Projectified

Organizations worldwide are putting greater focus on ESG (environmental, social and governance). As companies ramp up their efforts, leaders are determining how to integrate ESG into their projects. We discuss this with: Mauricio Bolaños, PMP, ESG operations and program manager, VMware, Heredia, Costa Rica: Bolaños discusses how his company’s ESG office works across business units to collaborate with project leaders to integrate and track ESG efforts in their projects, the value of incorporating ESG into risk management, and why he doesn’t see ESG as a competition.Abhay Bhavsar, PMP, head of ESG and safety, Fourth Partner Energy Private Limited, Pune, India: Bhavsar shares how his organization built buy-in for ESG practices across the enterprise, used data and stakeholder engagement to create its ESG agenda, and ensures teams utilize and report ESG processes on projects.Key themes[02:20] Educating and collaborating with teams to integrate ESG into projects[06:47] Factoring ESG into risk management[07:41] Embracing ESG to boost innovation and creativity[10:19] Building enterprise-wide buy-in for ESG[11:04] Using data to create Fourth Partner Energy’s ESG agenda[14:10] Ensuring ESG processes are put into practice—and reported—on projects

Organizations are facing a massive shift in the workforce as people reevaluate what they want from their jobs. It’s up to project leaders to keep teams on track and to continue to deliver value, even amid high attrition. We discuss this with: Kierstin Gray, PMI-ACP, PMP, program director, Argodesign, Brooklyn, New York, USA: Gray explains how project talent turnover can impact a team’s deliverables and cohesion, and how adopting an agile mindset and strengthening communication and trust can help teams build resilience to resourcing challenges.Vitor Amaral, CTO, Bitz, São Paulo: Amaral shares how people’s shifting relationships with their jobs and the increase in remote work are impacting tech jobs in Latin America, plus how project leaders are using communication and documentation to keep projects on track and team members engaged.Key themes[02:18] How high turnover impacts project teams—financially and emotionally[07:02] Adopting an agile mindset to build resilience[09:39] Ways to include safeguards for turnover in projects[11:30] COVID-19 and remote work’s impact on tech jobs in Latin America[13:15] Using communication, documentation to keep projects running smoothly[17:14] How emphasizing a project’s purpose and a team member’s efforts can aid talent retention 

PMI’s annual Future 50 shines the spotlight on rising project leaders who are creating a better future for all. Projectifiedâ spoke with three 2022 honorees: Kathy Johnston, chief chocolate officer, Mirzam Chocolate Makers, Dubai: Johnston discusses tackling challenges to build the company’s second chocolate factory with hybrid teams, how she’s learned to be a change-ready and flexible leader, and how she’s become more comfortable with her leadership style—and how that’s helped her take more risks.Christian Leke Achaleke, executive director, Local Youth Corner Cameroon, Yaoundé: Achaleke shares how his teams turn policy into real-world change in Cameroon, how his work in peacebuilding and conflict resolution has influenced his leadership style, and how rising leaders are changing how projects are run with technology and daring approaches.Lovy Bhatia, PMP, program lead for product and strategy, Amazon, London: Bhatia discusses how she keeps cross-functional teams and stakeholders aligned to a unified goal, her experience helping Airbnb build its operations and hone its vision in India, and how becoming a problem solver can help project leaders be successful—no matter the industry.Key themes[01:45] Leadership lessons learned: Be change-ready and flexible[06:19] How failure can help project leaders grow[08:48] How teams are turning policy into groundbreaking projects in Cameroon[13:48] Using conflict prevention skills in project leadership[17:30] Aligning stakeholders and team members to a unified goal[19:53] Embracing new opportunities and solving problems as Airbnb developed operations in India

With omnichannel shopping on the rise, consumer behaviors are changing. This is paving the way for a tech-fueled reset in retail, spanning brick-and-mortar stores and ecommerce alike. We discuss this with: Saad Siddiqui, COO, Veeve, Seattle: Siddiqui shares what inspired his team to create a smart shopping cart, how customer and retailer feedback helped the team iteratively improve the cart’s functions and design, and how the team is handling implementation projects as operations scale up.Simon Molnar, founder and CEO, Flagship, Sydney: Molnar discusses why his team developed tech to give brick-and-mortar retailers real-time data on their products, how customers and in-store staff are responding to this tech in a pilot in Sydney, and why he believes teams should be looking to innovate both in-store and online.Key themes[01:03] How changing customer preferences are fueling innovation in retail[02:22] Taking a customer-centric approach to develop the Veeve smart cart [06:28] Using data, first-hand customer feedback for iterative improvements[10:34] How tech can bridge customers’ in-store and online experiences[12:42] A new way for brick-and-mortar retailers to get real-time data on products[15:22] Merging digital and in-store shopping in the Edit Collection pilot 

The climate crisis is impacting coastlines across the globe, with communities facing threats from rising sea levels and more frequent extreme weather events. In response, teams are launching projects to mitigate risks and build resilience. We discuss this with: Swarna Kazi, senior disaster risk management specialist, World Bank, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Ignacio Urrutia, senior disaster risk management specialist, World Bank, Bangkok: Kazi and Urrutia discuss a project that aims to bolster sections of Bangladesh’s coastline, how considering risk at all stages of the project helps them create a cohesive strategy, and how the challenges they faced will influence their approaches to future coastal resilience projects.Catherine McCandless, climate change and environmental planning project manager, City of Boston Environment Department, Boston: McCandless talks about leading coastal resilience planning projects for two neighborhoods in Boston, how her team adapted community engagement during the pandemic, and how she and fellow project managers work together to manage not only multidisciplinary stakeholders but also team members.Key themes[01:19] Projects around the world aim to mitigate effects of climate change on coastlines[05:25] Stakeholder management: Using data and community input in project planning[09:26] Tackling a changing environment and futureproofing coastal resilience projects in Bangladesh[13:41] Planning coastal resilience efforts for Boston’s 47-mile shoreline[17:57] Adapting and digitizing community engagement during COVID-19[19:44] Managing multidisciplinary stakeholders and project team members

