10 Reasons Why You Can’t Miss PW&WCBA in Seattle

ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts is an event for all those needing to take charge, reduce risk and deliver results in a changing work environment. Learn how to elevate your skills, deploy technical innovation and collaborate across functions to become a more effective project manager or business analyst from industry leaders

Here are the top 10 reasons you can't miss PW&WCBA 2015:

1.       Project Portfolio Management - New Secrets Revealed
Barb Hurst, Manager, Project Portfolio, Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company, will help you uncover secrets on how to plan, communicate and rollout portfolio management as a valuable service in the real world (including the best day/time to present a new idea and influencing the influencers.

2.       Build Your Brand as an Emerging Leader
Uncover the three essential elements of an effective leadership brand and how you can scale up  your brand and advance your career with best practices from Jo Miller, Founding Editor, BeLeaderly.com, CEO, Women's Leadership Coaching, Inc.

3.       Decrease Project Risk
Drive project success through active risk management and get a better understanding of the relationship between project risk management and project success. Plus, Scott Reynolds, VP Senior Technology Project Manager, Bank of America will also share how you can increase your projects probability of success.

4.       Become a Change Leader            
Project Managers will come together with Lou Russell, CEO & Learning Faciiliator, Russell Martin & Associates to experience project collaboration and competition in real time. You'll learn how to complete difficult projects with and in spite of other teams, just like in the real world.

5.       Navigate Your Own Career Journey
A career in project management can take on many paths and is dependent on an individual's goals, interests and limitations. Join Rick Radice, VP, Federal Regulatory Exam Liaison, Prudential Financial as he shares different PM career paths and how to select what's right for you.

6.       Build a Project Management Centre of Excellence
CIBC Bank's Lindsey-Ann DePeri leads you through the journey of creating a CoE for Project Management, including establishing a value proposition, aligning staff and projects into a shared services portfolio, application of best practices and more.

7.       Master Your Presentation Skills
One of last year's top rated speakers, William Greenwald, Founder & Chief Neuroleaderologist, Windsor Leadership Group, returns to the PW&WCBA with the goal of helping you construct a great story while holding mastery of the stage.

8.       Explore & Analyze Data in 3D
3D data exploration is a new and promising field. Igor Peev, Senior Program Manager, Power Map for Excel, Microsoft Corporation will talk about how interacting and animating the data gives the user additional insights which are not available in the traditional methods of exploration.

9.       Scale Agile to YOUR Organization
Forrester Research examines new roles required to make a transition to Agile, address limitations that require a hybrid approach and talk about shifts that need to be made in budgeting and planning.

10.   Manage the Rate of Change in a Digital Driven Economy
Fredrick Redd, CEO, ASSAI Management Consulting reveals leadership strategies to keep pace with the rate of change that is ideal for leading projects, programs and organizations.

Download the brochure for full session details and speaker line up: http://bit.ly/1G6UIFN

Join us next month to explore what the future of project management and business analysis will look like. As a valued reader of our blog, you get an exclusive $100 off the current rate with code PW15BL. Register today: http://bit.ly/1G6UIFN

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Uncover the Promise of a PM/BA Partnership at PW&WCBA, Save $200 Today!

Earlier this year, ESI's Top 10 Trends in Business Analysis projected that BAs would become the common thread between business objectives and the projects designed to achieve them.*

The challenge, for both project managers and business analysts, now lies in the collaboration between the teams throughout the project phases. Are you prepared to managing complex projects with your peers?

PW&WCBA arms you with the skills you need to work across the project lines.

New Session Just Announced!

Understanding the Role of Business Process Management within Projects
Gurpreet Kanwar, Senior Project Manager, Information Management, NAV Canada

Business process plays an important role in successful project delivery and vice versa. We will identify how business process and project management relate together. We will review:

·         The difference between Project Management and Process Management

·         How projects can help in creating and improving the business processes

·         How Business Process helps projects to align with the organizational strategy

·         How Change Management plays a very important role to institutionalize the business process across the organization

·         How Project Methodology can be used in executing business process

·         Plus, don't miss Kathleen Hass, Principal Consultant, Kathleen Hass & Associates as she explores the New Project Leadership Model: The Promise of the PM/BA Partnership in a Complex World.

