editoreditor’’s notes note · 2018-08-01 · volume - 6 - issue 4 july 2018 editoreditor’’s...
TRANSCRIPT
Volume - 6 - Issue 4 July 2018
Editor’s NoteEditor’s NoteDear Readers,
It gives me great pleasure to share with you this special edition of PM Essence which provides
exclusive coverage of the Project Management Practitioners’ Conference – PMPC 2018 along
with our regular features.
In its 13th edition, this year's conference theme is “Architecting Project Management: For
Value Creation”. Every year PMPC aims to bring thought leadership represented by industry leaders on a
single platform to jointly discuss and collaborate on transformational,
technological and leadership strategies that creates blended value proposition
for businesses, organizations, individuals, and in turn for the complete eco
system.
Capability Enhancement, Digital Transformation, Global Reach and Smart
Practices are some of the themes which will be taken up by leaders for
discussion during the conference.
As the Football World cup kicks in Russia, the World seems to be united by Football; tracking moves of their
favourite players....countries......progression to the next stage and painful exits. It's a huge challenge to host
a tournament of such a stature and Russia has done fairly well both in terms of planning and execution. It
needs a lot of courage and more than planning, a self-belief and a “We can do it” kind of attitude is needed to
make such endeavours successful. As part of Project Management community, we have always lots of lessons
to learn from such a mega 'Project'.
So what's in store for India? As far as the game of football is concerned, India qualified once in 1950 FIFA
World Cup by default but except this exception there is no respite for Indian fans. Well my objective is not to
highlight this aspect of the game but the other one – manufacturing and supplies of official match ball –
Telstar 18 from India. India is behind Pakistan, China and Vietnam in supplying footballs to FIFA for the
purpose of World Cup and for associated purposes. Indian orders are reduced to 20% compared to earlier
orders during World Cup and manufacturers cited different reasons ranging from dearth of skilled labour,
infrastructure challenges, GST and Rupee exchange rate, to name few. We hope that as the game becomes
popular in India; our manufacturers too can get more avenues to sell their stock.
On that hope, I welcome you all and thank you for your participation in PMPC 2018. I hope you have enjoyed
your share of learning and networking during the conference. We will always cherish your association with
PMI Bangalore India Chapter and via various means would love to foster this relationship. I also invite you to
contribute to PM Essence the monthly journal/newsletter from PMI Bangalore India Chapter where you can
continue your learning while becoming aware about various other chapter activities that are tailored for
professionals like you. Come and share your experience with us and we will ensure that your insights benefit
the larger PM community.
As the saying goes – “United by Football”........let's practice “United by Project Management”.
Thanks and Best Wishes
Tanish Mathur, PMP, PMI-ACP
Editorial Team
Tanish Mathur, PMP, PMI-ACP
“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing”
By - Benjamin Franklin
Namita Gupta, PMP, PMI-ACP
“Share and contribute as much as you can it feels great”
Nibu Thomas, PMP
“Information is Power. But being informed is a choice. Make a powerful choice”
Raju D Dhole, PMP
“Do Basics Right” and “Keep Things Simple”
Himadri S. Chowdhury, PMP
“Loves photography, travelling, design thinking and helping broaden the PM profession”
Soumen De, PMP
Learn and Share through “PM Essence”- Reflect your Project Management
luminescence
Vishwanath T K, PMP
“Planning is knowing what to do next and knowing EXACTLY what to do when the NEXT fails”
1
Special
EditionSpecial
Edition
Q. This is a chip that can
reverse paralysis
DID YOU
KNOW
PMPC 2018
Coverage Page 5 - 8
PMPC 2018
02
04
11
09
Banking andBlockchain in India
Professional Belonging
PM Member's Corner
Mind Management Tips tosucceed as a Project Manager
Banking and Blockchain in
India
- Aheli Raychaudhuri
Professional Belonging
- Murali Santhanam
Mind Management Tips . . .
- Muralidhar Koteshwar
My Volunteering Experience
- Raju D Dhole
PM Member's Corner
- Muktesh Murthy
The Lighter Side of PM
- Rajiv
DID YOU KNOW?
Contents . . .
