frontline superheroes

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We SALUTE our Fro ntl ntl ine Superheroes Sanitation workers & Cleaners Doctors & Doctors & Nurses Nurses Air force Military force Police force Navy force Navy force Farmers August 2020 Independence Day Special

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Page 1: Frontline Superheroes

We SALUTE our Frontlntline Superheroes

Sanitation workers &

Cleaners

Doctors & Doctors & NursesNurses

Air force

Military force

Police force

Navy forceNavy force

Farmers

August 2020

Independence Day Special

Page 2: Frontline Superheroes

Editor’s Desk

Editorial BoardAdvisory Pre & Post Processing ReviewersB Madhav Reddy Jonathan Justus (Jo) Sita M Durvasula Sita M Durvasula Prashanth Sreram Sunanda Gundavajhala Suma Pattar Gokul Kolipaka Phaneendra Vinnakota Vithal Peraka Ahmed Sheriff

THE

NEWN

ORM

AL

The COVID-19 pandemic turned many things on their head. We have entered a new era where office, workspace, meetings and collaboration will exude new meaning and altered configuration. It brought about a ductility to organized activity that can only be called (to use a much feared term) positive. The world has changed, we have changed, and so have our next generations. It can only be hoped that this portends happier times to come.

What are some of the strategies and methods that business organizations have used to stay afloat and redefine their BAU, in the face of relentless health concerns and regulatory imperatives? Surveys of CXO’s offer some insights.

1. Many CXO’s preferred a surge in adoption of tech platforms and believe that decision making is more efficient due to increased collaboration, better structure and adherence in virtual meetings

2. Roles that require cognitive thinking or independent/project-based work have seen positive impact on productivity as employees now manage their time more effectively. Breakdown of traditional structural constraints helped in more focused prioritization. The crisis saw significantly less absenteeism.

3. Over 70% of the organizations have set up helplines to counsel workforce and their families through the crisis and designed virtual engagement touch points. Coming up with novel ideas – ranging from doctor on call, psychological counselling and online meditation and fitness sessions to virtual team lunches and dedicated ‘work for home’ hours to help in household work – to keep their employees motivated and engaged.

A KPMG research urges enablement of critical accessories— bandwidth, VPN access and so on — in the near term. Long-term resiliency includes optimizing service delivery while reducing threats and vulnerabilities — cyber, natural disasters, pandemics and otherwise — to the business. This is a great opportunity to start scaling up investments in ML and other advanced automation technologies to augment a capacity constrained workforce.

From a Project Management perspective, risk evaluation and management assumes greater significance – covering risks due to investors, key vendors, and personnel. Establishing infallible communication protocols with staff and customers is vital.

Finally, a culture that promotes transparency, sharing, collaboration, and teamwork over individual brilliance will be a key driver of project management.

References: 1. Economic Times, April 2020 2. Deloitte Covid-19 Survey, March 2020 3. . Accenture Outmanoeuvre Uncertainty, May 2020 4. CIOspeak, May 2020(Research courtesy Ms.Deepta Vinnakota)

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THE

NEWN

ORM

ALINTERVIEW WITH COMMISSIONER OF POLICE

VC SAJJANAR

Spandana August 2020 3

yberabad Commissioner of Police, Sri V C Sajjanar, in an interview with PMI-PCC answered a series of questions related to COVID-19 pandemic and the use of project management principles. Here are

some excerpts:

Question 1: What resource management strategy you used to manage the lock down situation and who were the stakeholders?

Stakeholder management When pandemic hit the country and the city, we were the first responders to tackle the situation. Firstly, we managed the panic arising out of reports of positive cases coming from Raheja Mindspace. To mitigate the scare, the SOP was immediately put into place, the Cyberabad Security Council came into picture & along with the IT leaders formed SOP for response to Corona cases, fumigation/sanitisation of the offices & coordination with concerned doctors etc.

Second challenge was the process for sending incoming passengers home from airport after the necessary checks etc. We had to coordinate with airport health authorities, Airport authorities and local health officials, RTC officers, GMR, revenue officers et cetera and work out a plan. The team was there for around 20-21 days at airport coordinating with all, ensuring that all incoming passengers reached home safe and stayed quarantined. This process helped us to handle the 5-6 daily flights of the Vande Bharat mission - smoothly. These best processes were used throughout the lockdown period and continue to operate smoothly.