Download the brochure for full session details: http://bit.ly/1ULwTdg

$100 Early Registration Savings Expire today, September 11. Plus, as a valued reader of our blog, you get $100 off the current rate – That’s a total of $200 savings: Secure Your Spot & Save: http://bit.ly/1ULwTdg

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Practical Approaches to Change Management from Farm Credit Mid-America

Change is inevitable, that's a fact. And it's never easy. But if there's one thing we can learn in today's project landscape, it's that not adapting to change isn't even an option.

Project timelines are accelerating at an unprecedented pace and you're expected to work with brand new tools and solutions that weren't even available a few years ago - how are you and your teams coping?

 

PW&WCBA is Your Partner in Advancing Your Change Management Strategies:

Change is Tough: The Alternative is Tougher.  A Case Study on Organization-Wide Change Management Emphasizing Practical Approaches and Lessons Learned

Farm Credit Mid-America's Vice President of Process Improvement & Execution, Chuck Millhollan will lead you through a multi-faceted case study which incorporates strategic portfolio management, the practical application of Lean concepts in a service organization, a complex program impacting every employee in one of the largest associations in the Farm Credit System, and a multi-year change management initiative on the organization's Journey to 2020. Special attention is given to the practical tools and tactics the Farm Credit Mid-America teams have used to enhance delivery and change management.

In addition to Chuck, also hear from:

• Lou Russell, CEO, Learning Faciliator, Russell Martin & Associates on The IT PM as Change Leader

• Myles Miller, CEO & Founder, LeadUp discussing Change Agents - Are You Ready for Change?

• Brunella Lahey, Senior Business Systems Analyst sharing how to Implement Global Solutions at a Fortune 100 Company

• Wayne Kremling, PMP, Senior Project Manager, The Boeing Company revealing Managing Risks, Issues and Opportunities with a Mitigation Burndown

• And much more!

To view the full agenda download it here: http://bit.ly/1EDAgB8

Join us in October and walk away with an action plan to increase your ability to manage projects during times of change. Register today with code PW15BL and receive $100 off current rates! http://bit.ly/1EDAgB8

We hope to see you in Seattle!

Cheers!

The PW&WCBA Team

@Project_World

#PW15

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Advance Your Career & Increase Your Value at PW&WCBA

Become a more effective project manager or business analyst at ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts this fall. Hear how to elevate your skillset, deploy technical innovation and collaborate across functions at PW&WCBA, designed to deliver the skills and knowledge you need to take charge, reduce risk and deliver results in a changing work environment.

PW&WCBA West 2015

October 21 - 23, 2015

Renaissance Seattle Hotel | Seattle, WA

Featuring:

·         5 Keynote Sessions dedicated to advancing your professional AND personal development (focusing on developing leadership strategies, managing change, building your brand and more)

·         27 hands-on learning sessions led by experts in the project trenches, including Microsoft, Prudential Financial, The Walt Disney Company, Forrester Research, Blue Cross Blue Shield & more)

·         8+ hours to network and learn with your PM & BA peers

·         Access to the PW&WCBA Webinar Series, continuing your education year-round

Download the brochure for the full program: http://bit.ly/1NEPAx0

Plus, Earn Up to 36 PDUs/CDUs in Just 3 Days!

Use code PW15BL for $100 off the current rate. Register today: http://bit.ly/1NEPAx0

Hope to see you this fall!

Cheers,

The PW&WCBA 2015 Team

@Project_World

#PW15

http://pwwbcablog.iirusa.com/

Finding the Right Project Management Methodology for You

By: Kazon Robinson

Projects are formulated and produced by organizations to gain profit and expand the organization. Every project formulated, whether it is big or small, needs some form of planning because without planning, a project could result in failure.

Fortunately, there is a way to go about that business of creating an outline for a project - Project Management Methodology (PM).  Today, there are various PM methodologies and author Moira Alexander addresses a few very well in her recent article, “How to Pick a Project Management Methodology”. Specifically, three methodologies that stand out from the rest are Agile, Waterfall, and Scrum.

Agile: Alexander writes, “The Agile Methodology was developed for projects requiring significant flexibility and speed… Agile may be best-suited for projects requiring less control and real-time communication within self-motivated team settings.” So, a possible recommendation would be an open space office where communication is faster paced and thoughts are able to exchange faster.

Waterfall: “Used across many industries, most commonly in software development. Waterfall allows for increased control throughout each phase but can be highly inflexible if scope changes may be anticipated later,” according to Alexander. The Waterfall methodology is used for more complex projects being as there is a need for more control throughout to handle the complexity.

Scrum: Scrum is an agile development framework that is more so used for software development but is now generally used in complex projects.

