Written By Mike Ososki, PMP

Panelists

Andrew Greenberg, Executive Director, Georgia Game Developers Association https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-greenberg-9386377/ 

Llew Haden, Wales Business Management https://www.linkedin.com/in/llewellyn-haden-0961865/

Theresa Gilmore, PMP, CSM, SFC, Entertainment Casino Company https://www.linkedin.com/in/theresa-gilmore-pmp/

Overview

The conversation continues about COVID’s impact on the entertainment industry. Between computer gaming, managing the business of live music entertainers, and providing casino gaming at live events, the contrast was sharp.

Andrew says that the computer gaming business is up—both game sales and virtual live stream event attendance have increased. Game developers agree that their time is more productive now vs. pre-COVID-19. However, much of the real creative magic happens between game developers spontaneously, in-person, and most of this has not been possible.

Nearly all of Llew’s music business clients now offer only virtual performances, if at all. Due to severely reduced cash flow, he’s having to manage them back from prior, higher end lifestyle habits. Llew says he talks clients off cliffs about once a week. He is restructuring some of his agreements with clients, to separate the business from personal expenditures.

Theresa states that live gaming casino events have completely shut down, with companies in bankruptcy. Ancillary services like catering, cleaners, and equipment, are also dealing with reduced business. Various modifications are being done, like less people seated at tables, and disposable tablecloths and chips, to reduce risk.

Takeaways

• Vs. in-person events, virtual-centric activities now have a much better chance to sustain success, even to thrive, in this age of coronavirus.
• Severe cash flow reduction is forcing many to rethink if and how to continue and/or reinvent their businesses.
• Everyone is in major adjustment mode to adapt.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Entertainment forum on Thursday, December 17, 2020

Keynote Presentation: TBA

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

 About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves 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 Mike Ososki, PMP

Speaker: Desiree Connell, Producer and Production Management (Digital Thunderdome, LLC)

Overview

COVID has impacted entertainment production more than most industries. Previously, the time-honored routine was dozens or often hundreds gathering in very close proximity for 12-hour days of shooting film and TV. No more. The new protocol (changing daily) is much more rigid and cautious, with infection prevention the top priority.
Desiree’s normal crew of 60 has shrunk down to 10 people, and they film in phases. It’s a big learning curve that’s hard to implement, but they’ve developed new practices that have come from CDC and military recommendations and seem best-suited to film and TV production. Mandated daily health testing and monitoring is done by people dedicated to the task, with masks and gloves and maintaining distance required for everyone. All paper work has gone digital to avoid the risk of contaminated paper, along with many specialized shields, wraps, and other protective coverings.

Takeaways

• The entertainment production industry—already highly unusual and uniquely specialized—has been upended by COVID-19.
• Entertainment professionals worldwide are challenged and struggling to strategize and implement a new normal.
• Infection prevention is the top priority.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Entertainment forum on September 17 2020.

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

About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves 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 Lakisia Jones, PMP

Overview 

On May 18th, the PMI Agile forum presented “Stop Starting, Start Finishing!” by Karen Powell and Douglas Boling. Karen began the presentation by showing two slides of traffic. In the first slide, traffic was flowing smoothly. In the next slide traffic was jammed and at a complete stop. The traffic slides depict what can happen to a project. One day your project is running smoothly. Then suddenly, the project falls behind or may be halted altogether. This is where Kanban can help.

Kanban is not a software development lifecycle methodology, but it can be used to enhance the project management method already in use. Implementing Kanban starts with what you do now. Then identify current processes, existing roles and responsibilities, and job titles. From that foundation, gain agreement to pursue improvement through evolutionary change and encourage acts of leadership at all levels.

Kanban principles include visualizing with a Kanban board, limiting work in progress, managing flow, making policies explicit, implementing feedback loops, improving collaboratively and evolving experimentally. By using Kanban boards, team members can clearly determine work ready to start, work in progress, and work that has been completed. Limiting work-in-progress promotes finishing and improves quality. It also signals when capacity is available. Tracking the date work started and date work completed, enables you to apply metrics that answers when an item will be done, how many can you get done, and how long it will take to complete a certain number of items.

