Thank you to our Sponsors:
International Project Management Day – Acknowledging the Profession
Dear Frank
I wanted to thank you and forward you a message I sent out below, that I based on IIL’s email earlier today, to my consultants worldwide. Thank you for the foresight and vision in the creation of the International Project Management Day. Thank you also for the reminder, through your presentation at the PMI Leadership Institute, to remember the power of acknowledgment. Your message obviously hit home.
I hope today is a resounding success and that you enjoy what you have created. For my part, it is greatly appreciated.
Warm regards,
Drew
Chair, PMI Consulting SIG
THANK YOU: To all KT's Project Managers in honour of International Project Management Day
Dear Colleague,
On this, the fourth annual International Project Management Day, I would like to take a moment to thank you for your contributions as a professional project manager or the support you provide to project managers across KT and at our clients. The job you are doing is a critically important one for businesses, governments and our society.
The idea of formally recognizing the value of project management and of designating a “day” for honoring project managers worldwide began with one individual — namely Frank P. Saladis, PMP, Senior Consultant to IIL, co-publisher of allPM.com and a colleague with whom I work in the area of Specific Interest Groups for the Project Management Institute. Today, educational events and gatherings are taking place around the world. I hope that you take a moment to recognize a client, colleague or peer for their project management efforts.
For my own part I want to recognize the work of several people in KT with whom I work closely for their contributions to project management. Thank you to Jim Schlick for creating KT’s fundamental approach to project management. To Sam Bodley-Scott and Alan Brache, for their work in elevating project management’s contribution to the effective implementation of strategy in their eponymous book, Implementation. Also, a heartfelt thanks to Christabel Nazareth for her work on KT’s revised strategy for developing our project management platform and for her most recent work in developing the heavily implementation-focused program, “Decision Driven Project Management” with the great support of John Ager.
In New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg proclaimed today, November 6th, International Project Management Day. The mayor said in his proclamation, “As we add new buildings to our iconic skyline; as we improve our public schools to help more children thrive; and as we strive to guide this city through tough financial times to emerge stronger than ever; we depend on project managers to get the job done right.” Project management is an indispensible practice in realizing valuable change and KT is at the heart of that value creation for so many of our clients.
All these activities represent a benchmark in how far the project management profession has progressed. But even more important, today is simply a good day to pause and recognize the important role you are personally playing as an individual project manager or the support you provide project managers, often as an unsung hero behind the big and small achievements that add up to great progress.
So, thank you. And keep up the good work. It is greatly appreciated.
Warm regards,
Drew
Frank P. Saladis PMP
Project management is a profession that many people just don’t seem to understand. Even project managers have difficulty explaining to their family and friends what they actually do. During a keynote address I delivered recently my daughter was in attendance and remarked to me after the speech that I mentioned the word “PMBOK” at least 20 times. She had no idea what it was. Since I was in the presence of a group of project managers I basically took it for granted that everyone would know what I was talking about. There is a lesson learned here (lessons learned, what a concept!) We really can’t make any assumptions about how people perceive the job of the project manager and we especially can’t make any assumptions about the terminology we use or about the methods and procedures used to manage and complete our projects. It is also apparent that many people view project management as “added work”, overhead, or something that prevents real work from being accomplished. The generally accepted practice in business is to plan minimally and get started quickly. The belief is that less planning means more time for work and therefore faster time to completion or to the market. This is where we begin to see the value of project management. Projects that that start off quickly and follow the “just do it” approach ultimately end up in triage. Additional cost, displeased customers, schedule overruns, and probably several changes in the project team can be expected. Troubled projects are (in most cases) the result of poor planning. The perception that following a project management methodology will delay the project and prevent the team from being productive has been fueled by the belief that if you take too much time up front to plan you will not have enough time to meet the deadline. Where did the deadline come from? It was probably a guess based on loosely defined information, a lack of understanding about the complexity of the work to be done and a failure to analyze the current workload of the existing resources. That’s where project management comes in. It is an organized, common sense approach that will, when properly administered, increase the probability of success significantly while supporting and contributing to the organizations major goals and objectives. If you are a project manager you already know all about this. You may also being dealing with the frustrations associated with working for people or within organizations that do not seem to fully understand the challenges of the project manager position or the benefits that can be derived if the entire organization actually embraced the true value of a project management methodology.
Looking at project management from a different perspective there is a truly exhilarating feeling when a project manager looks back at a project that has been completed successfully. Completed projects are a testimonial to the project manager and team and visibly demonstrate the true Power of the Profession. Gazing upon a completed bridge or a new park in an urban area, or a new sports stadium or concert arena will provide anyone with a feeling of awe and an appreciation for the work that was done. These are projects and we need to take the time to recognize those who worked so hard for us to enjoy them. Recently the city of Newark New Jersey celebrated the opening the Prudential Center, an arena, or more appropriately a master piece of building, that brings pride to the community and unlimited opportunities for economic growth. The grand opening of the arena was brought to the public through another project- a concert by Bon Jovi. Yes, rock concerts are projects! I don’t think too many of the fans were thinking about the WBS for the concert or the risks associated with pyrotechnics but you can rest assured that a strong team of dedicated professionals planned every part of the concert from the amplification and sound to an extra set of guitar strings.
Projects are all around us. A political convention, the making of a movie, a new building in downtown San Francisco, a wedding reception, a graduation party, a webcast, or a family vacation are all examples of projects people encounter just about everyday.
The world is actually filled with project managers. The title is not the important element here, it is more about what people do to achieve the desired objective. This is where the idea of International Project Management Day was originated. Sometime in 2002 the alumni of the Project Management Institute’s Leadership Institute initiated an email based discussion group to discuss how we could take the field or profession of project management to higher levels of appreciation in our respective communities. I though about IPM Day back in the later part of 2003. I sent a few memos about the idea and received some very supportive feedback from my colleagues. During the next several months I sent several inquires to the members of my project management network looking for additional support and ideas that would actually help me to make IPM Day a reality. In 2004 I attempted to identify a date that was not associated with any major holiday. I soon discovered that just about everyday is a holiday somewhere around the world. I selected Nov. 2, 2005. It seemed to be a good choice and I would designate the first Thursday of November each year as International Project Management Day.
Laverne Johnson, the CEO of the International Institute for Learning Inc. recognized the importance of designating a day for honoring project managers and the profession of project management and the first webinar, of what has now become an annual event, sponsored by IIL was planned and delivered to more than 1000 attendees from around the world.