In addition, there are many other PM Methodologies such as Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM), Six Sigma, Crystal, or Feature Driven Development (FDD). This amount of various methodologies helps organizations settle on a certain way of performing a project whether it is complex or simple.

Every methodology works in a business, some work better than in others depending on the situation and if the situation does not always fit the project methodologies framework it can lead to undesirable results. Nevertheless, no project is the “best of the best” and Alexander explains what to look for in a methodology. “When evaluating methodologies, these are only a few of the many factors that should be carefully considered: risks, complexity, constraints, project size, and cost…” Those are some of the factors to consider when looking at different project management methodologies.

In the end, what needs to be focused on is how projects improve or better the whole organization’s objectives. Once you determine the success or failure of those goals, look for the best methodologies that suits your organization’s needs.

About the Author: Kazon Robinson is currently a Marketing Intern at IIR USA and a high school student at All Hallows. Kazon helps oversee and revise the data entry of spreadsheets with information relating to investors, twitter handles, and conferences. He also has experience interacting with other writers from participating in the AH Writers and Authors Club. He has previously worked at Bronxworks Betances Community Center as an Office Assistant where he provided professional service and directions for callers. He can be reached at krobinson@iirusa.com

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PW&WCBA 2015 Full Program Now Available

The Fusion of Technology & Innovation

We've got news. ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts is coming back to Seattle in 2015! Download the just released brochure here: http://bit.ly/1GySTAo

As always, PW&WCBA has been designed to deliver the skills and knowledge you need to take charge, reduce risk and deliver results in a changing work environment. Hear how to elevate your skills, deploy technical innovation and collaborate across functions to become a more effective project manager or business analyst from industry leaders including:

·         The Walt Disney Company

·         Clark County NV

·         The Boeing Company

·         Champs Oncology

·         SUNY ITEC

·         Windsor Leadership Group

·         Bank of America

·         Prudential Financial

·         Mutual of Omaha

·         Forrester Research

·         Blue Cross Blue Shield Texas

·         Russell Martin & Associates

·         Microsoft

·         Assai Mangement Consulting

·         Women's Leadership Coaching

·         Farm Credit Canada

·         Denab Quality Systems

·         Kathleen Hass & Associates

Download the full 2015 PW&WCBA West Program for the full agenda and speaker lineup: http://bit.ly/1GySTAo

Join us in October and you'll walk away with tangible lessons to implement immediately upon returning to the office, increasing your value to the organization.

Plus, register by Friday, July 10th and save $300: http://bit.ly/1GySTAo

Cheers,

The PW&WBCA 2015 Team

@ProjectWorld

#PW15

Pwwbcablog.iirusa.com

Earn a FREE Pass to PW&WCBA East in Disney World - Become a Guest Blogger

Earn a complimentary all-access pass to ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts East 2015 by serving as a Guest Blogger at the event. As a Guest Blogger, you’ll have access to PW&WCBA's comprehensive agenda attracting the best in insights from around the world, right in Lake Buena Vista, Florida this March.

You'll get a free pass to the annual PW&WCBA event plus exclusive access to a networking community and on-demand webinars, to help you grow and learn throughout the year.

Guest Blogger responsibilities will include submitting one post per week to the PW&WCBA blog between now and the conference and attending specifically assigned sessions at the event and blogging live or same day.

By participating as a Guest Blogger leading up to and at the event, you’ll receive an all-access pass for the entire event, taking place March 23-24, 2015at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL. In addition, Guest Bloggers are responsible for their own travel and lodging. Learn more about the event by visiting our website: http://bit.ly/1zzJ9Cn 

Apply today by sending your name, title, company, short biography and links to your blog or writing samples, along with a few sentences about why we should choose you to be our 2015 Guest Blogger to Amanda Ciccatelli at aciccatelli@iirusa.com. We will review your submission and contact the chosen Guest Bloggers directly with more details.

All readers of our blog receive an exclusive discount of $100 off the current registration rate with code PWEAST15BL. Register here:  http://bit.ly/1zzJ9Cn

We hope to have you join us in Orlando!

Cheers,

The PW&WBCA Team

#PWEAST

What Does the Digital Economy Mean for PMs & BAs?

The digital driven economy has not only altered the way we manage projects and programs, it has fundamentally changed the way we conduct business across all industries and sectors and the way we live. In today's economy, any project, program or organization whose internal rate of change is slower than the external rate of change will be headed for difficulty.

