Program

4 Powerful Project Streams for you to choose from!

Download the PDF Program Agenda for 2019

Program Agenda 2019

PM West Program Guide Updated Oct 20, 2019

2019 Program Agenda

01.

Power and Politics in Projects

How do we prepare project managers for the political reality of projects through soft-skills, such as leadership, change management, and communication? What approaches to power and politics work best in our many different project environments? What do Project Managers need to know about power and politics to get work done and to survive professionally? Our speakers will provide their lessons learned and real life case studies.

02.

Projects Changing Lives

Projects have shaped the world around us, from major infrastructure projects that build our towns, cities and countries, through to the social project initiatives that impact individuals’ lives. Our speakers share their experiences in projects that have transformed our world.

03.

Projects Changing How We Work

The numerous ways in which the project approach to the management and planning of human activities includes innovations such a public private partnerships, hybrid and temporary special purpose organizations, and the “gig” (or project) based economy. Much of our work lives revolve around project-based activities. The power of projects in the re-organizing of how we live has been both profound and under-stated – it has just become how we do things! Our speakers share their experiences in this new work reality and how the opportunities were embraced and the challenges were overcome.

04.

Skills Development and Workshops

This year we have special workshops that run 1-2 hours long. Need to dust up your skills in negotiation or practice techniques in public speaking for your next big presentation? We have two days of workshops geared for the project manager.

8:00AM-9:00AM

9:00AM-9:15AM

9:15AM-10:15AM

10:15AM-10:30AM

10:30AM-11:30AM

YJTJ - A Professional and Powerful Approach to Microsoft Project, Daniel Renier, Milestone Consulting Group

Unleash the Power of Projects by truly understanding Microsoft Project’s ability to activate your scheduling superpower and help you deliver on-time, on-budget, on-spec.

At its core, Microsoft Project is a scheduling tool and a powerful one at that! Unfortunately, too many project managers are simply handed Microsoft Project without proper introduction, understanding, and professional process to guide interaction. In this session, you will be introduced, or reintroduced, to Microsoft Project through a professional, successful approach to Microsoft Project, YJTJ.

The YJTJ process is designed to provide project managers with a mindset for successfully thinking about and managing projects and thinking about and interacting with Microsoft Project. The YJTJ concepts provide the foundational building blocks that enable successful project, resource, and portfolio management. By integrating YJTJ into your projects, the power of your projects and the maturity of your project management organization will be amplified.

Negotiating Through Power and Cultural Barriers, Ariel Landau

Whether you're negotiating externally with a customer, or internally with another business unit, successful outcomes must be reinforced by mutual trust. In complex projects, many successful negotiations must take place in order to meet your stringent schedule, cost, and quality commitments. Difficult to build and easy to break, trust issues can shut down negotiations before they even begin, creating additional project pressures that may lead to diminished performance.
This high-energy interactive session will provide examples and techniques for building trust in negotiation, and will cover some of the following topics:
·What happens when you can’t walk away from a situation that requires negotiation?
·How do you negotiate through difficult situations?
·Confidence-building and managing expectations: how do you ensure that you maintain trust throughout the project lifecycle?
·How do you work with “fevers” and pressures?
·Managing up, down and sideways: How do you navigate the power differential?
·Culture and trust: how are Canadians different than other cultures when it comes to building trust?
·How do you recognize the signs someone is negotiating with you in bad faith, and what can you do about it?

Project Management Powered by Servant Leadership -Using 5C Connections, Nalini Vadivelan, EA Vancouver

Recent challenges for PMs include discovering new points-of-failure as projects unfold and continuous iteration on planning, also understanding team dynamics and practicing conscious leadership. At EA, we recently rolled out a fun new game mode called as VOLTA within FIFA 20 on a strict timeline to ship the product. A strong process model created with observing project management methods supported by positive emotional attraction of servant leaders helped the team to accomplish exemplary results. Happy to share thoughts of Project Management Powered by Servant Leadership, using 5C connections based on my original article published in the International Journal of Servant Leadership Vol.12 2018.

