PMI-DVC Connect April

PMI-DVC Connect 

April 2021, Volume 1, Issue 4

 From the Editor – Welcome to the April Issue of our Chapter’s newsletter, PMI-DVC Connect! 

In this issue, we spotlight a volunteer who facilitates our Chapter’s virtual meetings, highlight the Guest Pass Program, touch on PMI Sponsored Research Program Request for Proposals, PMI Virtual Experience Series 2021, and PMIstandards+ Visitors, report on the Inaugural Meeting of the PMI-DVC Academic Council, draw attention to the Summer CAPM® and PMP® Courses, and the Agile Meetups, mention upcoming Chapter events, point out helpful items, celebrate Chapter members who achieved important milestones, call attention to Connecting in Virtual Meetings and Breakout Rooms, and provide a Special Article.

Best wishes for health and safety to all.

Frank T. Anbari, PhD, PMP

Newsletter Editorial Team: Frank T. Anbari, Amber Hill, and Kaitlyn Luboff.

Volunteer Spotlight: Kim Andrews, MBA, PMP®

 In this issue, we are highlighting Kim Andrews, MBA, PMP®.

Kim is a US Army veteran and VA Resource Group Volunteer in the Delaware Valley. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunications from Morgan State University in Baltimore, and an Executive MBA from Rutgers.

Kim has been involved in technology projects across industries for over 15 years. For example, he went from physical and technical infrastructure build-out of data centers for a leading IT services company, to now leading a team of PMP®s responsible for delivery and maintenance of software applications in the Global Real Estate – IT Department at one of America’s Big Four Banks. His strengths include risk management planning and mitigation, financial planning, and PMO management. He is a very passionate project management practitioner, always available to mentor and train junior staff and peers.

Kim is a certified Project Management Professional and a Certified Scrum Master. He is currently serving as Director of Virtual Meeting Content of the PMI-DVC. He plays the important role of recruiting talent to the chapter and facilitating meetings.

Program Highlight: Guest Pass Program:

Did you join PMI® this year and not join the Delaware Valley Chapter?  The Guest Pass Program offers you the opportunity to experience Chapter membership for free, for the remainder of your current membership cycle. The Guest Pass Program Coordinator is Regina Ray, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Regina loves welcoming new members!  Email her or connect on LinkedIn for more information.  

Chapter membership alerts you to Chapter events, speakers, professional development days, and networking opportunities. You will gain access to the Chapter Job Posting Board of available job opportunities, which is a members-only benefit. Enjoy attending a Chapter event as a guest, without charge. Leverage the resources of the Chapter, network with local experts to expand your connections, volunteer with the Chapter, earn PDUs, build your PM skillset, and sharpen your technical and leadership skills.  

As always, the Delaware Valley Chapter remains committed to fostering your professional growth and development. We are here to support you and are confident we will overcome the recent traumatic, and, at times, tragic, challenges together, and emerge stronger and more united as colleagues. 

If you have questions or feedback about Chapter membership, please email Marie Hegarty, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Volunteer Opportunities: 

Volunteering is not only a way to give back to the profession; it is also a great way to earn PDU’s! To see current opportunities, click here.

Important News from PMI®:

PMI Sponsored Research Program Request for Proposals

The application process is now open and will close on 25 April 2021.

For more information and to register, please click here.

PMI Virtual Experience Series 2021

PMI will continue its award-winning Virtual Experience Series in 2021.

For more information and to register, please click below:

https://www.pmi.org/virtual-experience-series

PMIstandards+™ Visitors

Pivoting your project approach can have positive impacts! Login to PMIstandards+™ today for new content aligned to PMI’s Agile Practice Guide and learn how to improve your project’s potential.

New content includes:

• Team Environments for an Adaptive Approach
• Finding the Right Fit-for-Purpose Hybrid Approach
• When to Use an Iterative Life Cycle
• Relative Estimating in Agile
• How To Fund Projects Using Agile

PMI members receive unlimited access as part of your member benefits. To access, simply login to PMIstandards+ using your PMI.org credentials and click “subscribe”.