Project managers and business analysts are our leaders for tomorrow - do you have the skills necessary to Manage the Rate of Change in a Digital Driven Economy?

Fredrick Redd, former Director, Project Management Office, Port Authority & New Jersey will take the stage at PW&WCBA to share the principles and strategies you need to keep pace with the rate of change that is ideal for leading projects, programs and organizations.

PW&WCBA East

March 23-24, 2015

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort

Lake Buena Vista, Florida

Plus, check out new sessions from Verizon (Risk Management on the Edge: Tips, Tools & Techniques) and Vertex, Inc. (Process Improvement Insights Gained while Watching Reality Television).

Download the brochure for the updated agenda: http://bit.ly/17qgkla

We hope to see you in Orlando as we help you prepare for the digital driven economy.

Register by Friday, February 20th and save $200: http://bit.ly/17qgkla

All the best,
The PW&WCBA Team

@Project_World

#PWEAST

pwwbcablog.iirusa.com

P.S. - Are you a PMI or IIBA member? You can save an additional 20% off your conference registration. Contact Kacey Anderson at kanderson@iirusa.com for more information.

Communication and Proactivity Make You a Better Project Manager

Project managers often have the difficult job of dealing with projects having inter-team disputes, being over budget and missing deadlines. However being able to avoid problems and potential pitfalls before they even arise is something that can put the better project managers head and shoulders above the rest.

A recent article by CIO Magazine has pinpointed key areas and scenarios that may arise for project managers and how best to deal with them. The key elements that are prevalent are communication and proactivity. By keeping a stream of communication between manager and team helps to check in on progress in order to make sure problems aren’t a surprise and can keep the team focused and happy. By building a good relationship with the team will create trust and increase productivity, as workers are more likely to put in more effort for a manager they trust and enjoy working with.

Communication with higher management is also key for keeping a strong team; by being pro-active and making sure you know if a key member of your team could be taken away for something else could be the key to keeping them. A good project manager will be able to show facts and data that can back up the need for the member which can be the way to keep them. By showing in data form that without a certain member a project could potentially go over the deadline day or the time and effort to train a new member could push the budget up past the quota creates a much stronger case for keeping the team intact. If the communication with higher management is there it can give time to gather evidence instead of arguing a case with nothing to back up the claims.

The proactivity of pre-empting issues like that can be useful for other potential project setbacks. Communicating with the team and making sure they understand their specific roles and setting a number of mini deadlines will keep the project on track. Setting specific roles for each member keeps the team from potentially overlapping and doing the same thing twice which is inefficient. By setting early smaller deadlines can mean if there are problems along the way they can be dealt with quickly to make sure they overall deadline is kept to.

The final point on communication is that sometimes members may be in different countries or time zones and have difficulty accessing each other’s work. However new technology such as EMC Syncplicity allow members to be able to collaborate easily to share their work with each other to make sure the project keeps flowing.

The project manager is not just there to set schedules and crack the whip; they are there to keep the team together and on course by creating an atmosphere of trust and keeping good inter-team communication. Pro-activity is also critical for anticipating and averting potential difficulties that may arise in the project. These assets are paramount for a project manager to succeed and move forward in their company and gain the trust of peers and management.

About the Author: Harry Kempe, a marketing intern at IIR USA, who works on various aspects of the industry including social media, marketing analysis and media. He is a recent graduate of Newcastle University who previously worked for EMAP Ltd. and WGSN as a marketing assistant on events such as the World Architecture Festival, World Retail Congress and Global Fashion Awards. He can be reached at hkempe@IIRUSA.com.

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ESI’s Top 10 Project Management Trends of 2015

ESI International, a project management training company, recently released its top 10 trends in project management for 2015. This year’s trends reveal that project managers (PMs) will be impacted by many changes this year including more hybrid environments, an increasing demand for talent management, and a growing need to align project outcomes with organizational strategy.

In 2015, the PM’s role will continue to evolve, according ESI VP of Marketing and Strategic Intelligence Mark Bashrum. Improving interpersonal skills, learning the discipline of strategic execution, and becoming well versed in change management practices should be on every PM’s list of New Year’s resolutions.

“All too often people talk about strategy and execution independently,” said Bashrum. “In the coming year we will see a heightened focus on managing the critical links connecting the two, as more organizations begin to view strategic execution as a core discipline.”