SOP has helped manage the crisis effectively. Effective coordination and cooperation of the multiple stakeholders with different expectations & priorities was the key to manage the unforeseen situations.

Question 2 : We saw that you ensured the panic levels were minimal during the pandemic, what communication strategies did you use?

Communication Strategies ”Media is very active, they vie with one another to give breaking news and we need to have close coordination with them to give right news so that they do not end up spreading panic”.

Set-up an exclusive PRO and SCSC secretariat who ensured the communication flow informing about the precautions being taken. To give a clear message to the public, all the stakeholders addressed the press (Health department, Police etc) together. We published all our SOPs and booklets, information about the activities we are doing in Social Media so that they are well informed and publish the same to public.

Cooperation and CoordinationFirstly, a Liaison Officer is very much essential who can do proper coordination with all depts. There were DCP, DMO, RDO, senior doctors, GMR local liaison officer and so on.Secondly, there was much fear regarding one’s own safety, so we ensured that all officers had PPEs /masks, sanitizers & were supplied with nutritious food, etc. ensured no panic in system regarding the virus.

C

“When pandemic hit

the country and the city, we

were the first responders

to tackle the situation.

How administration is dealing with Pandemic?

Page 4: Frontline Superheroes

Vishwanath Channappa Sajjanar is an (1996 batch) Indian Police Service officer who is the current Cyberabad Police Commissioner. He is native of a Hubballi, Karnataka . Vishwanath Sajjanar is known to focus on women and child safety issues.

Spandana August 2020 4

Question 3: How did you ensure the monitoring of the situation is effective and what control measures did you take?

Monitoring the situation 1) Implementing the lockdown: Kept telling people it is important to stay home… spreading messages about do’s and don’ts through public address systems and media too.

2) Medical emergencies: Set up COVID control room with SCSC on 24th March itself. 3) Protection & Immunity boosters: Fruits, dry fruits, Chyavanprash, PPE, facial covers, sanitisers given to all team members.

4) Coordinating the donations (food, groceries, etc.): Ensure that no one in the name of distribution came onto the roads unnecessarily violating social distancing. We had a centralised COVID control room with help of SCSC. 10 lakhs food packets distributed, 1,25,000 grocery kits were distributed, attended almost 8000 medical emergencies relating to pregnancy, and cardiac issues. Ensured that dialysis and cancer patients who required hospital visits were issued passes - almost 600 such people.

5) When news came that all blood banks were going dry, immediately SCSC swung into action – blood donation camps setup and were able to collect 5300 units of blood and supplied it to 17 blood banks – enough supply for a month.

Question 4: What changes did you have to implement while the plan was put in action? What kind of reporting mechanisms did you use?

Reporting mechanismGood coordination between us and Collector Office. We worked hand in hand by specially designating an officer for seamless communication.

Decentralization – ensured each officer was given responsibility and accountability of each activity. DCP (Traffic) to see to it that lockdown is implemented properly, social distancing maintained. DCP (Crime) was to take care of migrant workers (almost 3 lakhs people) - moving them to railway stations and ensuring travel to hometowns. DCP (Women & Safety wing) was to ensure that there is no dearth of vegetables and other food items and supply chain was maintained.

Conducting the stand up call was also important and inspired officers by the leaders walking the talk. Communication barriers have to be removed because the ensuing problems would be expensive to correct.

Question 5: Your message to the Project Managers of PMIPCC?In Project Management we should have seamless communication and no hindrances to it.

1) Whatever you do, organize yourself, decide what you and others can do, distribute work and ensure they do it.

2) Ensure no barriers in communication are there.

3) Be available always as leader, be humble and be the go-to person - give confidence to your team.

Interviewed by

Suma PattarPMIPCC Director - Membership

Sita M DurvasulaPMIPCC

Director - Volunteering

INTERVIEW CONTD.,

A special thanks to Ms. Prathyusha Sharma, Joint Secretary, Women’s Forum, SCSC(Society for Cyberabad Security Council) for facilitating the interview with our Commissioner of Police.

Page 5: Frontline Superheroes

COVID19: Re-defining the management outlook

he year 2020 so far, has been primarily defined by the pandemic situation. The crisis of COVID-19 has transformed the outlook of living in 21st century. When lockdown was declared in India on 24th March, 2020 there was no idea of how the nation

would be moving forward. The Project Management fora has experienced a newer paradigm for execution by the continued WFH policy in IT organizations.