Risky Business, Neil Kelly and Jeff Acland, BC Hydro

Please join Neil and Jeff for some Risky Business! In this presentation Neil and Jeff will be discussing Risk Analysis, which is a valuable technique to obtain an understanding of the probability of achieving the cost and schedule targets for a project. After reviewing the fundamentals of Risk Analysis they will explore the traditional methods of performing cost and schedule risk analysis separately to a new method that integrates both schedule and cost into a single analysis. The presentation will then conclude with a comparison of the traditional and new methods of performing cost and schedule risk analysis. You will leave the presentation with an understanding of cost and schedule risk analysis, which will help to ensure that you are set up for success when you next establish your budget and in-service date for your project.

11:30AM-11:45AM

11:45AM-12:45PM

Gaming - The Road Ahead driven by One Team, Electronic Arts Vancouver, Panel: Arthur Fong, Behnaz Mortazavi, Michael Guercio; Moderator, Dr. Eamonn O’Laocha

Gaming Projects may follow very different project management practices, from the traditional PMI and Agile. EA Games Development and Testing practices have changed the way we work together as multi-discipline project teams. This panel from EA will be sharing their journey as “One Team” and their thoughts about the road ahead.

Questions:
What is the One Team philosophy at EA?
How does the theory of One Team apply to project planning in a multi-disciplinary environment?
What challenges did you face or are currently facing to achieve the One Team mentality?
What do you expect to achieve with the One Team philosophy?
What does the future look like for EA and for your industry?

The Agile Hammer - Agility or Chaos, that is the question! Mehran Jamshidi, Efficert Academy

More and more organizations tend to shift their development approaches from waterfall/predictive to agile. While adding the flavor of agility to projects could boost the project results as project teams can benefit from daily reviews, and delivering early and often increments, but embracing changes has been abused by some 'powerful' stakeholders and the fact that planning is still a huge part of the agile development approach is undermined.
In this presentation, we will review the major differences between the risks of agile/iterative versus predictive/traditional development approaches, and will try to clarify the impact of endless uncontrolled change requests. Choosing the right development approach for projects, the difference between communications, and power vs authority in agile and traditional approaches will be discussed.

Building a Project Portfolio Road Map, Laurel Sim, Taleo Project Services

This presentation brings thought leadership for project portfolio management, sharing perspectives regarding challenges in building an effective portfolio which executive leadership can connection with while still having tactical perspectives. This session will emphasis how a portfolio can be structured to have effective oversight on programs while allowing for flexible project delivery oversight. This interactive presentation will use a case study to build a portfolio road map.

Innovations in Health Systems: A network of consensus, Michelle Favero, Abbotsford Division of Family Practice

You have been given a mandate, are short on resources, have limited funds and nothing can be done without consensus. Sound familiar?
Being nimble and innovative in these constraints brings about health system transformation. Learn how projects in a living system can adapt and transform using networks and interdependencies that may not always be apparent.

12:45PM-1:45PM

1:45PM-2:45PM

An Agile Approach to Distributing Power, Scott Hayward

Real power in large enterprises lies in decision-making. In a world of increasing complexity, industry disruption and distributed workforces, success requires a new breed of organizational leaders willing to relinquish decision-making to their teams and accept that most decisions should be deferred. Many find this power shift as unsettling as the teams who are now accountable for more than just the work they perform.

Three keys drive project success in this necessary transfer of power:
Identifying what decisions leaders should relinquish and what they should keep,
Equipping teams to frame clear choices and build the courage to embrace their new responsibilities, and
Aligning decisions distributed amongst teams to ensure consistency across the project.

This session draws from more than a decade of success and struggles introducing agile into software development teams. These range from individual agile projects to a multi-site program transformation to Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).

Learning outcomes
Describe the drivers moving projects away from decentralized decision-making, the impact of this change and how to execute it successfully
Recognize core elements of Scaled Agile Framework and how it defines explicit trade-offs to support decentralized decision-making.

Adapting the project management approach to transform large-scale research, Panel: Robyn Roscoe, Kimberly Merin Sivak, Scott Baker, Payal Sipahimalani; Moderator, Dr. Eamonn O’Laocha

While project management standards have been the norm in certain sectors for many years, it is relatively new to the world of research. In recent years, as we have seen a shift toward greater collaboration across research institutions, private agencies, and disciplines, the need for intentional project management has become more apparent. During this panel discussion, speakers representing local research institutions and agencies will share how their organizations have adapted the traditional project management model and applied it to large-scale, collaborative research projects. While each panelist will provide their unique perspective on the challenges associated with incorporating project management principles and practices in a world unaccustomed to this way of thinking, all will show the power that project management has to transform the efficacy of large-scale research.