ESI’s top 10 trends for project management include:

Lofty Expectations: PMs need to become adept at managing gaps between the constraints of cloud-based platforms and the business’ expectations.

Out-of-Whack: Talent management within the PM community comes back into focus.

Fuel for the Hybrid: As the pace of change continues to accelerate, hybrid project methods will become the norm.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short: The ability to find and hire top PM talent is dwindling.

Bottom’s Up: Organizations must build bottom-up processes to link project outcomes to organizational strategy.

Ignore Them at Your Own Peril: Project managers will continue to be ignored and not get the coaching and mentoring they are screaming for.

Run!: Project managers continue to sacrifice project transparency as they flee from conflict and avoid difficult conversations.

Change is Coming: The disciplines of change management and project management continue to merge as PMs become responsible for delivering project and business outcomes.

Knocking at the Door: Project management and business strategy better align to the benefit of the organization.

Culture Shock: Organizational culture becomes a bigger consideration in risk management practices.

“The impact on project management is substantial,” he added. “Project managers, who are typically held accountable for delivering project outcomes, will now also be responsible for how those deliverables impact the business. This will require a retooling of their skillsets, but in the end it elevates the PM’s role as a critical enabler of business strategy, and that’s a very good thing for project managers who can make the jump.”

About the Author: Amanda Ciccatelli, Social Media Strategist of the Marketing Division at IIR USA, has a background in digital and print journalism, covering a variety of topics in business strategy, marketing, and technology. Amanda is the Editor at Large for several of IIR’s blogs including Next Big Design, Customers 1st, Digital Impact, STEAM Accelerator and ProjectWorld and World Congress for Business Analysts, and a regular contributor to Front End of Innovation and The Market Research Event,. She previously worked at Technology Marketing Corporation as a Web Editor where she covered breaking news and feature stories in the technology industry. She can be reached at aciccatelli@iirusa.com. Follow her at @AmandaCicc.

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PW&WCBA East Agenda Just Released

Due to overwhelming demand, we're happy to announce ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts will return to the East Coast in March. Join us at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort in Orlando, March 23-24, 2015.

The 2015 program brings you some of the best presentations from the Seattle conference, plus new and exciting best practices and case studies from the project trenches. Designed for all training levels, PW&WCBA boasts a robust agenda and most importantly, delivers tangible lessons you can implement as soon as you return to the office. Plus, new this year, we're leaving sessions open to bring you the latest in project management and business analysis!

PW&WCBA East

March 23-24, 2015

Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort

Lake Buena Vista, Florida

Download the 2015 agenda here: http://bit.ly/1wQdNFT

As always, PW&WCBA delivers the actionable insights you need:

• Simplifying Project Management
• Practical Tools & Tactics to Enhance Delivery & Change Management
• Strengthening Your Soft Skills & Strategic Leadership
• Leveraging Visual Thinking in Project Management
• How to Win at the Game of Office Politics
• Optimizing Presentation Impact & Stage Presence
• The True Value of an Agile Process for You & Your Organization
• Creative Problem Solving

And much more!

Download the agenda for full program details:  http://bit.ly/1wQdNFT

Mention code PWEASTLI & Save $100 off the standard rate. Register today: http://bit.ly/1wd1Ue4

We hope to see you in Orlando as we accelerate development at the rate of change.

All the best,

The PW&WCBA Team

@Project_World

#PWEAST

pwwbcablog.iirusa.com

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How to Avoid Project Management Failures

These days, project management can be a touchy subject, especially when it comes to project failures. But, knowledge, strategy and precautionary tactics can help project managers avoid serious project management pitfalls.

Here’s what leaders in the industry shared with Fierce CIO recently about tips for avoiding project management pitfalls.

Don't expect immediate results.

"If you're a tried and true waterfall type of project management shop and you go in and change to an agile shop, that's a big change… in principles and also asking a lot of people to partake in that change. Some folks are resistant to it, especially if there's not an immediate payoff. The immediate impact will actually be less effectiveness, maybe less efficiency, but you have to hold true to the fact that long term, it's going to pay off." - Randy McGraw, SVP of technology and operational services at service provider West IP Communications

Have a project leader to provide feedback.

"You may know the technology and service inside and out--but it is still important to have someone on your side who can actively participate and provide insight and things of nature change management." - McGraw

Don’t let deadlines run your project.

