The changing nature of how we work and connect
A new partnership between the Phoenix chapter of the Project Management Institute and the Department of Information Systems aims to promote interest in the profession of project management and bring new insights to the field. The chapter and the department are planning a conference on virtual project management,and in late September, they will co-host an Arizona Leaders in Project Management roundtable, featuring top executives and academics in the field.
A new partnership between the Phoenix chapter of the Project Management Institute and the W. P. Carey School’s Department of Information Systems aims to promote interest in the profession of project management and also bring important new insights to the field. Partnering with the university has long been the vision of the chapter’s president, Pamela Smith. Under Smith’s leadership, that vision will manifest in several ways over the next few months.
The chapter and the department are planning a conference later in the academic year on virtual project management — projects managed over long distances with advanced information and communications technologies. And in late September, the school and the Phoenix PMI chapter will co-host an Arizona Leaders in Project Management round table, featuring top executives and academics in the field.
The chapter also has been working with the W. P. Carey School and other area educational institutions to lay the groundwork for a student project management club. And to further interest in the field among college students, the chapter this fall plans to launch a statewide collegiate-level project management competition.
Students who manage projects as part of coursework or internships or even in their homes will be able to enter their work in the contest. The winner, to be announced in November 2012, will receive recognition and a cash prize.
"We are reaching out to promote project management as a profession to aspiring students," said Smith. "We also see this as an opportunity to catalyze the creation of new knowledge that will benefit our membership -- particularly given all of the changes taking place in how we work and connect."
Department chairman Michael Goulsaid "we're very lucky to be able to partner with the chapter. They are one of the preeminent associations in the Phoenix metropolitan area, and their members bring a wealth of expertise to an area of study our students desperately need and skills/knowledge recruiters increasingly expect."
An organization on the fast track
The Phoenix PMI chapter has become so large that it has to hold two regular monthly meetings in different parts of the metropolitan area to accommodate its 2,300 members.
The organization offers an array of education programs for its members, as well as five free breakfast meetings each month and many networking and social functions. The chapter has been reaching out to area businesses and educational institutions to promote the practice of professional project management.
The chapter's many activities and growing prominence in the Phoenix area are all the more remarkable given that it is run entirely by a committed team of 150+ volunteers. And the group the chapter represents was not even considered a formal profession until the 1950s.
"We are trying to build a community of project management in Phoenix," Smith said. "Our goal is to be a meeting place where members can exchange information, learn, and connect." 
The chapter is part of the international Project Management Institute, which serves the men and women responsible for running projects ranging from building construction such as the Dallas Cowboys New Stadium Project and the National Ignition Facility Project to integration of technology as in the Norton Brownsboro Hospital Project.
Members of the Phoenix chapter work for private and public large organizations--including Intel, US Airways, American Express, Coventry Health Care, and Catholic Healthcare West, Arizona Department of Education, Department of Revenue — while others work for smaller organizations.
A method to build successful projects
Project management has been practiced informally for thousands of years but did not emerge as a distinct discipline or profession until the mid-20th century, according to the Project Management Institute.
The institute, which was established in 1969, now has approximately 500,000 members worldwide and offers certifications based on a member's experience, education and test results. The Project Management Professional (PMP®) credential is considered the industry standard.
Although project management is often associated with construction, it is practiced in many other fields, as well.
"Project management is very prominent in IT," Smith said. "Now we've seen the methodology being used in finance, for example, to manage mergers and acquisitions. It is emerging in a lot of new areas."
Project management uses a series of processes to execute projects efficiently and effectively. According to the Project Management Institute, managing a project should include five steps: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing.
In recent years, project management has grown as a profession and a subject for training and education. One reason for the field's new prominence is the growing awareness of costly or failed projects in an era of scarce resources. In fact, earlier this year Vivek Kundra, recent past U.S. CIO, identified and outlined how the U.S. Federal Government would address the need to formally apply program and project management methodologies as a necessity to successfully managing large federal IT projects in his "25 Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal Information Technology Management."
"Poorly defined or managed projects have created much financial waste — not just in government projects but in every entity and sector across the board," Smith said. "If a project is not managed with a methodology with elements such as controls and risk mitigation, then there is a high potential for the project to fail."
Building a stronger chapter
Smith has been president of the PMI Phoenix chapter for the past two years and a member of the organization's board of directors since 2008. Now a program manager for the Arizona Department of Education, Smith has 19 years of business leadership experience. She has managed projects for a number of large companies in the Phoenix area.
"My experience is not solely in project management," she said. "I've worked in business administration, operations, management, operations planning, process improvement, and workforce planning." She ran her own IT consulting company for ten years.