Maturing the Project Capabilities in your Organization, Megan Johnston, Analyte Projects

Businesses that can get good at delivering value through projects are likely to succeed. In today's world, with the pace of change in the marketplace, projects are a good strategy to quickly and effectively deliver the value you need to secure and sustain your customers. The better you are at delivering projects, the faster that value is delivered to market and the greater your competitiveness becomes. Learn how Project Managers can become agents of change in an organization to cultivate a Project Culture, establish Project Management systems and create Value Delivery Playbooks.  
Whether you work for an organization that has no project management experience or an organization that has been delivering projects for years, this breakout session will cover common symptoms at each stage of organizational maturity and solutions project managers can provide to guide the organization towards success.
If you are just starting to implement project management structure or you are looking to establish a project management office (PMO), this session will cover tips on how to level up your Projects. Bring your biggest challenges and prepare to apply some lessons learned.

Effective Project Leadership and the need for Emotional Intelligence, Tom Sparrow

In todays’ society, intelligence and technical skills are not the only effective tools Project Managers should have tucked away in their toolbox. There’s also a strong need for Emotional Intelligence.

Successful leaders recognize the need to embrace self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills in order to effectively manage and stimulate high performing teams and build collaboration amongst project stakeholders.

Emotional Intelligence can be learned. This presentation will evaluate and explore each of these components and from real life experiences provide insight into how these key components can be successfully applied in a project setting.

2:45PM-3:00PM

3:00PM-4:00PM

Why and How You Should Make Your Distributed Team Feel Loved, Vy Luu, Real Estate Webmasters, Dr. Gavin Maxwell, Former Olympian

Project managers today are responsible for more than just delivering to quality, scope, schedule and budget. They do all this while trying to solve for the challenges of distributed teams. Teams that have to work together to achieve the project goals, yet are physically and virtually apart.

The traditional skills of task, process and organization are now table stakes. Stellar project managers are strategic, collaborative, flexible, and highly communicative. They have to use digital technologies to convey a message that can deliver and solicit all of the physical cues of body language, tone and facial expressions to truly give and understand messages across teams. They have to inspire teams to build relationships with each other so that problems are solved quickly and creatively. The best project leaders seek out these new strategies for the distributed teams, apply them and then improve on them again.

Bridging the Gap between Strategy and Execution, Mike Knapp, Incrementa (un)Consulting

A well designed strategic plan can transform your business, but for so many businesses their strategic plan becomes a case of SPOTS (Strategic Plan on Top Shelf). How do you rid your company of spots? Execution planning.

Strategic planning is made of two parts: strategic thinking (why and what you will do) and execution planning (when and how you will do it). Great execution planning creates a portfolio of projects, priorities and change initiatives for the business to tackle.

In this session, we will discuss:

- How to develop an execution plan

- Why agile practices are vital to the success of strategic planning

-Why project leaders are the perfect bridge for the success of your strategic plan

The Project Manager’s Dilemma: Leading All The Responsibility In The World, But No Authority, Steve Armstrong

Personal, Organizational & Community Leadership is the intentional influence and often doing what doesn’t come to us naturally. We must work at it, but the good news is that we can all get there by taking to heart that:

-Leaders Are Made, Not Born
-Leaders Manage Their Emotions
-Leaders Respond Rather Than React
-Leaders Are Resilient

Leaders can come from anywhere. As we look around the world today, if we are looking for larger-than-life heroes, we misunderstand what leadership is.
In a crisis, leaders appear to be larger than life but Steve will show that you and I … ordinary people … will rise to the occasion in turbulent and trying circumstances.

Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, and Project Management: the Facts Behind the Hype, Nick Wilkinson, Two Tall Totems

Earlier this year Gartner predicted that, in just ten years, 80 percent of today’s project management tasks will be performed by Artificial Intelligence. Whether you find that statement threatening, exhilarating, or far-fetched, one thing is undeniable—change is on its way. AI is already being used to check people in at airports, write advertising copy, redact sensitive documents, and create storyboard animations from movie scripts. It seems there’s nothing AI can’t (or won’t soon be able to) do, at least from what we read in the news. But how much of what project management entails can—or should—be left up to algorithms to take care of? Based on current approaches to building AI, what can we reasonably expect from this technology, and what are the pitfalls that we need to be on the lookout for? As project managers, we will increasingly find ourselves using, building, and integrating AI in the projects we manage. It’s critical that we have a firm grasp of what this technology really is, how it works, its potential dangers, and strategies for ensuring its responsible use. This talk will cut through the hype surrounding AI and uncover the facts PMs need to know about the changing technological landscape ahead.

4:00PM-4:15PM

4:15PM-5:15PM

8:15AM-9:15AM

9:15AM-10:15AM

10:15AM-10:30AM

10:30AM-11:30AM

Advancing Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment through Projects at UN Women, Dr. Adam Simpson, PhD, PMP, Manager of Global Programmes for UN Women

All human development and human rights issues have gender dimensions, and yet, the World Economic Forum predicts it will still take 108 years for women to achieve equal status globally. This presentation highlights the project-based work of UN Women in advancing gender equality and women's empowerment, focusing on priority areas that are fundamental to women’s equality that can unlock progress across the world. Specifically, the presentation will discuss the Power of Projects, grounded in robust project management practices, to advance women's leadership and political participation, invest in women's economic empowerment, and support the full and equal representation and participation of women in all levels of peace processes and security efforts.

Complex Project Analytics, Randy Meszaros, AScT, PMP, C.E.T. at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) LLP, AND Mei Teh, Senior Associate Capital Projects and Infrastructure at PWC

Rapid technological advancements are reshaping the infrastructure industry. Application of advanced data analytics can help facilities owners optimize existing assets and make better capital-planning decisions. Facility owners now have the ability to integrate facility performance and commercial controls to understand:

- Are they getting the expected performance from third-party service providers?
- Is the third-service provider accurately invoicing for its services?
- How can I improve portfolio performance and future commercial models

The Hidden Stakeholder, Laurel Sim, PMP

Did you realize that the number one job of program mangers is to engage with stakeholders? If we treat all stakeholders the same way we believe millennials operate how successful will we be? In this presentation we will uncover the hidden worlds of the people in our workplace and organizational systems. Through understanding what actually drives people we will be better able to set expectations, manage change and influence outcomes. When you understand that a millennial has more in common with a 60-year-old who shares their values then another millennial who does not share their values, you open up a world of understanding which will revolutionize the way you approach all people.

From the Horse's Mouth - Project Management in the Nonprofit World, Shawn Hawkins, Executive Director, PMVolunteers, moderator

Panel:

Suzanne Liddle, Director of Community Services, and volunteer Collingwood Neighbourhood House

Susan Hancock, Coast Mental Health and volunteer Dementia Awareness Training project

Samira Harris, Cole Engineering Group and volunteer Christ Church Cathedral project

In this panel presentation you will hear from project managers who will share their experience working for nonprofits in both paid and volunteer positions.
Learning Outcomes:
Learn about the diverse opportunities for project managers in the nonprofit world.
Learn how working in nonprofit environments can be different from the private sector and government agencies.
Learn how nonprofit experience can advance your career.

11:30AM-11:45AM

11:45AM-12:45PM

Applying an Equity Lens to Project Stakeholder Management: A Case Study of Social Sustainability in Project Management, Samad Aidane, MSc. PMP, Oregan State University College of Business

This presentation reports on progress towards a PhD research study on the factors that promote or inhibit engagement of culturally diverse local communities as project and program stakeholders. Using a case study of a local government agency in the U.S, the research explores and describes project managers’ understanding and experiences of the challenges, barriers, and critical success factors for engaging ethno-culturally diverse communities. Although researchers have produced empirical evidence supporting the importance of stakeholder engagement to the success of projects and the necessity of adapting project management practices to cultural context, it is still unknown how this is achieved in the context of project stakeholder management of culturally diverse local communities. Remarkably, there has been no known research on how project managers engage culturally diverse communities as project stakeholders. Yet, there is growing interest on the part of local government agencies to apply an equity lens to their project delivery processes. Increasing civic engagement of ethnic, linguistic and culturally diverse local communities is a central component of this equity lens and a pathway to reducing disparities and advancing social equity and opportunities for all.

