PMI Opens Office in Mumbai, India

The Project Management Institute, Inc (PMI), the world's leading advocacy association for the project management profession, has announced the inauguration of its India office to be located in Mumbai to support the growth of the project management profession in India. PMI establishes project management as a critical discipline that ensures projects of all kinds can completed on time and within budget and align with the stated strategic objectives of the project.

According to the PMI news release, a recent Indian government report (Quarterly Report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India) noted that of a total of 866 government projects currently underway, 297 are running behind schedule and more than Rs 24,000 crore (US$ 6 billion) will be spent additionally because of the delay – in some cases of over 16 years.

PMI in India will foster the advancement of standardized, professional project management principles through the advancement of its leadership development and certification programmes. The Office will also enable PMI to foster and build on its service and delivery capability, generate awareness of and demand for the exacting requirements of project management principles and support business and governments in India to better apply and understand global knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to ensure projects in India are completed on time and within cost. PMI has also appointed a Managing Director for the India Office, Mr. Raj Kalady who will be responsible for advancing project management principles across multiple industries.

PMI is the leading global standard-setting organization and advocate for the project management profession and comprises of a truly global community of project management practitioners that represent every major industry including aerospace and defense, automotive, business management, construction, engineering, IT, infrastructure, financial services, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications.

Commenting on the inauguration, Gregory Balestrero (pictured), Chief Executive Officer of PMI who was in India for the inauguration said, “Trained and credentialed project managers can help India unlock its obvious potential as they bring projects in on time and within budget and make project management indispensable for predictable and positive business results that create value for an organization and its stakeholders. Mature project management practices close the gap between strategy and results. As India globalizes and is on an ambitious growth trajectory, with rapid developments taking place in both the private and public sector, India needs project management professionals who know how to compress schedules to meet the urgent needs of a developing economy. A key to this is utilizing standardized professional project management practices to build capacity and capabilities to achieve breakthrough results.”

“India has the third largest PMI membership – after the United States and Canada - with seven chapters and over 11,000 PMI members. Most of these are in the IT sector. Our endeavor is to spread the word that project management can be applied to any and every sector and discipline – whether it is a power project or a social initiative. PMI will continue to work to highlight sound project management principles in the Indian scenario – projects successfully implemented by companies like L&T, Reliance, Vedanta and NTPC – while working to understand the unique challenges of the profession in India. Our objective is to facilitate the growth of project management practitioners in India as well as growth of the profession itself.”

Also in attendance from Amman, Jordan, was Philip Diab, Chairman of the Board of Directors for PMI who said, “Now more than ever, we believe PMI must have a fully operational office in India given the huge infrastructure investment being made in India. We must connect with organizations in both the public and private sectors and work with them to adopt superior project management practices and utilize the experience, expertise and talent of professional project managers.”

Raj Kalady (pictured), PMI’s Managing Director in India said, “This is an important milestone for project management in India. Further recognition and adoption of PMI’s globally created and recognized credentials and standards for the Indian market can lead to a huge saving of costs and resources adding value to the organizations and benefiting the country as a whole.”

“The PMI framework will help secure results for project managers that are consistent, predictable and successful – so integral as India emerges as one of the leaders in the global economy, “he added.

PMI’s new offices in India can be contacted at:

PMI Organization Centre Pvt., Ltd., #1031, Regus, Level Ground & 1, Trade Centre, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (E), Mumbai, India, 400 051, Tel: + 91 22 4070 0325 Fax: + 91 22 4070 0800;

PMI Service Centre, Haryana, India, Tel: + 91 - 124 4517140,
e-mail: customercare.india@pmi.org

With more than 260,000 members in 171 countries, the Project Management Institute (PMI®) is the leading membership association for the project management profession and the largest association dedicated to project management in the world. As the 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. PMI is highly regarded for its extensive research capabilities. PMI was founded in 1969. Visit PMI.org for more information.

Top of Page

---

PMI Launches new Scheduling Credential (PMI-SP)

Reported by: Quang Ton in Houston

The Project Management Institute (PMI) has launched a new credential, the PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)SM credential.