Banking and Blockchain in India
2
PM Article
Aheli Raychaudhuri
Associate Editor, Crypto-News.in
Blockchain is the new buzzword in today's
banking environment. However, for the
newbies investopedia puts it succinctly in
a generic way “A blockchain is a digitized,
decentralized, public ledger of all
cryptocurrency transactions. Constantly
growing as 'completed' blocks (the most
recent transactions) are recorded and
added to it in chronological order, it
allows market participants to keep track
of digital currency transactions without
central recordkeeping. Each node (a
computer connected to the network) gets
a copy of the blockchain, which is
downloaded automatically.”
There are three kinds of blockchains-
public, permissioned and private
classified on the basis of who has access
to it:
• Public blockchains are open-source.
Anyone can be part of this type of
blockchain i.e. anyone can participate in
the transaction facilitated All those can
see what blocks are getting added and
thereby participate in the consensus
process i.e. the process of what blocks
get added to the chain and what the
current state is.
A good example here is the Bitcoin
blockchain.
Permissioned blockchain is a variation of
public blockchain. The difference is in that
the participants need a prior permission
to be a member, with specific rights to
validate the transactions etc. The right to
read the blockchain may be public.
Generally, it is restricted. The blockchain
is now evolving as a 'bankchain' in the
Indian banking Industry.
• Private blockchain is restricted to one
organisation. Major applications include
database management, transactions,
auditing i.e. areas specific to a single
entity where there is no need to make
public - the ability to read or validate
transactions.
Ripple in a way can be viewed as a
private blockchain for payment
transactions.
Now let us look into its relevance and
applicability in today's banking system
Everyone is privy to the amount of time a
simple payment remittance takes. Even if
we have multiple options such as National
Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) or
Immediate Payment Service (IMPS). It's
not the best option when you need to
transfer money instantly. However, with
blockchain technology it can be done in a
fraction of a second.
The value of this can be seen with several
Indian banks including State Bank of
India, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank that have
come together and formed a consortium
called BankChain. The vision is to
implement “blockchain solutions”. This is
a 37 members consortium and has 10 live
ongoing projects. Some of them include:
Cross border remittance, Corporate KYC
and Charge Registry, LoU, Bank
Guarantees, LC & other Documentary
Credits, Employee background
verification, among others. If one bank
were to process a high value loan, a
verification into this distributed ledger will
give adequate information for decision
making.
The transparency, Integrity and
irrefutability of blockchain technology
may perhaps have prevented the Letter
of Undertaking fraud that recently
occurred in the Indian Banking industry.
More specifically, the two banking
domains where the blockchain technology
that has seen several proof of concepts
are in Payments and Trade Finance.
Ripple has productionised cross border
payments on the blockchain platform.
While time and process oriented trade
finance is still in its infancy.
One can see an illustration from ICICI
bank published on the use of blockchain
and technology works. According to the
press release, the bank had more than
250 corporates, including the country's
leading companies signed up on the
Bank's blockchain application to
experience a more efficient time, cost,
and secure way of undertaking domestic
and international trade transactions.
Banking and Blockchain in India
Continued on Page 10...
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Professional Belonging
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PM Article
Murali Santhanam, PMP
When King Leonids assembled his army
of 300 to stop an invasion by Xerxes, he
is joined by a larger army of Arcadians.
The Arcadians boast that they have
brought in a larger army than King
Leonids. King Leonids then shows that his
army of 300 Professional Warriors mean
more than the Arcadian Army of
Teachers, Farmers and Artisans. When
push comes to shove, the power and
credibility that a Profession adds to you
as a person is what makes the difference.
Everyone reaches a point in their career
where they have to make a choice of
their profession and I am no exception.
I've made several changes in my
profession. I started as a Banker, working
as an officer in a Public Sector Bank. I
was one of the handful few who were
selected in the Bank to implement an IT
footprint and in course of time was
entrusted with the responsibility of
implementing a Retail Banking frontend
that would touch millions of customers
through 26000+ employees. This made
me an IT Designer and Architect while
still working in a Bank.
After joining IBM, I was given the choice
of pursuing a technical career or a career
of managing projects. I chose the later as
I realized that the Project managers
delivered greater value to the
organization and the customer by
leveraging combined values of all other
professions. That is when I came across
the PMP Certification from PMI and I
loved the concepts. After getting certified
as part of the first team of seven from
IBM India, we realized that what we had
was a shining light that must be spread.
A person belongs to a profession, when
he/she feels proud of being part of it and
is willing to stretch themselves to
strengthen the community. No profession
can grow without “Giving Back”. No
profession can grow on the strength of a
few good professionals. The “Giving Back”
journey for me has been very exciting as
it gives me the immense satisfaction of
having accomplished something in life.