The research is relevant to any public sector, non-profit, or non-governmental organization that serve, directly affect, or support the interest of ethno-cultural minority and immigrant communities. The research is also be relevant to social responsibility and public affairs department/offices within private sector organizations that are interested in improving their collaboration with ethno-cultural and immigrant communities on projects and programs.

The findings from this research inform (1) how project managers can enhance their capacity to effectively engage ethno-cultural minority communities, (2) the development of future training interventions that integrates community engagement as an integral component of Stakeholder Management, and (3) how organizations can improve their project delivery processes to advance equity and inclusion in projects.

The case for co-creating projects: Exploring the benefits for project managers and communities, Dionne Pelan, William Booth, and Heather Holroyd

Firms commonly deploy staff to support fundraising and other community-oriented campaigns, demonstrating strong commitments to supporting local activities. At the same time, communities are becoming increasingly invested in leading responses to the local issues that most affect them. What happens and what are the benefits of bringing together the “know how” of project managers and the “know what” of community members? This interactive presentation will explore the benefits that emerge when projects are co-created by a team of skilled members, emphasizing what is needed for inclusive and empowerment-oriented projects to be successful and mutually beneficial. Together we will explore issues related to successful collaborations using a series of lessons that we have learned through our work on the LinkVan Project, which includes ongoing Tech Cafes with members of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and the development of a community information services web app.

Project leadership in a complex world: What we can learn from the experiences on large complex projects at BC Hydro, Chris Waite

The environment in which we deliver projects is more complex than ever before. And very large and mega projects add even more complexity and challenges to the delivery. Based on his experience on some of BC Hydro’s largest projects, Chris will share some of the less commonly discussed, yet important attributes Project Managers need to be successful, above and beyond their technical skills. His talk will focus on the what and the how behind the following: Building trust, Using empathy, Developing relationships

Don't get 'bit' by your project risks. Ways to prevent risks from curtailing your project and your reputation! Risk Workshop by Mehran Jamshidi, Efficert Academy

Specific Objectives:
To train the participants on the Risk Management Processes including:
-Creating a Risk Management Plan
-Identifying the risks
-Prioritizing and analyzing the risks

Planning for appropriate risk responses
Expected Outcomes:
-Back in their organizations, the participants will have the capacity to:
-Implement a Risk Management Strategy
-Transfer the knowledge to their peers on how to plan, identify and manage risks

Create Risk Management Plan and Risk Register templates based on the samples provided at the workshop
-Cultivate a Risk Management culture in order to boost their projects’ success rate

12:45PM-1:45PM

1:45PM-2:45PM

Unleashing the Power of Projects for Scaled Agility, Gary Wagner, PMP, SAFe Program Consultant (SPC), TELUS

The power of implementing scaled Agility in the Enterprise offers unique benefits whilst challenging our traditionally held beliefs. Organizations from a variety of industry sectors and states of maturity are lured by the prospects of quicker speed to market as well as closer customer collaboration whilst empowering their workforce with new ways of enabling this transformation. Yet despite on-going investment in scaling Agility, significant barriers to benefits realization still persist often attributable to similar core drivers independent of the unique organizational setting.

In this short talk and interactive Q&A session, Gary Wagner (B. Comm, PMI® PMP, SAFe® SPC) will provide insights from the multi-year scaled Agile Transformation at TELUS which initially levered the Scaled Agile Framework for Enterprises (SAFe®). Gary will define the true nature of scaled Agility in practice agnostic of chosen framework, contrasting this with more traditional ways of working at both the Program and Project levels. Key differences between these approaches will be highlighted, based on insights from Gary’s close consultations with leaders, team managers, and team members domestically and internationally. Key learnings extracted from the experiences of multiple teams preparing for and executing on their transformation will be revealed, highlighting the on-going change management focus areas which are crucial for success.

The Evolution: Project Manager to Transformational Leader, Mike Knapp, Incrementa (un)Consulting
Project managers pride themselves on getting things done, but to make lasting change in an organization, we need more than management. We need transformational leadership. We don't need abstract leadership concepts, we need concrete and actionable elements. In this session, we will discuss some of the things transformational leaders to, and how to apply them to your next project, including:

Setting a clear vision
Cascading meaning
Leading change
Empowering their teams

It's time to evolve from project managers into project leaders.

