Artificial intelligence (AI) is finally coming into its own. Technologies such as ChatGPT, DALL-E, driver-assistance, and autonomous robots are clear signs of an AI-driven market shift. AI technologies, in particular machine learning (ML), are being applied in all sectors of the economy. Your organization is likely to soon be running projects to apply and even develop AI if it isn’t already doing so. Are you ready?

This talk overviews AI and how AI/ML initiatives work. We also explore several critical challenges, including the experimental nature of AI initiatives, that data quality is critical to your success, the high failure rate of AI initiatives, and the ethical considerations surrounding AI. We examine the implications of these challenges and work through strategies to address them.
Agenda:
1. What is(n’t) AI?
2. AI terminology in a nutshell
3. Are you ready for AI?
4. The lifecycle of an AI/ML initiative
5. Overcoming the data quality challenge
6. Ethical considerations with AI
7. Business implications of AI
8. Success and failure factors for AI initiatives

More sessions are being added each week until the summit in September!

Components of portfolios typically provide status on the deliverables of their work. Rarely do they provide status on the benefits that they are delivering to the portfolio and organization which is what the stakeholders really want to know. Portfolio managers must show the value of their organization by translating project and program deliverable status into portfolio benefit delivery status. Attendees will learn how to translate project and program deliverable status into the benefit delivery information that stakeholders really want to see. Agenda for this session includes:
Definitions of benefits and enablement
Strategic Alignment
Translating the work into benefits & value

How to successfully align strategy to execution.

How to implement a Capital Portfolio Management System from the top down and ground up to "Create and Deliver Optimum Business Value through a Culture of Project Portfolio Management Excellence".

More sessions are being added each week until the summit in September!

In an ever-changing world, countless PMO leaders face the challenge of rethinking their PMOs to ensure they deliver genuine value to the C-level and their organizations. Numerous solutions claim to offer the perfect PMO model, a magic pill for guaranteed success. However, hands-on experience in the PMO trenches reveals that returning to the basics and concentrating on what truly matters is the key to making our PMO's value recognized and ensuring its sustainability and future.

In the last few years, Americo Pinto has been granted the unique opportunity to closely observe the evolution of hundreds of PMOs from various countries as members of the PMO Global Alliance – the largest PMO community worldwide. In his engaging session, he will share valuable insights gleaned from this extraordinary learning experience, inspiring you to reassess your assumptions and ideas on how to make your PMO indispensable to your organization.

Concepts like resource, portfolio, and project management aren't new. Napoleon Bonaparte mastered all three more than 200 years ago. Based on Jerry’s international bestseller “Napoleon on Project Management,” this lively session will explore how to apply Napoleon's timeless strategies to your own PMO.

Integrating Strategic Management Office, Vision Realization Office, Transformation Office and Enterprise Project Management Office around benefits and value, through providing a holistic integrated framework that covers both projects and operations (Business As Usual); eventually get the organization to do the things they should do right for projects to succeed and produce their deliverables, change agents to actually transform the culture, process and people to enable enhance operations to realize sustainable benefits.

Shockingly, 11.4% of company investment is still being wasted due to poor project performance. This means that more than 2 trillion a year is wasted by companies worldwide because of the ineffective implementation of business strategy. The reality is that we have spent so much time focused on choosing the right framework or methodology to address projects when the real cracks in the process are related to our project teams and people. For a project to be successful, we need people to implement behavioral and organizational change, which is often overlooked.

But let’s be honest. Ensuring that you have fully thought through the impact of projects on your teams, leaders and clients before your big kick-off meeting sounds strenuous and time consuming – and is about as exciting as watching paint dry to your project team and business leaders. However, what IS exciting is having a successful, impactful project which transforms your organization coupled with a comprehensive change management plan so that that transformation sticks! This means implementing activities that get results which are meaningful, measurable, monetizable and lead to less rework.