Managing teams and workforce in organizations required lot of discipline in this period of crisis. Right from ensuring a safe and secure workplace, till the mental wellbeing of employees, the challenges to ensure a smooth transition from office to WFH, were many. This pandemic has opened up the horizons of successful remote execution for teams for a long period.

The key learnings from a leadership perspective which can ensure any similar crisis not to impact the work models are as follows:-

1) Right work environment support for the team which needs to be ensured, with minimal interruptions. When it comes to infrastructure, network management and approval process, highest attention is required from leadership.

2) Ways to educate team to adapt to the ‘new normal’, while emphasizing the need for work life balance. Webinars, e-learning are very much needed which can help employee awareness.

KOSHY THOMAS

T 3) Connect with team for which Agile ways of working is apt, since team participation is given the highest focus. Scrum events, give an opportunity for regular inspect and adaptation. Risk management, from impediment resolution is a beautiful outcome.

4) Communication strategy to be defined, so that leadership is closer to team to address impediments without delays. Reporting mechanisms from project managers need a daily focus to connect the dots and give team a boost for better productivity.

5) Continuous learning initiatives and reward mechanisms for individuals to feel empowered is another important perspective. Team feels better when acknowledged and given opportunities to hone their learning skills.

The Project Management core values like leadership and challenging the status quo have been instrumental in transforming the management outlook and execution models. The pandemic has given an opportunity to challenge the status quo and explore newer ways to address the customer needs. Leadership who effectively work as change agents, have shown the grit to face current crisis and paved the path for future, where similar situations can be handled.

Koshy P Thomas is a project manager in the IT industry with experience of managing Scaled Agile programs. He believes in an integrity driven approach for handling situations along with focus on execution excellence.

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Adapt or Perish“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: It goes on.” - Robert Frost

Robert Frost makes a great point. Life is going on during the extended lockdown occasioned by the global pandemic. Nevertheless, we still have to get our work done and take care of ourselves and our families. But this new reality is a nasty teacher – it calls for adaptation.

I am a strong believer in the “Adapt or Perish” credo. I wanted to share with you some of the adaptations that are working for me and making a great impact on my life and work. It is my fervent hope that you will consider and endorse them.

Firstly, let us all admit that this lockdown has extended to a point where it can feel tedious. Days can be long and monotonous. You could lose sense of time, and start showing signs of anxiety, fatigue, and stress. The first adaptation is acceptance. Accept the new reality and the fact that this may continue for a while and that you will need to adapt and adjust. This calls for emotional vigour and equanimity.

Secondly, my contention is that while you may not like certain things imposed on you, such as not being able to go out (even for work!) and increased load of housework, I believe that you could still have a lot of control on how you go about your day. In some ways, you need to show leadership, both at home and at work, now more than ever.

Talking about work, how do you protect the work-home boundary when everything is happening at home? This is especially challenging for people with kids where interruptions and disturbances are unavoidable. I have 2 tips here -

1. Have a solid work shut down routine – a clear signal for “done for the day”. You should log off from work in such a way that you don’t think about it once you close down your laptop. Close all your work applications (this has the additional benefit of starting fresh the next day). Write down in your notebook / notepad things that you need to attend the next day. It is a cue to your brain to close all thoughts about work for the day. It is a gimmick you play so that those thoughts don’t keep lingering in your head. In other words: swap out work, swap in home!

2. Try to get at least a few hours of uninterrupted time where you can get into deep focus. Quality trumps quantity when it comes to time. It has been my experience that you can in fact accomplish a lot in just a few hours if you have focused attention (the right frame of mind) and if you are working on the right thing. This is where prioritizing and planning play a significant role.

Lastly, I cannot overemphasize the importance of self care. Are you able to take time out for yourself, doing things that are good for you, things that you enjoy and that rejuvenate you? I have been regular with doing Yoga and meditation. Regular Yoga helps you take care of your body and mind. It is perfect for the current lockdown scenario where going to a gym or a run outside may not be possible. And Yoga is so vast that you can practice it at your level of intensity (beginner to advanced). I recommend “Yoga with Adriene” channel on You Tube that has a lot of free videos. Meditation helps you destress and improves your focus and thinking clarity which again is the need of the hour in the current environment. I highly recommend the app Headspace for this, as it has a vast array of guided meditations for everyone. And my last recommendation for selfcare is music. Listening to my favorite music daily is helping me immensely to lift my spirits and cope with the challenges of these unprecedented times. You can try apps such as Spotify, Amazon music or Gaana, all of which offer great affordable subscriptions as well. And treat yourself to a good Bluetooth wireless headphones at the next online sale!