Office Mythology: The Truth About Authentic Leadership, Spencer Horn

Most leaders want to be true to who they believe they are. This can be a challenge if who you are conflicts with your leadership role. Many leaders struggle with authenticity when there is change or a new role, or when they have to sell themselves or handle feedback for improvement. You will learn how to have the success you desire without selling out. Participants become aware of the power of patterned emotional responses, and learn how to re-train their brain in order to develop more productive habits. Developing the ability to master oneself in moments of tension and stress creates new habits as well as building a foundation for personal and professional success. Participants develop their ability to focus on assertive communication skills and handle challenging behaviors, which are essential in achieving organizational objectives.

A Practice of Communication, Ray Miller, Toastmasters

In this presentation, we will review the basic structure of a speech and the group will participate with an impromptu speech in small groups. We will review the various roles in a toastmasters club meeting, and some of the competencies that can be strengthened through practice, repetition, and evaluation.

2:45PM-3:00PM

3:00PM-4:00PM

Beyond the Bottleneck: A New Theory of Constraints for Complex Environments, John Rauser, Cisco Cloud Security

The classic Theory of Constraints focuses on the elimination of bottlenecks inside linear systems, but its application to complex environments needed to build software falls short. It misses much of the depth needed to coordinate knowledge work across a complex environment of teams, functions, roles and tools.

The organizational systems that we use to create and innovate with software are networks of people, information and process that we combine to generate products and services. These systems have evolved beyond mere bottlenecks, and need a new approach to determine how to unlock effective delivery of value. The solutions to problems that plagued industry in the past are falling short, and we need to update our understanding of what a constraint is for this new context.

In this talk we examine what it means to work inside a complex cognitive network, drawing on examples of success and failure in the evolution of software delivery. We see how the dynamic complexity and synthetic nature of modern software development demands a new theory of constraints, a redefinition of restricts the productivity and innovation needed to create value through software. We will look at how we can apply this theory using several practices being used by large organizations to scale their software delivery teams.

Applying change management in culturally conservative organizations, Peter Stovall, Fasken

This session will explore change management in the legal industry through the lens of platformization (a trend in digital transformation) and Legal Project Management tech tools. Once you’ve run the numbers and proved that a tool can pay for itself, where do you start? What do you avoid? Understand key learnings for pacing the project and securing lasting engagement from culturally conservative organizations.

Learning outcomes:

Project management skills that transfer to the legal industry

Digital transformation and emerging technologies in the legal industry

Adoption challenges and change management

Developing a high performing owner/contractor team for implementing large complex projects, Owen Williams, BC Hydro

In order to successfully execute large projects, senior leaders must spend a large amount of energy on developing and sustaining the Owner/Contractor team and on governance issues. This presentation will discuss the challenges of developing large multi-company teams, and new ways to proactively ensure that the team meets its full potential. During this presentation, Mr. Williams will use examples from his recent experience managing the Site C Generating Station and Spillways project.

The Future of Work – How the Most Successful Organizations Create Cultures of Value , Dr. Ed Hoffman, Strategic Advisor for PMI
The world of work has changed. There are heightened expectations for organizations and teams to respond with efficiency, agility, and innovative solutions. The most important factor in success is the capability of people to work within a culture of rapid learning, access to solutions, and deep knowledge. Such a culture does not simply occur. It is the result of committed leadership at all levels that has a focus on strategies and tactics that elevate the importance of collaboration, conversation, relevant technologies, and workforce engagement. In this presentation, Dr. Hoffman will offer both current research and actual examples for how organizations build cultures of learning and knowledge capability.

For over thirty years Ed Hoffman was responsible for designing, developing and implementing an integrated system of learning, engagement and building expertise for NASA. He was appointed shortly after the Challenger disaster, to design the NASA Academy, that would focus on performance strategies for individual development, project team performance, and designing a federated knowledge management program. This session will focus on principles for competitive advantage in the project economy.

4:00PM-4:15PM

4:15PM-5:15PM

5:15PM-6:15PM