Written by: Alex Leonard, PMP

Presentation Overview 

On March 21, 2023, the Agile Forum of the PMI Atlanta Chapter hosted the “There is Nothing Wrong with Being Agile or Everything is Wrong with Being Agile” Special Interest Forum Event as presented by Varun Anand. As an instructor and practitioner in Agile methodologies, Varun utilized his knowledge and understanding of the Agile mindset to discuss when to use and when not to use Agile in practice.

Throughout the course of a 1-hour presentation, Varun emphasized many virtues of the Agile mindset. He explained the importance of embracing change, being flexible, and being adaptable. Failure to adapt to varying circumstances can be catastrophic for organizations because in many cases, when they resist change, they risk becoming obsolete.

On the other side, Varun discussed the world’s perception of what it means to be Agile. He explained how organizations say they are Agile, without truly knowing what that means in practice. They are essentially “fake” Agile.

Varun’s presentation culminated into the ultimate proclamation that while having an Agile mindset is especially important, there is a right time and a wrong time to be Agile. The important part is knowing when it’s the right time to be Agile.

Takeaways

Sometimes, Agile is not always the best approach. It is more important to have a good understanding of multiple methodologies so you can utilize the best fit for the specific phase or situation in a project. Other key points include:

• Having an Agile mindset is essential for embracing change
• An organization is not sustainable if they are not adaptable
• Many organizations say they are Agile but do not truly maintain an Agile mindset

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Chapter Agile forum on April 18, 2023

Keynote Presentation: "Incorporating Agility into Your Waterfall Projects" by Amber Chandler, SOP Evolution LLC

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

Event Pictures

Written by: Rishea Middlebrooks MHI, CAPM

In today's rapidly changing business environment, organizations need to be agile, innovative, and customer-centric to survive and thrive. However, traditional hierarchical structures and command-and-control approaches can be barriers to achieving these goals.

Take a look at Alex Lantukh’s presentation on to learn how identify, manage, and improve self-organizing teams and ultimately organizational performance!

Presentation Overview 

Self-organizing teams have emerged as a promising alternative to traditional hierarchical structures that hinder an organization’s ability to survive and thrive in business environments. These teams are allowing employees to collaborate and innovate in a more dynamic and adaptive manner. This presentation explores the benefits of and the strategies by which we might leverage self-organizing teams at scale to drive flow and improve organizational performance.

Takeaways

Optimizing Flow as a concept

• How Flow has been used
  • Lean
  • Six Sigma
  • Kanban
  • SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework)
• Considering Flow at scale

What are self-organizaing teams?

• Teams that are autonomously making decisions

What are the characteristics of a self-organizing team?

• Collaborative
• Autonomous
• Innovative
• Adaptive
• Communicative
• Responsible
• Empowering
• Accountable

Benefits of leveraging self-organizing teams at scale

• Increase speed and efficiency of software development
• Respond more quickly to changing market conditions
• Improve product quality and customer satisfaction
• Increase employee engagement and satisfaction

Challenges of leveraging self-organizing teams at scale

• Ensuring alignment with the organization’s strategic coals
• Maintaining consistency across multiple teams and products
• Managing dependencies and coordination across teams

Best practices for steering self-organizing teams

• Manage the inputs
  • Product vision
  • Technical runway
  • Provide guidance and direction
• Steward the team(s)
  • Define responsibilities
  • Develop culture
  • Empower team members
  • Continuous improvement

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Chapter Technology forum on April 25, 2023

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

Event Pictures

Written by: NoriYah Yisrael, MSM, PMP

Presentation Overview 

On March 9, 2023, the Clinical Research Forum of the PMI Atlanta Chapter hosted the “BioPharma PMO: How to Scale Up for A Growing Organization in the Clinical Research Industry” Special Industry Forum event as presented by NoriYah Yisrael. Mrs. Yisrael spoke to the audience and shared her vast knowledge of clinical trials in the healthcare industry, looking through a lens filled with 35 years of experience. Ms. Yisrael took the audience on a journey from the definition of drugs and devices through the discovery and commercialization of a product that survives it to the marketplace.

