Professional Development Conference (PDC)

 

Thank you to everyone who attended the PMI Fort Worth Virtual Professional Development Conference on June 10^th, 2021. The theme of the conference was “Reaching New Heights in Project Management”  and what a great day it was! We want to thank our speakers:

 

Alan Mallory was the keynote speaker and he also hosted a workshop.  During his keynote speech, Alan told us about his family’s successful planning and expedition of Mount Everest in 2008.  As he told his captivating and amazing story, he also tied in some key project management concepts, including Planning, Scope Management, Cost Management, Risk Management, Issues Resolution, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Responsibilities, Empowering Others, and Resolving Conflicts.  Additionally, Alan touched on different project methodologies:  Waterfall, Agile, and a Hybrid approach.  Alan closed his time with talking about the importance of lessons learned and he encouraged each of us to work through our own challenges to make what we are working through a reality.   If you would like to read more about Alan’s story, check out his book “The Family That Conquered Everest”.

   

Alan followed up his keynote speech with a workshop on Emotional Intelligence and Building Relationships.  He mentioned that he started his career as an Engineer and Project Manager and then got a Master’s degree in Psychology.  According to Alan, Emotional Intelligence (EQ or EI) is the ability to engage in sophisticated information processing about one’s own and other’s emotions and the ability to use this information as a guide to thinking and behavior.  Alan also compared IQ to EQ.  He then explained why Emotional Intelligence is important for Project Managers.  As many us know, Project Management is very stressful and this is due in part to global teams, multigenerational teams, and ever changing technology.  He went on to discuss ways to cope with stress, understand different personality traits, the importance of being optimistic, empowering and engaging others, and keeping one foot outside of our comfort zone.

 

Sherry James led an afternoon session on Mental Wellness for Project Leaders/Teams 

and Tips to Regain Sanity.  She talked about some of the challenges that Project Managers experienced particularly during the the pandemic.  She also talked about some of the challenges in dealing with Mental Health, including Financial, Trust, Cost, and Margins. 

Sherry mentioned that one of the things that we as Project Managers can do is to be willing to have honest, open conversations about the mental health and wellness of our teams.  Ways to do this include:    

1. Lead – Walk the Walk
2. Talk – Remove the Stigma
3. Check – Follow Up!

 

Roger Wolkoff  closed out the conference by talking about Appreciation Intelligence – The New AI.  His message was a great reminder about the importance of showing our project teams gratitude and appreciation.  He talked about the different Appreciation Languages:  Words, Time, Service, and Gifts and the preferred frequency as indicated in the chart below. 

 

All of the speakers did a great job and this was a nice way to spend the day learning about Reaching New Heights in Project Management, Emotional Intelligence, being aware of mental challenges within our project teams, and getting a great reminder about extending gratitude and appreciations to our project teams.  Additionally, participants were able to earn up to 6.5 PDUs for attending and Fort Worth Chapter Members were eligible for the Raffle drawing. Thank you to our raffle sponsors!

Be sure to join us for next year’s Third Annual Virtual Conference AND we look forward to seeing you at our 2021 In Person Professional Development Conference on Wednesday, September 15, 2021 at the Hurst Convention Center.  The Theme is “Thinking Like an Olympian in 2021” and we are happy to announce that Johnny Quinn (U.S. Olympian) will be the Keynote Speaker.  We can’t wait to see you there!  Registration opens in August.  Watch for more information on the PDC page:  PDC | PMI Fort Worth (fwpmi.org).