Written by Deborah Dillard Johnson, MBA, MPH, PMP

Presentation Overview

Carl Pritchard, founder of Pritchard Management Associates, presented “Moving on to Plan C and other contingencies”. With many real-life examples and a pinch of humor, Carl outlined a strategy for risk response planning beyond Plan B.

While Plan A, is characterized by Prevention and Plan B, by Active Acceptance or Mitigation, Plans C and beyond are reactive. These are the incidents that result in a loss of human lives, public image or are outside of acceptable tolerances. Plans C and beyond are instances of extreme crisis, or when the planned primary risk response does not work and a work-around is necessary.

Recognizing that the problem cannot be fixed, workaround strategies ease the impact by altering the outcome, changing the perception to something more acceptable, divorcing the situation altogether, or salvaging what is left.

Takeaways

• You’re not going to be judged by what caused the crisis but by how you respond.
• To handle risk well requires complete transparency.
• Address fears of internal stakeholders head-on. Be clear and honest re: what happened and the strategy of what will happen moving forward.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta AEC forum on September 14th, 2021.

Register at www.pmiatlanta.org/events/event-calendar

Written by Mike Ososki, PMP

Presentation Overview 

On Thursday, June  17, 2021, Dana Hylton Calabro, Director of Data Services, Atlanta Ballet was the Keynote Speaker for the Entertainment Forum.  Dana says her presentation title could also have been “Using What You Got and Figuring What Else is Out There.” Judging by her Atlanta Ballet story during the pandemic, this is what she did—and is continuing to do well!

Events virtual and streaming via Zoom, hybrid and live in-person with reduced capacity. Sounds familiar? Ye olde pivot prevailed through Dana and Atlanta Ballet’s forced transition in this direction. Powered by (12) new Zoom accounts, additional hardware and multiple spreadsheets, they worked it out so people could purchase and enjoy a goodly variety of online experiences. This includes classes, performances, donations, and even boutique products. Later, thank goodness, outdoor performances were also added, because the dancers missed YOU. The magic happens when their ballet family is with them. Plans are happening now to reunite in the theater.

In the season like no other, they learned to dance in masks, work behind Plexiglass, and rehearse via Zoom. While remaining socially distant, they found a silver lining: performing works created by fellow dancers.
See more at the Atlanta Ballet’s YouTube channel ... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvA-nG1uY8vbffJC9eCspQA

Takeaways

• Work with what you have, and grow your resources.
• Adorable little kid ballet dancers make it all worthwhile.
• Spreadsheets are invaluable.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Entertainment Forum on Thursday, September 16th, 2021

About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves the Project Management Community in Metro Atlanta, and we're an active resource to corporations, community and government agencies throughout north Georgia. With over 5,000 members, PMI Atlanta is among the top 5 chapters in the world. Our professional expertise span across industries; we’re the professionals building healthcare information technology systems, the engineers developing smarter public transportation, and the planners growing our communities more efficiently.

Written by Deborah Dillard Johnson, MBA, MPH, PMP

Presentation Overview

April Callis-Birchmeier CSP, PMP®, CCMP™ of Springboard Consulting, presented “Ready, Set, Change!” a simplified, methodical approach to organizational change management. Organizational change management is defined as moving an organization and its stakeholders from the current state to a future state. Following the 5-Step Approach of the “Ready, Set, Change!” model checks all the boxes essential for successful change adaptation.

The model is based on the easy-to-remember acronym R.E.A.D.Y. where:
R = Relevant and Relatable
E = Engage Leaders and Sponsors
A = Advanced Communications
D = Develop and Support
Y = WHY; the remedy for resistance

To supplement this model, April presented several useful tools. Some examples: one tool was for engaging project sponsors and clarifying their role in accelerating organizational change. Another tool was for classifying resistance to change personalities in order to address them head on.

Lastly, April recommended the Certified Change Management Professional credential CCMP™ to position yourself as an exceptional professional who can lead organizational change.