Inaugural Meeting of the PMI-DVC Academic Council:

The first meeting of the PMI-DVC Academic Council was held on April 8, 2021. Instructors from ten Institutions of Higher Learning (IHLs) attended as well as over twenty chapter members who are interested in academic outreach.

The event featured sessions on research on distance learning for project management by Frank T. Anbari, PhD, PMP, Professor Emeritus at Drexel University, how PMI-DVC can help students jumpstart their careers by Ken Golkin, PMP, a fireside chat by PMI® founder Jim Snyder, PMP, and a session on using Project Management Jeopardy in a virtual classroom by Kevin Mayhew, PMP, from Penn State Abington.

A few individuals, both instructors and interested chapter members expressed interest in joining the Academic outreach committee. Several also want to become part of the Projects in Your Future project by presenting a webinar for students about their careers.

If you have had an interesting project management career, think that it would get students excited about their own future project management careers and would want to present a webinar to students about the arc of your career, contact Ken Golkin at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Summer CAPM® and PMP® Courses:

• CAPM – 3-days of required contact hours (3 Saturdays in June):

CAPM – Classes will be held on 3-Saturdays in June (June 12th, 19th, 26th)

• PMP – 5-day of required contact hours (5 Saturdays in June)

PMP – Classes will be held on 5- Saturdays (June 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th and July 10th)

Agile Meetups:

The Agile Meetups will be happening through June. They will be facilitated by Leigh Ann Gunther, PMI-DVC Director of Agile.

Here are the links and topics for upcoming months:  

• April 27, 2021, 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. – How is Disciplined Agile Different?

Credit: 1.5 Technical PDUs

• May 11, 2021, 6:45 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. – Topic TBD
• June 8, 2021, 6:45 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. – Topic TBD

Upcoming Chapter Events:

Leadership Challenge in a Pandemic – April 28, 2021

When: Wednesday, April 28, 2021, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Where: Via Zoom 
Credit: 2 Leadership PDUs 
Registration fee: Complimentary.

Speaker: Bill Blackburn, US Navy Commander, retired

To be effective, Project Managers need to lead through influence, not authority. That is not easy under the best of conditions. 2020 and the COVID 19 pandemic threw us all into a crisis and a world of uncertainty! No one knows when it will end. No one knows what the world will look like then. And no one knows the personal impact/hardships we may have to endure personally for ourselves and/or our families. How do you lead under those circumstances???

This practical, action-oriented presentation/discussion will concentrate on three areas of focus any leader can bring to their day-to-day routines that will better enable them to keep their team(s) engaged, motivated and less stressed.

We will look at how Clear Expectations, Communication and Empathy can enable you and your team to deal more effectively with uncertainty, stress and delivering your desired results.

For more information and to register, please click below:

PMI-DVC Annual Business Meeting – May 13, 2021

When: Thursday, May 13, 2021, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Where: Via Zoom 
Credit: 2 Strategic PDUs 
Registration fee: Complimentary. Members only event.

Speakers: Robert Cochran, President of the PMI-DVC, and members of the PMI-DVC Board

This is a perfect opportunity to learn what is happening with our chapter, network with fellow project managers and discover how you can find your niche within our community!

For more information and to register, please click below:

AI and Project Management in Practice – May 19, 2021

When: Wednesday, May 19, 2021, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm
Where: Via Zoom 
Credit: 2 PDUs 
Registration fee: Complimentary.

Speaker: Oliver Yarbrough, PMP®

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer confined to the realm of science fiction. It is having a major impact on the project management profession.

This session will provide project managers with easy to understand and practical ways to use on their projects. Project managers will learn how to adopt a growth mindset, understand how to make data-driven decisions, discover how to build an AI model, and find out how to monitor project progress.

Spring 2021 Professional Development Day – June 12, 2021

Stay tuned for more details.

Helpful items:

Exploring the New PMP® Exam and Prep Course

Recorded Free Webinar from the International Institute for Learning (IIL).

The presenter gives an overview of the Exam as well as a bit of a deeper dive into the 3 "new" domains. He describes the types of questions that are on the new exam:

1. traditional multiple-choice
2. multiple responses - there are 7 answers, and the test taker needs to select the best THREE
3. matching columns
4. fill in the blank
5. a "hot spot" where the test taker needs to circle the correct response in a graphic.