What I'll remember for the rest of my life
are from the experiences of seeing people
completing their certification, of
assembling teams for imparting
knowledge through training and
mentoring, and of making people proud
to share their knowledge and experience
with others. In the process, I have won
many friends who treat me as equals
irrespective of their position in their
career.
Giving back does not stop with your
organization and becoming a member of
the local chapter helps in expanding your
horizon beyond these borders. I joined
the PMI Bangalore India Chapter when it
came into existence in 1998 and have
remained its member ever since. I have
watched the chapter grow from 7
members to the 2800+ members, from
no programs and sparse board meetings
to weekly public programs, and from
using a shared space to using a fully
staffed office. Such a growth can only
happen with voluntary hours being spent
by dedicated professionals. I am
fortunate to have been part of many
programs of the chapter and even had
the privilege to lead the chapter for a
couple of years.
One might wonder what does this “Giving
Back” give me? The Profession gives you
an identity. You are no more a general
artisan who has landed in the battle field
by chance. You are a professional Project
Manager who can be entrusted with
challenging projects. Professional
learning does not stop by adding the PMP
credential to your name. As you begin to
network, listen, and share knowledge,
you will notice that you are also growing
to become a Hercules Project Manager.
What would have taken you many years
to develop on your own, you learn quickly
by being involved with similar project
management professionals from various
domains. PMI's Project Management
model talks of many other complimentary
skills, like Leadership and Strategic skills,
which make you a better Project Manager
enabling you to apply the project
management processes in much larger
and more complex projects. Volunteering
gives you all these without the
constraints of the professional
organization you are working in and is
worth all the time that you spend in
giving back. In volunteering you work as
an equal, respected for your personal
capabilities and contributions that leave
you proud and confident. I have watched
volunteers of PMI Bangalore India grow
from strength to strength, first as doers,
then managers and then finally as
leaders of various chapter initiatives that
have created phenomenal impact.
If you have not experienced volunteering,
consider this an invitation to explore
these opportunities and discover yourself
in the process. You will be surprised at
the person emerging after the exercise
and may not believe that it is really you!
You have not just helped yourself, but in
the process made several other
professionals better at what they do. The
project management community is only
as strong as its weakest link. Every effort
of giving back helps to strengthen those
links.
But what you must do first is to start,
even if you have to start small.
Professional Belonging
ProfessionalBelonging
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PMPC 2018PM Enrich Master Class
Leadership in The Times of Change
Ms. Bindu Bhatia, Managing Director,
NeuCode Talent Academy started the
session by interacting with audience and
asking a question if anyone has never got
hurt in the lifetime? She focused on lack
of emotional resilience in today's world
where change is taken as threat. Her
story of multiple levels of guests coming
home but equal quality of treatment
irrespective of level was heart touching.
The tools like Reprogram your brain,
change transition curve and internal
representative system was really handy
for audience to learn from and use in day
to day life.
At the end of her session she shared her
personal story and inaugurated her book
“Winning Relationships”.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine
Learning
Dr. Srinivas Padmanabhuni, Chief Mentor,
Tarah Technologies has gave insights on
AI and ML. Machine Intelligence are of 3
types, i.e., AI that is good at performing
a single task, such as chess or Go, AI
that can understand and reason it's
environment as a human would and AI
becomes much smarter than the best
human brains in practically every field,
including wisdom and social skills. He
discussed about different AI conundrums
e.g. NLP, speech processing etc.
Continuing on ML he had a great
interactive session with details on
different types of ML i.e. Supervised,
Unsupervised and Reinforcement. He
emphasized that a structured approach to
AI problems is crucial.
DAPSU Symposium
DAPSU stands for Defence, Aerospace
and PSU. This is the inaugural symposium
from the Chapter which will strive to
foster collaboration among local bodies
and will address unique and complex
challenges of DAPSU programs and
projects.
Inauguration & Lamp Lighting
Col. (Retd.) L Shri Harsha welcomed the
delegates and invited the Chief Guest Mr.
