Eight of our 2020 Project Management Symposium speakers were featured in PM Point of View podcasts, an audio podcast that looks at project management from all the angles.

The first podcast, PM Point Of View Podcast #76: Culture and Fit From the 2020 UMD Symposium, was released in July and focuses on culture and the importance of fitting in.

Host Kendall Lott, president and CEO of M Powered Strategies, delves into these topics with two presenters from the 2020 Symposium: Nikola Ivanov, who serves as Director of Operations at the UMD Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory, and PMP Wendy Wickham, who shares her experience of over 20 years in the IT implementation trenches as an educator and project manager.

Nikola Ivanov, Director of Operations, UMD Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory

Nikola’s presentation on “Who and Radical Candor: Hiring ‘A’ Players and Retaining Rockstars and Superstars” plus a follow-up interview by Kendall Lott examines the hiring process and maintaining a culture designed to retain top-notch staff.  An organization is a conglomeration of individuals. Together they embody a unique social structure with a distinct culture. So, it matters whom you hire, in a holistic sense. It’s not always a matter of whether or not someone is qualified for a job. It’s even more important to consider whether they will fit in.  His presentation, is based on two books: Who, by Jeff Smart and Randy Street, and Radical Candor, by Kim Scott. He gives specific, pragmatic steps for tightening this connection between the culture and expectations you need and the candidate you select, who then becomes and stays an “A” player.

Wendy Wickham, PMP, Author – Change in 4D: A Holistic Approach to Change

Through PMP Wendy Wickham’s presentation, “Stakeholder Observation: Minding the Gap between What they Say and what they Do” and interview, listeners will learn about a unique approach to stakeholder management.  She focuses on ethnographic observation—a deliberate study of people and their behaviors with an eye toward stakeholder management— and challenges people to evaluate the gap between what stakeholders say they will do and what they actually do. She shares ways in which recognizing certain patterns can be predictive of the project’s eventual outcome.  By observing organizational culture through an ethnographic lens, PMs can detect patterns and probabilities, and address potential gaps before they become serious roadblocks to project success.  Project culture itself has to fit in with the larger organizational culture; where evaluating those gaps can help you see where projects can run into trouble or be empowered by the organization in which they exist.

From their unique perspectives, Nikola and Wendy offer explicit steps for optimizing your team’s capacity, and your project’s success by fostering individual alignment with the culture, and then project alignment with the culture.

Listen to the PM Point Of View Podcast #76: Culture and Fit From the 2020 UMD Symposium

In September’s podcast, Richard Wyatt of TIAA discusses ways to manage a groundbreaking innovation project while working in concert with auditors and compliance-and-risk managers. The problems and solutions in this scenario are explored in Wyatt’s presentation, entitled “The Project Management of Innovation.” A second presentation, delivered by Shane Perkins of the Aurelius Group in Australia, is entitled “Project Tricksters and Frauds: Why Benefits Realization Practices Matter,” and covers ways a Project Manager can ensure that what is being delivered will truly benefit the organization and its stakeholders. Both presentations conclude with in-depth follow-up interviews with Richard and Shane.

Listen to the September 2020 podcast Project Perspective: The Bigger Picture.

October’s podcast, “Agile Today,” highlights the perspectives of speakers Christine Brennan Schmidt of the American Chemical Society, JJ Sutherland of Scrum Inc., and Richard Wyatt on the topic of scrum with distributed teams and Agile in a traditionally non-Agile environment. Is Project Management still relevant in the time of Agile? Listen, discuss and learn as Christine, JJ and Richard share their insights in this presentation, which also culminates in follow-up interviews with each speaker.

Listen to the October 2020 podcast, Agile Today from the 2020 UMD Symposium

If you want to speak at our April 22-23, 20201 VIRTUAL Symposium, submit your abstract by 9 AM on Friday, Nov 20th.