Over the last decade, governments across the globe have launched digital transformation projects, from digitizing services to revamping their online presence for better citizen engagement. We discuss this with:  Katrine Maria Krzeminski, program manager, Agency for Digital Government, Copenhagen: Krzeminski discusses her project to create personal pages for each citizen on the country’s public sector portal, how her team builds support from and collaborates with multiple government agencies on the multi-year effort, and how it’s empowering citizens with data and increasing government transparency. Yolanda Martínez, global project lead for the GovStack initiative, International Telecommunications Union, Geneva: Martínez discusses how e-government services are changing how citizens interact with their governments, the challenges governments face when digitizing services as well as how the GovStack initiative is helping countries worldwide accelerate their digital transformation efforts, thanks, in part to an open-source platform. Key themes[01:58] Empowering Denmark’s citizens with data [04:26] Collaborating with and building buy-in from government agencies [06:33] Tackling resourcing challenges, legacy systems when digitizing[11:05] How partners, potential users impact project decisions[14:18] Changing citizens’ experience through e-government services[16:49] Breaking down silos and creating replicable assets to accelerate digitization[19:31] How GovStack aids countries in developing digital government services[23:52] Advice to project leaders: Co-design a vision with partners and set clear priorities

The events of the past few years have wreaked havoc on the global supply chain. Organizations are responding with innovative projects to increase their resiliency. We discuss this with: Leefke Grosjean, senior researcher and project manager for 5G-Smart, Ericsson, Stockholm: Grosjean discusses how the 5G-Smart project is testing 5G’s potential in manufacturing, ways the team improved communication and collaboration, and how solutions from the three pilots can be adopted across factories. Peter Grimvall, supply chain design and planning manager, Ikea, Basel, Switzerland: Grimvall discusses the effects of supply chain disruption on organizations, the AI tool he helped create to improve Ikea’s demand forecasting for stores across the globe—and its impact so far—and why teams need to be ready to make mistakes and iterate on innovation projects.Key themes[01:54] Exploring the potential of 5G manufacturing in factories[05:10] Improving collaboration, communication across the 5G-Smart team[07:24] How 5G can boost factory flexibility, efficiency and safety[12:45] Creating an AI tool to improve Ikea’s demand forecasting[17:35] Using tech to predict disruptions—and how to bounce back from them[18:40] Lessons learned: Embrace mistakes and be ready to iterate

In the past few years, teams have had to rethink events of all types—conferences, award shows, concerts—to virtual or hybrid formats, innovating to keep attendees and audiences safe as well as engaged. We discuss this with:Nadja Burkhardt, supervisor of the Eurovision Song Contest, European Broadcasting Union, Geneva: She discusses how her team handles constant change to plan and execute the annual Eurovision Song Contest, how the event adapted during the pandemic, and how her team manages and collaborates with stakeholders across countries.Akseli Aho, CEO, Junction, Helsinki: He discusses his team’s experience hosting in-person, virtual and hybrid hackathons, how they decide which format works best for each event, and the challenge of encouraging people to return to in-person events.Key themes[02:24] New venues, new teams, new cultures: Managing constant change on the Eurovision Song Contest[03:38] Adapting the Eurovision Song Contest during COVID-19[06:19] Collaborating with partners and managing stakeholders across countries [11:04] Junction’s lessons learned from pivoting to virtual, hybrid hackathons[15:53] How Junction chooses between different event formats[19:34] The challenge ahead: Encouraging people to attend in-person events again

The time to act on climate change is running out, putting pressure on nations and organizations alike to help heal the plant. Project teams around the world are helping care for our planet. We discuss this with: Karl Campbell, director, Latin American Pacific Islands, Re:wild, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador: Campbell discusses the program he’s leading to rewild 25 islands over the next decade, projects that are underway in the Galápagos, and how teams are collaborating with partners and local communities to build buy-in and ensure long-term success.Margaret Sprug, principal, Miller Hull Partnership, Seattle: Sprug discusses building sustainability practices into her architecture projects, how her team collaborates with partners and stakeholders on sustainable design, and the lessons she and her team learned in making the Bullitt Center in Seattle a net-zero “living building.”Key themes[01:07] Increasing pressures to act on climate change[02:40] Creating a program to rewild Latin American islands[08:28] Building relationships—and buy-in—with local communities[10:57] How rewilding creates resilient ecosystems for people and the environment[13:56] Collaborating with partners, stakeholders on sustainable design in the built environment[16:23] Lessons learned from creating a net-zero “living building” in Seattle[19:04] Measuring—and mitigating—environmental impacts in architecture projects

Project leaders make decisions on a nearly non-stop basis. But they also have access to a wealth of information that can help them make the right call. We discuss this with:Reuben Oshomah, PMP, regional director, West Africa, Avanti Communications, Lagos: He talks through what kinds of information project leaders should consult, and the role team members and stakeholders play in making smart decisions.Ramyajit Dasgupta, PMP, global analytics manager, Concentrix, Kolkata: He discusses the role of big data and analytics in decision-making and how to take the first steps in building a data-driven culture. Key themes[01:42] Why understanding the project objective can fuel better decisions  [02:51] Gathering data: Lessons learned, risk registers and team members[08:17] Using big data, analytics, AI to take the guesswork out of decisions