M V Gowtama,
Chairman &
Managing
Director, Bharat
Electronics Ltd.
to light the lamp
along with
Mr. I. V. Sharma,
Former Director R&D BEL and DAPSU
Chair. Other advisory committee
members also joined the distinguish
guests for the ceremony
Address by Chief Guest
Mr. M V Gowtama, Chairman & Managing
Director, Bharat Electronics Ltd. covered
how BEL is contributing to India's
Defence supplies and preparedness. He
highlighted that USD 100 Billion is spent
by India every year on Defence. His
submission was that there is a huge
scope for lot of Defence manufacturing to
be done in India as part of the Make in
India initiative. Mr Gowtama presented a
case study highlighting India's journey
from a paper-based voting system in
elections to the use of Electronic Voting
Machines and how BEL has contributed to
making the journey successful.
Business Challenges of Product
Development for Defence Industry
Mr. Damodaran Subramanian, Managing
Director, SAFRAN Engineering Services
India talked about Business Challenges of
Product Development for the Defence
Industry. He covered how the life cycle of
a defence product is managed and what
best practices they adopt to make the
products successful. He also touched
upon how the latest technologies are
making inroads in all defence products.
Mobile Satellite Terminals for
Defence Aircrafts
Dr. Abburi Vidyasagar, Chairman and
Managing Director, Avantel Ltd. and
Founder of WikiKids Ltd, shared a success
story for Mobile Satellite Terminals for
Defence Aircrafts. The highlight of his
speech was the methods and procedures
used for thorough testing of defence
products and rigorous processes followed
to make them reliable.
Delivering the Impossible
Mr. G Raghavendra Rao, Former
Executive Director, BEL and Advisor BEL,
talked about a challenging project for
delivering Remote Controlled IED jammer
vehicles in bulk and in a compressed time
frame. Highlight of his speech was the
collaboration and partnership with various
suppliers to make the project successful.
Aero Engines Design and Development
Mr. Amit Sudhakar Bhai Trivedi, Chief
Manager, AERDC, Hindustan Aeronautics
Ltd. Talked about best practices for Aero
Engines Design and Development through
Effective Project Management approach
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in Indian Scenario. He stressed on the
fact that managing supply chain and
using latest prototyping and
manufacturing methods helped to
execute projects successfully. This also
allowed timely integration of all parts to
perform just in time prototype or product
testing.
Making it Big in Defence
Col. H S Shankar, VSM, Chairman &
Managing Director, Alpha Design
Technologies Ltd started his address by
talking about how his organization came
about serving different sectors in defense
and aerospace domain. He took the
audience on a journey on how they have
catered the projects from opto-electronics
to satellite manufacturing. His
“Chakravyau” of typical project lifecycle
emphasized on different “P's” which are
needed for executing projects in this
Chakravyau lifecycle of projects i.e.
Patience, Persistence, perseverance and
passion.
E&C Symposium
Inauguration & Lamp Lighting
Mr. T. V. Sesha Sai,
E&C Chair, PMI
Bangalore India
Chapter welcomed
all the delegates and
talked how E&C
moving from the
unorganized/local
sector to
organized/Global. E&C symposium is
introduced in PMPC to give learning
opportunity to E&C Project Managers. He
then called upon chief guest Mr. M R
Jaishankar, Chairman & Managing
Director, Brigade Group to inaugurate
E&C symposium along with advisory
committee members and Chapter
president.
Address by Chief Guest
Mr. M R Jaishankar, Chairman & Managing
Director, Brigade Group touched upon
achievements of Brigade group and how
it has developed over 40 million square
feet of real estate. Some of the advances
in technology like use of cranes,
aluminium, pre cast modules is helping
improve the industry but development is
still far behind in terms of volume and
speed when we compare with China. The
office space in two cities like Tokyo and
New York is more than what's available in
the whole of India. He acknowledged that
Project Management plays a big role in
Project failures (40%). Education
curriculum needs to change to match
requirements.
Staying Relevant in Changing Times
Mr. Mike Holland, Chief Executive Officer,
Embassy Office Parks talked about
various statistics of how efficiently
development happens in other places of
the world as opposed to India. The only
way that Project Managers can stay
relevant is by nurturing curiosity, energy
and finally taking action. You also need to
surround yourself by positive people.
People who can purify you, and not
pollute you.
