‍November 2021 Newsletter Content

Editorial‍

Dear PMI Switzerland members and supporters,

Autumn is in full swing and just like that the last quarter of the year is coming to an end. However, PMI Switzerland's list of exciting ways to get involved is far from over! 

The November newsletter is full of information about topics such as mentoring and our upcoming Volunteer Day for PMI Switzerland volunteers.  Make sure to read on to see how to participate in our 20 years of PMI Switzerland anniversary game for the chance to win a weekend in the Swiss mountains

We also debrief for you the 3-part project management workshop that took place in September, as well as inform you about an upcoming in-person PM Masterclass that you can still register for.  

 
Happy (belated) Halloween and happy reading! 

Shalini Krishnan, PMP

PMI Switzerland Copy Editor

‍Message from the board

Reflections on autumn

What is your attitude towards autumn?

Do you associate autumn with thoughts like:

• saying farewell
• losing something
• the days are getting shorter and dark
• the cold spreads
• loneliness threatens

Or are you rather someone for whom the thought of autumn evokes sentiments like:

• looks forward to the colorful nature
• enjoys the beautiful sunsets
• new experiences are coming
• listens to the rustling of the leaves as music
• likes to snuggle up with your blanket and a book or TV series at home

‍And what does autumn have to do with Project Management?

For me personally, autumn stands for change like no other season. It brings the end of something beautiful and well-known and at the same time marks the beginning of something new, but unknown.

In our professional life, we often have to deal with the same two groups of people, as illustrated above. Those who see change as something unpleasant and frightening, and those who welcome and look forward to changes.

Maybe this autumn picture will help you to illustrate to doubters and rejecters that changes are something quite natural and that something positive can always result from them.

Do you agree - A year is a project!

As you know the definition of a project according to PMBoK is:

“A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. The temporary nature of projects indicates a beginning and an end to the project work or a phase of the project work…”

Each year is unique in itself and has a defined beginning and ending. Furthermore, a year is only a part of the whole portfolio - of life. And just as a project always consists of the same successive phases, a year also always passes through the same four phases - the seasons:

Spring - Project Start / Initialization and Planning

The farmer plans what he wants to plant and produce this year. He plants and sows what he wants to harvest.  And the PM ???

Summer - Project Executing and Implementation

The farmer cares for his land, plants, and animals so that they flourish as desired and bring the desired yield.  And the PM ???

Fall - Monitoring & Controlling, and also "Go Live".

The farmer cultivates his fields and finally harvests the crop.  And the PM ???

Winter - Closing, and use the results

The farmer and many other people live from the results of the work.  And the PM ???

What do you think? Do you see similarities?

I look forward to your comments and thoughts.

In conclusion, I would like to share some German wisdom:

"Catching a falling leaf in autumn before it touches the ground will bring you luck."

So, my call of action to you: Go out into the colorful nature with your loved ones this coming weekend and catch your happiness.

This coming weekend, why not go out with your loved ones into the colorful nature and have fun catching your luck.

All the best,

Stefan

Stefan Vesenmeier, PMP, DASSM

Mentoring

Autumn is underway, Indian summer colours our days, and our mentors are hard at work, bettering themselves and their protegees in one fell swoop. In the mentoring program, you will be put in contact with experienced professionals that can advise you on a course of action to advance in life.

Enjoy the full article: [Click here]

The Anniversary Year is Drawing to a Close - Last Chance to Join the Anniversary Game

The anniversary year, "20 years of PMI Switzerland" is slowly but surely coming to an end which also means that we will soon draw our anniversary competition winner. All participants of our online events are given the chance to participate and win an unforgettable weekend in the Swiss mountains and this could be you! 

The game, which we started in February 2021 at our Annual Members Meeting, is actually quite simple - during each of our virtual events, a word/phrase is announced, which attendees should collect. These will be 20 game words in total to make up the complete 20th PMI Anniversary sentence.

Enjoy the full article: [Click here]

Event Report on the 3-part Project Management Workshop Series in Collaboration with Girls in Tech Switzerland 

In September 2021, the Social Good team (Benoîte Grisouard, PhD, PMP, Enrico Bornisacci, PMP, Johana Ten Hove, PMP, Saul Figueroa, PMP) in collaboration with Girls in Tech Switzerland held a 3-part series of workshops. This project aims to 1) introduce project management concepts in the Girls in Tech community, and 2) raise the awareness of gender equality in Switzerland within our project management professional community. 

Before we started each workshop, the event co-organizers from Girls in Tech, Anne-Sophie Scharff and Laura Bourne-branchu, talked about the gender equality situation in the tech sector in Switzerland. These numbers showed we still have a long way to go, but the first step is to recognize and understand the problem and then take action to improve it.

Enjoy the full article: [Click here]

‍Members Update

A warm welcome to all new members that joined our Chapter.

Congratulations also to the members who obtained certifications in September for PMP, PMI-ACP, AH-MC, DASM, DASSM
 
The following members provided information about themselves: Teresa Avellino, Martin Härri

PM Master Class: Become your own chairperson and set boundaries

Dear members and friends of the PMI Switzerland Chapter,

In the last weeks, I had more than a handful of highly qualified professionals and managers in my 1:1 coachings and they all had more or less the same problem: They have difficulties setting healthy boundaries at work, advocating for their needs (what needs?), which resulted in high-levels of stress, dissatisfaction and poor sleep quality. Together we looked at their situation (not just work, but also their private situation including dreams and desires which usually had no room for consideration at that moment). They got clarity on their situation and inputs to improve it in the direction that they want to go.

One of the first things we did together was to help them find strategies to take “me time” in their busy days to be able to reflect on their needs - it doesn’t happen naturally - and then help them find strategies to start advocating for their needs by (re)prioritizing tasks and setting healthy boundaries at work.

Discover all the details: [Click here]

Vote for the new PMI Swiss Chapter Leaders in Elections for 2022-2023

Who is going to steer our chapter in which direction for the next two years? The decision is yours. Cast your vote for our Chapter representatives! These are volunteers with significant responsibility for the future chapter strategy and its execution. We encourage you to take the few minutes required to study their profiles before you vote.

Enjoy the full article: [Click here]

Call for PMI Switzerland Newsletter and Website Contributions

We are collecting articles, pictures, audio and video submissions for upcoming PMI Switzerland Newsletters and the website. Content we favour must be original, relevant to the PMI community, ideally addressing the Swiss context, and should be authored by recognised project management practitioners commenting on their own behalf or authorised to publish for the organisations they represent.

Newsletters are published at the start of each month (typically the first Monday of each month). The deadline for submission is the 20th of each month. Contributions may be sent and will be reviewed for potential publication on a rolling basis.

To submit a contribution, please fill out the following form at this link.

Enjoy the full article: [Click here]

What's‍ New on Your Youtube Channel?

The PMI Switzerland Chapter has developped its own Youtube channel. Every month you can watch interesting topics about project management and all around.

Discover the last 3 videos posted on the channel:

‍The PMI Switzerland Chapter is a non-profit professional business organization, and is a chartered chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI), Newtown Square, PA, USA.

Views and opinions expressed in the newsletter are those of the authors and, unless otherwise stated, do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the chapter or PMI or imply partnership.

© Copyright 2021 Project Management Institute Switzerland Chapter. All rights reserved.

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