pm essence august 2016 - pmi bangalore india · conference was managed as a project with detailed...
TRANSCRIPT
Page 1
Volume - 4 - Issue 5 August 2016
Chapter News
- Capt. L. N. Prasad
The Way We Solve
Problems . . .
- Navneet Bhushan
The Joy of Volunteering!
- Venkatraman Lakshminarayanan
PMPC 2016
PM Accomplishments
The Lighter Side of PM
- Rajiv
DID YOU KNOW?Co
nte
nts
Q. This is the technique used
to analyse any business
process with an intention to
i d e n t i f y i m p r o v e m e n t
opportunities
Thanks and Best Wishes
Soumen De, PMP
Editor’s NoteEditor’s NoteDear Friends,
Greetings from PMI Bangalore India Chapter!
thPMI Bangalore India Chapter recently concluded the 11 edition of
Management Practitioners’ Conference (PMPC 2016). The focus of the
Conference was "Enterprise Agility..." which resonated with the current mood of the
industry. Once again the Conference was a smashing success with delegates and speakers saying nice
words about how they enjoyed participating in the Conference. This
Conference was managed as a project with detailed planning, risk
analysis, cost management, contract management and
stakeholders management among other things. One of the
important stakeholders of the Conference were the team of
volunteers who managed the entire project. I myself, being a
volunteer, it often makes me wonder what makes the volunteers
come together to organize this Conference year after year with the
same kind of passion and enthusiasm. In a volunteering framework
there is no formal power or hierarchical structure, no command and control mechanism, hence they
only do volunteering work based on INTRINSIC motivation with no expectation for pleasing their
management or for getting some reward and recognition. With busy lives, it is often hard to find time
to volunteer. It is noted that these volunteers look for the higher purpose rather than focus on narrow
things. They don't lay bricks; they build a cathedral. They leverage the volunteering opportunity to
make friends, reach out to the community, learn new skills, and take the learnings to advance their
career. Volunteering also helps protect their mental and physical health and reduces stress. In our
office, we work with the team members who are not volunteers; they are paid staff. So should we get
more results from them when compared to getting the same work done from a team of volunteers? As
managers, we usually use a combination of INTRINSIC and EXTRINSIC motivational skills to get the
work done. We try to make the team align with the purpose and values of the organization. Usually
walking up to them to give a “pat-on-the-back“ or highlighting their accomplishment in leadership
forum makes a stronger impact on their motivation compared to crediting their salary account with a
small 'award' component. When we look at any high performing team, like the team on a mission
critical project or a team winning the final against its opponent in an Olympic game, we can see that
they will be driven more by INTRINSIC motivational factors rather than EXTRINSIC factors. Donning
the national flag at the victory podium is what propels them to give their best. INTRINSIC motivators
are often the most powerful motivators and we as leaders need to recognize the impact from these
motivational factors in getting the best from our team.
Happy Reading.
Project
Chapter News
Editorial Board
- Capt. L. N. Prasad
Murali Santhanam, PMP
Namita Gupta, PMP, PMI-ACP
Rama K, PMP, PMI-ACP
Shikha Vaidh, PMP, PMI-ACP
Soumen De, PMP
Sujata Sahu, PMP
PMPC 2016: The prestigious event of
this month was the Annual Project
Management Practitioners' Conference.
This was held at the NIMHANS
Continued on Page 7...
convention centre th thfrom 14 to 16
July. The Conference
was attended by
nearly 800 delegates,
special invites and
other dignitaries.
The Conference was
inaugurated by Mr. R Gopalakrishnan, former
Director, Tata Sons.
The Way We Solve Problems -Creative vs Methodological
2 Page
Volume - 4 - Issue 5 August 2016
The Way We Solve Problems -Creative vs Methodological
- Navneet Bhushan
solution, refining it by adding more
components to achieve new
functionality needed.
This leads to the solution becoming
more complex than the original
problem. In fact, the monsters that we
created need to be managed now - we
will create infrastructure to manage it.
We will not let it go at all! After all that
has given us past success. Anybody
knows how many Enterprise IT systems
have become these monsters?
This is a problem fission reaction that
keeps on building bigger and bigger
complexity rather than Value needed by
the end customers. Had we spent more
time in thinking about existing and future
needs of the users, we would have solved
problems that are really need to be
solved.
Think! Think deeply! However, “Observe”
and “Learn” are two very strong,
unfortunately highly neglected, ACTION
verbs in solving problems.
This is not about too much analysis
leading to paralysis (that's where may be
the Post-Fact Data Analysts get into - Six
Sigma Experts (The pseudo ones) are you
listening!) - it's about active
processing of experiences.