Value Creation in Construction
Projects
A panel discussion on Value Creation in
Construction Projects Through Deeper
Capability Enhancement started with
panelists Dr. Aswath MU, Principal,
Bangalore Institute of Technology Ms. R
Shobha, National Director, Colliers
International Dr. Srinivas Ravindra,
Executive Director, Centre for Sustainable
Development. Discussion is moderated by
Mr. Naresh V Narasimhan, Head,
Venkataramanan Associates. The
panelists discussed the skill gap between
graduates who enter work and why they
are perceived to be lacking in real life
knowledge. Academia responded by
saying that the foundations of what's
taught cannot be changed. The audience
was made aware of various up-skilling
programs that exist today to train
unskilled labour and artisans. The panel
also discussed the regulatory framework
that needs to ensure that mandatory
certification of blue collar workers is
happening and the challenges of
enforcing such mandatory checks.
Case Studies of Failures of Structures
Dr. B R Srinivasa Murthy, Professor of
Civil Engineering (Retd.), Indian Institute
of Science, Bangalore discussed on
several issues he has faced in the
projects and also shared solutions.
Some of the methodologies used to
straighten a leaning building was used
even to straighten the leaning tower of
Pisa. The Professor stressed on using
common sense when required instead of
insisting on testing everything in the labs.
Solutions like micro piling and borewells
to remove silt were used in several
instances.
PMI Address
Value of Project Management
Mr. Raj Kalady, Managing Director, PMI
India unfolded his own life's experience of
Scuba diving and how he was in a life
threatening situation which can happen in
any project or real life.
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He gave a little introduction to the basics
of Scuba diving and then shared how his
boat caught fire in Hurghada, Egypt, and
how he had a narrow escape from death,
without anything i.e. money, phone,
passport, credit card, licence or any ID
proof in a remote location of foreign land
where he doesn't even know local
language. He said - to create value in this
dynamic world, we have to adapt and
change ourselves according to situation.
PMPC 2018 Inauguration and
Welcome Address
Mr. Balakrishna Kasibatla, Conference
PMO Leader, PMPC 2018, welcomed the
audience to the 13th edition of PMPC and
20th year of Chapter formation. He
emphasised on the conference theme,
Value Creation which is the need of the
hour in today’s agile world. He then
requested the dignitaries to come onto
the stage - Mr. Suresh Narayanan,
Chairman and Managing Director, Nestlé
India Limited, Air Commodore C R
Mohan, VSM, Commandant, Airforce
Technical College, Bangalore, Mr. Raj
Kaladi, Managing Director, PMI India,
Mr. Basu Datta, President, PMI Bangalore
India Chapter, Col. (Retd.) L Shri Harsha,
Secretary and Treasurer, PMI Bangalore
India Chapter lit the lamp and formally
inaugurated PMPC 2018.
Mr. Basu Dutta, President, PMI Bangalore
India Chapter started by throwing light on
chapter activities. He emphasised the
change and the need to adapt in today's
dynamic market. Value creation is the
theme and is aligned to the talent
triangle of PMI. He then invited Mr.
Suresh Narayanan for the Inaugural
Address.
The Comeback of MAGGI –
Redefining Project Management &
Value Creation
Mr. Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and
Managing Director, Nestlé India Limited,
started by thanking board members in an
innovative way – “I thank, 13 board
members on 13th day of July during the
13th edition of PMPC”.
He mentioned about the history of Nestle
and initial products like milk maid,
Nescafe etc. Continuing on the Maggi
story, he shared that Maggi's market
share reduced from 80% to 0% during
the crisis in 2015. The customer
acceptance rating dropped from 98% to
3%. Key takeaways were, during a crisis,
manage both the external and internal
environment, communicate with internal
stakeholders effectively, break the silos
and attack from all angles.
Nation's Defence Preparedness – A
Collective Responsibility
Air Commodore C R Mohan, VSM,
Commandant, Airforce Technical College,
Bangalore talked about how the Nation's
Defence preparedness is a collective
responsibility. He started with 3 passions
of Indians. “Religion”, “Cricket” and
“Bollywood”. He said as a nation our
awareness and interest about defence is
very low. He stressed on revamping the
education system and making innovation
and out of the box thinking as one of the
drivers. He emphasised that we should
look at managing defence projects with
focus on manufacturing and exporting the
products.
Panel Discussion - Digital
Transformation
In the panel discussion, panelist
Mr. Markandey Upadhyay, Co-Founder,
Thought Factory, Axis Innovation Lab, Dr.
