Volume X - Issue III - March 2008
PM Profession News
PMI Romania Chapter Election Day Results Reported by Florin Gheorghiu PMP in Bucharest, Romania. On Wed evening the 30th of January the PMI Romanian Chapter held the Election Day for the nominees appointed to run the Board’s business in the next two years. The ballot was called for the second round since in the first attempt the minimum voting member number required was not attained. Some 40 people sat in the Conference Room chairs in a building located downtown Bucharest City a few blocks up the street from the Romanian Athenaeum (pictured) near to Cismigiu old city park, well known to the local citizens.
For more than three hours the nominees and voting members were both struggling to deliver a fresh and convincing message prior to ballots and later to mull over their preferred nominees, or to embarrass with difficult to answer questions those perceived as not representative enough for the Board. This prolonged the preparation warm up period prior to the ballot beyond the scheduled hour since many questions and long perorations were seen. As in the last year the Election Day was marked by intense debates over the direction the Chapter should take in the future, the ways Chapter should take to increase the visibility of PMI and professionals as well as a brand new topic, that of relationships between the REPs’ and PMI. One of the candidates suggested during her presentation that REP’s should lead the way of training under PMI‘s auspices, while the Chapter should only retain its sovereign role of awarding and maintaining REP credential to those entities which fulfill the requirements set forth.
All presentations were centered mainly on how the eligible candidates would make their efforts to be paying off concerning the PMI visibility enhancement. Almost every speaker tried to convince voters that the best way to work this problem out is to promote the Chapter and PMI from inside, mainly by trainings for PMP certification with Project Management tailored training programs. Unfortunately the other side of approaching from outside by public marketing of PMI and influencing the major stakeholders from local communities, academia, public and corporate was not even mentioned. It seems that all candidates were persuaded that solely trainings and isolated events could contribute alone to attaining the objectives. Given the longer than scheduled Election Day, the second point of discussion on Agenda was deferred until 21st of February when the new Bylaws will be discussed and adopted. Finally, the ballot confirmed the following to rule the Board’s business for the next period:
With so many problems lying ahead of them and being elected with no evident majority, each of those appointed Wed evening for their terms would have to do their utmost to please the demanding Chapter members. This will be a tougher role for those nominated and confirmed but not certified professionals of PMI, an aspect addressed during the Chapter Election Day and which will be taken up again with the next occasion on February 21st. PMI Montreal Chapter announces its 2007 Project of the Year Reported by: Alcides Santopietro Jr. PMP in Montreal
Montréal, Québec, Canada. On January 31st the PMI Montréal Chapter revealed the winner of the “Elixir Award Project of the year 2007”. With around 3,000 members, the Montréal Chapter is one of the most active PMI offices in Canada. In 2007 it celebrated its 30th anniversary and, for the third consecutive year, it organized this memorable Gala 2008 event to present the three finalists for the award, and then announce the winner.  Mr. Michael Kamel, PMI Montréal Chapter presidentThe “Elixir” award is given to a team that demonstrates excellence in project management, among the nine project management knowledge areas. According to Mr. Michael Kamel, PMI Montréal Chapter president, “Each of the candidates’ projects can easily demonstrate the added value that the project management brings to our companies.” The winning project was announced at a gala dinner at the Centre CDP Capital, in Montréal, with the presence of representatives from important companies, such as Cirque du Soleil, Alcan, HydroQuébec and Montréal International Airport, among others. And the winner is… The project entitled “UGS expansion to 375 Kilo-Tonnes Per Annum”, a mining plant expansion project managed by Hatch, an engineering and consulting organization, and delivered to QIT-Fer et Titane, an important player in the mining industry in Canada, established in 1950. With a budget of CAN 145 millions (approximately the same amount in US$), this project was delivered three months before its schedule, saved CAN 15 millions and – most important – had no compensated accident. The team highlights the importance of its communication management, since part of the team worked in South Africa, as a success factor.11
The winner team has received many benefits:
The other two finalists were: Project: New Anapharm Headquarter Building a new office facility to join the various operations of the company is not an easy task, so this project was divided into three major steps: architecture and design, the construction of the building and the moving. Factors such as leadership, communication and conformity with the highly demanding regulations were key factors that brought this project to be finished under budget. Project: Grande-Baie and Laterrière plants amperage elevation At the Rio Tinto Alcan Primary Metal facility, risk management, procurement and quality assurance were some of the strong elements of this project, which was concluded one month before its schedule and 20% under budget. The economic figures of the project were also impressive, such as the IRR of 36%. For further information: PMI Montréal chapter: http://www.pmimontreal.org PMI Issues Call for Nominations for 2008 Professional Awards PMI chapters and leaders worldwide are invited to submit nominees for the 2008 PMI Professional Awards. These awards will recognize individual, organizational, professional development, product and literature excellence during 2008. Presentation of the awards will be on Saturday afternoon, October 18, in Denver, Colorado, USA, just before the 2008 PMI Global Congress - North America.