It has to be beyond Politics, beyond
specific persons, beyond specific
relationships, beyond petty personal
gains. It has to be at a higher selfish
goal. As my selfish goal is that I win
if my customers create more-
everyday!
There is a considerable debate and
explanation of whether there can be a
process for creative problem solving in
contrast to methodological problem
solvin. Many believe creative problem
solving is too creative to be reduced to a
process. TRIZ enthusiasts differ here of
course!
Creative Vs Methodological
problem solving
A reported study in 2007 provides an
interesting verification of the difference
between creative thinking and
methodological problem solving. The
right brain is active more for creative
thinking and also the diffused visual
attention rather than the focused
attention on visual triggers. Very
interesting indeed - if you are a good
traffic navigator and knows how to find a
place in a crowded city you may be more
methodical, while if you work on diffused
visual inputs to imbibe a geography and
use these for constructing or imagining
your world - you may be more of a
creative thinker.
The study however discovers another
point - before the ideation process - what
was the state of your mind. Whether it
was more right brained excited or left
brain excited will impact how you solve
the problem.
Well this confirms to a large extent the
psychological inertia of core competence
- we have been solving problems in a
particular way throughout our life. We
use the same particular thinking
whatever be the problem. The
engineering mind will always reduce
the problem into smaller more
manageable problems while an artist
will always try to construct patterns
from observation.
Before the actual problem solving, I have
found in my workshops as well, we need
to prime the minds of the participants
into different methods by playing games
or solving problems by different methods.
Then the output of the workshop
increases - better quantity and quality.
How do we solve problems?
•
•
First, we acknowledge something to be a
problem only when it becomes a pain in
the, well, neck. Unless, it becomes a
monster hitting us where it really hurts -
we don't look at it at all. May be because
we have been told to "Stop Worrying Be
Happy", we forget about any active
problem hunting. Here in lies the first
danger - Stop Worrying doesn't imply
Stop Thinking.
How can we be proactive in hunting
problems?
Be there to observe how and what our
customers need - don't ask – all
Feedback systems fail to get to the
essence of what is needed.
Spend time in observing, getting inputs,
looking at how our customers do their
work and then think some more - well
our Top Managers must be saying - you
can't keep on thinking. Do - Act -
Execute. Well, execution without
thinking or what the Japanese call
Hansei, is a recipe for disaster.
We invariably or 99% of time design the
solutions for wrong problems. This is for
the simple reason that we have not spent
time in developing the understanding of
the problem, describing it from multiple
perspectives, looking at it from inside and
outside.
After we have developed a solution for
the wrong problem which also by the way
will be a sub-optimal solution, we find the
actual problem to be different because in
our cause-effect mind the solution that
we proposed haven't triggered the
desired results. Then we say – oh, the
real problem is not what we solved but
THIS. Now comes the fantastic ingenuity
of human mind and lethargy in letting
go of partial success. We say – “any
ways we have a solution that we
designed for what we thought is the
problem. Now how can we use the
solution to solve the newly identified
problem?” We work on tweaking the
PM Article
The Joy of Volunteering!
Page 3
Volume - 4 - Issue 5 August 2016
The 60 PDUs have been broken down into
Earn by Education track (35 PDUs) and
Giving Back (25 PDUs). And within
Education track, each of the Technical,
Leadership, and Strategic & Business
Management should at least be having 8
PDUs each which gives a good spread.
These 3 above are called the PMI Talent
Triangle.
60% of PDUs are from the Education
Track which is good, to grow as an
individual. And PMI itself has quoted that
the number of PDUs in the “giving back”
track has been reduced. I do not believe
this needs to constrain somebody from
actually “giving back more” to the
community. Volunteering needs an
attitude to learn and experience new
things and a willingness to share one's
experiences and knowledge without
expecting too much in return, though it
still gives you much in return (if only
people can look beyond the monetary
part of returns).
If you keenly observe one of the PMI
Talent Triangle elements of Technical,
there is a lot to teach and a lot to learn in
the aspect of Agile Practices, Governance,
EVM, Performance Management,
Schedule, Time, Budget management.
Each PMI certified member can share his
or her knowledge in the technical area of
expertise and continue to contribute to
both teach and learn in the process.
In doing so, the entire PDUs that were
gained in the “Technical” part of PMI
Talent Triangle can be easily put into
action for claiming the 17 PDU (out of the
25 PDU) as part of “Giving Back”. Also,
there is no limit to the volunteering
PDUs. So the more, the merrier.
Volunteering is so addictive that you will
constantly be pushed towards more and
more.