Sieglinde Pfaendler, Innovation Manager,
Robert Bosch Engineering and Business
Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Mr. Uddipan P Bagchi,
Vice President Insurance, NTT Data
Services Pvt. Ltd. discussed: what digital
transformation (DT) is when it comes to
automotive, banking, insurance domains.
Customer expectations drive DT. DT
improves productivity and optimizes
experiences. It changes lives and differs
from automation as the former makes
decisions possible. The panel discussed
various skills that need to be honed to
prepare for digital transformation.
Discussion was moderated by Mr. Pinkesh
Shah, Founder, Institute of Product
Leadership.
Reimaging Project Management in
the Era of Transformation
Mr. Brian McMurray, Vice President -
Engineering & Operations, GM Technical
Centre India started the session by rolling
out a poll on age bands and passing the
message that soon the work force will
have many millennials and Project
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Manager’s should ask the right question
so that purpose and prospective is
addressed. His video on pit stops has
invoked the innovative thinking and how
it drives and expands the limits.
Delivering Value through Intelligence
Mr. Kingsley David Richard, Technology
Evangelist, ABB talked about using data
to answer the why question. 4 to 5 GB of
data is collected per minute from an F1
car. Technology is moving to a more
autonomous nature to minimize human
error. He said that to deliver value,
embrace change, keep the end user in
mind, think beyond the horizon, keep
things simple. Begin with the end in
mind.
Additive Manufacturing
Dr. Dheepa Srinivasan, Consultant-
Additive Technologies, Adjunct Faculty
IIT, Ropar said in her address that
additive Manufacturing or 3D printing
started in Japan nearly 25 years ago.
Additive manufacturing will result in parts
that are 5x more durable, 30% cheaper,
95% reduction in inventory. She added
additive manufacturers find use in
printing both hard stuff like fuel nozzles
or turbine blades, or soft compounds like
used in healthcare in the form of hip
replacements, stents, artificial limbs. It
was inspiring to know that very promising
applications are being developed in India
by GE in this area.
Industrial Applications of Big Data
and Cognitive Technologies
Dr. Arun Hampapur, Director of
Development, IBM Services Platform &
Distinguished Engineer, IBM GTS shared
his thoughts that intelligence is possible
only with quality data. He used several
examples to demonstrate how data is
being used e.g. video analytics used by
police to identify attributes of suspects by
recognizing patterns and water and
sewage system in Washington DC where
data is used to detect failures in pipes
during winter. The implications of
Cognitive Technologies include agility and
collaboration.
Excellence in Project Execution
Mr. Srikanth Nadhamuni, CEO, Khosla
Labs, Board Member at HDFC Bank
addressed and said that the key to
excellence in projects is flawless
planning. He shared stories from
diversified sectors i.e. public, private and
NGOs on how the successes and failures
are attributable to the quality of planning.
A Note of Thanks by the Conference PMO
Leader, PMPC 2018
Dear Practitioner,
In our 20th year, our Chapter has hosted 13th
edition of Project Management Practitioners'
Conference on 13th July with 13 executive board
members.
Over 700 delegates attended our conference this
year. In addition, we had 130+ members on
webcast live. All these are put together by our
volunteers.
I would like to thank the delegates, Volunteers,
Partners, Vendors and Chapter staff for their
wonderful support in making PMPC 2018 a huge
success. Share your feedback at
- Mr. Balakrishna Kasibatla
PM Poster has been an
inherent component of
our conferences for the
last 8 years This year
we had 12 eminent
speakers, participating and sharing
their thoughts on different
dimensions of Project Management.
PM Enlight on the
other hand has given
mentoring
opportunities to the
delegates. There were
three different paths on which
subject matter experts mentored the
delegates.
Long Standing Members with 10+ years of Chapter Membership were felicitated.
Mind Management Tips tosucceed as a Project Manager
9
Managing 'Minds' of the stakeholders is
an important skills for a project manager.
There are 7 challenge areas, which I have
noticed where 'Mind' management is of
utmost importance. This article is about
these 7 areas.
• Poorly defined goals
• Unrealistic Deadlines
• Scope creep
• Insufficient skills
• Improper communication
• Risk management
• Issues within a team
Defining Goals:
Defining a goal is a mind game that
requires a consensus and 'buy in' from all
stake holders. This calls for negotiation
and listening to all arguments with a clear
insight on facts. A calm mind can help in
convincing and make them see the
rationale to arrive at achievable
pragmatic goals.