Do not think of all of these new routines as “change”, because it subconsciously triggers resistance. Tell yourself that you are adapting, and let the idea stick in your mind and thrive there. The more you adapt, the more you evolve, ready for the new world that is unfolding!

SANKAR VYAKARANAM

HOW I AM HANDLING EXTENDED LOCKDOWN

Sankar Vyakaranam works as a Business Project Manager at Franklin Templeton Investments as a part of a Global Business PMO team. He is passionate about Personal Development and Productivity and an avid consumer of knowledge on these topics and a keen practitioner of the principles.

Spandana August 2020 6

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CROSS

ACROSS:

1. Not hardware (8)7. Up the lodge incorrectly and remove fromtaskbar (5)8. Clara Don hides an element to cure cancer (5)9. Remove uncertainty re disk (6)10. Without yes, score can read early computermemory (4)12. Palm twisted to access development platform (4)14. Join again and correct a defect (6)17. First draw nose crudely for definingpoints of a network diagram (5)18. Positive digit (2,3)19. Land care oddly helps in scheduling work (8)

ANSWERANSWER&

WINWIN Exciting Prizes

DOWN:

1. Purse somehow to reveal a type of mammothcomputer2. Task end in fish corrupted (6)3. What gets done (4)4. Rao has wrong id to broadcast signal (5)5. Organizational recommendation or advice foraccomplishing work (9)6. Bring it all together as a Project Manager (9)11. Thread again for a database entry (6)13. It’s a social thing (5)15. Dashboard traffic light (5)16. Aircraft & Systems Testing Establishment (4)

Early responses will get prizes, send your responses to:

[email protected]

Spandana August 2020 7

This month the grid sports a wide diversity of words and phrases - from not just PMBOK - but IT, management and science. The clues are a blend of straight and cryptic.

A nudge here, a tease there, A goad here, a gnaw there; Some endeavour, some labour- All in all, a pleasing fare!!

Phaneendra has been working in software development and project management for more than 30 years. A self-confessed bookworm, he is known to fool around with editing, writing, and blogging. Notorious quiz addict and chronic cross-word enthusiast.

PHANEENDRA VINNAKOTA

Page 8: Frontline Superheroes

MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION ANALYSIS

For a lunch, how many times did you get vexed up not able to decide “what to order from which restaurant - considering the taste of a particular item, your liking, other family members liking, the distance of the restaurant (delivery time), and the cost of the items?”

How many times did you drop the idea of going to a movie because you could not come to a conclusion considering the distance of the theater, ambience of the theater, comfort in the theater, cost of the tickets, movie time and the review of the movie itself?

Multi-criteria Decision Analysis: This technique utilizes a decision matrix to provide a systematic analytical approach for establishing criteria, such as risk levels, uncertainty, and valuation, to evaluate and rank many ideas. (Ref: PMBOK6 – Glossary)

This is a tool and technique used in “Collect Requirements” process of Scope Management

Multi-criteria decision analysis is an analysis done considering several conditions to make the best pick decision satisfying the criteria. A professional example for this would be selecting candidates for jobs through an interview.

The interviewers will have a scoring sheet (table) with different criteria like, qualification, experience, salary expected, availability for shifts and more specifically attitude of the candidate. Each interviewer may put his marks for the particular parameter. Later aggregation of the scores and then selection of the candidate may happen. Andfor that matter different JDs, may have different multi-criteria.

We use this extensively, for example, in a vegetable market where we have a criteria matrix in our minds with different conditions like cost, quantity, quality for different vegetables. Some place we give importance to cost and some place we may give importance to quality and at some other place shelf life may be important. Other than the examples discussed in the beginning, we can see more examples of this phenomenon, while buying jewelry, smart phone, TVs and so on. We use MULTI-CRITERIA DECISON ANALYSIS in all our shopping activities (Ventures?).