Project scheduling professionals who provide expertise in the specialized area of developing and maintaining project schedules are encouraged to apply now! They also have a great incentive available: the first 100 candidates who schedule and sit for the examination between 30 May and 31 July 2008 will receive 50% off the price of the exam, and be entered into one of the four regional drawings (Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) / Latin America / Asia Pacific / North America) for $1,000.00 (USD) per drawing.

Participation during this incentive period means you may be among the first to hold a credential with high market demand; you’ll also be setting the bar for future credential holders, since your score will be used to determine the passing score* of the examination.

*NOTE: PMI will not provide examination results to any candidate participating during the incentive period until such time that a passing score has been determined. Therefore, please be advised that after testing, candidates will have to wait upwards of three months before knowing their examination status.

Testing begins on 30 May 2008; however, you are encouraged to apply now to reserve your seat to test. Please contact customercare@pmi.org if you have any questions. Applications Now Accepted for the PMI Scheduling Credential (PMI-SP)

With more than 260,000 members in 170 plus countries, the Project Management Institute, Inc. (PMI®) is the leading membership association for the project management profession and the largest association dedicated to the advancement of project management in the world. As the leading advocate for the PM profession, PMI is actively engaged in setting professional standards, providing career paths for project managers and creating a family of professional credentials: Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®), Project Management Professional (PMP®) and Program Management Professional (PgMP®). PMI also 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 program and published studies. PMI was founded in 1969. Please visit PMI.org for more information.

Top of Page

---

The Power of PM - PMI Dallas Chapter's PDD features
powerful presentations, speeches & The Drum Cafe

Reported by David Pells from Dallas

The PMI Dallas Chapter's Second Annual Professional Development Day (PDD) was very successfully conducted on Saturday, 12 April 2008. The annual event lasted from 7:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza North Dallas/Addison Hotel in Addison, Texas, USA. Approximately 150 people enjoyed the educational and informative sessions, and the closing entertainment.

Chuck Tryon (pictured at right) provided a powerful breakfast keynote speech on "What's So MODERN About PROJECT MANAGEMENT?" Mr. Tyron contrasted the assumptions of Continuing Efforts and Single-Time Efforts and identified some of the most critical issues Information Age organizations and project managers must address. Chuck Tryon is a nationally respected educator and popular symposium speaker, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Morning breakout presentations were provided by John T. Cole (“Dare to go there! Project Management for the Enterprise” and “A Practical Approach to Retaining Organizational Knowledge”), Paul Burek (“Tracking 4 Project Pitfalls Leading to Project Failures”), Susan Lee (“FMEA for Everyone!”), Matt Piazza and Mark Everett (“Power Tools for Enterprise Project Management”), Chuck Tryon (“A Practical Approach to Retaining Organizational Knowledge”), Nayan Patal (“What Does Portfolio Management Really Provide?”) and Dwight Davis (“Secrets of Persuasion for Project Success!”).

A Panel presentation on the subject of “The Power of Portfolio Management” was also held, with Terry Doerscher, Chief Process Architect for Planview moderating. Panelists included Kane Wai of Hitachi Consulting, Amy Wright of Wright Consulting, Nayan Patel of Baylor Healthcare Systems, and William Beattie of McAfee. Mr. Doerscher provided some background information about Portfolio Management, with the panelists then providing some perspectives and lessons learned from implementations at their organizations. Questions and answers made the session time disappear quickly.

Ron Black (pictured at right) provided a powerful luncheon presentation entitled "Acrobatics for Overachievers: The Art and Science of Managing Multiple Projects and Priorities". According to Mr. Black, there are “Five Imperatives for Improving Daily Productivity and Achievement: (1) Recognize that ‘harder, faster, longer’ limits your potential; (2) Know how you spend your day; (3) Focus on results that count; (4) Make better strategic choices; and (5) Master the control points!” Using personal stories, examples, anecdotes and an interactive style, Ron engaged, educated and entertained PDD participants with some powerful points and suggestions.

