Projectified Folgen

Can government interactions ever be smooth? Nations around the world are working on upgrading these citizen services. Anne Petersen, director of experience design at 18F in Chicago, Illinois, USA, says there are multiple barriers to success in customer experience, such as a lack of money, time or in-house expertise. Anne also shares how to help organizations instill a customer-focused approach and how feedback—and your response to it—can increase people’s trust in government.Key themes [00:34] Governments striving for better customer experiences[01:59] Barriers to customer experience success: Money, time, in-house expertise [04:24] Establishing a customer-focused approach[08:46] Using design thinking to find failure points faster[09:44] Being open, human-centered and iterative to gain a better understanding

Home to some of the world’s fastest-growing cities, Africa is poised to become a hub for projects—and talent. Bulla Boma, PMP, head of the commercial project management office at MIC Tanzania PLC in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, discusses the increasing number of infrastructure projects in the country. She also talks about raising awareness of project management and the value project professionals can add.   Sheillah Karimi, senior program coordinator—water, sanitation and transport at KfW Development Bank in Nairobi, Kenya, discusses leading a water supply project and how she’ll apply lessons learned to future projects. She also says sustainability will become central to infrastructure investments due to climate change.  Key themes[01:02] Africa’s growth, rapid urbanization are leading to more projects[02:09] Projects promoting industrialization in Tanzania[05:39] Increasing awareness of project management and its value[09:32] Organizations striving for innovative, data-driven projects[11:08] Coordination and engagement key in Nairobi water supply project[14:57] Reconciling theory and practical knowledge

Ahead of International Women’s Day, ProjectifiedTM hosted a roundtable with three women to discuss their experiences leading projects and programs and their hopes for the next generation of women in the profession.   Varsha Advani, PMP, senior technical program manager at Akamai Technologies in Bengaluru, India, talks about the importance of mentorship and how company-structured programs can help build a culture of learning. She also hopes to see more women in management roles moving forward.   Selenne Berthely, PMP, project manager, Banco de México, Mexico City, Mexico, discusses how leaders need both technical and people skills and shares her advice to other women in the profession—remain true to yourself and focus on your team.   Asya Watkins, PMP, manager of pharmaceutical implementations at EnvisionRxOptions and founder of Women Of Project Management in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, discusses how mentorship helped her career and the lessons she learned from being the only woman on some of her teams. She also shares ways men can advocate and support women on project teams.   Anna Tavis, PhD, academic director of human capital management, New York University, New York, New York, USA, shares how organizations can use data-driven metrics and better measurements of collaboration to help gender equity.   Key themes [01:25] Creativity, empathy and freedom make projects challenging and fulfilling [03:33] What leaders need: People skills, relationship building, communication [06:23] Sharing experiences and learning through mentorship [13:58] Advocating for women through partnership on projects, speaking up [17:07] Hopes for the future: More women in management roles [20:49] Measuring performance and impact of an individual on a team