ELIA Focus on Project Management 2021 – Key Takeaways

Elia’s Focus on Project Management 2021 is an online program set to develop the core skills of Project Managers. The 6th Focus on PM took place at the beginning of December and this year’s theme was Evolution and Revolution of Project Management. The program focused on how the role of the project manager has changed over the last ten years and will continue to change in the next decade. Four Commit Global Project Managers attended the event, and here are the key takeaways from their perspective.

Session: AI and the Future of Business

• Adaptation is in fact a form of intelligence.
• Data science is the best predicted power. Machines make far better decisions since humans cannot be trusted with more than seven issues.
• AI in the future could become more adaptive and thus offer us a chance to become more agile, to select the work we want to do and even not work at all if we find ways that could lead to abundance.

Session: How to become a next-gen PM

• PMs should be lazy at their work, even if it sounds controversial. That is, they should remove any manual and repetitive task from their everyday work.
• PMs should add value to their work.
• Strategic thinking is very important for PMs, to think of what can be improved, to be creative, to suggest ways of improving, to act as a consultant.
• PMs should always speak up, mention any problems that may arise to the client, and create solutions.
• Today PMs act as experts in various fields because the clients’ needs and expectations have also changed.
• PMs are expected to adapt to complex set ups, adopt new roles.
• PMs need to be tech-savvy.

Session: Ideas and tactics to establish a healthy client-PM relationship

• The relationship between a PM and the client should be based on trust.
• Price is not everything for the customers, they look for quality and to be understood by the PM.
• Transparency, honesty and open communication are key factors for a good relationship between clients and PMs.
• Instead of chasing ROI, learn what metrics are important to your customer and think about how you can help them achieve them.

Session: From language supplier to knowledge provider

• What the client asks is peace of mind, support and knowledge.
• Revolution: Continue questioning things.
• The revolution would be the answer to the question: How can I delight the client, do something that they do not expect.

Session: Through the lenses of a former PM turned into end client

• Focus on all touch points with the customer and always offer a solution.
• “What clients wants” list: Quality, Expertise, Turnaround time, Price, Innovation, Flexibility, Relationship, Compliance, Technology, Global resources with local points of contact.
• Treat everyone as a million-dollar client.
• Customer centricity program: understand client needs, use every opportunity to communicate values, add personality to each response.

Session: Translating sustainability & supply chain into Project Management

• The PMs are enablers and facilitators.
• They should be great communicators and listeners.
• It is better for a PM to oversee the whole workflow, rather than focus on parts of the process.
• The PM role needs constant learning, constant feedback and a completely new mindset.

Our Project Managers that attended the event felt inspired from the fascinating presentations and are now looking forward to start implementing all this new knowledge and strategies they acquired! Thank you ELIA for another wonderful event!