This dynamic and engaging webinar will provide an overview of the new exam and the PMI® Authorized PMP® Exam Prep course, highlighting the domains and their associated tasks and enablers. As a bonus, IIL will also provide valuable study tips.

Interested participants can register at:

Register now

What You Need to Know About the PMBOK® Guide – Seventh Edition

Recorded 1-hour session presented by the International Institute for Learning (IIL).

The instructor presents a fairly in-depth review of the new PMBOK® Guide.

Interested participants can register at:

https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3951791436007836430

Member Highlights:

• New Members – Welcome New Members who joined the Chapter in March 2021!
  • Claude Melissa Antony, Darryl Bates, Corey Bell, Diane Billas, Karen Brazell, Sheila Callahan, Emily Camano, Robert Cavanagh, Charles Clark, Joseph Dow, William Flounders, Chris Gasperini, Shane Hanna, Kazi Hassan, David Kimble, Rafal Klepacki, Dawn Kline, Kayla Laughman, Kelly Lensing, Robert Majure, Israel Massincaud, Amy Rojek Mayer, Jonathan McConnell, Diane McNamara, Frank Paone, Jan Phillips, Vincent Puisor, Robert Richardson, Marsha Rushie, Adam Smith, and Victor Utz.
• Member Certifications – Congratulations to our newest Certificate holders who achieved certifications in March 2021:
  • CAPM® – Robert Cavanagh, Danielle Conroy, Jonathan Rado, and Matthew Schillizzi.
  • PMP® – Justin Bridge, Craig Cleveland, Sr., Jeanne FitzPatrick, Kenneth Lorence, Frank Paone, Jr., John Pappas, Thomas Quinn, James Tarmin, Victor Utz, and Manikandan Vaithiyanathan.
  • PMI-ACP (Agile Certified Practitioner) – John Linton.
  • PfMP – Rahul Goswami.
• 15-year anniversaries – Congratulations to our Certificate holders celebrating 15 years of certification in March 2021:
  • PMP® – Anthony Brisgone and Steven Miller.
• 10-year anniversaries - Congratulations to our Certificate holders celebrating 10 years of certification in March 2021:
  • PMP® – Craig Brodbeck, Lourdes Devenney, Kathleen Haines, Baljinder Kamboj, Anthony Meluskey, Oluwatosin Oluwatoye, Janice Tabbut, and Mohammed Tashkandi.
• 5-year anniversaries – Congratulations to our Certificate holders celebrating 5 years of certification in March 2021:
  • PMP® – Jeffrey Annechini, Jane DeWitt, Michael Edison, Eric Lemasters, Jessica Schwartz, Magwant Singh, Ryan Townsend, and Lanice Wilson.

“Connecting in Virtual Meetings and Breakout Rooms” By Kathy Lajoie Malik

Kathy Lajoie Malik, MS, PMP, DASM, EVP of PMI-DVC, and leader of the Corporate Partnerships and Sponsorships Committee, met with Greg Reymann, Managing Director at the Judge Group, to discuss experiences with virtual meetings and especially using breakout rooms. Greg shared his observations. 

"Great opportunity to have lots of conversation.  One of the best values of the partnership is the opportunity to hear ideas and feedback. Many become clients or candidates. Conversations continue after the meetings."

Kathy also met with Dr. Eileen Callahan, Ed.D., Manager of Outreach at Villanova University, to explore how the adjustment to virtual meetings was viewed.  Eileen offered her perspective.

"We're glad to be able to sponsor PMI-DVC. It has been a wonderful opportunity to speak with the PMI-DVC members and to gain their thoughts and knowledge on their experience during the pandemic.  The world has changed so much over the last year. The responses were very positive which speaks to their resilience. It's also nice to talk with attendees about their PMP pursuits and plans for additional education."

The Corporate Partnerships and Sponsorships Committee is planning industry panel discussion meetings for PMI-DVC Members to collaborate on industry experiences, trends, technology innovations, challenges, and best practices in project management. The breakout room use has been an opportunity to hear from Members about the topics that would be most meaningful for them to discuss in the forums being planned. To share your ideas for the industry panels discussions or to inquire about corporate partnership and sponsorship opportunities, contact Kathy Lajoie Malik at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Special Article:

“Why Stakeholders Regularly Ignore Your Project Reports and How to Fix That” by Peter Taylor

The #1 way to improve the success probability of your project is to nail stakeholder buy-in – but how do you do that?