2008 PMI Awards will include the following:
For details and deadlines, visit http://www.pmi.org/WhoWeAre/Pages/Our-Professional-Awards.aspx. With 250,000 members in over 150 countries, the Project Management Institute (PMI®) is the world’s largest and best known project management organization. PMI is actively engaged in advocacy for the PM profession, setting standards, conducting research and providing access to a wide variety of information and resources. PMI also promotes career and professional development and offers certification, networking and community involvement opportunities. PMI was founded in the USA in 1969, but is now a global organization with members, chapters and offices worldwide. For more information, visit www.pmi.org. PMI®, PMP® and PgMP™ are registered trademarks of the Project Management Institute. Report on Transparency and Project Management Event Reported by Theofanis Giotis in Athens  The Greek Project Management Institute (The PMI Athens, GREECE Chapter) and Transparency International Hellas (TI Hellas) organized an event for Transparency and Project Management. The event took place on ZAPPEION MEGARON on Sunday, 3rd of February 2008, 10:00-12:00 and about 80 participants attended it. The event was titled: “Transparency and Project Manαgement in Greece and European Union” and was organized during the Money Forum 2008. At this event many aspects of how to apply transparency to project management were discussed. The event was coordinated by journalist Mr. Chris Konstas from ALTER TV Channel. The speakers at this event were: 
All certified Project Management Professionals (PMPs) that attended the event were entitled two (2) PDUs.  Greek Project Management Institute (The PMI Athens, Greece Chapter) operates as the Greek Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI ®) and was established on June the 8th, 2006 in Athens, Greece. Greek Project Management Institute’s major focus is “Making Project Management Indispensable for Business Results in Greece”. As of today, 26th of Jan. 2006, PMI Greece has 355 members and 162 Certified Project Management Professionals (PMPs). For additional information, visit www.pmi-greece.org or contact Mr. Theofanis Giotis, President and Co-Founder, PMI Greece, Theofanis.Giotis@PMI-GREECE.org. In November 1996 a group of citizens, comprising politicians, businessmen, judges, military officials, journalists, lawyers, doctors, public servants and private sector employees decided to make a stance against corruption in Greece. To this end, we founded a movement called 'Transparency International Greece', a national chapter of a larger international non-governmental organization that had been set up three years previously from Germany.  The aim of Transparency International Greece is to fight against corruption and against the apathy that enables it. We aim to fight for the rule of law, and for transparent and accountable government. We refuse to close our eyes to the problems and to allow corruption to erode individuals, consciences, laws, our country, ourselves. The war against corruption is a long and difficult battle. The culture of corruption is an all-pervasive scourge which erodes democratic principles, social justice and the functioning of the market economy. Our fight requires Herculean powers and a well-orchestrated strategy. Transparency International Greece is involved with a range of anti-corruption programs at an international, national, and local level. Current projects include initiatives to fight corruption in political funding, to promote transparency in local government, and to combat corruption in public. For more information, visit www.transparency.gr or contact Mr. Aris Syngros, CEO, Transparency International Hellas, tihellas@otenet.gr Exposure Drafts of 4 updated Standards announced by PM The Project Management Institute (PMI) has announced the release of our new standards in exposure draft form. As part of an effort to better align its global standards, PMI will release updates to four key standards simultaneously. Exposure drafts for these standards are now available for review. All PMI global standards are established by consensus, taking into account the knowledge, opinions and experiences of the standard project teams, subject matter experts and other project management practitioners. These exposure drafts are open to all interested parties to read, review and submit recommendations for improvement. The standards project teams review all recommendations, and make every effort to include all appropriate feedback. Recommendations remain anonymous to the project teams. The four standards now in exposure draft are:
To locate the exposure drafts, visit http://www.pmi.org/Resources/Pages/Exposure-Drafts.aspx. A direct link has also been placed under News on PMI.org. The exposure drafts will be available for reviewing and making recommendations until 22 March. With more than 260,000 members in 171 countries, the Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI) is the leading membership association for the project management profession and the largest association dedicated to project management in the world. As a leading advocate for the profession, PMI is actively engaged in setting professional standards, providing a professional career path for project managers and maintaining a family of globally-transferable professional credentials: Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®), Project Management Professional (PMP®) and Program Management Professional (PgMPSM). Additionally, the Institute provides members with access to the knowledge, skills, educational support and networking opportunities needed to drive business results through project management, program management and portfolio management. PMI is highly regarded for its extensive research capabilities. PMI was founded in 1969. Please visit www.PMI.org for more information. APM Governance of Change Conference in London - 1 April 2008 Reported by Miles Shepherd in London Governance of Change - 'what to do and how to do it' – is the theme of a conference just announced by the Association for Project Management (APM) in the UK. The event will be held at the Institute of Directors (pictured) in London on 1st April 2008. This is the first major conference to give directors guidance on how to apply governance requirements to project-driven change and development - across all types of project: internal, external and jointly owned; from conception to realisation of results.  “In many organisations there remains a gap in the governing surveillance of project activities. Responsible practice requires that this gap be eliminated [to] improve your corporate performance, reduce shocks at boardroom level and avoid hardship to stakeholders.” Sir Bob Reid The conference builds on the work of the APM’s Governance of Project Management Specific Interest Group and their two practical project management governance guidelines. The foreword to their latest publication; Co-Directing Change: A Guide to the Governance of Multi-Owned Projects has been jointly signed by Mike Nichols, Chairman of APM and Dr. Neville Bain, Chairman of the Institute of Directors, who will be the keynote speakers at this event alongside Tim Banfield, Director of the Defence & FCO VFM Audit, National Audit Office. According to the APM announcement, this conference will benefit board members and their professional advisors as well as other senior managers determined to ensure the greatest benefit from projects through good governance of their management. The event will feature:
This conference will address five hot issues confronting directors requiring good governance in project-driven change and development:
Places are available to APM members at £300+VAT and to non-members at £360+VAT. For additional information, or to book a place, visit www.apm.org.uk/governanceconf.asp.  The Association for Project Management (APM) is the UK’s national body for professional project management. With over 15,000 individual and 390 corporate members throughout the UK and abroad, APM is one of the largest organizations of its kind in Europe. The organization develops and promotes project management across all sectors of industry and beyond. APM's published mission is: "To develop and promote the professional disciplines of project and programme management for the public benefit." APM is the UK member of the International Project Management Association (IPMA). With headquarters in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, APM has twelve regional branches throughout the UK and one in Hong Kong. Additional information can be found at www.apm.org.uk. asapm and Business Development Institute International The American Society for the Advancement of Project Management (asapm) has announced that it has signed an Alliance Partner Agreement with the Business Development Institute International (BD-Institute). The agreement was announced on February 5, 2008 by asapm President Lew Ireland, asapm President and Howard Nutt, Executive Director of the BD-Institute.  In announcing the agreement, Mr. Ireland (pictured) noted that, “As the USA’s premier competence-based credentialing organization for project and program managers, we are a strong advocate of effective project management practice and believe that part of that effectiveness must include the competences needed to fulfill the project manager's role in winning new business. This makes the partnership with the BD-Institute a strategic step toward the future of program and project management in the USA and the World.” At the same time, Mr. Nutt emphasized, “Over the last 3 years, the BD-Institute has built an informal relationship with asapm and its world umbrella organization, the International Project Management Association (IPMA). We value their members as stakeholders in every corporation’s business development (BD) process, and we welcome asapm as a key part of our Community of Practice in pursuing BD best practices in small and large corporations around the world.” The two not-for-profit organizations plan to collaborate on bridging the gap between Program/Project Management and Business Development. asapm is integrating and relating BD competences into the USA’s National Competence Baseline for Program and Project Managers. The two organizations are already collaborating on Conference presentations, exchanging of links and website content, and exploring the additional opportunities of blending their strengths. For example, BD-Institute’s Capability Maturity Model® for Business Development (BD-CMM) is a great measure of effectiveness (with pathways for improvement) for Program and Project Managers, Proposal Managers, and Contract Managers as they support their companies’ pursuit of new business. The BD-Institute is a non-profit organization, dedicated to promoting business development excellence through the BD-CMM. BD-Institute provides direct support and services to organizations that use BD-CMM as their framework, path, and guide for managing and improving business development results. The BD-Institute promotes collaboration among diverse communities involved in business development. The resulting Community of Practice includes Corporate Members, Alliance Partners, Approved Providers, and Certified Appraisers from around the world who share the BD-Institute's vision and participate in the continuing development of BD-CMM. The BD-Institute focuses on extending the reach of the BD-CMM and serving a global Community of Practice. For additional information, visit http://www.bd-institute.org/.
 asapm, the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management, is a not-for-profit professional society dedicated to advancing the practice of program and project management in the United States. Working through its members and with other professional associations around the world, asapm provides leadership for improving program and project management performance competence throughout the USA and beyond. asapm has certified the Performance Competence of more Project Managers than any other organization in the Americas. As the USA Member Affiliate of International Project Management Association, asapm’s certified project practitioners are recognized by businesses around the World. For additional information, and for a downloadable free USA National Competence Baseline, visit http://www.asapm.org/. PMSA Conference 2008 - Reported by Jaycee Kruger in South Africa Project Management guru, Dr Terry Cooke-Davies has been confirmed to deliver a presentation and an interactive workshop at PMSA Conference 2008, taking place from 26 to 28 May at Gallagher Estate in Midrand Johannesburg. He is the second of four international plenary speakers to confirm his participation in the event.  PMSA conducts its international conference, inviting members and other interested parties to benefit from a jam-packed three day programme, featuring local and international plenary speakers in the morning sessions, and topic-specific afternoon sessions, where reviewed research papers and industry presentations are made. In addition, delegates also have the option of attending outcomes-based workshops in the afternoon streams, led by the international experts.