The best results from MULTI-CRITERIA DECISON ANALYSIS will come if we have “ALL” the criteria in advance, and the weightage allocated to each parameter and have an analysis and arrive at a decision before hand, rather than generating the criteria dynamically (ad hoc) and making a decision on the fly. We may end up buying a monkey for an elephant.

And finally don’t take a sheet of paper, scale and all, to design the multi-criteria and make a decision to order food when the lunch time is nearing.

AHMED SHERIFF

Ahmed Sheriff PMP, CMQ/OE, FLMI, ACS, PSM

He held the positions of District Informatics Officer in National Informatics Center (NIC), Senior Manager for Y2K Projects in Visual Soft and AVP in Conseco Data Services. Currently he is a free lance consultant for Project Management and PMP Certification.

He has published several articles, stories and poems in Telugu both in Print media and digital media. Linked in: csasheriff

“This technique utilizes a

decision matrix...

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that is reverse the problem to focus on the opposite of what you want to do. This Triggers Negative Comments to Find Positive Solutions.

Reverse Brain Storming - Process:

Following Steps are Involved in this Process

• State the Problem• Reverse the Problem• Generate Ideas on the Reverse Problem• Reverse the Ideas• Evaluate the Ideas & Find Solution

REVERSE BRAINSTORMINGA Creative Group Problem-Solving Technique Approach for Complex Problems

SN PANIGRAHI

Knowledge Knowledge BlogBlog

Brainstorming is a creative group problem-solving technique and a great way to gather ideas that involves the spontaneous contribution of ideas from all members of the group. This Technique is sparingly used in almost all Projects.

Reverse Brainstorming, on the other hand, flips traditional brainstorming techniques upside down, allowing you to approach complex problems from a different perspective. Instead of trying to solving a problem, Reverse Brainstorming generates ideas to make the problem worse.

Then, you reverse those ideas to discover new ideas for solving your original problem. Ordinary brainstorming asks participants generate Ideas to solve problems. Reverse brainstorming asks participants to come up with great ways to cause a problem or Create Obstacles to the Objective. It Start with the problem and ask “how could we cause this?” Once you’ve got a list of great ways to aggravate problem, you’re ready to start solving them.

Regular brainstorming will often take you in many different directions at the same time, which often leads to wasted time as it is easy to drift away from the original problem. Reverse Brainstorming, however begins by clearly defining the problem and writing it down on a sheet of paper. The ‘reverse’ aspect comes from the next step which is to phrase the problem or issue the opposite way around,

“ approach complex problems

from a different perspective....

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Reverse Brainstorming - Contd

Reverse the Ideas:

Next Step is to Reverse these Ideas and Apply them to the Original Problem. Once you’ve Collected all those great ideas for Reverse Problem Statement, work with your team to reverse each of the Ideas to find Solutions for Original Problem. Some Examples are Exhibited here:

Once you’ve done your bad ideas back into good ones, you can now analyse them to determine which are the best. With your team, go through each idea and prioritize them in whatever way you see fit.

Reverse Brainstorming is a Powerful Technique to spur Creativity and Think Differently. It is a great way to tap into Negative Feelings & Comments, Hostility, Frustration, and Anger, Deficiencies & Defaults as a tool for Positive Problem Solving. The opposite of the answers you found during your Reverse Brainstorming session is likely to be something that can be seen as a Creative Solution to your original problem. By deliberating on Reverse Problem around, you can see the issue from a New Perspective – then, when you return to the actual issue, practical solutions may be clear. It can also be a good way see a process, product, or service from a new and different point of view.

When you find that you are stuck on an issue that is particularly Tricky, Complex and Difficult to find Solutions through traditional methods, try putting this Reverse Brainstorming into action to see what it reveals. It can become a process of discovery, as participants begin to raise Issues and Problems that may have been invisible to management but are major roadblocks for Achieving Organizational Goals. Reverse Brainstorming is the best tool available that can turn a Negative Gripe Session into a Positive Brainstorming Session.

Example of How to Reverse the Problem :

For Example the Problem Statement (Objective) is “How to In-crease Sale”, in the Reverse Brain Storming it is “How to Decrease Sales”

Once you stated Reverse Statement, then brainstorm the re-versed problem in order to come up with as many ideas as possible, even though they will have the an entirely detrimen-tal effect on the original problem. After you have a list of ideas on Reverse Brain Storming, you then reverse those as well and apply them to the original problem.