Takeaways

• Why Kanban? Kanban provides relief from overburdening, better quality, and customer satisfaction. It allows you to focus so you can deliver better quality and builds trust within your organization.
• Kanban starts with what you do now, allows you to visualize work and limit work in progress to enable flow.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Agile forum on June 16, 2020

Keynote Presentation: "Put the Fantastic back in Facilitation" presented by Kate Megaw, President of The Braintrust Consulting Group

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

 About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves 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 Marcia Trajano, PMP

Overview

On February 20th, The PMI Healthcare Forum presented “Emotional Intelligence”, a topic explored by Mark Higham, PMP, PMI-ACP.
Mark began the presentation by defining emotional intelligence and what it represents to us, and discussed four elements of emotional intelligence:

• Internal Focus: Self-awareness & Self-management
• External Focus: Social-awareness & Relationship Development

Referencing the well-known saying, “perception is reality,” Mark shared the importance of managing our emotions and increasing our awareness and understanding of emotional intelligence. Mark moved on to present some tools and techniques to use to accomplish this. These tools and techniques, e.g. self-reflection list; ABCDE model; applying empathy; listening, communication and getting feedback, are centered on the four elements of emotional intelligence and provide a clear approach to this subject. From Self-Awareness to Relationship Development, Mark delved into each of the elements of emotional intelligence, bringing clear and concise definition and examples for the audience to consider.
Participants were engaged with this presentation and the Q&A at the end clearly demonstrated the audience’s interest in the information Mark shared. Highlighting and sharing his personal experiences with emotional intelligence, Mark addressed participant’s questions openly, including sharing reading that had helped him in this area – Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.

At the conclusion of this presentation on emotional intelligence, Mr. Higham encouraged the audience to develop an action plan to address this in their personal and professional lives.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Healthcare forum on Wednesday, March 18, 2020.

Keynote Presentation: Project Management in Chaos by Lee Palmer, Sr. Director, Customer Service Technical Operations, Philips Healthcare

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

About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves 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 Dana Moore

Overview

On Tuesday, February 18, 2020, the PMI Atlanta Chapter - Agile Forum presented “Organizational Culture and Outcome in the Digital Age” by Eric Norman, PMP, CSM, PgMP. Eric’s professional background and experience exhibits distinguished characteristics in this category. Eric Norman is very passionate about this topic as he started out discussing business issues – “we always focus on delivery and not the work we do - an impediment is that we think we have it all figured out” - organizational change.

The presentation focused on three topics:
1) The Missing Organizational Enabler - Organizations are flattening out and they are not engaged or producing expected results. They can improve the capacity of work by eliminating waste.
2) Organization Not Engaged - Organizations are not producing expected results. For example, controlling the criteria, and cost of failure is absolute-failure versus the cost of delay which is not an absolute-failure.
3) Transforming Organizational Culture - Engaging Change Management is a planned approach and can be aligned with necessary changes. For an example, adapt to change with things around you and develop a plan and make it work. Keep in mind the benefits need to be established in the beginning and not in the end, as most organizations lean toward.

Transformation Enablers
1) Strategic Alignment | Align targets, achieve your outcome
2) Communications | Participation across the entire organization
3) Meaningful Metrics | Measured progress
4) Policies and Systems | Reward aligned with your culture
5) Structure | Enable collaboration
6) Stakeholder Engagement | Communicate at all levels
7) Leadership and Delegation | Act in the best interest

 Takeaways

• Agility is not always equal to adaptability
• Adaptability is sensing what is going on around you and respond quickly and effectively
• New Triple constraint is Agility, Adaptability and Opportunity
• For successful organizations, focus on business outcomes and respond to feedback
• Companies that respond to feedback, create culture, and an environment that orients towards successful organizations
• Organizations that focus their attention on the outcome instead of pilot models become more successful

Next Event 

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Forum, On Tuesday, March 17, 2020.

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

 About PMI

Atlanta Chapter serves 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.