What skills will help project leaders succeed in times of uncertainty? As organizations pivot and deploy virtual teams, collaborative, engaging leaders are steering their teams to success. Penny Pullan, PhD, PMP, founder, Making Projects Work Ltd., Loughborough, England, says when you’re working virtually, command and control doesn’t work. She shares the value of facilitative leadership and the importance of building a team culture and relationships when leading virtual teams.Luiz Dias, PMP, PgMP, head of digital, portfolio transformation, Department for Work and Pensions in the United Kingdom, Newcastle, England, discusses how he and his teams have added daily standups and opened more lines of communication during COVID-19. He also shares how keeping a calm, positive attitude can help when leading teams in uncertain times. Key Themes[02:08] Leading virtual teams with facilitative leadership[04:02] Creating a culture for virtual teams [05:28] Building relationships with your team members[08:53] Communication more important than ever in COVID-19[12:39] Being open to reinvention and keeping a calm, positive attitude [14:24] Characteristics of a great leader: compassionate, concerned for team members and confident 

Projectified with PMI

Project Leadership in Uncertain Times

Diverse project teams deliver value. A team that offers a wide variety of mindsets and skill sets will outperform the competition, as members challenge one another and approach problems from new angles. That often leads to innovation.Blair Taylor, partner, Workforce of the Future, PwC, Seattle, Washington, USA, says diversity unlocks potential. It yields better business results, and diverse teams create personal connections between people. He also discusses how he believes empathy—associative and acquired—is the missing ingredient to see more progress in diversity, equity and inclusion. Annice Joseph, co-lead, Inclusive Career Journeys, SAP, Bengaluru, India, shares how cross-generational teams bring innovation, creativity and group wisdom to projects. She also talks about how SAP’s cross-generation mentoring initiative has helped managers learn and change their behavior on their own teams. 

The Value of Diversity

In the coronavirus pandemic, following the wrong information could be a fatal error. That’s why fact-checking organizations are delivering projects to separate truth from rumors. Silvia Cavasola, project manager, Pagella Politica, Milan, Italy, shares how teams from multiple organizations are working together to create a chatbot to answer COVID-19 questions. She also talks about the chatbot’s potential to create a closer relationship between readers and fact-checking platforms.Itziar Bernaola, director, Newtral Educación, Madrid, Spain, says her organization is facing an increasing number of fact verification requests due to COVID-19. Bernaola shares how she’s leading her team through a stressful time and discusses an automation project to help fact-checkers verify coronavirus information faster. 

Projects to Disrupt Misinformation

The world of business will look different after COVID-19, setting the stage for project professionals to lead the way into the next normal.Lindsay Scott, PM Network career columnist and co-founder of Arras People, London, England, shares how skills development—including certifications and specialized training—and maintaining your professional network can help project professionals prepare for the competitive job market to come. She also talks about how young project leaders can find their voices and bring their perspectives to help create change.Mike DePrisco, vice president, global experience & solutions, PMI, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA, talks about the online version of the Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification exam. Also: three free courses from PMI to help project leaders continue their professional development from home.  

Professional Development After COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the importance of risk management. David Hillson, PhD, PMI Fellow, founder of The Risk Doctor Partnership, Petersfield, England, discusses identifying and analyzing risk in innovative and novel situations. Dr. Hillson says COVID-19 isn’t currently a risk—it’s a problem—and the risk management task is to look at the uncertainties that could come next.Mohamad ElHelaly, PMI-PBA, PMI-RMP, PMP, assistant project manager at Orascom Construction, Cairo, Egypt, shares his top lesson learned from previous projects: Change is inevitable. He also talks about how risk management shouldn’t work in a silo and should be integrated into project processes and decisions. 

Risk Management during Covid-19

On Earth Day, ProjectifiedTM looks at projects to preserve the planet. Devan Wardwell, director of growth at Forest Carbon in Jakarta, Indonesia, discusses a project to restore peatlands. He also talks about using satellite data and sensors to monitor the project’s progress and make data-driven decisions.Michael Sweet, PhD, a researcher at the University of Derby in Derby, England, and an officer of the International Coral Reef Society, discusses two projects aimed at restoring coral reefs—one focused on abandoned fishing gear, the other, a physical restoration project. He also shares the challenges facing coral rehabilitation projects, including disease and rising sea temperatures. 

Projects to Save the Earth

The Project Economy calls for a new look at the structure and dynamics of project teams. Ingrid Smith, head of PMI’s Thought Leadership in London, England, shares the power skills that will help teams succeed. She also discusses the importance of empathy while working on virtual teams and how ready-for-anything teams are agile, collaborative and put the customer first.Peter Moutsatsos, PMP, chief project officer at Telstra in Melbourne, Australia, shares how the organization’s shift to agile at scale has improved team flexibility and changed the focus to measuring outcomes. He also says teams should be created to fit a particular project challenge. 

Future of Teaming

With arenas being built across the world and industry revenues on the rise, esports is leveling up. Joe Marsh, CEO of T1 Entertainment & Sports in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, discusses two major esports construction projects. The first is the headquarters for T1 Entertainment & Sports in Seoul, South Korea, which will be a space for the organization, gamers and fans. The second is the Fusion Arena, which is being built specifically for esports in Philadelphia.TL Frasqueri-Molina, PMP, project management office lead and lead project manager in the broadcast technology group, esports, at Activision Blizzard in Pasadena, California, USA, talks about the growth of the esports industry, with larger companies entering the space and wider audience reach. She also shares how collaboration and clear communication across multiple teams is critical in launching esports leagues. 