Some more Examples

SN Panigrahi is a Versatile Practitioner, Strategist, Energetic Coach, Learning Enabler & Public Speaker. He is an International-Corporate Trainer, Mentor & Author

“Reverse Brainstorming is a

Powerful Technique....

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BOOK REVIEW

For each of these, there are ample examples of tools and techniques for us to assess and correct ourselves which makes this book a brilliant ready-reckoner and handy guide. Mersino talks about the hot-buttons- words that trigger us and the importance of identifying them for better Self-control.

Part III: Building Project Stakeholder Relationships- is about building Stakeholder relationships. This is where Mersino talks about Social Awareness or understanding others’ emotions. He also acknowledges the temporary nature of projects and us not having the luxury to slowly cultivate long term relationships with the stakeholders. This part discusses the need to have empathy- how to build it, understanding the organization- the written and unwritten culture, mechanics of the organization which are all key to navigating through the projects successfully with abundant tools that help us practice these key tenets. Mersino discusses different types of organizational settings and how to deal with various levels of stakeholders in them. He discusses the importance of journaling our emotions and our understanding of the stakeholders while emphasizing the need to demonstrate trustworthiness, co-creation, and acknowledging and appreciating others’ contributions for strong stakeholder relationships.

Part IV: Using EQ to lead Project Teams - Lastly, he talks about Team Leadership for which conflict management, communication, and inspirational leadership are the key skills and how application of emotional intelligence helps in better management. Mersino also elaborates on the need to create a positive environment and leveraging Emotional Intelligence for handling large and complex problems

While Daniel Goleman is the father of Emotional Intelligence and the pioneer in this, “Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers” by Anthony Mersino is a veritable Goldmine- it is up to us to mine it and get the gold nuggets to become effective project managers.

Reference:

https://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Intelligence-Project-Managers-Outstanding/dp/0814432778

http://www.maxwideman.com/papers/emotional_intelligence/emotional_intelligence.pdf

SUNANDA GUNDAVAJHALAhe book “ Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers- The People Skills you need to achieve outstanding results” by

Anthony Mersino is a fantastic resource for all project managers who want to succeed. Here is the review of the book to entice you into reading it and benefiting from it.

Organization of the book: The book is divided into four parts as depicted in the diagram:

Part I: An Introduction to Emotional Intelligence Part I: An Introduction to Emotional Intelligence The author explored Emotional Intelligence, The author explored Emotional Intelligence,

its importance for Project Managers along with a self -assessment its importance for Project Managers along with a self -assessment questionnaire to get you started.questionnaire to get you started.

The author talks about his research on the link between EI and Project Management.He says that while the concept of Emotional Intelligence is known to many, its application to project management and required tools was not apparent to project managers.

Project Management is all about getting work done through others which implies that understanding and managing people is essential for success, from stakeholder engagement, team management, to motivating the team to fulfill the objectives and better decision making.

The Author lucidly explains what emotional intelligence is and refers to the acronym “SASHET” from David E. Carlson’s book “Counseling and Self-Esteem” to define the six primary emotions “Sad” “Angry”, “Scared”, “Happy”, Excited” and “Tender” that helps us to assess our emotions.

The author adds “Team Leadership” to the four components in Daniel Goleman’s framework of Emotional Intelligence comprising Self-awareness, Self- Management, Social Awareness and Relationship Management. There is a list of books, magazines, journals, blogs, and courses given as an appendix for further reading.

Part II: Project Management begins with Self- Management -deals with why Self-Management is the key to Project Management and discusses about understanding one’s emotions- Self-awareness and the Wheel of Emotions as a tool for it. The author discusses the need to acknowledge our emotions- primary and secondary, physical feelings, and their importance in our relationships. He also talks about the emotional red-flags which are identifiers for us to unearth the actual emotions which we try to hide using inappropriate humor, use of sarcasm, playing the victim to name a few that sheath the real feelings of anger, hurt, etc. The author also gives practical techniques to improve self-awareness and discusses how Self-control is the key to Self-management.

Sunanda Gundavajhala is presently Director of Operations at DispatchTrack India and is passionate about project management, has books and articles to her credit.

