Personal Development

It Is not About Changing from Agile to Waterfall, It Is About Combining

Michel, could you tell me which project management approach do you prefer when you are driving projects? Are you rather a Waterfall of Agile enthusiast? I prefer a blend. It is more as I say in English “horses for courses”, it depends on the circumstances. If you have well-defined objectives, you do not think they will change and you think that you can predict the outcome, then probably Waterfall is the best solution, or traditional project management as we say. If there is a possibility that things may change because you are working in a turbulent and complex environment, also maybe because requirements have not been well-defined at the beginning, then it is preferable to work in a more Agile way where you can adjust as you go. But again, in the Agile approach, when you have a sprint, each sprint is fairly well defined. In program management each cycle of the program should also be well-defined, but the program as a whole is a series of cycles where you cannot really predict the end, like in Agile you cannot predict the end of the project – you can only predict the next sprint. So that is where I think I would see the mix and the harmonization.

Silver Lining on the Pandemic Cloud

Interview with Priya Patra conducted by Aneta Wereszczak. Priya, at PMI Mumbai Chapter, you perform a role of the Vice President – Outreach. Please tell us more about that role. Thank you for the question. I lead the Outreach portfolio within the PMI Mumbai Chapter. We a group of 20 volunteers are engaged in reaching out to Corporates, Non-Profits and Youth to evangelize Project Management.

Can Project Manager be effective Change Manager? – interview with Harley Lovegrove

Could you tell us a couple of words how you started your journey with project management? I started my first business when I was 21 in the high-fi world, designing loudspeakers. I have set up a number of companies over the years. Some people called me a serial entrepreneur because I’ve done and run so many companies and worked in so many different industries. At a certain point in my career, when I was running a fast growing international company, I suddenly realized that actually everything we do in business that is new is in fact a kind of project: Be it developing a new product, creating a new service, working for a new kind of client, in a new sector.

The Future of Leadership in the Post Covid Hybrid World – interview with Bob Dignen

An interview with Bob Dignen conducted by Bartosz Zych about being a great leader in the world of remote working. Remote working has had a huge impact on the way we communicate, manage teams and build relations. Could you tell us what exactly has happened in this field for the last two and a half years? Firstly, let’s consider the idea of a huge impact. I would say yes and no, because for people working, particularly in IT projects over the last 20-25 years, remote and hybrid working have actually been very standard. What we’ve seen, therefore, is the standard for a relatively small number of people as becoming standard for a very large number of people.

Era kupionego szczęścia – wywiad z dr hab. Agatą Gąsiorowską

Czy to pieniądze kręcą nas najbardziej? Niektórych na pewno, bo – niestety – tak jest skonstruowany świat wokół nas. Ważne jest to, co posiadamy. Patrzymy na ludzi przez pryzmat tego, co mają, oceniamy siebie i innych w tym kontekście. Bardzo ciekawe jest także to, że używamy pieniędzy nie tylko po to, by nimi płacić w sklepie, ale dla wielu innych celów, wcale nie powiązanych bezpośrednio z kupowaniem.

Czego biznes nie wie o NGO? Część 1. – wywiad z Jaśkiem Melą

Jaśka Melę poznałam parę lat temu na jednej z jego prelekcji. Mimo, że wiedziałam, że chłopak boryka się z niepełnosprawnością, to w ogóle jej nie zauważałam. Jest bardziej sprawny niż wiele zdrowych osób, które znam. Od razu polubiłam jego optymizm i sposób postrzegania świata. Chłopak, który zdobył dwa bieguny, Kilimandżaro, Elbrus, El Capitan, przebiegł New York City Marathon, wziął udział w Tańcu z Gwiazdami, założył i prowadził fundację, całym swoim życiem udowadnia, że bariery często wyznaczamy sami we własnych głowach i możemy wiele z nich pokonać. Poprosiłam, żeby podzielił się z naszymi czytelnikami swoimi doświadczeniami.

PM-owie muszą mieć możliwość kształtowania swojego środowiska pracy – wywiad z Elżbietą Pawełek-Luberą

Wszystko, co trudne w kontaktach międzyludzkich koncentruje się w pracy Project Managera – to więc niełatwa rola, ale satysfakcjonująca, bo w dobrze prowadzonej organizacji decyduje o sukcesie projektów. Jak w Fast White Cat Project Managerowie budują swoją rzeczywistość i dlaczego ten aspekt najlepiej umacnia ich w zespole?

Safety, Stories and Uncertainty – interview with John Le Drew

I don’t think the pandemic has affected how we would apply agility or how we would work with it. I would say that teams that are already operating with agility are going to be able to adapt to their circumstances. What I talk about a lot is the idea of contextual alignment, this model has two core elements: you have the team context; the work the team is doing and the people on the team themselves. This is obviously changing all the time. Then you have the structure; this is the way the team is working (their process) and again, the people on the team. The structure is a team’s reaction to their changing context. A team notices that their context has changed, and adjusts their structure to best support their new context.

Biznes pełen emocji – wywiad z dr Magdaleną Kępińską-Jasny

Z dr Magdaleną Kępińską-Jasny, trenerką biznesu, badającą użyteczność emocji w zarządzaniu rozmawia Kornelia Trzęsowska. Czy da się zarządzać emocjami? Jeśli przyjmiemy, że zarządzanie nie jest manipulowaniem, a działaniem zgodnym z etyką i że zarządzanie polega na regulowaniu, a nie kontrolowaniu, to tak. Regulowanie to polega na dostosowaniu naszych emocji do sytuacji, aby osiągnięcie celu nie odbywało się za wszelką cenę, lecz w ramach norm etycznych. Pewnie łatwo wyobrazić sobie zarządzanie własnymi emocjami, choćby po to, by radzić sobie ze stresem. Zarządzanie emocjami innych jest bardziej złożone, bo można na przykład chcieć wzbudzić zaskoczenie, aby przykuć czyjąś uwagę do ważnych kwestii, albo wzmocnić radość po tym, jak zespół osiągnął sukces.

The Joy of Being Project Manager – How to be Lucky in the PM World? – conversation with Marisa Silva

A conversation with Marisa Silva – the Lucky PM, passionate and intrigued by projects. The interview has been conducted by Aneta Catalan Sikorska. I cannot start with the other questions until I ask about “The Lucky PM”. Is there any story behind it? Because when you talk about the PM world, I can see how much you enjoy it. But maybe “Lucky” doesn’t only mean that you love what you do, maybe you are lucky because you still improve the PM/PMO world. Thank you, first of all, for such kind words. I do try to share my passion and leave my mark in the community at least! Not really a story but there are three main reasons for my luckiness. First, I think that chance or luck plays such an important role in what happens in our life and projects, even if we prefer to ignore it. Sometimes it’s just a matter of being in the right place at the right time and I think that, although talent is fundamental, we need to acknowledge fortunate accidents too. Second, there’s this saying that goes as “there are no good project managers, only lucky ones: the more you plan, the luckier you get”, which I fully agree with because luck also requires hard work and preparation. Finally, because I’ve been very lucky to grown and learn with amazing colleagues, clients, organizations, and project teams. And, of course, I call myself “The Lucky Project Manager” because “The Lazy Project Manager” was already taken!