Schedule

We learned in science that change needs a catalyst, but what about in life? Many professionals in today’s ever-changing work environment feel stuck, complacent, or even fearful about their professional growth. In order to get back on track, it is necessary to reconnect with their passion and establish their “WHY”. 

In this inspiring program, Alana shares the events that ignited her life-changing catalyst to demonstrate how purpose and passion reinforce one’s personal and professional goals. 

Through engaging discussion, she will take the audience on a journey to discover their passions, talents, and path to being more resilient leaders. Alana’s interactive delivery will leave the audience with immediate steps to move them forward in growth at work and home. Leading change…the Ms. Engineer Way®!

Based on the PMI standards, "Managing conflicts is one of the biggest challenges that a project manager faces" 

Projects involve people with different opinions, expectations, communication styles, goals, and ways of working to execute tasks. At some point conflict will rise. 

This presentation is intended for beginner and intermediate project management professionals. 

Learning Objectives:

• Learn about project conflicts

• Review conflict management strategies

• Learn about conflict resolution strategies.  

Large-Scale Technology Projects are complex and challenging. Gain an insight into how complex projects especially in public sector are different and what makes them so complex. Come and learn about an exciting turnaround of a public sector project that went on for almost a decade with multiple failures. What were some of the key strategies used to make this project successful? How can you use some of the learnings from this experience to manage your projects more effectively and deliver value to the customer? Learn about the Digital Transformation journey in implementing a Permitting System for City of Portland.

T.E.A.M. Together Everyone’s Attributes are Magnified. Each one of us is the sum of our thoughts, emotions, and behavior. If “thoughts are the language of the mind and emotions are the language of the Heart” as Dr. Joe Dispenza describes, what are the ways you can shift your thoughts to consistently convey positive emotions, translating into behavior that creates an empowered and effective T.E.A.M.? Are we capable of converting our emotions from present pain to future benefit? And can we learn from others around us to achieve healthy collaboration and positive relationships? Yes, we can! As individuals, we will understand why we sabotage ourselves, how it affects our goal of achieving what we truly want, and the ways we can transform to better our communication and thus achieve what we regard as success. Join us to learn the tools behind Positive Intelligence to transform your team and get your return on investment!

Many people in position of power feel the need to “show it” by exerting and showing this status in their daily interaction with those around them. 

This approach is seen as particularly toxic in project environments where “leadership” is best seen as a synonym of “participation” or “equality”. Furthermore, in the last few years leadership theories like servant leadership or participative leadership have been embraced as the best practices in leading project teams. 

However, one problem persists: how do I show I am a participative or servant leader? How can I make these principles “visible” to those working with me? The response is Humility. 

This presentation will explore through storytelling the principles in which Leading with Humility is based and how they can be applied to create a more participative and equal environment in project teams. 

Finally, the presentation will offer three challenges to project leads and how they can measure their own progress towards embracing Humility as a pathway to success. 

Join us as we hear Jeff Lund share an overview of the different steps of the hiring process.  You will learn what the candidate and hiring manager are thinking at each stage of the process.  We start with proven techniques to find great candidates and opportunities.  Then we will review what makes an effective resume and what to put in your cover letter. We then move into what to say and not say during interviews.  Putting it all together, we then learn how to negotiate the final offer.  If you are looking for a new opportunity or need to hire great people, join us to learn the insider secrets of this critical process.

Business Analysis has become a critical part of PMO's in the most recent decade, driven by the ascent in complexities of projects, outsourcing, and even the worldwide downturn. Projects are bound to have numerous partners, vagueness around, project features, assets, and stages, or potentially even obscure undertaking highlights, assets, and stages, all of which make necessities elicitation progressively challenging to identify. This session will cover the similarities and differences between the Project Manager and Business Analyst and recommend some strategies to work together to be effective and efficient.

