The PMISSC 2022 Symposium theme was "Think Differently...The Pandemic Project Manager" and was an exciting, action-packed, informative one-day virtual event with speakers and attendees that stretched from locals to across the globe. Both speakers and attendees shared cutting-edge techniques to help adjust and pivot during these times of rapid change and uncertainty – it was an inspiring event. We are all thankful for the event for helping us grow and learn! “It was outstanding. I really enjoyed the speakers and their topics.” 

The morning kicked off with keynote speaker- Marcus Parker. Marcus Parker featured a presentation on "Core Values: In a Post Pandemic World”, where Marcus went over the Core Values and how they are still applicable in daily work and personal life and are more important than ever, especially with these challenging times. “The best leaders rely on their core values to triumph during times of crisis; their core value serves as a guiding light to those they lead to success.” Be on the lookout for Marcus’ upcoming article on Core Values in the Morgan University PM Magazine (we will share the link once its out).

Dr. Mike Oliver presented "Schedule Management Risk Inherent in Social Complexity Phenomena". Dr. Oliver went on a deep dive into the results of a study into how the perception of complexity influences the professional practice of schedule management, with particular emphasis on specific aspects of social complexity, which the study revealed as a significant source of risk to effective schedule management.  Dr. Oliver's presentation was a gold mine for schedule management professionals and project managers.

Abdulla Al Mamun pushed through technical challenges to deliver his presentation on "Artificial Intelligence Driven PMO". His presentation focused on what the pm world looks like currently and what the future looks like by using Artificial Intelligence (AI) based software with sophisticated algorithms for predicting outcomes and identifying possibilities of threats and vulnerabilities that may impact projects. Working smarter...not harder. “The highlight for me was the AI PMO shared by Mr. Abdula Al Mamun - taking us further in working smarter by utilizing data and streamlining communications”.

"Human Factor Impacts of Remote Work & How To Manage Them" was the topic presented by Andre Rogers. He shared how leading projects post-pandemic will have several different factors to consider for the first time. As more of your team will want to work remotely, new pandemic protocols may be implemented at the next sign of a variant and team members are demanding work-life balance. He also highlighted some of the new challenges a project manager will face and some techniques to help project managers work through their challenges.

Dr. Patrick McConnell presented a robust presentation on “Prioritizing for Business Agility”. He discussed what Business Agility is and demonstrated the "1-2-3 Portfolio Management Strategy for Agile Teams and Programs" which "The explicit goal of this approach is to keep stakeholders and teams focused on the delivery of product and technology performance as the most important indicators of execution, and avoid the potential for customers and management to focus on proxy metrics". He discussed strategies for anyone who is currently part of an Agile team or planning for a future transition to Agile teams. He also shared his methodology in a downloadable PDF

As the afternoon continued, we were joined by Hector Del Castillo with his presentation on "Product Manager vs. Project Manager - What's the Difference?" Hector focused on sharing what is the difference between a Product Manager vs. a Project Manager. He also showed how sometimes those roles can be mixed up and how important it is to help define those roles early on. He showed the influence of how various Agile methodologies offer a more personalized manner of communicating and interacting with your teams. He offered to share a version of his presentation with anyone who was interested and has an upcoming book coming out on the same topic - use this link to request the presentation and see his book.

The event ended on a high note with our second keynote speaker, Gary A. Bolles, with his interactive presentation on "The Next Rules of Work". Where he reviewed how the old ways of working really do not apply any longer and we have to grow and change to the New Rules of Work. This includes embracing change, having a growth mindset, and being perceptive to the changing times. Gary offered up some resources on his website The Aristotle Canvas to learn more about yourself and your organization through the 6 “W”s. Gary also has a book with the same name as the presentation, please check it out! Throughout his presentation Gary also offered up other books as great reference tools – those can be found below.

Recommended Reading from Gary

• The Next Rules of Work
• Culture Renovation
• Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization (Leadership for the Common Good)
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
• Distributed Teams
• Inside Gig How Sharing Untapped Talent Across Boundaries Unleashes Organizational Capacity
• The Blue Zones
• The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology

Over the course of the day, we had the pleasure of a wide variety of speakers on different current topics. The speakers offered their experiences and advice and were engaged and interactive with the audience.  Their contact information is at the top of this page. 

We thank everyone who was able to attend this year and look forward to future events!  There's still time to fill out the event survey - thank you to everyone who has filled it out already! 

Thanks for all the feedback so far on why you enjoyed the event and why you were drawn to the event!

We also wanted to give a big THANK YOU to our sponsors for their support!