AIPM National Conference 2008
Sharyn and Bronwyn attended the Australian Institute of Project Management’s (AIPM) annual conference - this year in sunny Canberra. This year the theme was “Keeping the Promise through People, Projects and Performance". We thought the conference wasn’t as stimulating as the previous year – but last year it was held in Hobart and although that wasn’t the only reason, we felt the 2007 conference was OUTSTANDING.
Small print: we do acknowledge a small bias!
Strategy
Back to Canberra … there was a significant emphasis on strategy driving projects this year, and the emerging world-wide economic crisis provided important context. Professor Rodney Turner, the first keynote speaker observed that “one third of the world’s economy is project-based”. The keynote speaker from Primavera commented that “in the current economic climate projects will become more conservative in nature”. This same speaker suggested that we will see fewer projects, and the focus will be more on improving operational efficiencies rather than higher risk projects. Instead of the catch cry “schedule is king” relating to project constraints around timeframe, he suggested “budget will now be king” and we will see more flexible timeframes.
People
We also observed increasing awareness that the “people side of projects” is not just about personnel issues … it also extends to interpersonal relationships. Along these lines the “emotionally intelligent Project Manager” is emerging as THE critical success factor for projects. Paul Barry (Manager, PMO) from Queensland Rail led a discussion around the development of his people in “soft skills”. He concluded that while basic project management skills are vital, the “consulting skills” his staff acquired as part of targeted training for project managers made a dramatic difference to their relationships with internal clients and the overall outcomes of their projects.
In addition to this a major Australian research study identified that proficient inter-personal skills were the distinguishing factor between good and effective Project Managers.
Sponsorship & Governance
Sponsorship and governance were emerging themes of interest. Speaker Lynn Crawford observed that enlightened leaders recognise that project management and program management are the strategic delivery capability of their organisation. She also shared a tip where she uses the term “strategic delivery capability” instead of “project management” when talking with senior managers! While she acknowledged that formulating strategy is hard, she noted that executing and delivering strategy is harder.
AXA Australia featured as a case study in at least two presentations, where they were able to demonstrate an increase in share value because of their delivery capability. Jane Murray from AXA explained that the benefits and KPIs around their projects are estimated and linked back to the strategic plan. They also assess the “do-ability” of their projects and identified the following success factors:
→ Emphasis on projects as a way of doing business
→ Strong executive leadership and clear governance structure
→ Prioritisation and consideration of sequencing and do-ability of projects
→ Access to the right people
→ Program driven by strategy, not the other way around
Sustainability
Sustainability is also emerging as a strong theme both at a strategic level and execution level. This is potentially a new capability that will be required of Project Managers. During her presentation titled “Project leadership for Sustainability” Lynn Crawford observed “sustainability requires that we pay attention to the whole life-cycle of our products” and leadership is ensuring that sustainability is considered with every decision on a project.
Complexity
Kaye Remington gave a presentation titled “Complex projects – what are they and how can we manage them more effectively?”, and observed that Project Managers need to be
→ High level influencers
→ High level communicators
→ Highly creative
The same speaker also suggested that effective sponsorship and governance are critical!
Change Management
Change management themes included integrating change methodologies with project management methodologies; the importance of organisational change at a program and portfolio level; and the role of Project Manager as change facilitator and change agent. We anticipate that leadership of change will become an important theme in the coming year.
Conference Proceedings
A summary of the proceedings of the 2008 AIPM Project Management Conference is available online.
AIPM National Conference 2009
For anyone who is interested, the AIPM National Conference for 2009 will be held in Adelaide from the 11th – 14th October. The theme is “modernisation in project management” which should lend itself to some interesting presentations!
Another major project was preparing for the black tie Project Management Achievement Awards Dinner, which was held at the Australian Institute of Sport. We'll leave you to evaluate the outcomes from this project!