How do you turn your goal into a reality and bring forth your potential? Football coach Vince Lombardi once said: “Leaders aren't born, they are made.” As leaders, we live in the constant pull between leadership and balance. Leaders often feel what they are doing isn’t working, no matter how much we try. We constantly give and it is still not enough. We often feel stuck, stressed, and frustrated, and everyone around us feels it. Using my four-step process AMEN to CORE (Awareness, Mental Fitness, Communication, and Resilience), we will delve into the strengths leaders can embrace to feel more empowered and successful. This presentation will shed light and strengthen your emotional intelligence exposing the “soft” yet crucial skills you must acquire to thrive in all aspects of your life.

To create innovative solutions in today’s world of increasing complexity and high rate of change requires strong collaboration and engagement within highly skilled teams. It is essential that leaders acquire the skills necessary to build engaged teams that are inspired to achieve great results. To inspire teams, a leader needs to know how to build a clear vision, share stories that create an emotional connection to that vision, and create trust within the team. Emotions drive behaviors and positive emotions tied to the team’s objectives are necessary for optimal team performance. This session will explore this important topic and provide the audience with insights on how to use inspiration to build their teams for next-level achievement.

Join Dorice Horenstein for a special Q & A session on Positive Intelligence

Project management and change management are two disciplines that complement each other. Although they both involve managing people and processes (and often work together to meet organizational goals), they are different disciplines.  Understanding what the differences are and how both practices can (and should) work together to manage projects is crucial for the success of your project.  In this workshop, we will compare and contrast the differences and how you can use a change manager in your project to make it a greater success.

How many times have you felt the stress of managing multiple projects at the same time? What do you do when the same SME’s are involved in more than one project and their calendars are always booked? In this session, we will discuss tools, tips, and tricks to keep everything organized and you looking like a rockstar!

In this session, Dr. Knapton shares lessons that he has learned in multiple decades in the CIO seat. He will share his 10 operating principles that have formed the foundation of his leadership style. Whether you are starting your IT career or are a seasoned professional, you will be able to pick up several tips that will help you be a better leader. Leadership is constantly evolving, especially over the last couple of years. Join Dr. Knapton for insights about what leadership looks like now and how you can grow your technology career.

Understanding the amount of uncertainty in a schedule and estimating the effect that the uncertainty will have on program completion is of keen interest to program managers. Understanding uncertainty allows a manager to foresee conflicts and proactively mitigate problems. A Schedule Risk Assessment (SRA) is the primary for that simulating program execution in an uncertain environment.  

To conduct an SRA, the analyst needs to understand the baseline duration for each schedule activity and assess the uncertainty associated with that duration. For very large programs, the baseline schedule can have tens of thousands of schedule tasks. It is very difficult for an analyst, or a team of analysts, to evaluate the duration uncertainty for every single task. Frequently, analysts employ a binning structure to streamline the process. Typically, a binning structure employs some variant of a low-risk, medium-risk, and high-risk bins. Each bin has a pre-defined uncertainty distribution, and a rule set is established to assign each schedule task to a particular bin.  

The difficulty with this process is that there is very little theoretical foundation for constructing these types of bins and the associated rule sets. This presentation will discuss the techniques that are employed in the Air Force Sentinel program. The Sentinel program has completed nearly 15,000 tasks since its inception and statistical analysis has been conducted on this data to identify some appropriate risk distributions and rule sets that help facilitate this analysis. 

This paper will be of interested to schedule analysts that conduct SRAs and program managers that see a need to improve the techniques used in their organizations to conduct this type of analysis. 

Team performance starts when you ask, ‘how can I take more responsibility for my team’s troubles instead of pointing at others?” “How can I match my good intentions to my impact so I can be the leader and team member my team deserves?” Only 10% of teams are high performing. Sustainable high performance is possible. The “I” is your impact! There is often a gap between your good intentions and your impact. We will discuss why that happens and how you can close this gap and create the conditions of psychological safety needed to help your team members engage and perform at a higher level. You will improve your ability to solve challenges you face every day and achieve your goals more successfully. The “I” in Team will help your ability to think clearly under pressure, manage and motivate people effectively, and to change your approach as necessary. It will help you improve your emotional intelligence and your impact!