"Because of the size of our chapter, being the president of it is like running a small company," Smith (left) said. "Our membership has grown exponentially over the recent past years. The first priority was to address operational gaps in order to create a solid foundation to ready the organization for to growth. We need to deliver customer satisfaction to our members operationally. If we can?t deliver basic services consistently, we will lose members thus our community.
When she became president, Smith set about filling what she saw as service gaps in the organization. "We started getting out and talking to people to find out what programs and services they want to see for the chapter. Members' needs are ever-changing in today?s global, dynamic workplace. The chapter must be responsive to help our members both individual project management professionals and their organizations to realize growth."
She bolstered the chapter's education and training options and added what she describes as one of her "dream" incentive programs to volunteer leaders as a strategy to stabilize and grow the chapter's internal operations a free-to-members leadership development program provided without charge to the chapter by the John Hersey International business consulting firm.
"Member volunteers can earn credit from the program, and they can also grow professionally and personally," Smith said.
Smith also set about revamping the chapter's volunteer program. "I decided to model it on a human resources department," she said. "We have 150 volunteers that serve on different committees or teams. They're not just managing projects but they are running the operations of the organization."
Smith stresses to new volunteers the commitment they need to bring. "At first, I would say to the new volunteers, 'This is not for everyone. It's not a cake sale.' Now I've changed it to, 'This is a second job — unpaid.' However, she adds, it is a tremendous opportunity for personal and professional growth they may not have in their full-time paid positions."
Teaching project management
Goul said the Department of Information Systems recognizes the importance of project management skills for students.
"We don't have a specialization in it, but we make sure there are strong project management courses in all of our programs," Goul said. "We have what we call applied projects that are the equivalent of a thesis for our master's degree. And those projects require students to use the project management methodology."
Project management classes at the Department of Information Systems invite guest lecturers from the Phoenix PMI chapter.
Whether students become project managers or go into some other management field, having project management skills is an essential element in your professional toolbox, according to Smith.
"We feel that it is critical for success," she said. "It's something that everybody uses in their work. If they don't, they probably don't have as much success as they could."
How to manage a global team
Discovering how best to manage virtual teams has become a focus for Goul, and he hopes the partnership between the PMI chapter and the Department of Information Systems will bring new answers.
"What we need help with is in identifying the best practices surrounding project management with virtual teams," he said. "If there's a guy on your project from Denver and a lady in China and someone in Malaysia, how do they work together and use technology? We need new knowledge in this area."
As companies have become larger, with operations spread across countries and around the world, virtual teams have become increasingly common. "Virtual teams have definitely become a reality in our global economy," Smith said.
In recent years, the advent of sophisticated knowledge sharing technologies — including virtual meeting rooms with virtual whiteboards and advanced videoconferencing — have made possible the management of projects by virtual teams.
When the teams span cultures, problems can arise, according to Smith. "One of the biggest challenges is the communication barrier." she said. "Even if all team members speak English, for example, differences in jargon, slang, colloquialisms, and even gesticulation may make communication challenging in the best of times. Even when communicating in a common language, pitfalls occur due to cultural differences and biases."
According to Goul, another challenge to virtual project management is that without face-to-face contact, it can be harder for leaders to connect with participants. "Trying to inspire a group and motivate them tends to be more difficult in a virtual environment. When you give big pitch in a speech, it doesn't come across as well," he said.
On the other hand, virtual teams do offer important advantages, according to Goul. "With a virtual team, you can get the smartest and best people from around the world to work on your project." Smith adds, "But what's the best way to manage those virtual teams — those e-teams? We're committed to developing new project management knowledge for that very purpose — and this partnership is a great starting point."
The chapter is part of the international Project Management Institute, which serves the men and women responsible for running projects ranging from building construction such as the Dallas Cowboys New Stadium Project and the National Ignition Facility Project to integration of technology as in the Norton Brownsboro Hospital Project.
Members of the Phoenix chapter work for private and public large organizations--including Intel, US Airways, American Express, Coventry Health Care, and Catholic Healthcare West, Arizona Department of Education, Department of Revenue — while others work for smaller organizations.
A method to build successful projects
Project management has been practiced informally for thousands of years but did not emerge as a distinct discipline or profession until the mid-20th century, according to the Project Management Institute.
The institute, which was established in 1969, now has approximately 500,000 members worldwide and offers certifications based on a member's experience, education and test results. The Project Management Professional (PMP®) credential is considered the industry standard.
Although project management is often associated with construction, it is practiced in many other fields, as well.
"Project management is very prominent in IT," Smith said. "Now we've seen the methodology being used in finance, for example, to manage mergers and acquisitions. It is emerging in a lot of new areas."
Project management uses a series of processes to execute projects efficiently and effectively. According to the Project Management Institute, managing a project should include five steps: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing.