Takeaways

• Never under-estimate the power of a relatable story.
• Follow the “Ready, Set, Change” model for a simple yet comprehensive approach to help organizations adopt change to ensure business objectives are met.
• Learn more, and earn 14 PDUs in a two-day course at PMI.org SeminarsWorld, October 12-13, 2021. NEW - Ready, Set, Change! with April Callis-Birchmeier.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta AEC forum on August 10th 2021

Register at www.pmiatlanta.org/events/event-calendar

"Written by Carol Howard"

Presentation Overview   

The PMI Atlanta Agile Forum was pleased to host the USIS Technology Planning & Execution Group from, Equifax. Presenting a panel discussion of scrum start to finish. Panel members included Cassandra Bride-Senior Director Role, Nicole Jones – Director, Krista Marlatt – Vice President, Kara Draper – Senior Director, Joy Menefee – Senior Director and Joe’ Dickson – Senior Director.

Each member of the panel took on a Scrum persona Product Owner ; Technical Architect; Quality Engineer; Scrum Master; Application Engineer ; Narrator and took us on a tour of the daily activities of a Scrum Team to design and deliver in a two week sprint. The product the team was requested to build in this demonstration was  a coffee pot.  

Walking us through each of the Agile Ceremonies beginning with Backlog Refinement, continuing through Sprint Planning, Daily Standup and ending with Sprint Reviews and   Retrospective the personas relayed to us the purpose of the ceremony and what their roles and responsibilities were in each. Completing the production of our coffee maker.  

Takeaways 

• In Agile the business set the priorities
• Effective User Stories use the INVEST criteria.
• Each Scrum ceremony is important, and they build and build on each other.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Agile Forum on Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Keynote Presentation: “AMP up your Virtual Meeting & Events–Techniques to make sure they are engaging, FUN and interactive!" presented by Kate Megaw, The Braintrust Consulting Group / President.

Register at: https://www.pmiatlanta.org/events/event-calendar

About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves the Project Management Community in Metro Atlanta, and we're an active resource to corporations, community and government agencies throughout north Georgia. With over 5,000 members, PMI Atlanta is among the top 5 chapters in the world. Our professional expertise span across industries; we’re the professionals building healthcare information technology systems, the engineers developing smarter public transportation, and the planners growing our communities more efficiently.

Written by Kay Abikoye

Presentation Overview

On April 28, 2021, the PMI Atlanta Governance Forum hosted speaker Peter Sherman, Managing Partner at Riverwood Associates, LLC. Mr. Sherman has led process improvement programs across the globe and specializes in quality improvement practices.

Mr. Sherman delivered a presentation centered on Benefits Realization Management and the process of crafting a convincing business case. The primary goal of a business case is to encourage buy-in within the organization and provide leadership with information to make a value-based decision. Mr. Sherman emphasized that a business case does require positive outcome, as a negative outcome could highlight opportunities for improvement or avoiding mishaps.

A convincing business case executive summary should include six elements:

1. Problem - Description of what is going on and an evaluation of the Cost of Doing Nothing.
2. Solution - An outline of how the solution(s) will solve the identified problem.
3. Impact - Determination of quantifiable impacts and a comprehensive evaluation of which individuals in or outside of the organization will be affected.
4. Financials - Metrics such as return on investment, key assumptions etc.
5. Risks - Identification of regulatory, technical, financial impacts.
6. Schedule and Team - A high-level project plan including key milestones, deliverables and team members.

Mr. Sherman provided five steps and considerations to developing a convincing business case. These steps include:

1. Define and clarify the scope of the problem. Mr. Sherman recommends asking questions (Who, What, Where, When, and How much) when creating a problem statement and he emphasized that statements only address the symptoms not the solution.
2. Solutions can take many forms and shapes and doesn’t have to be a new tool. A solution can be an improvement in an existing process. The Effort Impact Matrix is a tool that is used to evaluate various types of solutions proposed in the business case.
3. Identify critical key financial metrics that provide insight into the solutions outlined in the business case. Mr. Sherman recommended metrics such as payback period, return on investment and break-even analysis.
4. Risks can be identified in advance or may be referenced from previous projects. A solid business case should include risk mitigation strategies and avoidance mechanisms.
5. Mr. Sherman recommended developing a schedule of key milestones when planning, and he also suggested incorporating agile methodologies for efficient delivery.

Takeaways

- A business case should be thought of as a story with an ongoing theme designed to deliver a solid project.
- Knowing your audience and their needs will elevate your business case and allow for more targeted results.
- Large projects should be broken up into smaller milestones or a phased approach.

Link to Presentation

Link to Article

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Governance Forum on May 26th, 2021.

Register at www.pmiatlanta.org/events/event-calendar