 “This is an excellent opportunity for South Africa project managers to be exposed to the knowledge of international experts, at local conference rates,” says PMSA President, Elmar Roberg (pictured). An unexpected benefit is the current exchange rate which makes this an appealing opportunity for delegates and speakers from outside of South Africa to participate and share their research, and experience what the country has to offer. Registration for the conference is now open at www.pmsaconference.co.za for more information and to register. The early-bird discount expires on 31 March 2008. Dr Terry Cooke-Davies has influenced project management thinking quietly, consistently, but significantly, for the past 30 years. First known for his innovative work on project management benchmarking in the mid-80s, he was also one of the first to vocalise the need to bring project management within the overall context of general management.  A true thought-leader, Terry’s thinking is always ahead of its time. Whilst today, the value of assessment and benchmarking is universally acknowledged, when Terry founded Human Systems' project management knowledge networks, back in 1993, the profession was still young and few had considered this higher level perspective on its value. Terry not only brought together many of the world’s leaders in project management best practice, but he used his facilitation skills to enable these organisations to work together to create new knowledge. Terry realised that what was needed was a critical loop between those at the ‘practice’ end of the industry and those whose focus was academic research: he used the knowledge from his network to feed research that would then help define new directions for the industry. Terry Cooke-Davies has contributed to a great many industry initiatives over the years – directing thinking both through his own clearly stated views and through the subtler role of facilitation. He is an expert adviser for the APM, reviewed the then CCTA’s Managing Successful Programmes initiative in the early 90s, was programme manager for PMI’s OPM3 initiative and was a key participant in ‘Rethinking Project Management’, a UK based research network funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Terry’s passion about the development and improvement of project management is reflected in his abundant and continuous writings on the subject, through which he shares his experience and wisdom with the rest of the world. This has culminated in the recent publication of his highly acclaimed book ’The Right Projects Done Right!’ which was co-authored with Paul Dinsmore. Project Management South Africa (PMSA) is a not-for-profit professional association serving more than 1,000 project management practitioners in South Africa. PMSA hosts a conference every second year that features invited international and local speakers, and a broad range of reviewed presentations. The PMSA President for 2008 is Elmar Roberg; and Chairman of the Board is Robert Best. For more information abut PMSA, visit http://www.pmisa.org.za/.. David Pells named Master of Ceremonies for The Project Management Association of Japan (PMAJ) has announced that David Pells, PMI Fellow and Managing Editor at PMForum, will be Master of Ceremonies for the opening of the “International Project & Program Management Symposium Tokyo 2008 – In pursuit of organizational project management value.” The two-day symposium will be held in Tokyo, Japan during 10-11 March 2008.
According to David Pells (pictured), “This is a tremendous honor and I look forward to the event in Tokyo. The Tokyo 2008 Symposium should be one of the most important project management conferences in the world this year. The keynote speakers are all high level Japanese executives or globally recognized project management leaders. All are strategic thinkers. I look forward to contributing!” David will act as Master of Ceremony for the inaugural session that opens the symposium on March 10 and will be Chair of the first Keynote session. During the opening ceremony, he will introduce Dr. Hiroshi Tanaka, the symposium director, and a special representative from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of the Japanese government, who will welcome delegates from around the world. During the first keynote session, David will introduce Mr. Jitsuro Terashima, Managing Director of Mitsui & Company and President of Mitsui Global Strategic Studies Institute.
According to Symposium Project Director Dr. Hiroshi Tanaka, “David Pells is well known throughout the world of professional project management. His recent work with PMForum and PM World Today has gained widespread recognition. We wanted a well known character from the media to open our symposium, and David offered to provide this important service. We expect it to be perfect!” The March 2008 symposium will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Japan’s foundation of the professional project management society and will demonstrate “project management as new economic infrastructure and a driver for social development and transformation”. The symposium is being supported by major Japanese corporations and government agencies, including the Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI). The national Project Management Association of Japan (PMAJ) was born in 2005 thorough the integration of the Japan Project Management Forum (JPMF – pioneer of Japan’s project management society) and Project Management Professionals Certification Center (PMCC). PMAJ has 3,000 individual and 110 corporate members from all branches of the Japanese industry and governmental agencies. PMAJ offers its own standard “The Guidebook of Project and Program Management for Enterprise Innovation – P2M” and P2M based certification system. For more information, http://www.pmaj.or.jp/
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