Cadence President and CEO joined colleages from around the world for the Project Management Institute’s Global Congress EMEA in Dublin, Ireland. As the event came to a close, John sent the following report.
To project managers, colleagues, and friends of Cadence! It has been a joy to represent Cadence at this year’s PMI Global Congress EMEA here in Dublin. These have been long days, but there is such great value in reconnecting with peers face-to-face; as usual, the calibre of discussion has been exceptionally high.
I’ll continue to percolate on this Congress over the coming weeks, and we will undoubtedly have our usual podcast wrap-up when I return to the United States in a few weeks. For now, I want to share three of my own observations of Congress this year that have struck me as important.
- Program Management
Program management is the administrative vehicle to deliver change—a complex set of changes over time. Projects are the way that those changes are delivered. The administrative vehicle, program management, targets, plans and tracks the delivery of the benefits.Just as there is Earned Value Method in project management, we are on the leading edge of defining Earned Benefit Method as a tracking vehicle for on time, on cost and on benefit delivery during the project. This is a fascinating area in development and I am coming back from this Congress with a starting formula. Count on more discussion of EVM/EBM in Congresses to come.
- Change Management
Change management is accomplished by addressing a motivation gap, a competence gap, or both in the organization where change is to be made. There is a proven methodology for change management and as a best practice it should be a (scaled) discipline on any project.The research has shown that it can cause the successful delivery rate to go from as low as 30% to as high as 80% successful delivery of the portfolio.
- Complexity Management
On a more personal note, I’m deeply gratified to see the “Coming Soon” activity surrounding the book I’ve been involved with as co-author/editor. While the book itself is not yet on shelves, there has been terrific discussion on the topic of project complexity at this Congress led by many authors/editors involved in the project including (though certainly not limited to) lead author Drs. Terry Cooke-Davies and Terry Williams.
I will be working to integrate many of the concepts around complexity from the book and this Congress into a 1-2 hour presentation which I look forward to sharing with the community. I am very passionate about our own OPM series as a solution to complexity, where the process of getting the project done is secondary to actually getting it done successfully. That passion has absolutely been reinforced at this Congress.
Beyond these broader project management themes, I was gratified to be recognized for both personal and company contributions to the PMI Education Foundation, on whose Board I continue to serve as a Director.
As ever, the PMI Global Congresses serve our growing and vibrant project management community. If I can offer any advice from my now decades-long participation with this organization, it would be this: prioritize attendance in a Congress that supports your particular part of the world—your participation will serve your career, your organization, and our field!