In recent years, project management has grown as a profession and a subject for training and education. One reason for the field's new prominence is the growing awareness of costly or failed projects in an era of scarce resources. In fact, earlier this year Vivek Kundra, recent past U.S. CIO, identified and outlined how the U.S. Federal Government would address the need to formally apply program and project management methodologies as a necessity to successfully managing large federal IT projects in his "25 Point Implementation Plan to Reform Federal Information Technology Management."
"Poorly defined or managed projects have created much financial waste — not just in government projects but in every entity and sector across the board," Smith said. "If a project is not managed with a methodology with elements such as controls and risk mitigation, then there is a high potential for the project to fail."
Building a stronger chapter
Smith has been president of the PMI Phoenix chapter for the past two years and a member of the organization's board of directors since 2008. Now a program manager for the Arizona Department of Education, Smith has 19 years of business leadership experience. She has managed projects for a number of large companies in the Phoenix area.
"My experience is not solely in project management," she said. "I've worked in business administration, operations, management, operations planning, process improvement, and workforce planning." She ran her own IT consulting company for ten years.
"Because of the size of our chapter, being the president of it is like running a small company," Smith (left) said. "Our membership has grown exponentially over the recent past years. The first priority was to address operational gaps in order to create a solid foundation to ready the organization for to growth. We need to deliver customer satisfaction to our members operationally. If we can?t deliver basic services consistently, we will lose members thus our community.
When she became president, Smith set about filling what she saw as service gaps in the organization. "We started getting out and talking to people to find out what programs and services they want to see for the chapter. Members' needs are ever-changing in today?s global, dynamic workplace. The chapter must be responsive to help our members both individual project management professionals and their organizations to realize growth."
She bolstered the chapter's education and training options and added what she describes as one of her "dream" incentive programs to volunteer leaders as a strategy to stabilize and grow the chapter's internal operations a free-to-members leadership development program provided without charge to the chapter by the John Hersey International business consulting firm.
"Member volunteers can earn credit from the program, and they can also grow professionally and personally," Smith said.
Smith also set about revamping the chapter's volunteer program. "I decided to model it on a human resources department," she said. "We have 150 volunteers that serve on different committees or teams. They're not just managing projects but they are running the operations of the organization."
Smith stresses to new volunteers the commitment they need to bring. "At first, I would say to the new volunteers, 'This is not for everyone. It's not a cake sale.' Now I've changed it to, 'This is a second job — unpaid.' However, she adds, it is a tremendous opportunity for personal and professional growth they may not have in their full-time paid positions."
Teaching project management
Goul said the Department of Information Systems recognizes the importance of project management skills for students.
"We don't have a specialization in it, but we make sure there are strong project management courses in all of our programs," Goul said. "We have what we call applied projects that are the equivalent of a thesis for our master's degree. And those projects require students to use the project management methodology."
Project management classes at the Department of Information Systems invite guest lecturers from the Phoenix PMI chapter.
Whether students become project managers or go into some other management field, having project management skills is an essential element in your professional toolbox, according to Smith.
"We feel that it is critical for success," she said. "It's something that everybody uses in their work. If they don't, they probably don't have as much success as they could."
How to manage a global team
Discovering how best to manage virtual teams has become a focus for Goul, and he hopes the partnership between the PMI chapter and the Department of Information Systems will bring new answers.
"What we need help with is in identifying the best practices surrounding project management with virtual teams," he said. "If there's a guy on your project from Denver and a lady in China and someone in Malaysia, how do they work together and use technology? We need new knowledge in this area."
As companies have become larger, with operations spread across countries and around the world, virtual teams have become increasingly common. "Virtual teams have definitely become a reality in our global economy," Smith said.
In recent years, the advent of sophisticated knowledge sharing technologies — including virtual meeting rooms with virtual whiteboards and advanced videoconferencing — have made possible the management of projects by virtual teams.
When the teams span cultures, problems can arise, according to Smith. "One of the biggest challenges is the communication barrier." she said. "Even if all team members speak English, for example, differences in jargon, slang, colloquialisms, and even gesticulation may make communication challenging in the best of times. Even when communicating in a common language, pitfalls occur due to cultural differences and biases."
According to Goul, another challenge to virtual project management is that without face-to-face contact, it can be harder for leaders to connect with participants. "Trying to inspire a group and motivate them tends to be more difficult in a virtual environment. When you give big pitch in a speech, it doesn't come across as well," he said.
On the other hand, virtual teams do offer important advantages, according to Goul. "With a virtual team, you can get the smartest and best people from around the world to work on your project." Smith adds, "But what's the best way to manage those virtual teams — those e-teams? We're committed to developing new project management knowledge for that very purpose — and this partnership is a great starting point."
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