There is no good day to start it – Start
small, Start Now! Make a difference to
self and to others!
“The best way to find yourself is to lose
yourself in the service of others” -
Mahatma Gandhi
Doing something good for self and for
others is the hallmark of volunteering.
The recent floods at Chennai reaffirmed
my faith in the power of volunteering
when thousands of volunteers from all
parts of the state came out to the flooded
streets to take care of their fellowmen.
What they got in return is the goodwill
and change of mindset about the youth of
today, the adults of tomorrow.
Volunteering is not only needed in the
time of crisis but also in all walks of life,
at all times in life.
“Give a little.. Get a lot..”
The reason to title the topic as “The Joy
of..” is due to the fact that there is
immense joy that one receives when he
or she volunteers for a cause. The cause
does not need to be necessarily
philanthropic or only to the
underprivileged but also to the people
who have the thirst for knowledge and
lack the self-confidence to be able to
learn something new to improve in their
lives. Skill-based volunteering and
corporate volunteering as part of CSR
activities are also great ways to
volunteer.
I wish to focus on how the skill-based
volunteering became a part of me and
how I believe each one of us should start
focusing on it, if not already.
I started my foray during my school &
college days when I volunteered for
coordinating the playing & outing
schedules within friends, managing
multiple tech events at college as part of
various tech associations, to start with.
This drive continued post joining the
industry where I started to volunteer for
project management trainings (post
working hours, in house) wherein I
helped many co-workers complete their
The Joy of Volunteering! - Venkatraman Lakshminarayanan
PMP exam preparation. The thank you
emails from them was more satisfying
than actually facilitating the course itself.
I also had the privilege to volunteer in
the apartment complex as a board
member for almost 4+ years contributing
to various events and initiatives for the
benefit of the co-apartment owners. The
smile in the faces of residents, especially
the kids gave such a satisfaction that
money couldn't buy. One more
volunteering experience is with the PMI
Bangalore India Chapter, in conducting
various agile related courses helping 100s
of participants clear their PMI-ACP
certification.
When PMI recently changed their CCR
process, I was one of those who felt that
it was in the right move than just being a
passive PDU seeker. As part of growing
up in a responsible society, I think it
definitely is a mandate to all the PMI
certified professionals to give back to the
community in many ways than one.
The beauty of the entire change is that it
makes the individuals now focus on
giving back to the community at large,
and make their lives and others more
meaningful.
Total PDUs (60 for PMP, PgMP, PfMP,
PMI-PBA and 30 for PMI-ACP, PMI-RMP,
PMI-SP respectively)
No more earning of 15 PDUs by just
doing the work at the desks (reduced
to 8) – Which in my opinion is a great
move.
What remains the same?
What has changed?
•
•
PM Article
4 Page
Volume - 4 - Issue 5 August 2016
PMPC 2016by PMI Bangalore India Chapter. The
team was recognized for demonstrating
outstanding project management
techniques during deployment of seven
satellites in Geo Stationary Orbit at
approximately 36,000 km altitude above
earth surface.
Ms. Shalini Urs, Founder Chair-Person,
Myra School of Business in her address
shared her opinion and views on
Enterprise Agility. Her reference to “The
Red Queen Effect”, the constant battle
between the Enterprise and Innovation
was well taken. Example like US police
adopting Don't pokemon and drive
and nokiafication made audience
enjoy the session. She also highlighted
the next disruptive technology like
BlockChain, essentially a giant network
which records ownership. Audience
applauded when she concluded her
speech saying mindset need to change
and Changing the Mindset is not as
easy as handset.
Distinguished Guest, Padmashri
Dr. Annadurai M, Director, ISRO Satellite
Centre, Indian Space Research
Organization explained ISRO's target of
Valedictory Address
Address by Distinguished Guest
Make in India and launching satellites. He
mentioned, India started late but is latest
in the field with it’s own GPS and many
other satellites. His explaination on how
India has been working on stringent
deadlines for its target of one satellite
every month and how being agile is
helping the organization to achieve it
mesmerized the audience. Audience
connected well to see achievements of its
country and applauded loud enough to
show how much they loved the session.
Mr. Murali Santhanam, Past President,
PMI Bangalore India Chapter did the
honours of closing the Conference. In his
address he thanked the Delegates,
Sponsors and Volunteers for their
dedication and commitment. He called all
the volunteers on stage and
congratulated them for yet again
successful Conference.
PMI Bangalore
Chapter had
introduced a
Mentor forum
named as 'PM
Enlight'. Keeping
in tune with the
theme of PMPC “Architecting Project
Management for Enterprise Agility”.
