A SUPPLEMENT TO PM NETWORK® PUBLISHED BY PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE
Agility to Help You Work Faster,
Smarter, Better
INSIDE
Agile Transformation for 3
Organizations and Projects
Foundation Supports Disaster 11
Management Through
Innovative Philanthropy
Events Calendar 16
Chapter Links 18
PMI China News: Project 24
Management in the Internet Era
SPECIAL SECTION:
Verifying Translations
of PMI Standards
See page 7
PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 1
OCTOBER 2017
New In-Depth Pulse of the Profession® Reports
O
rganizations
deal with
constant
change, uncertainty and
instability every day. Yet
many are caught unprepared for the which foster innovation and fuel better
effects of change. To avoid a potentially project outcomes to deliver maximum
disastrous outcome, high-performing business value.
organizations build the capability and Continued on page 6
capacity to change and adapt quickly
to shifting market conditions and
competitive pressures. They create
high levels of organizational agility,
Available online for PMI members only at PMI.org
9/7/17 10:59 AM
 Page 2 PMI Today October 2017

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PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 2 9/7/17 10:59 AM

 PMI Today October 2017 Page 3

from the Board

Agile
Thomas Walenta,
Dipl.Math, PMP,
PgMP, PMI Fellow Transformation
FOR
Organizations
Projects
AND

I n 1988, Barry W. Boehm, PhD,

introduced a spiral model for software
development. In the paper presenting
this model, Dr. Boehm quoted some
provocative voices in the then-raging
debate on software life-cycle process
models: “Stop the life cycle—I want to
get off!” “Life-cycle concept considered
harmful.” “The waterfall model is dead.”
“No, it isn’t, but it should be.”
Interestingly, he was not talking about
project management. As we knew then
and know today, pure waterfall is not
a life-cycle approach for all projects.
The profession is looking for ways to
introduce iterative and incremental
planning, execution, and monitoring, as
suggested by Dr. Boehm’s spiral model.
Agile life cycles have become major
contributors to complement or even
replace waterfall for certain projects.
Today, as surveys show, the use
of hybrid project management
approaches is escalating. To use them,
project managers need a wide range
Continued on page 4

PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 3 9/7/17 10:59 AM

 Page 4 PMI Today October 2017
From the Board Continued from page 3
of knowledge and skills. The project
management Process Groups as described
in A Guide to the Project Management
Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)
are iterative themselves and establish
progressive elaboration of project
artifacts—they support waterfall and
agile life cycles alike.
The Need for Organizations to
Become Agile
Recently, I was working for an
organization that has, for more than
140 years, produced and sold devices.
The company embraces innovation and
extended their markets globally in the
past 15 years. As with most organizations,
digitization is a phenomenon company
leaders must deal with, as new
competitors enter the market with
digitized offerings, and as customers
expect intensified and individualized
service. Executives of this company
understand that agility is the primary
driver of an organization’s success in
today’s complex and disruptive global
marketplace. Organizational agility can
be described as the capability to quickly
sense and adapt to external and internal
changes to deliver relevant results in a
productive and cost-effective manner.
PMI’s 2017 research shows that 75
percent of organizations with high agility
report 5 percent or more revenue growth
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…in 208 countries
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PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 4
as well as improved project success
compared to those with low agility. The
drivers behind becoming a more agile
organization are mainly people- and
process-based, as PMI’s research shows.
On the process side, agile organizations
can accommodate fast portfolio changes
and continuous reprioritizations. They
consistently use customer and market
data to sense external stakeholders’
wants and needs, and have a broad range
of methods, tools and techniques to
apply to projects and ongoing business.
On the people side, agile organizations
understand that they should build an
open culture and enable their employees
to make decisions, select the appropriate
methods and lead by example.
Organizations with high agility employ
project professionals having skills in a
variety of approaches in 88 percent of
the cases, in contrast to 13 percent for
companies with low agility.
Different Approaches to Become
a More Agile Organization
In my above example, I helped that
organization establish a portfolio
review cycle of six months, leading to
a shorter and much more stable list
of projects to work on (five percent
changes to approved portfolio versus
30 percent before). This enabled it to
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Total Active Holders of:
CAPM® Certified Associate in Project Management
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adapt to new project requests in a
timelier manner. As a consequence, the
employees saw fewer changes in project
priorities, task switches/multitasking
and emergency calls. They reported
higher work satisfaction and increased
productivity. Project requesters saw a
higher reliability of project delivery and
budget conformance. They were also
satisfied with the new selection process,
which was deemed transparent, fair
and adaptable. Establishing a portfolio
management process was a step to
become more agile as an organization,
which sought to be more adaptable to
changes, more transparent about what
was going on and more secure with
what lies ahead.
Moving an organization from a
mechanistic, hierarchical, functional,
formalized and bureaucratic system
(related to Michael Porter’s teaching)
to an organic, flat, networked,
decentralized system (promoted by
Henry Mintzberg) is a major strategic
change and needs buy-in from the board
and the management team. The culture,
including mindsets and behaviors, needs
to change from a competitive, career-
driven motivation to a collaborative,
servant-leadership style. Culture change
takes time, as it involves changing
human behaviors, and may require
replacement of staff.
Statistics through 31 August 2017
®
PUBLISHING
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9/7/17 10:59 AM