"Let's focus on the right solution [first] and then figure out how to get it done in the time frame we have to. Whether we have to [divide it], phase it, or defer some work. Taking that approach of what's the right end game and making sure you set your project and your approach up to get you there ultimately is most important…Help people from falling into those pitfalls of time-driven decision making." - Kevin Riley, CTO of Sonus Networks

Approach project management one step at a time.

"When you do these projects, they can be very complex [and] you can get caught up in looking at the full body of work and all the details, and it becomes hard to wrap your head around the plan.” - Riley

Stay detail-oriented and streamlined.

"Make sure you minimize details, but also make sure your plans around those [finite number of] details are perfect."  - Bill Scudder, CIO of Sonus Networks

Avoid bureaucracy. 

"I try not to have a lot of bureaucracy around project management because I think that can actually slow things down." - Scudder

Provide feedback throughout the process.

"We do start with a process where we have an exec review board for large project.  We call it the IPAC. IT project approval board.  They come and present the problems they're trying to solve, the resources they need, etc.  If they're stuck, we also do a traffic-light review… so we have a funnel of large projects that go through that.” - Scudder

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Register for the Free ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts Webinar Series

As a thank you for being a member of our ProjectWorld & The World Congress for Business Analysts LinkedIn group, we’d like to invite you to join us for the following complimentary presentations in our PW&WCBA webinar series:

Building Metrics that Tell the Complete Story – Going Beyond Earned Value Management

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST

Join Dwayne P. Myers, I&DS Rotorcraft Project Manager, Boeing, in a presentation that takes a deep dive into Earned Value Management. He’ll reveal best practices and lessons learned in understanding and explaining the numbers, as well as where variances meet the stakeholders.

Reserve your webinar seat now: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/217800313 Cyber Security Thursday, December 4, 2014 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM Join Silvanus David, Programme Manager – IT Infrastructure Projects, in a presentation about how cyber security is a shared responsibility, and each of us has a role to play. Emerging cyber threats require the engagement of the entire society - from government and law enforcement to the private sector and most importantly, members of the public. Today in cyberspace, the nation faces a myriad of threats from criminals, including individual hackers and organized criminal groups, as well as technologically advanced nation-states. Government, non-governmental and private sector entities, as well as individuals, families and communities must collaborate on ways to effectively reduce risk. Reserve your webinar seat now: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/346620408 After Action Reviews – Capturing Lessons Learned  Tuesday, December 9, 2014 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST Join Wayne Kremling, Senior Project Manager, Everett Program Planning & Control, Boeing, in a presentation about how capturing and leveraging lessons learned should be a strategic goal of all enterprises.  By putting action to this strategy organizations can avoid repeating mistakes and take advantage of opportunities.  Many projects or organizations conduct lessons learned meetings at the end of a project.  The problem they run into is that the value of the lesson is not leveraged.  A change in processes or tools is needed as an outcome of these reviews so that the value of the lessons can be realized. Reserve your webinar seat now: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/176980225 BAs and PMs Unite to Avoid Projects Destined to Fail Wednesday, December 10, 2014 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST Join Robin F. Goldsmith, JD in a presentation about how project managers often get blamed for failure of projects that no project manager could save.  Frankly, many projects are destined to fail from the beginning. Managing such projects is a disheartening effort to minimize failure rather than an uplifting quest to success. The problem stems inevitably from widely-accepted but mistaken project and requirements models.  In this eye-opening presentation, Robin Goldsmith shows how appropriate business analysis is essential for initiating projects that can succeed. Reserve your webinar seat now: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/264834208

We hope you’ll join us! Interested in presenting during one of our PW&WCBA webinars? Contact Kacey Anderson at kanderson@iirusa.com. Cheers, The ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts Team @Project_World Pwwbcablog.iirusa.com

The Nitty Gritty of Agile Advanced PM Training

Thinking back on The Nitty Gritty of Agile Advanced PM Training. This was presented by Nanette Brown on behalf of EBG Consulting. She is a product developer with over 24 years of industry experience.

We were encouraged to get up and interact early on about how experienced we were with Agile. Implementing Agile is based on 2 factors: Do Agile and Be Agile. It’s like yin and yang, two parts of a greater whole.

Agile is about bringing value to customers through developing the right software that meet their needs. What you want to avoid is having a process be enshrined or ossified because that is the opposite about what Agile is about.

A group of us at the table had a chance to share some of our experience in our business and the challenges that we have. We heard from some Boeing representatives and Johnson & Johnson. We all experience changing requirements at the last moment and the utilization of Agile can help with these sudden changes.