Unrealistic Deadlines:
Realistic 'deadlines' are the basis for any
project. Poor communication is one of the
reasons for deadlines being unrealistic.
While the need could be driven from
business, the project manager will need
to think of creative ways to address this –
to add more people, sub contract work,
drop features that are unimportant, look
at workarounds etc. This needs some 'out
of the box' thinking. Here, brain calming
works, not brainstorming; stilling the
mind to keep thoughts that are noise out
of the system helps.
Scope Creep:
Scope creep is a result of “I didn't think
of this before, but now realize its critical,
can we do it “type of thought process
amongst stakeholders. While it is
impossible to fix this completely, Mind
Mapping at the time of defining scope will
reduce this to a large extent. Both free
and paid tools are good to accomplish
this task.
Insufficient Skills:
Very rarely is a project manager blessed
with a dream team of people with the
right skills. Thinking on one's feet and
networking with the right people within
and outside the organization to up skill
the team is critical to meet project goals
and objectives. Doubts abound in the
mind when new or unknown people are
involved. But the nature of the world
today is of collaboration and therefore
managing the mind to trust and allow
some scope for failure is a way to address
this.
Improper Communication:
Communication is a core requirement for
good project management.
Understanding mindsets of all
stakeholders while not being set in the
mind oneself, always open to learning is a
key technique to keep all lines of
communication open with a view to
succeed in project delivery.
Risk Management:
Every project is beset with risks and not
planning for its mitigation or contingency
will surely lead to project failure. While
tools help bring risks and its probability to
the fore, it is discipline in the mind that
will ensure mitigation and presence of
mind that will nurture contingency
planning.
Issues within the Team:
Inter personal issues within a team can
be resolved by a leader who is respected
by the team mates and looked up to as a
person without prejudice, who cares for
them and is focused on results. A mind in
the present moment that is calm and
leads to a happy disposition will give
much needed support to the leader in
decision making.
So, how do we still the mind and remain
calm during crisis?
Still the mind implies stopping thoughts
for some time. Attempting to stop
thoughts increases the same – what you
resist, persists. So to stop thoughts, you
need to allow all thoughts to come and be
in acceptance with them. Acceptance
does not mean agreement. This
acceptance allows you to be a good
listener as well and helps get you that
one thought which can be termed out of
the box.
How do you extend this for a longer time
and eventually arrive at a calm state of
mind. Here breathing techniques and
meditation practiced since thousands of
years and now being offered in different
names like mindfulness in the west is
now being widely accepted and followed
since the results are there for everyone
to see.
It is best done under guidance via apps in
the phone or online YouTube sessions for
those who are pressed for time or in
person with professionals under
supervision.
In this ever changing world, with
emphasis on quality of deliverables and
paucity of time, focus on managing the
mind can enhance the ability to achieve
as well as improve the quality of one's
life.
PM ArticleMind Management Tips tosucceed as a Project Manager
Muralidhar Koteshwar
Volume - 6
Issue 4
July 2018
PMPC 2018
Special
Edition
My Volunteering Experience
10
The usage of blockchain technology simplifies the paper-intensive
trade finance process by bringing counterparties on the same
platform, enabling decision making in almost real time. It brings
in the improved convenience of accurate and quick transactions
on a digital platform, eliminating the need for paper documents
across cities / countries and verification through trade
intermediaries.
The Managing Director and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
said, “ICICI Bank has a rich legacy of leveraging the latest
technology to bring in new paradigms in banking. We were the
first in the country and among few globally to pioneer cross-
border open account trade finance and remittance transactions
on blockchain. I am delighted to share that we have scaled up
the operations to sign over 250 corporates on our blockchain
solution for trade transactions, the maximum for any blockchain
solution in the country. I envision that the emerging technology
of blockchain holds an immense potential to simplify the
document-intensive trade transactions by bringing all
stakeholders on a single platform. In another initiative, we are
also collaborating with peer banks and other partners to create a
comprehensive ecosystem in the industry using blockchain and
evolve common working standards to contribute to even greater
adoption of this initiative.”
Banking and Blockchain ... continued from Page 2
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Volume - 6
Issue 4
July 2018
PMPC 2018
Special
Edition
PM Article My Volunteering Experience
I have been a PMI volunteer for past 4
years. I was mostly involved in online
activities like review of content, review of
papers, review of awards till beginning of
2018.