Why are PMOs failing?  Research points to several factors including Insufficient Authority, Unclear Scope, Self-serving rather than Supporting Business Strategy, and Overly Bureaucratic processes and governance.  How do we overcome these challenges and build PMOs which provide value and stand the test of time?   

The Purpose Driven PMO addresses factors which lead to failure in traditional PMOs by starting with Business Alignment rather than Project Management needs.  Research indicates that having a Purpose leads to higher success rates and long-term commitment.  The PMO of the future must have a clear, well-defined Purpose which can be Measured and Optimized. 

We see in our everyday life the results of living with Purpose.  Whether with our faith, family or friends we are surrounded by Purpose.  I’ll explore the Power of Purpose and show how leveraging this power within the PMO can lead to long-term personal and organizational success for you and your PMO. 

For years managers have pondered strategies to increase the talents, drive, and skills of those they manage.  Questions such as how to increase cooperation among departments and teams, how to effectively delegate and ensure the work is done right, how to increase work outcomes, and how to motivate employees to accomplish more than what is required have continually plagued managers.   

This program covers the motivation theories and identifies factors that lead to job satisfaction and dissatisfaction.  It will not only clarify ways to help individuals get their needs met but will also allow them to assist in reaching the goals and objectives of the larger organization.  This program provides managers with information about what it takes to move from task management to being an effective leader who empowers others for greater organization results.

Based on Ashton’s international best-selling book, Leader Most Loved lays out 12 principles to help you become a beloved leader. Transform your workspace into a productive, satisfied, and loyal environment, all while learning detailed tactics that will refresh your approach to leadership, management, business, and self-care in business. This session is beneficial for small business leaders, new and existing leaders who want to nurture their team-based approach to management, managers looking to prevent workforce burnout and turnover, professionals looking for self-preservation techniques, and work from home experts.

In this session, Reed Shell, an experienced Agile Transformation Leader will explore the approaches used in design thinking, lean start-up, agile and DevSecOps to shed light on: 

• Possible approaches to exploring the right problem 

• How do we know we are building the right product? 

• Getting feedback to show we are building the product right 

• Supporting and updating the product 

• The session will give an overview of: 

• Select Design Thinking concepts 

• An overview of Lean Startup and use of an MVP(minimal viable product) 

• The agile approach of prioritization, using customer feedback, to build a product iteratively and incrementally 

• How DevSecOps can get solutions delivered faster through automation and monitoring 

 Join us for a great session and Q&A with Reed. 

I'm a former project manager dragged into the DevOps world. The problem was … no one could tell me what a PM is supposed to DO in DevOps. I asked around and got vague answers like, "maintain pipeline health." "Facilitate." "Ensure value delivery." What … the … heck? (That's strong language for Utah.)

Then I started a software business and came face to face with my first client engagement which REQUIRED Continuous Delivery of software features. I had consulted on the concept. I knew about tool chains and pipelines, but I still didn't have a good feel for what the project manager was supposed to do. As our work progressed, I found myself not only tracking the delivery of features to support business needs and deadlines, but I also interpreted our CI/CD theory into practice. I gathered continuous feedback from systems, team members, and the client. I reordered steps, gathered input, brought it up to the group, defined, redefined, adapted, and brought the team together. PRODUCTIZING PIPELINE VALUE in this way until the CI/CD process was smooth was SO rewarding! I remember when the team stepped back and we said, "People! We're practicing Continuous Delivery!" Everyone exhaled and said, "That's so cool."

If you're a PM, come learn how your role MUST change in the DevOps world and how much value you can bring. If you're an executive, come learn how to guide your project managers into a new set of responsibilities. If you're an engineer, come take away insights on where to draw boundaries between your responsibilities and those of leadership.