Our focus during the presentation was on Scrum and XP Values

I had learned a lot of useful tips that I will be bringing back to my team.

Leadership Lessons: The Biggest Challenges Facing Leaders Today

I recently interviewed Mary Ann Bender of Allstate and Betsy Ballentine – Project Manager at Russell Martin & Associates, to talk about the ins and outs of leadership in today’s competitive business landscape. Both women are speaking at next week’s ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts conference - the premiere conference brand that delivers executive level program quality with an enhanced focus on collaboration between project management and business analysis disciplines.

Here’s what Mary Ann and Betsy had to say:

IIR: What is the biggest challenge facing project leaders today? How can they be overcome?

Bender: Budget continues to be a challenge in some cases; however, based on my experience the biggest challenge is the fear of availability issues or business impact due to the project or changes to the environment.

So, have a good change management process in place, clear and customized communication per business area, do a presentation of success measurements to officers and directors helping them understand how the project is helping the company and the businesses and if the project has cost savings, those must be presented too.  Divide the metrics and reports per business unit and make it as a healthy competition between them.

Ballentine: Multi-tasking is the biggest challenge. Constantly changing focus means that project managers are never getting any velocity on their projects. New highly-matrixed, job-sharing times demand leaner, more resilient tools. Get REAL!

Mary Ann and Betsy will be speaking at PW&WCBA in Seattle, WA taking place September 22-24th. The 2014 program is designed with courses for all training levels, a robust agenda, and most importantly tangible lessons which you can begin implementing the day you return to your office, making you even more valuable to your organization. PW&WCBA offers attendees 36 PDU/CDUs - that's more than half of the required credits necessary to maintain your certification in just one place.

To learn more or register for the event, click here:  http://bit.ly/1r4E6sC

Will you be joining us at ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts?

In less than one month, hundreds of project management and business analysis executives will gather in Seattle to tackle some of their most pressing challenges from the project trenches at ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts. Will you be joining us?

PW&WCBA

September 22-24, 2014

W Hotel

Seattle, Washington

• PW&WCBA provides a 3-day experience designed for all training levels,  with a robust agenda and tangible lessons that can be implemented when you return to the office.
• Full Agenda Addressing Project Pain Points : Designed to meet the needs of YOUR industry, including a new Project Scheduling Lab, a focus on Leading High Performance Teams and Becoming a Person of Influence.
• In-Depth Workshops: This year there's even more workshop sessions to get hands on with topics, including Agile PM Training, Requirements Management Best Practices, Cyber Security, Emotional Intelligence and more. 
• 40+ Speakers sharing best practices and lessons learned from deep in the project trenches. Find out what works (and what doesn't!) from the best in the industry. You'll hear from Allstate, Bank of Montreal, Erie Insurance, IIBA, Kindred Healthcare, Microsoft, Quest Diagnostics, Starbucks & more. 
• A Look into the Future of Project Management & Business Analysis: PW&WCBA will prepare your team not only for the changes taking place in project management and business analysis, but also what's coming. The IIBA's Kevin Brennan and Clark County NV's Ricki Henry will share What the Future of Business Analysis will look like, while Kathleen B. Hass explores what the New Project Leadership Model looks like.
• 36 PDUs/CDUs to maintain your certification: that's more than half of the credits needed in just THREE days!
• Unparalleled Networking: PW&WCBA Connect allows you to see who's attending the event and begin networking before you arrive in Seattle. Plus, we've added a networking reception and the opportunity to sign up for group dinners to continue the conversation after the conference day ends.

Download the brochure for full details: http://bit.ly/1CJdpQv

Attendees to date include:

Visa Disney PMI AIG New York Life Insurance Allstate Insurance Centene Corporation Russell Martin & Associates Banfield The Pet Hospital Citizens Bank Solea Software Solutions ALLData El Paso Water Utilities Hampton Affiliates University of North Texas Health Science Center Hilti Inc McKee Foods Corporation ARGO Data Goodyear University of Connecticut Lonza Biologics Women's Leadership Coaching Inc New Directions Behavioral Health Federal Depositors Insurance Corp Kathleen Hass & Associates Inc ECMC Watermark Learning NyeCo Inc State of Wisconsin Reliance Home Comfort Microsoft The Boeing Company Starbucks Coffee Company Bank of Montreal International Institute of Business Analysis Federal Reserve Bank WEA Insurance AT&T Neiman Marcus Honda R&D Robert Bosch EBG Consulting Kindred Healthcare Inc ESI Fujitsu America Callisto Integration Edwards Lifesciences LLC Quest Diagnostics WEA Trust University of Regina Tyco Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco NASA Mars Science Laboratory T. Garanti Bankasi A S Stage Stores Clark County SITA Windsor Leadership Group LLC Human Systems International Plan Administrators Inc Washington State Department of Retirement Systems Insperity Canadian Blood Services The Pasha Group Buffalo State College Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Travelers Companies T-Mobile Continental Mills