As the main topic, Ms. Yisrael engaged the audience and described how agility is, and could be further incorporated, at the Project Management Office (PMO) level to stay in alignment with biopharmaceutical companies as their pipeline grows. Gap Analyses and Maturity Assessments are only part of the solution. Leading the audience through the FDA’s adaptability during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how vaccine manufacturers pivoted to answer the desperate call of Americans for a timely solution, the story was painted clear about agility in the biopharmaceutical environment. Mrs. Yisrael provided statistics and data to inform how the rising costs of medicines may be offset if the industry further adapted their way of working, at both the project and enterprise levels. By introducing more agility in the way we do clinical trials, there is the potential to increase product speed to market and decrease the overall cost of biopharmaceutical research and development.

Takeaways

• As biopharmaceutical companies grow their pipeline, PMOs can stay in alignment and upscale their delivery model in accordance with that growth.
• Gap Analyses and PMO Maturity Assessments can be done to determine where the company is, and where the company endeavors to go, from a value-driven perspective. Together with an Agile mindset and an aptitude for change, PMOs have a roadmap wherewith to evolve strategically.
• By introducing agility into their way of working, biopharmaceutical companies can potentially reduce research and development expenses, and increase the speed to market for their medicinal products.

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Chapter Clinical Research Forum on June 8, 2023

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

Event Pictures

Written by: Rishea Middlebrooks MHI, CAPM

“Eighty-five percent of the reasons for failure are deficiencies in the systems and process rather than the employee. The role of management is to change the process rather than badgering individuals to do better.” – Dr. W. Edwards Deming

Take a look at Nadine Bent-Russell’s presentation on DEI agility to learn how mutual enablers can foster collaborative practices and, in many cases, spur employees to greater heights!

Presentation Overview 

In this presentation, Nadine Bent-Russell, Global Program Manager at Honeywell, discusses how the integration of DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) and Agile practices can result in further effectiveness of collaborative practices and, in many cases, spur employees to greater heights.

Takeaways

What is Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and how does Agile Project Management come into play?

• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) are three closely linked values held by organizations working to be supportive of different groups of individuals including people of different races, ethnicities, religions, abilities, genders, and sexual orientation
• DEI is a system that only works as good as people allow
• PMI Culture Values directly align with DEI methodologies

Agile is a way of working and a mindset. Agile is the way that we choose to think and to act and is in harmony with DEI. The Agile Manifesto lists four core values. It reads, in its entirety:

We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

• • Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
  • Working software over comprehensive documentation
  • Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
  • Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

How can we enable employees to reach greater heights?

• Making them feel seen
• Providing an environment for frequent collaboration and idea generation
• Practicing blameless retrospectives

How can we become mutual enablers?

• Create genuine belonging for all, knowing that our differences make us stronger
• Be a spokesperson for diversity issues that are not necessarily personal
• Commit to continuous improvement

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Technology forum on Tuesday, March 28th, 2023

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

Event Pictures

Written by: Horatio Morgan

Medium to heavy duty vehicles transition to zero-emission is the way to the future of transportation. This is essential to solving our current energy crisis. It is a more efficient, less costly, and an affordable alternative to more expensive carbon-based energy options.

Presentation Overview 

The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) is a national leading non-profit organization in the development and deployment of battery-electric and hydrogen vehicles in the medium and heavy-duty transportation markets. The speaker was not only passionate and charismatic, but most notably, Dan Raudebaugh is a founding researcher in the application of renewable transportation.

There was a high-level of engagement with attendees throughout the event. Dan shared his industry expertise and spoke on the future state of technology within the sector. He also gave an overview on some of the 100 plus projects CTE managers are completing across the country in this critical space with special emphasis on progress-to-date of Georgia projects. Attendees learned about the deployment of battery-electric transit buses at MARTA and at the University of Georgia, as well as the CNG (compressed natural gas) stations and refuge trucks deployed with Waste Management in Savannah and other parts of the southeast.

Takeaways

• CTE has more request for projects than can currently be handled as request for assistance has multiplied over-time
• CTE is the home and world leader for research, development, and innovation in the battery-electric and hydrogen vehicles sector
• CTE aims to create a vehicle that is zero-emission free by 2050-2060

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta Transportation forum on TBA

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

Event Pictures

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