Join 23-year project management and change management expert Candice Benson, CEO of Benson Consulting, to focus on a new approach to driving projects aligned with the motivations of your people. For more than two decades, Candice has been in the trenches helping organizations like Pfizer, Fidelity, and Comcast and a who’s who of industry-defining brands to think differently about how they approach project delivery.

In this common-wisdom busting session, Candice will share just-in-time insights, including:
● The surprising data that undermines the status quo belief that building a robust training approach is the best way to ensure adoption of the change your project is driving.
● 3 Warning signs that the cracks in your projects are about to lead to burn-out, frustration and missed deliverables.
● 3 “Champions” you need to identify on your project team, as well as how to empower them, equip them, and amplify them, if you want your project to be successful.
● The road-tested framework every organization needs to ensure their projects not only deliver on time, on scope and on budget but that the changes are adopted.
● Real-world examples of organizations which are putting these strategies into action, and the biggest lessons learned, regrets, and pay-it-forward advice.

This must-attend session is custom-crafted for Project Managers, PMO managers, and other leaders who have a vested interest in ensuring their organization’s project investment is not wasted.

For many organizations, getting reliable resource estimates for upcoming projects can be a lengthy, burdensome process. Often many busy, senior resources are solicited for inputs into the estimates which can cause delays in getting the estimates or take valuable resource away from higher priority work. This presentation will demonstrate a technique that organizations can apply to significantly reduce the need for manual inputs and help generate estimates more quickly.

Anne's presentation covers the core focus of one of AH Consulting's six solution pathways: AH VMO - a framework ("VMO Hub") to elevate the role of the Project Management Office to a Value Management Office and institutionalize value creation and delivery across the organization. This presentation begins with a context-setting story about when and why value management became a practice focus for Anne and AH Consulting. It first covers limitations associated with the ‘project’ metaphor and traditional PMOs that a value-aligned approach addresses. Next, the audience is introduced to value stream management constructs, connection to ‘project-to-product’ orientation, flow framework and metrics practices, and Lean/Agile alignment. Anne finishes with the introduction of the VMO Hub conceptual framework and thoughts on possible next steps to further consider how this transition can benefit the organization with ideas on approach. The presentation also contains links to selected and recommended resources Anne used in its creation.

More sessions are being added each week until the summit in September!

Despite the research showing coaching to be a powerful tool for developing sustainable change capability in the people of an organization, it remains one of the most underutilised and misunderstood skill sets. Many people mistake coaching for mentoring, advising or consulting but coaching is altogether different. For one, it does not give people the answers; instead, it is a process to support someone to process the situation and decide what to do for themselves. In doing so, they are far more invested in their next course of action and the fact is, it takes far less corralling – invaluable for any busy leader. When leaders constantly give people the answers to problems or situations they are creating more and more dependencies on them, and they will never be able to create the type of environment needed for change capability to be embedded into the very fabric of their organisation. Therefore, they are forever reliant on expensive consultants who bulldoze in to sprinkle change pixie dust everywhere, leaving only a dust cloud of chaos behind them. We need change leaders across all levels, competent in basic coaching skills to support themselves and their teams through change. This workshop covers the coaching basics you and your managers need to ensure your building change capability within everyone in your organisation, helping people to understand their role and the decisions they can make during a change, and making sure the focus remains proactive.

After determining the needs of the organization and defining the objectives of your organization, you start designing the great processes which will be needed. Even using strongly researched processes, templates, and ways of working, within a few months after deployment you find your PMO is not delivering value or maintaining adherence to those structures. What has happened?

Challenges that were unvoiced have reared up and prevented adoption of the PMO. These may pertain to accountability, unwillingness to prioritize work, lack of active sponsorship, or not implementing strong change management are all examples. I’d like to present some of these challenges, how they were addressed in a successful PMO at Chevron, how other companies let the PMO lapse, and steps to avoid these pitfalls going forward.