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Two years ago, when I was in the US, I took one item from our To-Do List, which is to walk across Niagara Falls. I want to share with you all, how Project Management skills can apply in any aspect. Project planning started for the trip with an attempt to gather historical information and experiences, explored multiple travel options (air, road, train) and chose train travel which fits our budget and duration (Cost & Time Management). I gathered various requirements for the trip from key stakeholders (wife here) and clearly defined a Scope for the trip (Requirements Management & Stakeholder Management). Then I planned the schedule, detailing the activities during the trip, the sequence of activities involved and their durations. The list of activities and their durations, helped me to estimate the costs and budget involved (Activity & Sequence Diagrams). Planning is incomplete if I don’t take into account the risks involved. Identified the risks involved during the trip like weather, baby health and behavior, etc and kept the Risk Responses in place (Risk Management). Communication with other stakeholders involved (Train, Bus, Hotel service, etc) is intact (Communications Management).The D-Day arrived when the execution started (Project Go-Live). We started our journey with a bus ride from IOWA to Chicago of a 3-hour duration. A situation between the bus driver and a fellow passenger made the bus reach Chicago 30 mins late. This delayed our next activity to catch the train from station to Buffalo NY. However, this activity has a float of 1 hour, which we managed to get to.When we arrived in Niagara, faced an unidentified risk - US SIM became inactive but managed to find a workaround for it. We covered the planned activities one by one. We had an opportunity to watch the Sky View of the Niagara fireworks from our hotel. During the course of the trip, I monitored all the activities if they are going as planned and adjusted if there are any variances in cost, schedule, comfort. We were able to mitigate risk - Rain. I kept collecting feedback from my wife on the visited places - Maid of the Mist, Cave of the Winds, Observation tower, etc and was enthralled to receive positive feedback. Overall customer (wife here) satisfaction is at peaks. Successfully we completed all the planned activities in time and returned home. It was a memorable trip in our lives. I shared my experiences, lessons learned to my colleagues which became a very good reference for them.

WALK ACROSS NIAGARA FALLS

TRAVELOGUE BYPAVAN KUMAR ADAPA

PRASHANTHSRERAM

PRIORITIES DURING COVID- CARTOON

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CHAPTER UPDATES

Knowledge Sharing Sessions (KSS) • Building Immunity• Optimizing Linkedin for Professionals• Physical and Mental Wellness• Law of Attraction• OGO – O Great One (power of gratitude)

Started with a view to give members a holistic perspective of the world around us, the KSS series has been well received by all and we have been consistenly having participation of 100+ members for most events.

A great PDU earning opportunity apart from learning from SME professionals in their domains.

MEMBER ENGAGEMENT

MasterClass on 14-June-2020

Masterclass with Lee R. Lambert, founder of PMP, on this unique topic - “ Leadership- Don’t leave home without it “ !

This was also an EXCLUSIVE Opportunity to listen to him share some interesting tidbits from when PMP was founded back in 1984 !!this session has 320+ registrations with people joining in from all over the world.95 unique attendees joined for this, session received feedback

Career Enabler on 28-June-2020 to 12-July-2020

Launched unique series of live & interactive, virtual sessions with hiring experts for professionals seeking to upgrade their profile and accelerate the search rewarding career

Episode 1 – on Resume Building and Transformation by Swaroop Srinivas of Career Builder was well received by members and we had a successful

Episode -2 on “What hiring managers want from interviewees” – Interview preparedness” addressed by two stalwarts – Dr. Dinesh Kumar Murugeshan fom DSM and Mr. Srikantam Vadari from Infor Global

New Member Orientation Program (first ever new member meet in virtual mode)

The first of its kind for the chapter, we had an enthusiastic participation of around 95 new members to understand all about PMI and its initiatives, PMIPCC – history and unique initiatives and volunteering opportunities.

The members got a snapshot of all that th e chapter is doing and have signed up for several activities and initiatives too

Members Network Meeting (first ever chapter meet in virtual mode)

The network meet had a good participation of professionals joining in from different industries and we engaged in new format with Quiz and panel discussion on AGILE methodology wherein we had speakers Madhavi Ledalla, Padma Satyamurthy, Amit and Nagini Chandramouli – moderated by our Vice President Venkat Reddy

Member Outreach Task Force (MOTF)

The volunteers of MOTF have been reaching out to every member individually to understand and help with 1. Member renewals due2. PMI profile updates3. Events update4. Counselling and advocacy of chapter initiatives5. Connecting to various relevant portfolios6. Grievance redressals and possible escalation mechanisms

Spandana August 2020 13

Thank you MembersTogether we raised the bar

Stay connected via the social media channels

(new) has all events recordings for our members.

