Blog

 

This is the largest annual gathering of project, program and portfolio professionals, which offers unique opportunities to learn, network and gather new ideas. The attendance of PMI Finland Chapter representatives was extremely beneficial for several reasons:

1. Ideas gathering to improve the operation of our organisation
2. Networking with representatives of peer organisations and especially from Nordic region and discussed cooperation
3. Resources and knowledge sharing

The event was attended in person by about 3.500 professionals and with the online participants it is the biggest event with about 20.000 participants from all over the world.  

In addition, contacts with exhibitors also offered many networking opportunities. 

There were more than 140 educational sessions and subject matter experts covering diverse topics related to project management from sustainability to power skills...

 

A powerful opening speech from the Amy Webb, Future Today Institute talk was about the use of technology, trends and long term changes. She pointed out that a lot of time we get the future wrong..but outside Simpsons everybody gets it a lot wrong.

The biggest mistake is that we are confirmation bias because teams are not diverse enough, we are all friends. That leads to a lack of opinions to challenge. We tend to respond positively to loud speakers.

She gave an example with the flying car presented last month in Dubai and in fact the very first flying car was invented..1917. 

We keep inventing and reinventing the future, thanks to confirmation bias.

The project's challenges according to her are the digital IDs, increased security concerns, metaversal related trend, extended reality, digital and feasible world interacting, wearable interfaces.

Trends that matter according to her are digital twins, simulations, all the green topics. Geopolitics and uncertainty as well as climate change will rule in the near future. 

She underlined that scenarios are not predictions. To ask what if? To be willing to rethink the status quo, engage in scenarios thinking, what are the various paths is to be more and more important. 

Ask "what if",  so you never have to ask "what now" was her conclusion.

 

Our major takeaways from this event based on the sessions attended are that sustainability is growing as important. Meeting our needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs is something every project manager shall have in mind. Laura Davidson for PMI talked on Good for the Planet and Good for Profit and pointed out that Green project management is advancing with sustainability metrics implemented. It has been a trend, but it is becoming a practice already. In fact, a company should not be afraid to say that they are still figuring it out. Project managers shall recognize that Earth's resources are being depleted faster than we can restore them. When it comes to sustainability, doing nothing will result in lost market shares and lost reputation. Many organisations are starting to reuse and recycle and are moving toward the circular economy. Sustainability is a huge area of growth for PM skills. 

PMI hired an external company to figure out how to implement sustainability in everyday life, but it is not certified as there is no certification for NGOs. 

Another interesting topic was about The Marriage of Agile and Design Thinking with Ryan Knoblauch. According to him Agile and scrum are simple and have much to offer to teams, projects and organisations, but they alone are not enough. Tools and inspiration from agile and design-thinking can be powerfully combined and turned upside down to unlock increased agility. Connecting these methods and frameworks is enhancing agility and brings greater understanding of your user. The method helps teams to increase human-centred agility.

It was announced that the PMI Global Summit 2023 will be held in Atlanta, Georgia from Thursday, 26 October – Saturday 28, October 2023 with additional plans for a Global Summit series in Europe and Asia Pacific.

 

Alae Oubela, President

Roumiana Atanassova, Director of University and Academic Outreach