Some companies chose radical
approaches to become agile. A good
example is the Dutch bank ING, which
changed its culture and organization
dramatically to become more adaptive
and organic, from the top down. In 2015,
ING changed its whole organization
of 3,500 employees to a flat structure
organized in squads and tribes to serve
customers better. They embedded
IT into business, and changed the
mindset of how to manage people and
collaborate to one based on knowledge,
not hierarchy. Yet, for many established
organizations, there is no driver yet to
make that immense change. They start
to implement agility with bottom-up
solutions or in separate units.
According to a recent European survey
with 902 participants (Study Status Quo
Agile 2016/17, Komus et al.), only 20
percent of surveyed organizations follow
a top-down or purely agile approach.
Sixty-eight percent have hybrid or
selective approaches for a mix of agile
and traditional concepts, and 12 percent
stick to waterfall.
From this survey, it seems to be clear that
agile approaches to project management
are mainly complementing traditional
approaches and contributing to hybrid
projects. The main driver for using agile
in projects is reducing time to market
(61 percent), followed by improving
quality (47 percent) and reducing risk
(41 percent). Seventy-one percent say
that it is not possible to work consistently
in agile due to the working environment
(e.g., fixed budgets and fixed targets).
Agile Approaches Can Help
Some Projects
One of the specific problems the
organization I worked for faced was
to develop a new web-based interface
for their customers. Business functions
and IT worked together to identify
requirements, design a solution,
implement and test it. The project failed
PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 5
miserably, as requirements were floating
and technology was changing rapidly.
So, they decided to try an agile approach
using Scrum, and were successfully rolling
out product versions every few weeks,
getting feedback from customers that
transformed into new requirements—and
built a sophisticated website over time.
They became able to adapt to emerging
requirements and changing technology
driven by digitization.
This company extended the agile
approach to other areas and now has a
hybrid approach to managing projects,
with about 80 percent of projects still
following traditional approaches. This
does not mean they are following pure
waterfall life cycles, though. Most
projects just have a budget limit, three-
to-four milestones to achieve over 12
months, a sequence of logical phases to
follow and a rough understanding about
the scope when they start. Details are
developed as progress is made through
the phases, like in a rolling-wave planning
approach. Contractors deliver predefined
work packages according to contractual
obligations, which means fixed milestones
and committed cost estimations.
Integration and testing is done at the end
of the project. Customer staff is involved
mainly in the testing phase.
In some of these projects, project leaders
take a hybrid approach by using agile
components such as daily stand-ups,
kanban walls, retrospectives and even
development sprints.
Competencies for Becoming Agile
As project managers, we are here to
make dreams a reality. We must choose
the best way to accomplish this and
therefore should understand a wide range
of options and concepts, including the
continuum of life-cycle approaches from
predictive to iterative, incremental and
agile. The waterfall model is used for a
strictly predictive life cycle and is used in
different rigor, for example when rolling-
PMI Today October 2017 Page 5
wave planning is applied or phases
are planned as agile scrum sprints.
This is an example where a mix of
life-cycle models within a single
project is applied—in other words, a
hybrid project approach. Dr. Boehm’s
spiral model is an example of an
iterative approach and is applicable
to high-risk situations.
PMI’s research shows that
organizations with high agility rely on
employing project professionals with
the skills to apply a variety of project
management approaches (88 percent
versus 13 percent of organizations
with low agility), establishing the
agile project leader as a formal
role (77 percent versus 13 percent
of organizations with low agility)
and fostering peer-to-peer internal
training programs (82 percent versus
5 percent).
PMI’s Code of Ethics and Professional
Conduct is based on the four values
of respect, responsibility, honesty and
fairness. These values promote the
agile mindset through a collaborative
team environment and a focus on the
contributions of each team member.
For example, respect refers to
acknowledging every team member’s
role and participation, responsibility
leads to commitments, honesty to
openly sharing information, and
fairness enables trust within the team.
These values also support the values
stated in the Agile Manifesto.
The PMI Talent Triangle® structures
the skills needed for agile project
managers: technical (process)
skills and business acumen must
be complemented with leadership
skills to enable servant leadership,
collaboration and openness to change.
Project managers who continuously
develop these skills will drive cultural
change needed by the organization to
become more agile.
9/7/17 10:59 AM
 Page 6 PMI Today October 2017
Agility to Help You Work Faster, Smarter, Better
Continued from page 1
As part of its Pulse of the Profession
research, PMI sought to better
understand how agile transformation
drives positive change in businesses
operations and the value projects
deliver. We surveyed individuals who
work in both predictive (traditional/
waterfall) and agile roles. Our research
supports what we have known for
some time: An organization’s agility
level helps determine the success of its
outcomes, including the value projects
deliver. We also found that agile
approaches are only one indicator of
speed and flexibility—and very
project-specific.
The journey to greater organizational
agility is ongoing and dynamic. It
requires a transformation that engages
people, improves processes and
enhances culture, so an organization is
more nimble and can adapt rapidly to
new challenges and opportunities as
they appear.
Key Findings
Successful organizations advance their
businesses and achieve maximum
value through a shift in thinking. They
manage unexpected roadblocks, risks
and market changes more easily,
because “being flexible” becomes part
of their philosophy. Flexibility takes
precedence throughout all operations
and management processes, and is
supported by leadership and training.
As a result, organizations with high
agility can switch priorities quickly
without losing momentum. They
are prepared to work differently and
communicate effectively, especially
with employees and customers. Doing
this well requires more than one way of
operating across all functions.
PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 6
The research for these reports was conducted online by Forrester Consulting for
PMI in March and April 2017 among 1,469 project management practitioners and
leaders in 10 countries. Forrester also hosted an online community on behalf of
PMI in May 2017 with 54 individuals to gain deeper insights and examples of
their experiences as they transitioned to a more agile work environment and
project approach. Throughout 2017, PMI studied, analyzed and reported on
aspects of agile transformation. Our research resulted in two Pulse of the
Profession in-depth reports: Achieving Greater Agility and The Drivers of Agility.
Read the full Pulse reports at PMI.org/Pulse.
Our research revealed the following: Recommendations
n All project management Agility is the primary driver of an
approaches lead to successful organization’s success in today’s
outcomes: Organizations with complex and disruptive global
high agility report more projects marketplace, which has ushered in
successfully meeting original goals unprecedented levels of competition.
and business intent—whether they Agility happens when organizations
use predictive (71 percent), agile acknowledge the need for constant
(68 percent), or hybrid (72 percent) change, and muster the will to make
approaches—than organizations it happen. Recommendations for
with low agility using the same organizations that want to stay on the
approaches. path to greater success include:
n People and processes are key: n Agility is a balance—not a battle
Organizations with higher levels of choices: Seek a balance of speed
of agility place a significant focus and flexibility, stability and scale.
on building diverse skill sets and n Adaptability is key: Include all
process capabilities. approaches to project delivery—
n Revenue growth is greater: agile, hybrid and predictive—in your
Seventy-five percent of organization’s project management
organizations with high agility toolkit.
report a minimum of 5 percent n Drivers of agility include people
year-over-year revenue growth last and processes: Encourage open
year, compared to only 29 percent thinking and commit to talent
of organizations with low agility. development to accelerate results.
Build effective processes to achieve
n The PMO could be a beacon:
high performance.
Organizations with high agility
recognize the value of having some n Agility levels can determine
form of project-governing body— the success of an organization:
94 percent report having a project To achieve maximum business
management office (PMO), an value, react with flexibility, respond
agile work group or another type of to change, and engage employees
formal governance board, versus and customers.
81 percent of organizations with
low agility.
9/7/17 10:59 AM