Afternoon presentations and breakout sessions included Atul Choudhary (“Leveraging Enterprise PMO Tools for Productivity Gains”), Jack P. Ferraro (“Three Leadership Competencies Every Project Manager Needs”), Dwight Davis (“Six Constraints of Project Planning”), Susan Lee (“FMEA for Everyone”), Gary Rechtfertig (“Emotional Intelligence and Principles to Increase our Capacity to Succeed”), Tony Johnson (“Program Management Fundamentals” and “PMO Success Strategies”), and John T. Cole (“Establishing a PMO in Your Organization: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!”).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The closing plenary session featured The Drum Café, a motivational musical ensemble that uses the powers of music and rhythm to energize, motivate and entertain! The group not only provided highly energized entertainment, interspersed with messages correlating the importance of rhythm in one’s life and work and the power of “playing together!” Attendees were required to play drums along with the group and to join in a dancing celebration at the end. It was a powerful way to end the PMI Dallas Chapter’s second annual PDD – 2008.

According to Sherrie Karram (pictured), PMP, PMI Dallas VP Professional Development, who was responsible for the event, “Overall, we were pleased with the quality of the presentations and the energy of participants. Our keynote speakers were well received, and the power of project management was really reflected in the closing session. The Drum Cafés interaction with the audience was really powerful!”

Other PMI chapter officers echoed her sentiments. “This was another big event for our chapter,” stated Chapter VP Programs Marilyn Sawyer (on left in photo). “It was another good learning experience for me, and I think the attendees got a lot out of today,” she added.

According to Susan Lee, chapter VP Operations (on right in photo), “It was a good opportunity for me to make a presentation, as well as help ensure that the facilities, food and equipment were in place. The chapter board and other volunteers always pull together for these big events, so they are usually very successful. The teamwork makes the success more rewarding!”

Jennifer Carlisle (pictured at left), Chapter VP Communications, added, “This event was open to all business professionals in the Dallas area with an interest in project management. Discounts were provided for PMI members, and certified Project Management Professionals (PMPs) received up to eight professional development units (PDUs) for attending all sessions. Providing these types of events has helped the PMI Dallas Chapter become the leading project management professional organization in North Texas. I was happy to be part of the team effort once again displayed by our volunteers at today’s event!”

The PMI Dallas Chapter is a volunteer-based professional association dedicated to supporting the growth and development of project management practitioners, as well as building awareness of the project management discipline and its critical role in business and organization success. With more than 260,000 members in over 173 countries, the Project Management Institute (PMI®) is the world’s leading membership association for the project management profession. Founded in 1984 and with over 4,000 members, the PMI Dallas Chapter is one of the world’s largest PMI components. To learn more about the PMI Dallas Chapter and its service offerings, please visit www.pmidallas.org.

Top of Page

---

The project management team for the 22nd IPMA World Congress on Project Management - ROMA 2008 Project Management to Run - have announced that a special MedNet Panel and Seminar will be held during the November congress

The news was announced in Rome following a MedNet board meeting held in Istanbul, Turkey on March 30, 2008. Chaired by Mr. Gilles Caupin (pictured) and with the presence of Mr. Luigi Iperti, Chairman of the IPMA 2008 World Congress, the Istanbul meeting included the board of directors of MedNet, the Organization created by the International Project Management Association (IPMA) to develop the Project Management culture within the Countries of the Mediterranean Area.

According to Mr. Caupin, “The Board decided to organize in Rome, within the forthcoming World Congress in November, a Panel and a Seminar dedicated to the cooperation between the IPMA Project Managers, Governments and private entrepreneurs of Countries of the Mediterranean Area, where the Project Management culture can be promoted to the advantage of all parties involved.

”“Special attention will be paid to the best means to develop project management competences in the area,” he added. “This will include discussions and proposals to enhance training opportunities. Rome will be the place where training providers and competence development enablers will be able to meet organisations and individuals looking forward to improve the quality of their projects.”

The IPMA 22^nd World Congress on Project Management will be held in Rome, Italy during 9-11 November 2008. According to the “ROMA 2008 – Project Management to Run” project team, with keynote speeches and 12 streams of presentations over three days, as many as 200 presentations on important project management topics can be anticipated.