PM Poster is an opportunity to
experience, in a Poster format, about the
best practices,
management tools and
new business trends
related to Project
Management during
the PMPC.
Conference Closure
PM Enlight
PM Poster
Transformations on Priority
Smart Cities
Acknowledgment & Recognitions
Padma Vibhushan Dr. M S Swaminathan,
Founder and Emeritus Chairman, M S
Swaminathan Research Foundation
couldn't join us in person due to health
issues but made sure he is not
disappointing the audience and connected
through Skype. He shared the challenges
and achievements of the green revolution
movement that he led. He also
emphasized on focused approach to run
long term transformation projects.
Dr. Ravindra A, Chairman, The Smart
Cities India Foundation delivered the
keynote address and explained “The
Smart Cities initiatives” by the
Government of India. He added how
Government of India has been harnessing
technology to create smart outcomes for
citizens and how Smart Cities are helping
in improving quality of Life by improving
infrastructure and other facilities. The
session was very interesting and
interactive with many questions from
audience.
On the third day of the Conference, The
Indian Regional Navigation Satellite
System or IRNSS team from ISRO was
given the "Project Excellence" recognition Continued on Page 6...
6 Page
Volume - 4 - Issue 5 August 2016
Soumen De, member of PMI Bangalore India Chapter, was invited to deliver
a key note lecture at the at India Analytics Summit 2016 in Bangalore thon July 26 , 2016. This event was organised by UNICOM.
He spoke on the topic on “Redefining your Business Strategy using Insights
from Big Data Analytics” to the delegates who came from across the
country to attend the event. During his presentation he discussed how data
analytics can help to meet the ever evolving customer expectation which is
often very different across regions making it more challenging to deliver the
'best' quality for each specific market. This session examined how the
automotive big data analytics can enable companies to develop a business
strategy that provides competitive advantage by improving launch quality
and customer satisfaction.
PM Enlight: This
year's PMPC 2016
mentoring session
with Industry
experts was offered
in four tracks,
Track 1: Managing
Career in VUCA environment, Track 2: How to become Agile
Transformational Leader, Track 3: Strategic Skills for effective
PMO Leader and Track 4: Career Choice as an
Intrapreneuer/Entrepreneur. We are happy to inform that this
year's edition of PM Enlight was well received by the delegates.
The feedback about the program and the mentor was extremely
positive. A special mention about Sunilraj Mallesh; he
managed the entire rollout of this program
singlehandedly.
PM Poster:
In this year's
PMPC 2016
Conference as
well this
program was
well
appreciated
and connected
with audience.
Almost 18 topics by 20 speakers were discussed and presented
to delegates over the 3 days of Conference.
PM Accomplishments
PMPC 2016 ... continued from Page 4
Article Contribution
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
- Maya Angelou”
This monthly newsletter is a forum where anyone can contribute through articles on Project
Management and related topics. Give wings to your writing skills and don't keep any untold
experience with you.
You can also claim PDUs for your contribution under category D (Creating new Project Management
knowledge). Additionally it helps you in improving your writing skills. Use this opportunity and excel
in the field of Project Management.
You can send your Articles or route your queries to :
or
Please note that you do not need to be a PMI or Chapter member to contribute articles for
PM Essence and participate in monthly events.
Page 7
Volume - 4 - Issue 5 August 2016
Chapter News ... continued from Page 1
A. systems engineering is the activity of
representing processes of an enterprise, so that
the current process may be analysed or
improved. BPM is typically performed by
business analysts, who provide expertise in the
modelling discipline; by subject matter experts,
who have specialized knowledge of the processes
being modelled; or more commonly by a team
comprising both. Alternatively, the process
model can be derived directly from events' logs
using process mining tools.
The business objective is often to increase
process speed or reduce cycle time; to increase
quality; or to reduce costs, such as labour,
materials, scrap, or capital costs. In practice, a
management decision to invest in business
process modelling is often motivated by the need
to document requirements for an information
technology project. Change management
programs are typically involved to put any
improved business processes into practice.
[
Business process modelling (BPM) in
Source - Internet]
PMP QUEST:
PM Footprints:
Agile Training:
PM Open Space:
nd rd th The monthly PMP Quest training was also conducted on 2 , 3 , 9 thand 10 July 2016. Nearly 32 members participated.
In the month of July 2016 one PM thFootprints session was held. On 28 July 2016,
Mr. Somanth Chakravarty, Product Owner, Projectplace
by planview, spoke on the topic "Project Management
with Kanban: From Basics to Metrics". The session was
well attended and enjoyed by all present.
th One day Agile foundation program was held on 30 July 2016.