SPECIAL SECTION:
Verifying Translations of PMI Standards
Volunteer Groups Meeting Face-to-Face
Make Possible Simultaneous Translations
L ast month, PMI made it possible
for those who don’t speak English
as their primary language to have
access to the latest edition of A Guide
to the Project Management Body of
Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) at the same
time as English speakers.
Behind the scenes of this simultaneous
release were groups of volunteers, a
new streamlined process and a lot of
hard work.
In the past, autonomous teams for
each language reviewed professional
translations of the PMBOK® Guide and
debated any discrepancies in meaning.
Each team chose its own approach and
process to complete the verifications.
Typically, the teams met in person only
once and did the remainder of their work
virtually. The result was widely variable
timing for the release of the various
Barcelona meeting of the translation verification groups.
PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 7
translations, and a non-standard method
of verification.
For the sixth edition, PMI assembled
translation validation groups that
included many volunteers who had
worked on verifying translations of
previous editions of the PMBOK®
Guide. Criteria for selection included
expertise in project management in the
target language, 10 years of experience
in the field and preferably a Project
Management Professional (PMP)®
certification.
All four verification group meetings
were held in person, with groups for all
languages gathered in one place. PMI
staff led the groups using a consensus-
based approach—the same method used
to validate questions on PMI certification
exams. Meetings were held in August
2016 in Frankfurt, Germany; December
PMI Today October 2017 Page 7
2016 in Budapest, Hungary;
February 2017 in Barcelona, Spain;
and March 2017 in Lisbon, Portugal.
Volunteer Perspectives
Angelo Valle, a volunteer on
the Brazilian Portuguese group,
remarked that “It was remarkable the
co-location work was done in Europe.
It was remarkable, the enhancement in
productivity and the enhancement in
precision due to joining all the people
in the same room.”
Mr. Valle, a founder of the PMI Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil Chapter, started dreaming
about translating the PMBOK® Guide into
Brazilian Portuguese when it was first
published in 1996. Those translations
became a reality beginning with the third
edition of the standard, and Mr. Valle has
worked on those translations ever since,
Continued on page 8
9/7/17 10:59 AM
 Page 8 PMI Today October 2017
SPECIAL SECTION:
Volunteer Groups Meeting Face-to-Face Make Possible Simultaneous Translations
Continued from page 7
becoming the only Brazilian to work on
every Portuguese translation.
He was also a volunteer on the
core team for the original PMBOK®
Guide text in English. Mr. Valle is the
Brazilian delegate to the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO)
Lisbon meeting of the translation verification groups.
PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 8
and works in the Brazilian Association
of Standards as well. He is a founding
member of an ISO technical group on
vocabulary for project management.
K.G. Baek, MBA, PMP, PgMP,
volunteered for the verification of the
Korean translation of the PMBOK® Guide –
Sixth Edition. He was a member of the
Translation Verification Committee
(TVC) for the fifth edition as well.
Mr. Baek says that “Volunteering for
PMI is always an honorable opportunity
for me. Especially, being the member
of the TVC is an even more honorable
chance to be representing my country
and my language.
“Even though the translation service
company has enough capability for
the translation itself, finding out tiny
differences between the words is a
totally different story. That’s why the
volunteers’ contributions are valuable.
“I started my volunteer career in 2006,”
he concluded. “It is a great opportunity
for me to share my professional
knowledge and to meet new friends
from all over the world.”
Yasuji Suzuki, PMP, was a volunteer
on the Japanese TVC. “We, the
Japanese group, 10 in total, adjusted
from the convenience of our own
work and participated for a change
as volunteers….There was a [learning
curve] as we [worked to validate] with
suitable Japanese sentences, but
several meanings in original sentences
[were unclear].…This proved that
our own learning and growth could
be achieved simultaneously with the
quality-first principle.
“Additionally, networking with members
of each country, including exchanges
with the staffs of PMI and [the
translation vendor] was very helpful
for further activities.”
Osman Elhassan, MBA, PMI-RMP, PMP,
a member of the Arabic TVC, called the
PMBOK® Guide – Sixth Edition “a real
international book. [Participating] was
an amazing experience. I believe PMI
ensured the best-ever quality of the
PMBOK® Guide. The Arabic group was
from five different countries, and where
9/7/17 10:59 AM
 PMI Today October 2017 Page 9

Verifying Translations of PMI Standards

there were minor differences on the

language used, a consensus was
always reached.
“I remember that verification of some
words was challenging,” he continued.
“With ‘agile,’ for example, views were
very far apart, so we agreed on a voting
technique. It was carried through during
dinner at a restaurant with [Middle]
Eastern background music. A different
atmosphere was thought to facilitate
consensus, and it proved to be true.
“From my point of view, I think having
the key stakeholders gathered in one
place was a critical factor to bring this
project into success,” Mr. Elhassan
concluded. “The PMI delegates created a
collaborative and friendly environment.” The Chinese verification group in Budapest.