Have you been following our Leadership Lessons Blog series? Head over to our blog to read up on our recent interviews with industry leaders themselves: http://bit.ly/1tcIZTB

PW&WCBA 2014 presents you with new opportunities to accelerate professional and personal development at the rate of change. Join us and make yourself more valuable to your organization.

Mention code PW14LI & Save 15% off the standard rate. Register today: http://bit.ly/1CJdpQv

All the best,
The PW&WCBA Team

@Project_World

#PW14

Leadership Lessons: Benjamin Locwin

I recently interviewed Benjamin Locwin of lonza Biopharmaceuticals to talk about the ins and outs of leadership in today’s competitive business landscape.  Locwin is speaker at the upcoming ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts 2014 conference in Seattle taking place next month. He will be presenting a session entitled, “Using Evidence-Based Practice for High-Impact Messaging.”

At PW&WCBA, you will have the opportunity to join industry thought leaders as they re-examine how to identify opportunities and track their success, understanding what it means to be an effective leader in a virtual and multicultural world, and explore the future role of project managers and business analysts with the corporation.

Check out what Locwin had to say:

IIR: How do you, as a leader, stand out in a crowd in this competitive business world?

Locwin: For this, leadership branding is critically important; I have my own leadership brand, and this constancy of message carries through all of the work I do with my teams.

IIR: What are characteristics of a GREAT leader?

Locwin: Listening, being empathic, and not being afraid to make the big decisions. To paraphrase Peter Drucker, an expert in a field has seen enough to be able to quickly appraise a situation and know what’s important to focus on.

IIR: How does a successful leader communicate?

Locwin: One word: Often. If a leader isn’t developing a strategy and communicating a vision, and then communicating frequent progress checks, no one knows what the status is of their achievement work.

IIR: What are the most important decisions you make as a leader of your organization or team?

Locwin: As an organization gets larger there can be a tendency for the “institution” to dampen the “inspiration.” How do you keep this from happening? By disentangling the chaos of the entire big picture and making the smaller teams still feel like critical cogs in the whole machine; It’s really a sense of scale in this case that demotivates. By making the goals and achievements real, tangibility can be felt.

IIR: How do you encourage creative thinking within your team or organization?

Locwin: Much of this is derived from Edward de Bono; Lateral thinking requires tools and techniques to encourage it often. I have developed these systems so that they frequently call upon the experts to continuously refine their work in new, bold, and creative ways.

IIR: How do you help a new employee understand the culture of your organization?

Locwin: Culture can only be felt or measured on a very broad scale; it’s how the business functions as a whole and in the context of its own unique ‘corporate memory.’ You can’t ‘train’ a new employee on the culture of the organization, he or she learns by interacting within it.

IIR: What is one characteristic that you believe every leader should possess?

Locwin: An understanding of behavioral psychology and fluency with statistical variation.

IIR: What is the biggest challenge facing leaders today?

Locwin: Diversity in the workplace with respect to different fluencies with technology and media. Being part of the ‘next-five-minutes’ forecasting model (which is to say that long-term forecasting as had been done for many decades in business is no longer relevant with such short time horizons now).

IIR: What is the one behavior that you have seen derail more leaders’ careers?

Locwin: Believing that natural variation doesn’t occur.

IIR: What advice would you give someone going into a leadership position for the first time?

Locwin: Stop. Look. And listen. Don’t go out and make decisions until you’ve taken stock on how the status quo is running; You’d be more likely to make things worse than better.

IIR: What are you doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as a leader?

Locwin: Continuous learning. It’s all about adaptability.

Locwin will be speaking at ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts 2014, taking place in Seattle, Washington September 22-24th at the W Hotel. The 2014 program is designed with courses for all training levels, a robust agenda, and most importantly tangible lessons which you can begin implementing the day you return to your office, making you even more valuable to your organization. To learn more or register for the event, click here:  http://bit.ly/1p8VOGT

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