The Rise of Esports

5G networks are coming online around the world, bringing new, innovative project opportunities. Will Townsend, senior analyst, networking infrastructure and carrier services at Moor Insights and Strategy in Austin, Texas, USA, discusses how latency reduction will drive innovation on projects. He also shares early 5G use cases involving edge computing.  Odianosen Peter Ebhabha, PMP, project director at Huawei in Lagos, Nigeria, talks about how infrastructure, politics and funding can affect 5G launches in emerging markets. He also talks about 5G’s impact on the internet of things, remote medical support and education in remote areas. 

The 5G Revolution

The COVID-19 outbreak is affecting countries, people and projects around the globe. It’s one of several deadly diseases the world has faced in recent years. Dr. Ranu Dhillon, a faculty member at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, served as the special adviser to the president of Guinea during the 2014 Ebola outbreak. He discusses creating strategies to control the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, collaborating with organizations in other countries to adapt strategies and the toll fighting an epidemic can take. Dr. Dhillon also talks about the value of early detection and how that can be applied to the coronavirus. 

Infectious Disease Control

Can government interactions ever be smooth? Nations around the world are working on upgrading these citizen services. Anne Petersen, director of experience design at 18F in Chicago, Illinois, USA, says there are multiple barriers to success in customer experience, such as a lack of money, time or in-house expertise. Anne also shares how to help organizations instill a customer-focused approach and how feedback—and your response to it—can increase people’s trust in government. 

Citizen-Focused Government Transformation

Home to some of the world’s fastest-growing cities, Africa is poised to become a hub for projects—and talent. Bulla Boma, PMP, head of the commercial project management office at MIC Tanzania PLC in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, discusses the increasing number of infrastructure projects in the country. She also talks about raising awareness of project management and the value project professionals can add.   Sheillah Karimi, senior program coordinator—water, sanitation and transport at KfW Development Bank in Nairobi, Kenya, discusses leading a water supply project and how she’ll apply lessons learned to future projects. She also says sustainability will become central to infrastructure investments due to climate change.  Key themes[01:02] Africa’s growth, rapid urbanization are leading to more projects[02:09] Projects promoting industrialization in Tanzania[05:39] Increasing awareness of project management and its value[09:32] Organizations striving for innovative, data-driven projects[11:08] Coordination and engagement key in Nairobi water supply project[14:57] Reconciling theory and practical knowledge

Africa: New Projects, New Talent

Ahead of International Women’s Day, ProjectifiedTM hosted a roundtable with three women to discuss their experiences leading projects and programs and their hopes for the next generation of women in the profession.   Varsha Advani, PMP, senior technical program manager at Akamai Technologies in Bengaluru, India, talks about the importance of mentorship and how company-structured programs can help build a culture of learning. She also hopes to see more women in management roles moving forward.   Selenne Berthely, PMP, project manager, Banco de México, Mexico City, Mexico, discusses how leaders need both technical and people skills and shares her advice to other women in the profession—remain true to yourself and focus on your team.   Asya Watkins, PMP, manager of pharmaceutical implementations at EnvisionRxOptions and founder of Women Of Project Management in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, discusses how mentorship helped her career and the lessons she learned from being the only woman on some of her teams. She also shares ways men can advocate and support women on project teams.   Anna Tavis, PhD, academic director of human capital management, New York University, New York, New York, USA, shares how organizations can use data-driven metrics and better measurements of collaboration to help gender equity.   Key themes [01:25] Creativity, empathy and freedom make projects challenging and fulfilling [03:33] What leaders need: People skills, relationship building, communication [06:23] Sharing experiences and learning through mentorship [13:58] Advocating for women through partnership on projects, speaking up [17:07] Hopes for the future: More women in management roles [20:49] Measuring performance and impact of an individual on a team

Women in Project Leadership

As expectations for financial services change, legacy institutions and startups alike have to innovate. Andreas Madjari, PMP, project management governance specialist at Erste Group in Vienna, Austria, discusses agile’s role in creating the group’s internet banking platform, George. He also shares a look at the future—from stabilization to more online services.   Alicia Levine, the COO of Chipper Cash based in London, England, discusses the growing investment in fintech in Africa. She also talks about mobile money removing barriers for people who don’t use traditional banks and how new methods of transferring money can help people build digital financial histories.   Key themes [03:11] Empowering teams for agile development [06:47] Innovating to meet customers’ needs with reliability [10:15] Fintech’s growth in Africa  [12:20] How mobile money opened the door for new currency transfer options, digital financial identity [16:10] Fintech in Africa going digital—from banking to currencies

Financial Services: Innovation Meets Regulation

From air taxis to bullet trains, what was once thought of as futuristic transportation is now closer to becoming a reality. François-Joseph Van Audenhove, a partner at Arthur D. Little and head of the Future of Mobility Lab in Brussels, Belgium, talks about changing mobility demands—for both people and goods—and the challenges to integrating self-driving cars into the current mobility landscape.     Mike Goodrich, executive director—corporate development and global mergers & acquisitions at General Motors in Detroit, Michigan, USA, led the electric and autonomous vehicle program at GM for several years. He shares how creative problem solving helps project teams working on new tech like autonomous vehicles and the challenges organizations face to gain people’s trust.   Key themes: [05:40] Increasing demand in passenger—and goods—mobility [06:59] Self-driving cars’ effects on mobility systems [11:24] Facing project challenges with collaboration and accountability [12:46] Creative problem solving’s role in first-of-its-kind projects [15:02] Consumer skepticism in the tech—and trust—race

Transforming Transportation

Projectified with PMI is your guide to the future of project management. Created by Project Management Institute, this podcast is for people who lead strategic initiatives and collaborate on teams to deliver value to their organizations. It features dynamic thought leaders and practitioners who share their real-world experiences and expertise to inform, inspire and prepare you for success.

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Projectified with PMI

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