Early 2018, I had discussions with
multiple volunteers and tried to
understand if I can get involved in
activities where I would get to interact
with other volunteers and meet people
face to face during events. As I was
having discussions, I got an opportunity
to volunteer for PMI Bangalore Chapter
monthly newsletter PM Essence.
Volunteering for PM Essence has given
me an opportunity to get an insight into a
broad horizon of activities, meet people
with varying experience and
backgrounds. It has certainly given me
an opportunity to interact with my
contacts whom I would generally not
interact regularly.
Volunteering for PM Essence Newsletter
also broadened my understanding of
various areas of Project Management.
The topics that are covered in PM Essence
cover broad range of subjects in varying
Raju D Dhole
depths. Focus is also on current events
and activities. By participating as a
volunteer in PM Essence activities, I have
been able to enrich my understanding of
current events and latest happening in
Project Management world. Proof reading
the content month on month and getting
the newsletter printed & published end of
it is a very satisfying volunteer
experience.
Volunteering has been an exciting journey
so far. I am looking forward to continue
and contribute more in months and years
to come. As it says “Volunteers do not
necessarily have the time; they just have
the heart”. Time is automatically
squeezed when your heart is in and you
wish to contribute to make a difference
You can send your contributions / Articles / queries to :
Please note that you do not need to be a PMI or
Chapter member to contribute articles for
PM Essence and participate in Chapter events.
11
PMI Bangalore India Chapter - Member's Speak
• Being a PMP Certified is great value addition to one's career. The PMI
Bangalore Chapter is one of the places that help Project Managers get PMP
certified - Mr. Srikanth Ghanta, Project Manager, Hawlett Packard
Enterprise
• I joined the PMI Bangalore Chapter to clear my PMP exam and to join a
learning group of people attempting the exam - Mr. Aarthy Arumugam,
Project Manager Manager, Tata Consultancy Services
• Being a Project Manager, want to explore PMI prescribed Tools and
techniques. Hence joined PMI India Bangalore Chapter - Mr. Namratha
Ayodhya, Project Manager, Wells Forgo
• I want to network with project managers and prepare for PMP Exam. Perhaps
PMI Bangalore chapter would help me to accomplish this - Mr. Swaty
Dalmia, Project Manager, Shell
• I am working as Program Manager with Honeywell. Being a certified Project
Manager makes me more equipped to handle challenges, hence joined the
Chapter - Mrs. Sridevi Kancharla, Program Manager, Honeywell
• PMP Certified professionals are preferred in certain projects. I joined
Bangalore chapter, to acquaint with professionals preparing for PMP
certification and network for learning best practices across Industry -
Mrs. Megha Sastry, PMO Team, Mindtree
DID YOU
KNOWA. Remember paraplegic Professor Charles
Xavier from X-Men moving things with his brain
and even freezing everyone in a room? Well, if
Grégoire Courtine has his way, then Prof.
Xavier might even be able to stand up and
walk, with his brain faculties still intact. The
French neuroscientist and his team at the
research center for neurotechnologies in
Geneva are trying to prove that brain impulses
can be transmitted to the spinal column,
allowing a paraplegic to move their muscles.
They demonstrated this on a monkey with a
paralyzed right leg by using a chip with fine
electrodes to read brain impulses and then
transmit the thoughts from the brain to the
damaged spinal cord through a brain-neural
implant, allowing it to walk again. This "neural
bypass", as they are calling it, would be useful
for both humans and primates.
The technology is still not ready for commercial
production, but it shouldn't be too long before
humans start testing the system.
[Source - Internet]
Volume - 6
Issue 4
July 2018
PMPC 2018
Special
Edition
For any queries or suggestions, please write to Muktesh Murthy, VP Membership, PMI Bangalore India Chapter at
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PM Member’s Corner
We welcome all new
members and thank
members who have
r e n e w e d t h e i r
membership in June
2018.
Appended is the list of a
few FREE web-based
seminars (webinars)
for July 2018, we have
shared same list to
your registered email;
t h i s i s a g o o d
opportunity to earn
PDUs and claim at PMI
to mainta in your
credentials.Retention
60.00%
40.00%
20.00%
0.00%
01/01/2017
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Membership Count
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
01/01/2016 01/01/201801/06/201801/01/2017
3,000
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Sept 2017
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Volume - 6
Issue 4
July 2018
PMPC 2018
Special
Edition