The Chapter news for the month of June 2016
During the month of June 2016, this event was organised at
Huawei Technologies, at their Divyashree tech park premises in Whitefield area with
turnout of over 140
participants. Leaders from ABB,
Huawei Technologies, SAP Labs
India were present. Talk was
well received. Webcast of this
PM Open Space talk was
organized at 10 different
locations with the help of our
Chapter Volunteers and EC
Members.
Volunteer Development Program - Discovery Village, Kanakapura Road
thOn June 4 close to 30 volunteers, from the PMI Bangalore India Chapter, took part in an outbound volunteer development
program.
From the very beginning of confirming the participants to coordinating the travel, everything was planned and communicated
meticulously. This was one of the first out bound development programs being conducted by the Bangalore Chapter. The program
was kick started by the Chapter President Vijay Paul and he introduced the trainer
in charge of the program from “Boundless Initiatve” headed by Col. HT. Jagadish
and Col. Ravi Raj Patil.
They explained the program guidelines and the schedule for the day. It's started
with introductions and each of the volunteer getting “number badges”. The
objective of the program was to learn with experience.
There were total four activities:
1. The first activity was focused on ensuring that the team can get through
hurdles with proper planning, observation and communication which involves the
team coming together to achieve the objective of passing through the hurdle.
2. The next activity involved, the team working together and overcoming obstacles using the tools given to each other and
complete the task in time assigned. It also stressed on negotiating and working together as a team.
3. Post lunch there was an activity which involved teamwork to answer 2 questions based on cards provided to each team
member. This emphasized on ensuring the team member with most important cards does
speak up and also the team comes out with logic to ensure the questions could be
answered on time.
4. Finally there was another physical activity which involved walking using poles and ropes
tied to each other. The ropes emphasized the importance of family and friends facilitating
balance in life along with work. It was fun filled learning experience for all volunteers.
The day wrapped up with a vote of thanks by the Chapter President and a few volunteers
sharing their experience. It was a fun filled learning experience for all participants.
8 Page
Volume - 4 - Issue 5 August 2016
PMI Bangalore India Chapter# 13, Suryastan Apartments, Andree Road, Shanthi Nagar,Bengaluru - 560 027, Karnataka, India
[email protected] +91 80 6583 3671, +91 80 2211 5772, +91 98868 14078http://www.pmibangalorechapter.org
ValueWorks; [email protected]
PM Essence
Disclaimer
“The mission of PM Essence is to facilitate the exchange of information among professionals in the field of
project and program management, provide them with practical tools and techniques, and serve as a
forum for discussion of emerging trends and issues in project management. PM Essence is YOUR
Newsletter and Bangalore Chapter welcomes story ideas and/or suggestions to make it still better. More
information can be found on the Chapter's website.”
All articles in PM Essence are the views of the authors and not necessarily those of PMI or PMI Bangalore
India Chapter. Unless otherwise specified, it is assumed that the senders have done due diligence in
getting necessary copyright and official clearance in respect of all letters and articles sent to PM Essence
for publication. PMI Bangalore India Chapter is not responsible for loss, damage, or any other injury to
unsolicited manuscripts or other material.
Dear Members,
Membership Statistics: Our Chapter had 111
new members and 105 members renewed their
membership in July'16. On behalf of PMI
Bangalore India Chapter, I welcome all new
members and thank them for renewing their
membership on time.
EEP Update: Members who missed to renew their
membership post October 2015 can still avail
membership fee benefit of $65 as part of
Economic Exception Program, hence renew your
membership now.
Appended is the list of few FREE web-based
seminars (webinars) for August 2016. We have
shared same list to your registered email; this is a
good opportunity to earn PDUs to maintain your
credentials.
PM Member’s Corner
The Lighter Side of PM
Technology Support : Ramesh Chandra Pathak, PMP
For any queries or suggestions, please write to Balakrishna Kasibatla, PMP, VP Membership, PMI Bangalore India Chapter at [email protected]
Editorial Assistance : Smita Joshi Pant, PMP
Long standing members of the Chapter, who have completed 10 years of membership in PMI and PMI Bangalore India Chapter, were honoured
during PMPC 2016. The member who were recognized are, Mr. Ravi Krishnaswamy, Mr. Soumen De, Mr. Nilanjan Saha, Mr. Suresh Babu G,
Mr. Srinivas Durvasula, Mr. Sumatipal Kotangale, Mr. Raghavendra Deshpande, Mr. Jayaram Bellur, Mr. Anand Lokhande and Mr. Amaran
Arumugam