PMIPCC chapter membership survey statistics, on September 2019

Page 14: Frontline Superheroes

CHAPTER UPDATES (Contd.,)

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

1. Kick Start your PMP Journey2. What it takes to succeed in PMI-ACP on 11-July-2020

Academy team has come up with two new initiatives to spread awareness on PMP & ACP certification.

We got a great response from the members and at least 50+ participants attended each session.

One Stop Certification Solution (first ever new member meet in virtual mode)

PMP Exam Prep support via application process help, exam prep roadmap, dedicated whatsapp group, buddy to help aspirants, and weekly touchpoints for doubts clearing

OUTREACH

Program Description Corporate Name

Date Number of Participants

Introduction to Project Management Amara Raja 24-Apr-20 50

PMP Virtual Workshop Public 02-May-20 23

PMP Virtual Workshop Deloitte 12-May-20 20

ACP Virtual Workshop Public 30-May-20 12

PMP Virtual Workshop Public 13-Jun-20 22

SOCIAL GOODBasics of Project Management in Telugu

The Basics of Project Management book was translated into Telugu so that these concepts are understood and practised by a wider community at a grassroot level with specific Case Studies for Farmers, NGOs, Gram Panchayats and Education Sector.

FOF-Projects on 06-June-2020

FOF volunteers extended their hand by initiating a Soap Manufacturing Project to empower women groups by providing required skills to establish Soaps, Dishwash and Soap-powder manufacturing units for their economic self sustainability

Identifying the underprivileged women in the villages and providing the skills they needed to achieve financial self-sustainability through skill based training programs

Associations and Partnerships

We have initiated the associations with HYDSPIN and L&D Global, Hyderabad Chapter and look forward to do collaborative programs in future

Women Empowerment Committee (WEC – an R11 initiative)

Keeping in mind that the challenges of women professionals are common across the region, a collaborative regional initiative to increase women engagement, a 11 member Woman Engagement Committee (WEC) was conceptualized and launched with one passionate volunteer from each PMI chapter board in Region 11 (India, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka) with Komal Mathur as the Chair.

As a first step, the WEC launched an exciting initiative “Empower Women in Project Management” and conducted an Inspiring Talk on “Inclusive Leadership” by Ms. Jennifer Tharp, PMI Board Member on 28 May 2020.

Dr. Srini Srinivasan, MD PMI India highlighted the case to have women in leadership roles and the positive impact of their engagements. Komal Mathur, Chair - PMI Women Engagement Committee and General Secretary of PMI Pearl City, Hyderabad Chapter introduced the WEC and spoke on the challenges of women unique to our region and the need to make inclusion a priority .

WEC is committed to creating a gender-inclusive Project Management Community in our region. WEC will continue to engage with PMI members , volunteers and chapter leaders in different ways to gather their insights, understand their expectations. This unique initiative will provide a platform where woman feel inspired, safe and confident to engage and enrich.

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Issue Escalation MechanismAny issues with exam center

scheduling, online exams, payments, etc

please write to [email protected] and

[email protected]

Do you want to get involved with chapter activities, please find the active volunteering opportunities on https://vrms.pmi.org

Page 16: Frontline Superheroes

FEEDBACK AND SUGGESTIONS

Spandana August 2020 16

Thanks for reading

We included more articles, took articles through submissions.Send your feedback and suggestion click below https://forms.gle/jFbEt9SSj5Se22so9

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We heard you!!! Few for your reference

Feedback for Spandana April 2020 Edition “Splendid work by

everyone!!”

“Need more

Articles”

“At the outset,

congratulations team for putting up a fantastic edition. It

was crisp and formative. Throughly enjoyed, my picks are Women in Project management, Book review and the icing

on the cake, Crossword by Ahmed Sheriff. Absolutely delighted to solve it, which

required close association to the subject, what this Crossword thought us is, no

matter how good you are, constant touch with the PM subject is imperative. Wonderful. Thank you. All the best

for coming editions.” - Ashok Taduru