The #1 way to nail stakeholder buy-in is to give them uncomplicated visual project updates so they actually understand your project – but how do you do that?

The Project Reporting Challenge

When I was leading some very substantial PMOs, global in nature, hundreds of project managers around the world, leading thousands of projects on an annual basis, we had this fundamental issue of effectively communicating to a whole range of different stakeholders, but particularly to the executives inside the organization. All of my project managers were incredibly busy and yet they all had the challenge of how to represent the key aspects of their projects to the business executives, who in turn were busy people who did not have a lot of time and who were overseeing many, many projects at any given time.

The key here was to both make sure that the project manager did not waste their time and the executives (and other report consumers) received accurate, up-to-date information that they could easily consume and appropriately act on.

We learned that this could be achieved by visually representing the information in the simplest way possible, and in a consistent format for easy reference and understanding. Most often this format was PowerPoint. Our stakeholders were familiar with PowerPoint, comfortable receiving reports this way, and very often they wanted to roll-up their project slides into the information they presented to their executives.

Now, on a day-to-day basis, the project managers were typically working with something like Microsoft Project, so they had a detailed project plan but the executives neither had the time nor the inclination (or often the understanding) to look at such a plan, such detail. The reports were complicated, did not get read, or worse led conversations down a rabbit hole. 

What we needed was a more simplified timeline and a much-simplified visualization of where the project was, what was the progress, what were the challenges, what were the issues, what were the constraints, and therefore, what were the decisions that these executives had to make to support the project managers in being successful.  And we needed it in PowerPoint.

Picture Superiority Effect

There is a thing called the ‘Picture Superiority Effect’, something that I use regularly in my own lectures and keynotes.

Simply put, picture superiority refers to the phenomenon where people remember pictures better than they remember the corresponding words. Put in another way, pictures are superior to words when it comes to recalling and recognizing information…they get more attention than text or lists.

Taking this knowledge and acting on the principle in regard to project reporting means that you need to represent your project timeline in a clear, simple, and compelling visual in order to get the attention and understanding of your executives, and other stakeholders.

We learned that it is all about delivering the right information, at the right time, to the right person and in the right way. In this case, the right way is a visual way.

Which brings us back to my opening arguments: It is all about improving the success probability of your project by nailing that stakeholder buy-in, and my advice is to give them uncomplicated visual project updates, so they actually understand your project.

How We Added Picture Superiority to Project Reporting

One solution my team found useful is a PowerPoint add-in called Office Timeline. My project managers found it valuable for quickly creating project slides that our VPs and executives loved.  The visuals were uncomplicated and impressive, and the automation saved our PM’s lots of time. In fact, originally it was one of my project managers who started using the tool and shared their positives experiences with the rest of their colleagues, and myself, to the point that we standardized on it for executive reporting.

If you would like to try it out, I’ve asked the Office Timeline team to offer complementary PMI trial licenses, which they made available here:

https://www.officetimeline.com/pm-trial 

About the Author:

Peter Taylor: Speaker, Consultant, Trainer, and Coach, Peter is the author of the # 1 bestselling project management book ‘The Lazy Project Manager’. He has built and led some of the largest PMOs in the world with organizations such as Siemens, IBM, and Kronos. In 2020, he was awarded the PMO Global Alliance ‘PMO Influencer of the Year Award’.

About Office Timeline:

Office Timeline is attempting to cut in half the amount of time teams spend on reporting, while doubling the attention VPs and executives give to their projects. We are committed to make projects, programs and planning more successful through highly visual, uncomplicated, easy-to-use, productivity software. Built for PMP® holders, the Office Timeline Pro PowerPoint add-in turns complex project data into simple slides that clients, VPs, and steering committees will easily understand.

*2021 Annual Plan Goals*

Grow Emerging Professional Membership

Expand Engagement with Membership using Creative and Varied Methods to Deliver Value.

Expand and Engage with more Academic Institutions Building Relationships and Growing

Membership.