The CQ® System for Developing Change Intelligence® was launched a decade ago. Since then, the approach has helped tens of thousands of people and hundreds of organizations around lead through changes ranging from the pandemic to digital transformation to shifting workplace demographics. What have we learned? The answer is a great many lessons, which are directly applicable to the IMPACT audience, spanning from engaging sponsors and stakeholders, to creating change-capable cultures, to bolstering our own influence and power to make a positive difference. Join us for a provocative conversation, dynamic insights, and actionable implications that will benefit your organization, team, and career.

PMOs continue to be challenged about where they add value to change delivery and the organisation, and despite of that, more and more PMOs are being set up in organisations, they’re becoming ubiquitous, so how can that be?

In this session, Eileen Roden from the House of PMO, uncover where the real value of the PMO is and address the elephant in the room – the friction that exists between the PMO and delivery teams.

The session will cover:

The potential for friction between the PMO and delivery teams
What the underlying causes are for why the friction exists
How to work with the friction and how friction helps deliver higher value for everyone involved in change delivery

Attendees will leave the session with an understanding of what both sides are there to do – and how they can work together so everyone is a winner – the PMO, delivery teams and ultimately the organisation.

Building organisational change maturity is a topic relevant for all organisational units initiating change, the Strategic PMO is no exception. An organisation's change maturity will greatly impact its ability to transform at the speeds needed to stay relevant in these fast-moving times. By assessing an organisation's Change maturity with a model gaging level of Change maturity ‘as is’ factors related to levels in the organisation and actionable growth areas, we can support organisations to understand their Change maturity level, and how to develop this alongside tailoring the approach to value creation for increased return on investment. Further still, a model that can be extended into a framework will be even more supportive to organisations seeking to effectively reaching strategic goals and outcomes. From recent research, there are two main types of maturity we should consider. The first is the actual ability of an organisation to change, to agilely move with the needs of the time. By creating a holistic picture of different types of change in an organisation, we open up options for strategic choice and best transformation path development. The second is the maturity of key disciplines that both initiate change and need to remain adaptable, often calling for a higher level of maturity. examples of these disciplines could be project management, data or quality management. The outcome of this research was a model to manage the change capability and a framework prototype that could unite the various types of discipline maturity in one overview for gathering insights and diagnosing next steps.

More sessions are being added each week until the summit in September!

PMOs aren't just cost centers, they're strategic enablers for their organizations. In fact, if leveraged smartly, they can support their organizations through economic downturns and fortify them for strong post-recession performance. This presentation makes a clear case for PMOs' role in this capacity and shows exactly what PMOs must do to execute this role to perfection.

Digital transformation is a marathon, not a sprint. Companies that embed technologies across their businesses to drive fundamental change require a firm understanding of their people, process, and technology.

What is the benefit of these efforts? Increased efficiency, greater business agility, and unlocking new value for employees, customers, and shareholders.

Join us at the June Dinner Meeting to hear Francisco Avalos share strategies, protocols, recommendations, and research on digital transformation in the workforce today. You will have the opportunity to engage with both your peers and the speaker as you learn the fundamentals and the foundational structure required to Execute Digital Transformation Projects within your organization.

Learning Objectives:

Identify and describe key transformation concepts.
Describe what drives transformation and why transformation competencies are critical to business success.
Identify transformation challenges and success factors that may impact an organization’s ability to design and implement transformation.

Join industry leader Erick Means in an engaging session as he shares insights and best practices on building a high-performing PMO. With his extensive experience as a PMO, Technology, and Professional Services Executive overseeing 15,000 projects, Erick brings a wealth of knowledge in optimizing processes, driving successful initiatives, and delivering measurable results. Discover the key strategies and practical tips to establish and elevate your PMO for enhanced performance and organizational success. Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights from a seasoned expert in project management and PMO transformation.

More sessions are being added each week until the summit in September!

As of 2023, women hold 26.7% of technology jobs. Taking a closer look, we see that of the 141,038 women who work in the tech industry, 56% or 79,163 are women of color. Notably, compared to entry-level roles, roles higher up in the org chart (like CTOs or heads of engineering) have even lower representation of women. We are left struggling to navigate personal and professional demands with little to no support. Women are often told to strive for work/life balance; is there even such a thing? Women are exhausted and are burnt out. And still today, women are not openly welcome at many senior leadership tables and must trust our intelligence, talents, and gifts to open doors for us. It is doable but it is taxing, sometimes toxic and traumatizing to our mental health. Where do women learn to summon the courage to lead while handling their day-to-day lives?