Do your instructions really sink in?  Are you proactive about bringing sensitive issues to the forefront?  Are you comfortable mediating disputes?  When you speak in meetings, do people pay attention?  Ineffective communication can lead to misunderstandings, missed opportunities, and can damage your credibility.   

This program is about identifying emotional triggers that can derail communication, understand personal style and how it impacts communication with others, and how to use emotional intelligence to deliver the message and influence others.  This program is for managers who want to maximize their positive impact on others, enrich the quality of their relationships, and increase their effectiveness on the job. 

Let's explore communication styles at work to build the best team leaders possible. Leaders who communicate successfully foster healthier, happier, and more productive workplaces. Learn how to become the Chameleon of Communication and collaborate with all sorts of communication styles. This class will be fun and interactive so bring your pencils and your smiles while we go back to the basics.

Estimating software projects is challenging. The nature of software development involves timely coordination and communication on many levels with many groups. Join us for a discussion of the 3 key practices necessary to ensure your project starts correctly, executes predictably, and completes on time. We'll discuss estimation using function-point counting, t-shirt sizing, and a new buttom-up technique called the User Story-Architecture Modeling Language (US-AML).

This presentation will delve into research that has been published over  the past 25 years by Harvard Business Review, Simon Sinek, Brene Brown, Arianna Huffington, and many other thought leaders. 

What is emotional intelligence and why is it so important for leaders?

What is the difference in culture between an emotionally intelligent leader and your average executive?

How do we build emotional intelligence within ourselves--practices to follow and proven methods of success.

What do I do when I am facing a deeply flawed organization that is resistant to these concepts of soft leadership skills?

Agile is an iterative approach to deliver a project throughout its life cycle. It is based on a set of frameworks and practices based on the Manifesto for Agile Software Development. Basic key concepts include daily meeting, user stories, incremental development and project retrospectives. We will discuss some of the challenges corporate organizations are going through in order to adopt the agile mindset.

How do you transform some of the most broken individuals who are living incarcerated, addicted and destitute? Is it possible? We would like to say that it is more than achievable. This is The Other Side Academy where we have made it our mission to perfect and hone the transformation process. Change is possible through accountability, integrity and consistent honest feedback. This is our story.

Join us for a step-by-step guided tour of PMI's Project Management Body of Knowledge Framework (PMBOK®). We'll cover Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitor & Controlling, and Closing a project. Versions 6 and 7 of the PMBOK will be discussed. We'll also cover common optional Business Analysis work done before and after a typical project.

Do you ever wonder what the future holds for you and your career?  Do you feel like you are constantly “learning” in preparation for your next big opportunity?  Yet the gap between learning and earning continues to grow. Do you look forward to going to work every day.  Do you have a job or a career? 

Que Sera Sera.  “Whatever will be, will be. The future is not ours to see.  What will be, will be”. Great 1955 song, but the lyric’s  “suggestion” is as out of date as the song itself.  In today’s fast paced, extremely competitive, constantly changing, project management world you can’t wait for something good to happen.  If you are to be successful you will need to make something good happen.  

This presentation will expose the recipe for success.  Using actual case examples from my career, I will describe what it took to go from a less than average student at Provo High School to a Project Management Professional recognized throughout the world.  I sincerely believe that the path I took is open to anyone who is willing to risk following it.   

From a meager start as a draftsman at Chicago Bridge & Iron (in Salt Lake) to a Vice President of Staff and Organizational Development for the largest contract research organization in the world, to an international consultant on all things project management. I will illustrate what led to my success for your consideration. 

My career went precisely as I had envisioned it back in the 60s.  I had a plan and I was determined to make it work.  I will share what I did and what you can do if you decide to commit to taking some risks and reaping the rewards.  This approach works, if you are willing to invest in yourself.  Spend an hour with me and decide if you want to stay average (nothing wrong with average) or if you want to take control and manipulate the future.