The congress is expected to attract leading project management authorities and over 1,000 participants from the 45+ countries represented by IPMA membership. The Roma 2008 World Congress will be one of the largest project management events in the world this year. The 22nd IPMA World Congress and Exhibition will be held at the Palazzo dei Congressi near the heart of downtown Rome. For registration, schedule and other information, visit the conference website at www.ipmaroma2008.it.

The local host organizations for the ROMA 2008 World Congress in Rome, Italy are the Italian Project Management Academy and the Italian National Association of Industrial Plant Engineering (ANIMP). The President of ANIMP is Mr. Fabrizio Di Amato; the President of the Italian PM Academy is Mr. Roberto Mori; the Congress Chairman is Mr. Luigi Iperti; and the Project Manager for IPMA 2008 is Mr. PierMarco Romagnoli.

Founded in 1967 and registered in Switzerland, the International Project Management Association (IPMA) is the world’s oldest project management professional organization. IPMA is an international federation of more than 40 national PM societies in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Local societies serve the specific development needs of each country in its national language. IPMA provides an umbrella organization to represent them at the international level. IPMA’s internationally acclaimed 4 Level Project Management Certification Programme continues to grow worldwide. The IPMA annually presents project management awards to teams that achieve great feats in project management. IPMA maintains its continuous presence in the global PM arena through regular International Symposia, Expert Seminars and its Annual World Congress. The president of IPMA for 2007-2008 is Veikko Valila. Additional information is available at www.ipma.ch.

Top of Page

---

During a special awards dinner on April 16, 2008, the Project Management Institute - Greater New Orleans Chapter (PMI GNO) presented its 2008 Project of the Year Award to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Mississippi Valley Division. The annual award, given to a PMI member or member organization, "recognizes the accomplishments of a project and the involved project team for superior performance and execution of exemplary project management." The Corps' New Orleans District is one of six districts of the Mississippi Valley Division.

The award was presented to the Corps for its Hurricane Katrina emergency response mission. The Corps was recognized for its Task Force Unwatering, Task Force Guardian and Louisiana Recovery Field Office (debris) missions.

Accepting the award on behalf of the Corps of Engineers was Michael Park, a Hurricane Protection System Program Manager in the Corps’ Task Force Hope office. Park, a New Orleans native, also served as director of the Corps’ Louisiana Recovery Field Office. Accepting the award on behalf of Graves-Evans Engineering, Inc. was Emily Graves. The award was presented to both by Alfred Cannon, who serves as past president on the PMI GNO’s board of directors.

“After careful review and consideration of several worthy entrants, we identified the Corps’ work as truly exemplary of the core competencies and principles that govern the project management profession,” Cannon said. He added, “This project fulfills PMI’s Envisioned Goal, that ‘Worldwide, organizations will embrace, value, and utilize project management and attribute their success to it!’”

Submitted by Graves - Evans Engineering, Inc. on behalf of the Mississippi Valley Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the award winning project included the recovery efforts from one of the largest natural disasters in US history. Total mission cost in Louisiana was $3.7 Billion, to repair and restore 220 miles of floodwalls and levees, remove 28.1 million cubic yards of debris (or a column 3.3 miles high on 1 acre of land), and mobilizing over 10,000 people over the 2 year effort. Although a huge and daunting effort, unwatering of the city was accomplished much faster than expected, 25% ahead of schedule; work on floodwalls and levees finished in 8 months instead of the estimated 10 years.

This project award was also a tribute to the 1,232 New Orleans District staff (including some PMI GNO Chapter members) of which 400 lost their homes and 600 more received significant damage; yet they came back to work quickly and their deployment of local knowledge resources at “site” critical tasks was critical to speedy project success. The Corps will now be eligible to compete for PMI’s international “Project of the Year” Award which will be presented at the 2008 PMI Global Congress—North America to be held in Denver, Colorado, USA in October.

The PMI Greater New Orleans Chapter (PMI GNO) is the regional branch of the global PMI organization dedicated to building awareness and advocacy for the project management profession—which intersects a variety of industries from construction to IT to engineering. PMI GNO advances and supports the Gulf South’s project managers—who are leading the region’s revitalization following the hurricanes of 2005. The President of the PMI GNO chapter for 2008 is Ana Boudreaux. More information can be found at www.pmigno.org.

Top of Page