This session is for all technologists who are seeking an open and frank discussion about the realities of being a female project manager in tech. It’s for men who want to make a seat at the table for powerful women to fill. It’s for the women who are ready to fill their cups and pour their brilliance out into the world.

This presentation will provide honest insights, clear direction, empowering information, and equip you to rise up beyond the challenges and step into your professional super-power to become the leader in project management.

We tend to think about motivation in terms of carrots and sticks - forms of external motivation. Motivating knowledge workers requires tapping into their internal motivators - striving for autonomy, mastery, and purpose. We'll describe ways of engaging those often hard to identify motivators and talk about how the focus for intrinsic motivation changes across generations and experience level.

Storytelling is a skill that has been getting a lot of press lately and one that PMO/SDO leaders and project managers will benefit from cultivating. In this unique session, international speaker, Dawn Mahan, will share several stories from her upcoming book: Welcome to Projectland.

Dawn’s stories from her years of working with top brands around the world and hands-on experience leading projects across industries will resonate with everyone who has ever participated in or led a project.

This interactive experience will also get you thinking about your own career stories that can help amplify your leadership profile.

Part manuscript reading, part feedback session, part networking event, we will:
• Discuss how storytelling skills can help your organization, your team and your career
• Learn 5 storytelling tips that you can use immediately
• Listen to Dawn’s read a few of her favorite stories from her upcoming manuscript, Welcome to Projectland
• Break out into small groups to network and discuss which stories resonated most with you and why (often triggering memories of your own unique experiences and stories!)
• Participate in a poll to report on your favorites and see how they compare to other participants
• Welcome feedback on the stories that could shape how they show up in the book
• Optional: Get your name listed in Dawn’s upcoming book as a contributor!

Don’t miss this opportunity to earn a PDU, enjoy stories, networking and see your name in a book!

Join fellow leaders to understand how The Momentum Framework will give you a measurable pathway to profit through systematically and purposefully building a culture through the language of Trust, Loyalty, and Advocacy.

- Re-engineer the way you invest in the success of your business, your people and your customers.
- Amplify and invest powerfully in your culture through language.
- Assess your team's leadership potential in a paradigm-shifting way.
- Separate your strategy from your tactics to maximize clarity for your leadership teams.
- Measure your customer relationships.
- Diagnose the issues that are standing in your team's way.
- Empower your teams to purposefully innovate.
- Equip your team with new tools to assess their performance.

1st choice would be a recorded demo of a coaching session with a PMO leader or Project leader. Or a live coaching session on the actual day of the event. We would invite someone to come and be the coaching client and I will coach.

They will experience the a coaching session live and others will see how coaching can help be a better project leader. The topic that the coaching client brings should be related to a project or program they are running or a PMO that they are leading.

Clarity of intention is critical to delivering successful projects. Everyone involved - business sponsors/managers and project delivery specialists - must be on the same page to succeed. This requires a Shared Language of Agreement that define the Desired Outcomes - what the future looks like when it is working just right.
This presentation will explain simple techniques to quickly enable everyone involved in the delivery process to merge the different pictures in their heads to a single one where everyone can see the overall picture and where their own contribution fits.

Securing Stakeholder Engagement to realise and release the fusion power of collective collaboration.

More sessions are being added each week until the summit in September!

Everyone wants to be agile these days. But it's hard to know where to begin, and what pitfalls to avoid. That's why the role of Agile Coach is a hot career trend these days. Unfortunately, understanding the role is just as hard as the agile thing itself. What do they even do? What skills are required? How do we know they're actually helping? Whether you are interested in becoming an Agile Coach or simply hiring one, this session is for you.

More sessions are being added each week until the summit in September!