Much of the morning of Day 1 was spent in registration, speaker orientation and further talks with new colleagues, but after lunch the conference went into session opened by a performance by aboriginal dancers in traditional dress and accompanied by the didgeridoo. By mid-day, jet lag was hitting me so hard I thought seriously of napping in public.
PMI CEO Greg Balestrero opened the proceedings by talking about the power of project management practices in diverse areas from the non-profit sector to BMW's complete re-engineering of engine designs. His point, made both in the speaker orientation session as well as the general opening session, was that project management practices continue to grow and be recognized as a key component of growth and success in all sectors public and private, profit and non-profit.
A thought-provoking statement from Greg: Looking around the room at the assembly of project managers at this conference, know that the ability to successfully deliver any project, anywhere in the world, and to solve any project management problem, is in the room.
The keynote speaker was Robyn Meredith, a senior editor for Forbes magaize and author of a book called The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What it Means for All of Us. Robyn's talk was interesting, but did not cover any new ground.
In a nutshell: People in developed countries should all be worried about outsourcing both due to potential job loss as well as wage equalization in a global job market; China and India are different and not necessarily what we perceive; the rise of both countries has created a new middle class of consumers that are competing for goods and services and driving up prices; India's infrastructure is shoddy, China is polluted, and the major changes are causing big cultural changes in both countries.
Although the presentation was uninspired, the topic itself is interesting enough that I think I'll read the book.
The afternoon was devoted to focus sessions. The first one I attended was a little rocky, althought the topic was potentially interesting: Relationship Between Project Governance and Project Performance. As it turned out, the presenter is in the early stages of developing a PhD thesis, and so we were given a preview of where the research was headed rather than the outcomes that most in the audience were interested in.
The second session I attended was on the Intersection of Project Success and Leadership. It covered a lot of things most project managers are aware of, as presenter Bill Craddock noted at the outset. The presentation served as a great reminder of these elements and broke some new ground with regard to advancing research on the differing perceptions of project success based on one's role.
Bill Craddock points out that project manager's criteria for success is heavliy tied to the triple contraints, where stakeholders perception is tied to performance and value of the project deliverables. This is a key point in evaluating project coutcomes - I think most project managers recognize that a project can be called a success from the perspective of pure project management metrics, but be considered a failure in terms of delivering value or performance, and vice-versa.
Bill also discussed the varying perceptions and definitions of leadership, and provided the interesting statstic that the number of leadership books for sale on Amazaon.com stacked on top of each other would exceed the height of the imposing SYdney Harbour Bridge over 35 times.
The day ended with the welcoming networking reception - great food, great beverages, and more time to meet new people and greet old friends. My long-time friend and colleague David Antonioni, director of the Project Management Master's Certificate Program at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, was there. David is presenting his new framework for Stakeholder Relationship Management. Other presenters from the U.S. introduced themselves, and it was interesting to share stories on how we all came to attend this particular conference and rejoice in escaping the cold, snow and icy weather many of us in the U.S. Midwest and Northeast have endured this winter.
The atmosphere here is exciting. The project management community in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region is strong and has their own standards and concepts that in many areas go deeper and are more practical than PMI's. The wealth of advanced and terminal degree opportunities from Australian universities also speaks to the way in which project management is considered a vital part of successful business management as well as a key component to higher education in areas such as construction, design, and business.
No comments:
Post a Comment