is becoming the
9. People Will Come Before Technology                      minimal standard for a PM job – especially
10. Risk Management for Governance                         in a government contracts
                                                          However, having said that, the PMP is not a
The article was written by Leroy Ward, of ESI              guaranty of a job
International and he is a respected author and
speaker in the field of project management.
                                                       PMO – Strategic Selling
In our breakout groups, each group discussed a            Recognition that more project management
few of 10 trends presented in the article, and             is needed
identified our own challenges and suggestions             Agree with strategic need for PMO for all
for making the “road ahead” smoother for all of            projects
us!                                                       IS and Construction projects use different
                                                           tools and report differently but use same
Here are some notes from some of the                       processes
discussions.                                              See the need for IT and the rest of the
                                                           organization to use consistent processes
Managing Virtual Teams through                            Managers hide operational budget “projects”
Change                                                     as opposed to capitalizing projects
    More and more, teams are not co-located              PMO will provide a consistent approach
     and this presents challenges in motivating,
     managing, and controlling team work
    Virtual “teams” versus distributed                Right-Sizing Staff
     implementations should not be confused –             Though “right-sizing” is a nice, politically-
     the project team (virtual or co-located) is the       correct term, too often it is just a
     group responsible for seeing the project gets         replacement for economic-based layoffs
     completed; they may need to implement                Too often, too, decrease in resources does
     their result across multiple locations, but           NOT result in decrease of workload relative
    to that right-sizing and those remaining are       knowledge and tools to pick the right projects,
    left to do “more with less” (and since most        ensure support for change and effectively track
    organizations were already stretched, the          progress for smart governance will be key to
    burden can become not only unbearable, but         project success – saving time and money while
    impractical)                                       driving organizational success.”
   Still unclear about how many organizations
    are really resource-loading their project
    plans in order to appropriately be able to do      Thanks and Sponsorship
    this anyway – do they know who is working          Recognition
    on what, how much is expected of them, and
    how available a resource really is?                Thanks to Andrew for assisting in creating this
                                                       summary by providing his notes from the
                                                       session.
People before Technology
   Organizations identifying that different           Thanks also to our sponsors of the local ISSIG
    systems need to “talk” to each other,              meetings: Teksystems and Software
   Need to define business processes before           Productivity Centre, our founding sponsors; as
    implementing a new product                         well as Eagle Professional Resources, BC
   Example SAP implementation success                 Hydro, PCGI Consulting, and Rebound
    (based on a study the group had heard about)       Consulting. The generous support of our
    – rated as 2/10 as a product install and 8/10      sponsors allows us to pay for the meeting room,
    with BPR included in the project.                  and to provide the coffee, juice and donuts for
                                                       our meetings.

Summary                                                Upcoming Meetings
The article concluded as follows:
                                                       Contact Info: For more info on the ISSIG or any
“While these trends are about doing more with          of the topics in this summary, please contact
less, they all speak to the concept of less is more.   Pamela Hollington, at (604) 988-4102 or by
In 2009, more than at any time in recent history,      email at pamela@reboundltd.com.
empowering people with the right skills,