Day 1

2009, 08, 08 The first day of PMBOK Cafe was experimental.  Twenty Project Management Professionals gathered for the Global Project Management workshop.  The opening presentation talked about Building Trust, Resolving Conflict and Acting on Shard Knowledge. 

People first worked on their own thinking about the future of Project Management.  What are the skills, tools and techniques we will use in 2012.

These ideas were assembled into affinity diagrams.  The main concepts that emerged were Communication, Technology, Organization and "Crazy" integrated ideas.  One of the interesting ideas that emerged was the use of technology to be able to alert Project Managers to psychological issues.

The main concepts were discussed as a group.  The people had a nice mix of cross discipline project experiences.  While it was chaotic to assemble divergent ideas into a cohesive knowledge map.  People created an ideal shared space that was extremely interactive.  The deliverables were the "Knowledge Clouds" which were mostly conversations with some pictures, words and ideas.

Most of the knowledge was intangible, difficult to express and people were relating their personal experiences.  The discussions were very lively and the workshop was buzzing with creative energy.

Day 2

2009, 08, 09 The second day of PMBOK Cafe focused on converting the buzz from the first day into something that is explicit and can be communicated to a wider audience.  The goal of the second day was team Presentations.  Each team was allowed to plan their schedule and allocate their resources and their time to produce a presentation on their "Knowledge Clouds".  This was a challenging goal, because of the rich discussions from the first day.

Participants learned how to use some collaborative technology, for example Google Documents to allow more than one person to work on a document or a presentation at the same time.  There were some technology bumps from so many people collaborating together in one space.  Teams were able to survey each other and get feedback on some of their concepts.

The presentations were all excellent on their verbal content.  Each team was able to convey their knowledge and discussions after each presentation were very interesting.

If there was a general theme to emerge it was that, In 2012 Global Organizations need to use technology to flatten the communication among team members.  Information needs to be more shared, granular and real-time with the ability to capture the work in progress.  In general Japanese Corporations are very rigid Functional Organizations.  Project Managers would be given more power and responsibility in decision making.

An effect of flatter organizations, might lead to more stress.  More responsibility can create more stress for team members.

The intangible parts of project management for example Happiness of Team members needs to be monitored. In 2012 Project Mangers need to have  system that can help People detect stress across cultures and time zones and alert the right response teams to help.

While technology can not solve all of Project Managers problems, participants generally agreed that better technology can improve the trust of team members, organizations need flatter communication structures that can improve the velocity of communication and aid in decision making. Lastly, technology can alert people about team members feelings and improve the soft side of Project Management.

On behalf of myslef Robert Higgins, Rajeev Supekar and Melinda Liow we would like to thank everyone for collaborating and working together on Project Management Knowledge.

The Marketing School Of Project Management

How to promote and sell good Project Management in Organizations.  How to Communicate Value? What is the The Future of Project Management? What tools and skills will we need to become better?

“Marketing and Selling the Project to Senior Stakeholders.” The first phase of Planning “Collect Requirements” is a critical time when stakeholder influence is the highest. Project Managers must quickly access whom on a project needs access to information propose a solution that solves a problem and adds value to the organization. This cafe will explore how to “Market” good project management to senior stakeholders, Management, Sponsors, Project Management Offices, etc.. How to “Market” that good project management is aligned with the Organizations Objectives and it will solve problems and provide solutions to customers.

PMBOK Cafe is an advanced workshop for  Project Management Professionals with English Communication Skills. Workshop Participants will earn PDU or Professional Development Units from the Project Management Institute Japan  for contributing to the knowledge of Project Management Best practices. A limited number of spaces are available for non PMP certified participants who have strong practical experience in Global Project Management.

What are the top Overall Risks to Global Projects?

The goal of the Fourth PMBOK Cafe workshop is to explore the Global Project Risks. What are the top Risks? If these Risks happen what will be the effect? What can we do to manage these Risks?

We will also focus on what are the Risks to our Project Management Methodologies? What can we do to improve our Schedule and Cost Risks on our global projects?

PMBOK Cafe is an advanced workshop for  Project Management Professionals with English Communication Skills. Workshop Participants will earn PDU or Professional Development Units from the Project Management Institute Japan  for contributing to the knowledge of Project Management Best practices. A limited number of spaces are available for non PMP certified participants who have strong practical experience in Global Project Management.

The Marketing School Of Project Management

How to promote and sell good Project Management in Organizations.  How to Communicate Value? What is the The Future of Project Management? What tools and skills will we need to become better?

“Marketing and Selling the Project to Senior Stakeholders.” The first phase of Planning “Collect Requirements” is a critical time when stakeholder influence is the highest. Project Managers must quickly access whom on a project needs access to information propose a solution that solves a problem and adds value to the organization. This cafe will explore how to “Market” good project management to senior stakeholders, Management, Sponsors, Project Management Offices, etc.. How to “Market” that good project management is aligned with the Organizations Objectives and it will solve problems and provide solutions to customers.

PMBOK Cafe is an advanced workshop for  Project Management Professionals with English Communication Skills. Workshop Participants will earn PDU or Professional Development Units from the Project Management Institute Japan  for contributing to the knowledge of Project Management Best practices. A limited number of spaces are available for non PMP certified participants who have strong practical experience in Global Project Management.

What are the top Overall Risks to Global Projects?

The Winter 2010 PMBOK Cafe Risk Workshop explored the Global Project Risks. What are the top Risks? If these Risks happen what will be the effect? What can we do to manage these Risks?

We will also focus on what are the Risks to our Project Management Methodologies? What can we do to improve our Schedule and Cost Risks on our global projects?

PMBOK Cafe is an advanced workshop for  Project Management Professionals with English Communication Skills. Workshop Participants will earn PDU or Professional Development Units from the Project Management Institute Japan  for contributing to the knowledge of Project Management Best practices. A limited number of spaces are available for non PMP certified participants who have strong practical experience in Global Project Management.