Laura Lazzerini Neuwirth, PMP,
volunteered to be in the Italian
translation verification group. “I think
that volunteering with PMI is always
an amazing experience and this, in
particular, was very special from both a
professional and a human point of view,”
she said. “I had the opportunity to meet
a number of highly professional project
managers coming from all over the
world and to discover that, even though
we are located in completely different
The Italian verification group in Lisbon.
parts of the world, all of us face almost “Usually project managers are used to
the same problems in the daily work. working with teams but they rarely
work in a team almost composed of all
“It was also
project managers.”
interesting from
a psychological Guangcheng (Andy) He, PMP, from
point of view and the Chinese verification group, said the
it turned out to presence of all the different languages
be a completely created discussion that helped the
new experience,” volunteers understand project manage-
Ms. Lazzerini ment concepts more deeply and assisted
continued. Laura Lazzerini the groups in validating translations
Neuwirth, PMP accurately. “Also, if we have any
questions for PMI terms or definitions,
we got answers immediately,” he
continued. “That saved a lot of time
from communicating through email.”
Within his group, Mr. He noted that
“Differences mean improvement,
which make us discuss further to
reach an agreement. Face-to-face
discussion was really helpful in
validating the translation.”
Olivier Lazar, PMP, PgMP, PfMP, of the
French group, said his group “set itself
up in a kind of agile auto-organized
mode, leadership passing smoothly
Continued on page 10

PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 9 9/7/17 10:59 AM

 Page 10 PMI Today October 2017
SPECIAL SECTION:
Verifying Translations of PMI Standards
Volunteer Groups Meeting Face-to-Face Make Possible Simultaneous Translations
Continued from page 9

from one person to the other depending

on the chapters being addressed and the
current mood. Face-to-face workshops
[were] great networking opportunities. At
the end, it was about a hundred people
working together, often even sharing
perspectives from one language to the
other—such an amazing Tower of Babel
gathering four times around Europe, from
Frankfurt to Lisbon.
“Definitely a lot of fun, but also hard
work,” Mr. Lazar said. “One of my most The Japanese verification group in Lisbon presented certificates to PMI and its translation vendor
satisfying PMI volunteering experiences.” recognizing their hard work in the translation process.

The Portuguese verification group in Budapest. Frankfurt meeting of the translation verification groups.

Volunteers Increase the World of PMI

Standards in Russian
By Alexander Revin, PMP

O ne of the language teams

involved in the project to
simultaneously publish
English and translated versions of the
PMBOK® Guide was Russian. It included
committee, with Mr. Trunin as co-leader.
Why did they volunteer? Not simply to
make the Russian translation better, but
also to harmonize the lexicon of all PMI
standards in Russian.
The project core team was built, and
it was decided after analysis that the
translation should be done by project
management practitioners only (without
specialized translators) to provide the
Alexander Revin, PMP, and Konstantin required level of quality. This decision
Volunteers have also translated PMI
Trunin, PMP. Volunteers have taken defined all the future translations,
standards into Russian. In 2009, Mr.
part in PMBOK® Guide verification because they were performed only by
Revin proposed an idea to translate
processes from the early versions of the volunteers too. Due to the volunteer
The Standard for Portfolio Management –
standard, and Mr. Revin led the fifth nature of the project and many
Second Edition.
edition Russian translation verification Continued on page 14

PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 10 9/7/17 10:59 AM

 PMI Today October 2017 Page 11

Foundation Supports
Disaster Management Through
Innovative Philanthropy
T he devastating consequences
of disaster touch the PMI
global community regardless
of geography, even as disaster
management is undeniably pivotal
that training to the unique challenges
each identified in its grant proposal. The
task team helped to review and to vet
proposals, with more than US$300,000
in grants awarded to three agencies:
Capacity, Supports and Sustainability”
in Copenhagen, Denmark. At
this meeting, influential disaster
management practitioners and experts
gathered in a two-day roundtable that
before, during and after a crisis occurs. American Red Cross, CARE USA, and fostered an interactive exchange about
For these reasons, the PMI Educational Plan International. applying project management in diverse
Foundation (PMIEF) has examined Each grantee implemented its grant- hazard contexts and disaster settings.
how best it can support the disaster funded initiative while remaining This included preparedness, relief and
management sector by leveraging committed to building and exchanging response, recovery and rehabilitation.
project management for social good. knowledge with one another. In addition, The roundtable permitted an
PMIEF initiated these efforts in PMIEF engaged a technical adviser examination of DMGI—including
2012, chartering a global task team and an external evaluator to support lessons learned and their implications—
composed of PMI volunteers to grantees’ application of their project from the perspectives of participating
help. In 2013, the foundation and management training and to collect data agencies, PMIEF, the technical adviser
task team invited representatives of about their experience doing so. and the external evaluator. It also
agencies, colleges and universities, promoted meaningful dialogue among
In 2016, PMIEF hosted “Project these and other attendees to generate
and research institutions working in Management in the Disaster
disaster management to Washington, Management Sector: Integration, Continued on page 12
D.C., USA to identify key functions
and capabilities that are critical to
success, yet frequently problematic
in their formulation, execution and
sustainability. The goal was to deepen
an understanding of the sector and to
begin to ideate how to pragmatically
support it.
A second meeting with a broader range
of actors and professional communities
in London, England in 2014 further
probed these topics, resulting in the
development of PMIEF’s Disaster
Management Grants Initiative (DMGI)
the following year. Through DMGI, the
foundation invited a select cadre of
agencies to apply for funding to receive
project management fundamentals
training as well as to thoughtfully apply

PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 11 9/7/17 10:59 AM

 Page 12 PMI Today October 2017
Foundation Supports Disaster Management Through Innovative Philanthropy
Continued from page 11
new ways of thinking on how project
management can continue to add value
to the disaster management sector. In
addition to DMGI agencies, roundtable
participants included representatives of
the African Centre for Disaster Studies,
Asian Disaster Preparedness Center,
PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 12
Columbia University’s National Center
on Disaster Preparedness, Harvard
University’s Humanitarian Initiative and
Inter-American Development Bank.
According to early evaluation findings,
DMGI grantees find that project
management better enables their
strategic planning and is a legitimate,
leadership-approved framework for
project work. Furthermore, they report
that DMGI provided training that is
imperative, yet not typically grant-
funded. Of particular importance was
also the realization that disasters create
9/7/17 10:59 AM

disruptions in this unique sector that
challenge the adoption, adaptation and
application of project management
agency-wide.
The illustration below showcases
PMIEF’s timeline of disaster management
PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 13
PMI Today October 2017 Page 13
activities since 2012. In
addition, PMIEF will soon release a
case study about each grantee’s initiative.
The foundation will feature these on
pmief.org in the coming weeks while
continuing to examine DMGI’s outcomes.
9/7/17 10:59 AM
 Page 14 PMI Today October 2017
SPECIAL SECTION:

Volunteers Increase the World of PMI Standards in Russian Continued from page 10
compulsory iterations of reviewing
the consistency and correctness of
translation, the standard was not
published until 2011.
New Translation Project
After a year of work and weekly virtual
team meetings, some of the 10 team
members were so excited by the
process and results that they expressed
interest in a new translation. The Project
Management Competency Development
Framework (PMCDF) – Second Edition
was chosen as the next standard for
translation in 2012. The team now
consisted of 12 persons, including
seven with the Project Management
Professional (PMP)® certification.
During this translation, many issues
about correct usage of terms were solved
by the team after thorough investigation
of specialized literature, as well as state
and industry regulations. Every member
Konstantin Trunin, PMP (left) and Alexander Revin, PMP.
of the team gained a deep understanding
of project management terms in Russian,
including a lot of areas of ambiguity. one Certified Associate in Project of experts with experience of previous
But to solve many translation issues, Management (CAPM)® living in various PMBOK® Guide translation verification
the team turned to the previous Russian cities and even sides of the globe. The processes was desired. That is why some
translation of the PMBOK® Guide. Its verification project took a year and a of the previous team members applied
glossary was mandatory for other half of intensive effort for the virtual again to participate in the translation
standards translations. team, with regular weekly meetings. validation and some of their applications
This verification project was so tough were approved.
In March of 2012, Mr. Trunin saw that after publication of the translated
opportunities to chair and become a PMI created a very effective mechanism
PMBOK® Guide, it looked like the
member of the Russian TVC for the of developing and updating standards.
volunteers did not have the energy to
PMBOK® Guide – Fifth Edition posted The wide range of standards developed
think about translating other standards.
on PMI.org. The underlying challenge and supported by PMI are based on
was clear: If the team is able to deliver a Making the Effort real-life practices and generally accepted
quality translation of PMI standards, why Despite this, Mr. Revin, as project knowledge. That is why translation
not use the gained expertise to make a manager of these translation projects, of PMI standards to local languages
better translation of the most known regularly received questions about the can help get out a useful set of locally
PMI standard? possible start of other translations. acceptable standards much faster than
The Standard for Program Management developing the standards from scratch in
Mr. Revin, appointed TVC chair, was acknowledged as the most specific countries.
promoted the idea to other PMCDF interesting for the next translation.
translation project team members, The volunteers involved in these projects
In June 2016, translation began.
and fortunately four of them were also believe that providing the Russian-
Soon after that, information about
chosen for the new team. This time, speaking community with translated
PMBOK® Guide – Sixth Edition
the TVC volunteer team consisted of versions of PMI standards makes project
translation validation process was sent
nine PMP® certification holders and leaders more efficient and successful.
out. It was evident that participation

PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 14 9/7/17 10:59 AM

 PMI Today October 2017 Page 15

Verifying Translations of PMI Standards

A Multi-Million-People-Impact Translation
By Cristian Soto, MPM, LIMC, PMP

W hile the English version of

the PMBOK® Guide may be
enough for some people
involved in the project management
profession, in fact, a very high percentage
daily goals were established and the
guidelines for achieving the objectives
of the session and the importance of
our voluntary work for the world were
raised again.
the use of different professional
terminologies to express the same ideas.
The final result was a document with
change control. This gave rise to a final
cross review between the two teams of
of people whose first language is not four people to validate certain points
The next step was the establishment of
English seek translated versions as their that could affect the work done by the
roles within the groups in order to make
first reference to help them manage their other team.
the division of labor more efficient (each
projects. Additionally, every year a large
eight-person language group was divided This process ensured that the effort of
number of project managers enter the
into two teams of four each for further translation validation was more efficient
labor market worldwide (2.2 million new
efficiency). Then the groups began to than previous verification processes
project-oriented roles will be created
review aloud the translated items and that featured remote teamwork.
each year through 2027, according to
looked at everything mentioned with a Validation made in person had notable
PMI’s Project Management Job Growth
critical eye. When there was a debate, improvements: more satisfactory
and Talent Gap Report). A considerable
the groups agreed to go ahead to the discussions, effectiveness and less
percentage of them do not have English
following item and leave the disputed uncertainty in consensus. The experience
as their first language. This increases the
material for a later revision, which had was unique and teamwork was the key
importance of having the translations
to be done once the entire translation to advance and reach agreements that
of the PMBOK® Guide published
process was finished. represented an understandable language
simultaneously with the English version.
for the reading population.
One of the main challenges in obtaining
Unlike previous versions, in which many
a translation validation is that, for The results of this process have now
of us need to wait a year or more until
example, Spanish represents a large been seen with the launch of the
we can see the version in our native
region with linguistic diversity among translated versions of the PMBOK® Guide
language (Spanish for me), the sixth
countries, especially taking into account simultaneously with the English version.
edition was released simultaneously
in all languages. This will have a major
impact on two main areas: preparation
for PMP and CAPM® certification
examinations (updates to the PMP exam
are scheduled for the first quarter of
2018) and standard-based training in
the mother tongue.
The volunteers who participated in this
session worked to validate Sections 4–9
of the guide. This consisted of thoroughly
reviewing an already-developed transla-
tion prepared by a translation company.
We had the translation company staff
present to be able to tell groups the
reason for use of some translated words
or for any additional doubt. Specific
sections were established to be reviewed Spanish Translation Group—Barcelona, Spain. From left, Christina Zerpa, PMP; Cristian Soto, MPM,
by each group, which were sent in advance LIMC, PMP; Jorge Clemente, PMP; Ruben Escotto, PMP; Jorge Escotto, PMI-RMP, PMP; Esteban
of the face-to-face meeting. On-site, Villegas, PMP. Seated: Fernando Schinca, PMP; Enrique Cappella, PMP.

PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 15 9/7/17 10:59 AM

 Page 16 PMI Today October 2017
Events Calendar
PMI Today Deadlines:
DECEMBER 2017........................ 16 OCTOBER
JANUARY 2018....................... 15 NOVEMBER
Free listings in the PMI Today® Events
Calendar are reserved for activities organized
by PMI, its communities and its cooperating
organizations. For information on how to
purchase a paid advertisement in this
calendar, email advertising@pmi.org.
Please see PMI’s online Events Calendar at
PMI.org/events/calendar for more events.
OCTOBER 2017
2–3 October
PMI Silicon Valley, CA Chapter
10th Annual Symposium
Santa Clara, California, USA. This year's
symposium theme is “Creating Business
Value Through Project Leadership.” The
two-day event will feature themed keynote
presentations, concurrent breakout sessions
and networking opportunities. Join hundreds
of project and program leaders to share and
learn with like-minded professionals from
Silicon Valley and around the world.
pmisv.org/overview-symposium-2017.
4 October
PMI Chapters in Germany
Projects in Disruptive Times
Frankfurt, Germany. The four PMI chapters in
Germany invite you to their first joint congress.
Expect about 200 executives, decision makers,
portfolio, program and project managers.
congress.pmi-frankfurt.de.
Interested in having a FREE
PMI Today event listing on this
page? Please go to
PMI.org/events/calendar
and click on the link for
submitting events.
Your listing will be considered
both for the PMI.org
online calendar and the
PMI Today calendar.
PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 16
4 October conference under the theme “Advancing
PMI Nova Scotia Chapter Project Management for National
Networking for Results for Development.” The aim is to focus on up-and-
Project Managers coming project management practitioners and
expand the profession nationwide. There will
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. After
be streams for construction/infrastructure/
researching this topic and using these skills for
mining, information and communication
25 years, Michael Hughes, North America’s
technology, and services/others.
networking guru, is now living proof that
pmimongolia.mn/pmimc-annual-conference.
skillful networking generates exceptional
professional and personal success. Double your 10–11 October
networking results by investing just one day
PMI Southern Caribbean Chapter
with the networking guru. pmins.ca.
9th Biennial International Project
6–7 October Management Conference
PMI Mongolia Chapter San Fernando, Trinidad. The two-day
conference is the region's largest project
4th Annual Conference
management event. This year’s theme is
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. This year, the PMI
“Versatility in Times of Economic Adjustments:
Mongolia Chapter is hosting its 4th annual
Doing More with Less.” pmiscc.org.
SeminarsWorld® Events
Leading subject matter experts share their experience and
deep knowledge on a variety of emerging topics. Whether 24–27 O
you are looking to build your leadership skills, work on and 31 ctober
O
soft skills such as communications and collaboration 1 Nove ctober–
mber
or delve deeper into agile, these events provide unique Chicago
, Illinois
opportunities to learn and connect with the project , USA
13–16 N
management community. San Fran o v e mber
Learn more about SeminarsWorld courses being held in Californ cisco,
ia, USA
these locations and throughout the world. Use PMI’s 4–7 De
c
search tool for project management training matched Miami, ember
to your specific needs. Visit learning.PMI.org. Florida,
USA
9/7/17 10:59 AM
 PMI Today October 2017 Page 17

c on gre sse s | c on fe re n c e s | se mi n ars | symposi um s | e- Learning

UPCOMING >
PMI EVENTS ®

Live Webinars from

PMI® Global PMO Symposium® ProjectManagement.com
Conference 2017 As a valued member of the ProjectManagement.com
community, you can access webinars that provide
Chicago, Illinois, USA Houston, Texas, USA insight from the industry's most respected voices
28–30 October 2017 5–8 November 2017 on the most relevant and important topics today—
PMI.org/global-conference pmosymposium.org and earn PDUs.
19 October, 3:00 p.m. EDT (UTC –4)
Project HEADWAY: Reinventing
Portfolio Management
Portfolio management has been around for several
decades. And while we equate it with strategic
decision making and prioritization, that isn’t where
it started, and it isn’t its greatest source of value.
Our perception of portfolio management has
evolved in response to organizational challenges
and perceived opportunities. If we invented
portfolio management today, would it still look
the same? Presented by Mark Mullaly, PhD, PMP.

For more information and to register, visit

ProjectManagement.com/Webinars.

PMI Tour Cono Sur 2017

Under the motto “Learn, DATE CITY CHAPTER WEBSITE
Share, Inspire,” this year’s 2 November Asunción PMI Asunción, Paraguay Chapter pmi.org.py
Tour Cono Sur offers a
3–4 November Mendoza PMI Nuevo Cuyo Argentina Chapter pminuevocuyo.org
varied selection of featured
7 November Montevideo PMI Montevideo, Uruguay Chapter pmi.uy
speakers and cities where
you may strengthen the 8 November Rosario PMI Buenos Aires, Argentina Chapter pmi.org.ar
skills that compose the 9 November Buenos Aires PMI Buenos Aires, Argentina Chapter pmi.org.ar
PMI Talent Triangle®. 14 November Córdoba PMI Córdoba, Argentina Potential Chapter pmicordoba.org
This will help you remain 15–16 November Santiago PMI Santiago, Chile Chapter pmi.cl
relevant and competitive, 16–17 November Antofagasta PMI Antofagasta, Chile Potential Chapter pmiantofagasta.cl
and will enhance your 22 November Piura PMI Cajamarca, Peru Chapter pmicajamarca.org
ability to achieve success. 23 November Cajamarca PMI Cajamarca, Peru Chapter pmicajamarca.org
We invite you to visit the 24–25 November Arequipa PMI Southern Region, Peru Chapter pmisurperu.org
chapter websites where 27–28 November Lima PMI Lima, Peru Chapter pmi.org.pe
you will find valuable 27 November Cochabamba PMI Santa Cruz, Bolivia Chapter pmisantacruz.org
information. 28–29 November La Paz PMI Santa Cruz, Bolivia Chapter pmisantacruz.org
30 November–1 December Santa Cruz PMI Santa Cruz, Bolivia Chapter pmisantacruz.org

PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 17 9/7/17 10:59 AM

 Page 18 PMI Today October 2017
Chapter Links
PMI Augusta Aiken Chapter pmiaugustaaiken.org
Military Outreach Program
Project Gratitude—“In Debt To Our Vets”
By Roger Duke, PMP, president-elect, PMI Augusta Aiken Chapter
E very day over 1,000 U.S. servicemen
and women leave for civilian
employment and nearly 40
percent are unemployed for more than
six months. Their greatest transition
challenges are deciding on a career
path, connecting with employers and
translating skills and accomplishments
to civilian job requirements. Transition
planning just six months ahead of
separation doubles these veterans’
Charter graduates of Project Gratitude were recognized by receiving their custom-framed PMI
certificates, which included the PMI Military Challenge coin. From left, Aldo Calvi, PMP, military
liaison; Christopher Wilk, PMP; Paul Cox, PMP; Nathan Johnson, PMP; Malik Lightbourne; and
President-Elect Roger Duke, PMP.
PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 18
news | people | projects
chance of employment and results in a 10
percent improvement in financial status.
There are more than 60 U.S. military
installations near PMI chapters and nearly
40 of these chapters are establishing
military outreach programs. Fort Gordon,
home of the U.S. Cyber Command,
is a vital part of the Augusta, Georgia
community. In 2016, the PMI Augusta
Aiken Chapter identified military
outreach as its number-one community-
Advertisement
service focus area. It implemented
a comprehensive initiative entitled
“Project Gratitude” to provide project
management career opportunities for
active military and veterans.
Project Gratitude provides a turnkey
transition program for any candidate
committed to becoming a project man-
ager. In addition, the program provides
all of its services at zero or minimal cost
to the candidates. “It’s more than just
providing certification opportunities;
it’s providing opportunities to improve
their lives,” said Aldo Calvi, PMP, the
chapter’s military liaison. “The only way
to accomplish this is to provide a total
package of services from the identifica-
tion of candidates to the creation of job
opportunities. Project Gratitude has to be
an agile program, since every candidate’s
situation is unique.”
Every candidate creates a personal plan
based on their financial and schedule
constraints. Their plans maximize
military and/or employer benefits, with
Project Gratitude addressing the gaps.
For example, all types of certification
training options are available—classroom,
online, during workdays or after hours,
commercial or chapter-led courses. The
candidate selects the best fit.
9/7/17 10:59 AM
 PMI Today October 2017 Page 19

Chapter Links news | people | projects

Fundraiser With Afterburner

In order to cover out-of-pocket costs, the
chapter partnered with Afterburner, Inc.,
and executed a fundraiser, which doubled
as a recognition event promoting Project
Gratitude to the community and local
businesses. The charter graduates of
Project Gratitude were recognized at the
event. Jim “Murph” Murphy, Afterburner,
Inc. CEO and founder, was the featured
keynote at the event. Sixteen local
businesses sponsored the event and raised
US$8,000. These funds covered the first
year of Project Gratitude costs and enabled
other revenue sources to be identified to
sustain the program.
Keynote Speaker, Jim “Murph” Murphy, CEO and founder of Afterburner, Inc. entertains and educates Twenty-five candidates are currently in the
the audience on Afterburner’s Flawless Execution agile business strategy. Project Gratitude pipeline and are expected
to graduate by the end of 2017. The PMI
Project Gratitude features were mentor. The mentor provides ongoing Augusta Aiken Chapter is truly “In Debt
developed by focusing on opportunity- support as long as the candidate is in to Our Vets” and committed to building a
response strategies that increased Project Gratitude and the chapter. stronger project management community.
the probability of accomplishing
objectives and improving the impacts.
For instance, the chapter collaborated
with a national recruiting company to
better identify candidates, provide them
transition planning and ultimately job
opportunities. The company is developing
a unique model with industry partners
to efficiently and effectively prepare for
and connect candidates with project
management career opportunities.
Also, in order to maximize networking
opportunities, the chapter provides
PMI and chapter memberships as soon
as a candidate is selected. In addition,
the moment candidates become PMI
members, they are assigned a chapter
PMI Augusta Aiken Chapter President-Elect Roger Duke, PMP, addresses attendees at the chapter’s
military outreach fundraising event.

Advertisement

PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 19 9/7/17 10:59 AM

 Page 20 PMI Today October 2017

Chapter Links news | people | projects

PMI South Korea Chapter pmikorea.kr

Family Seminar Takes Place at Historical

Project Site
By Young Min Park, PMP, founder and former president, PMI South Korea Chapter

T he PMI South Korea Chapter

runs a unique seminar every year
for the members with family at
Hwaseong Fortress, a historical project
site in Suwon, South Korea. The seminar
theme was “Playing and Learning at
Hwaseong Fortress.”
The Hwaseong Fortress was built from
January 1794 through October 1796 by
King Jeongjo in the Chosun Dynasty. It
was named a World Cultural Heritage
Site by United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) in 1997. The whole project
was recorded in the construction report
and it contains every detail of the
project, even including the number of
nails used at each building by its size.

From this report, we can know how this

project was planned and managed, which
is also inscribed as World Documentary
Heritage by UNESCO in 2007. Amazingly,
we can find many similarities in project
management today, as illustrated in A
Guide to the Project Management Body of
Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide).
The seminar was organized in two
breakouts: one for adults and the other
for children. The one for adults ran in
ordinary seminar style; however, it was
presented in a less professional manner
for the benefit of non-practitioner
spouses. The presentation focused more
on the story of the historical project and
the people involved in it. The children’s
program aimed to let the children learn
basic concepts of project management and
have fun. For example, the importance of
communication in projects was conveyed

PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 20 9/7/17 10:59 AM

 PMI Today October 2017 Page 21

Chapter Links news | people | projects

through a board game, and basic time and

cost management concepts in projects was
demonstrated through the space shuttle
development program.
Since the seminar ran during the
Hwaseung Fortress festival period, all of
the participants could also enjoy many
other events before the seminar. After
the seminar, all the families had dinner
together and awards were given to
presenters and game winners. After
dinner, everybody joined the moonlit
night tour program and strolled the
Hwasung Fortress area guided by a
historian tour guide.
Although this family-together type of
seminar is not common in the professional
world, it’s been successfully accepted by
the PMI South Korea Chapter members.
Family members understand more about
what their husband, wife, dad or mom
does in the organization and realize the
importance of what they are doing for
projects—and they are very proud of it.

PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 21 9/7/17 10:59 AM

 Page 22 PMI Today October 2017

Chapter Links news | people | projects

PMI Queensland Australia Chapter pmiqld.org

Working With Diverse Stakeholders:

A Chapter Volunteer Viewpoint
By M. Saleem Mahmood, PMP, assistant director – Project Management Day of Service

T he Project Management Day

of Service (PMDoS) is a unique
event where practitioners come
together and offer a day of their services
to charitable organizations free of charge.
A few instances of this event have been
offered by PMI chapters in the United
States, and in November 2016, the first
event outside of the United States was
held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Typical of many projects, the deadlines
were short, the challenges remarkable
and the logistics tight. As the director for
the event, I had no shortage of hurdles
to jump, primarily because I was new
to the city (and country), the chapter,
and to running events of this nature. In a
matter of four months, I had to develop,
promote and gain acceptance of my
vision for the “Day.” How would I bring me through the preparations and keep vision of who came first and that had
this all together in a hurry? the key objectives of the chapter in to be clear across the board.
First, I made a concerted effort to really sight. I had a team of volunteers whom Once I had my stakeholders clearly
know and understand the stakeholders I had recruited through various referrals in mind, I had to get them aligned
of my project. The chapter steering and contacts-of-contacts, and then of toward the purpose of the day. The
committee was there to assist and guide course I had the three primary categories PMDoS was about giving back to the
of attendees on community—not an original statement,
the day itself: but certainly in our case, an original
the charitable way of doing it. This wasn’t going to be
and nonprofit an event simply handing over money
organizations, in the hopes of some good coming
the volunteer out of it. Nor was it going to be a day
consultants and our of offering extra hands to make the
sponsors. Each of work light for one day. This event was
these groups had going to help the ones helping the
differing inputs and masses, offering them the guidance and
expectations of expertise of expert planners, facilitators
outcomes, and each and coordinators. This event was going
had to know that to leave the clients with the foundation
their needs were tools necessary to make their projects
being addressed. successful, which, in turn, would
Yet, there was a improve the lives of those they serve.
hierarchy in my

PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 22 9/7/17 10:59 AM


Chapter Links
Charities Were Top Tier
So clearly, the charities were the top tier
stakeholder for this project.
The consultants were the ones who were
going to make the magic happen. They
were going to take a day from work
to come and…work. They had the
challenge of getting to know their
client, learning the pain points and
potentially working in an area outside
of their comfort zone—all in the very
short space of the week leading up to
the day itself. They were doing it for the
networking, for the PDUs, but mostly to
do something original and good in a way
they hadn’t previously.
Finally, the sponsors. There were
no misgivings that an event of this
nature had very little to offer in terms
of financial benefits to any potential
sponsors. The nature of the clients we
were likely to attract would be the ones
that have small or medium budgets.
If they were bigger, professionally
run organizations, they would likely
already have some project management
expertise in house. Thus, the revenue-
generating possibility was not a selling
point for sponsors. The exposure to a
wide variety of people from within the
PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 23
PMI Today October 2017 Page 23
news | people | projects
clients on site was an
opportunity, as was the
potential for generating
leads toward indirect
opportunities through the
networking component of
the event. The most likely
draw for a sponsor would
have been the profile-
lifting opportunity to be
a part of an event that
has some clout, but being
the first of its kind, we
couldn’t even offer that.
This left us searching for
those organizations and
individuals that simply
wished to give via financial
support or services as an
in-kind sponsorship.
Aligning the
Stakeholders
In order to get all parties M. Saleem Mahmoud, PMP
on the same page, I
fashioned the following statement that set the baseline for what we use to
I repeated many times to audiences define success for this project.
like the members of my steering Project Stakeholder Management
committee, my management team, became its own Knowledge Area in the
charity representatives, consultants fifth edition of A Guide to the Project
and sponsors: “On the Management Body of Knowledge
day of the event, if (PMBOK® Guide), and for good
there are no charities purpose. Getting a firm grip on the key
in attendance, then expectations of those you are working
we do not have an for and with will help you understand
event. If on that day we how to communicate with each group.
have charities, but no Having all your stakeholders pointed in
consultants, we have the same direction will get you to your
a failed event. But if end goal with a higher chance of success.
we have charities and Thankfully, our vision stayed focused and
consultants, but no the objectives of the day were met in
sponsors, we have an spades, and this year we hope to repeat
expensive event.” it again.
This simple message The PMI Queensland Australia Chapter
served to align all will have its second Project Management
participants as to the Day of Service on 17 November in
purpose of this project Brisbane. For more information, visit
and its priorities, and pmiqld.org/pmdos.
9/7/17 10:59 AM
 Page 24 PMI Today October 2017
PMI China News
Project Management in the Internet Era
By PMI China Volunteer Li Shuang
Translated by PMI China
T his past June, a project
management salon was co-
sponsored by the PMI China
Hangzhou volunteer team and the
internet technology company NetEase.
Event sponsors were honored to
have as speakers individuals from
Shanghai Jiaotong University Business
Administration Department, the
fintech company Ant Financial and
the e-commerce company Alibaba
Group. These speakers were project
management research scholars and
project practitioners from the front line
of internet projects.
Dr. Liu Tong of Shanghai Jiaotong
University Business Administration
Speakers and volunteer team.
PMI-618 PMITodayOctober2017(final).indd 24
c on gre sse s | c on fe re n c e s | se mi n ars | symposi ums | e- Learning
Department gave a talk on new
trends in project management. He
spoke about top management’s point
of view on project management in
the internet era; a new model of
customers’ interaction; how to manage
non-traditional projects; the rise and
change of the project management
office; and the importance of project
management capabilities, which are
becoming core competencies.
Other talks at the meeting revolved
around experiences from the speakers’
real practices. One, from Liu Xiping,
involved product development at
NetEase. Another talk from Ant
Financial project management expert
Lan Yu covered unifying project
requirements, realizing full coverage of
a product and forging a one-team spirit.
Finally, Fang Yidong, the collaborative
platform expert from Alibaba Group,
used a large internet promotion
activity to illustrate multiple-teams
coordination and how to use rapid
iterative delivery and other methods on
large, complex projects.
At the end, attendees enthusiastically
posed questions to the speakers. The
Hangzhou volunteer team was heartily
recognized by the more than 200
attendees at the salon.
9/7/17 10:59 AM