We know that projects drive change, and today, more and more project professionals are managing initiatives to deliver positive impacts across the globe. Two 2023 PMI Future 50 leaders—Johnnie Stark, PMP, a project manager at BP in London, and Nuha Hashem, co-founder and CTO at Zywa in Dubai—discuss why the world needs project professionals, what sparked their passion to lead the innovative projects they’re managing today and their top advice for future project professionals. Key themes [01:59] ...
Nov 01, 2023•17 min•Season 6Ep. 18
Space projects push boundaries, aiming to give teams a better understanding of our own planet and to explore what’s beyond. But these efforts are full of complexity, with evolving risks, new innovations, long timelines and fluctuations in funding. We discuss this with: Kenneth Harris II, PhD, senior project engineer, The Aerospace Corporation, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, USA: The 2020 Future 50 leader discusses how the increasing number of crewed missions—and missions closer to Earth’s orbit—have ...
Oct 18, 2023•25 min•Season 6Ep. 17
Diversity and inclusion are now mainstay focuses for organizations—but it can be challenging to find the right strategies to achieve diverse and inclusive team environments. We discuss this with: Victoria Toney-Robinson, PMP, senior program manager at Google in Hamburg: Toney-Robinson discusses how a team’s diversity and inclusion affect not only the team environment but also the solutions the team develops, which strategies and practices she’s found are the most effective for building diversity...
Oct 04, 2023•25 min•Season 6Ep. 16
Project professionals can help promote well-being in the workplace, making a positive impact on not only their own and their team members’ performance but also their overall mental health. We discuss this with: Marilena Koliavasili, PMP, project manager, Intracom Telecom, Athens: Koliavasili discusses how she defines employee well-being, practices she uses to maintain her own and her team members’ well-being, and how emotional intelligence, empathy and psychological safety can help people better...
Sep 20, 2023•28 min•Season 6Ep. 15
Teams are delivering projects no matter their location. As team members continue working in remote and hybrid environments, project professionals must find ways to develop their skills and grow their careers outside of an office. We talk about this in a joint discussion with Adriana Pavón Navarrete, PMP, a project manager at Hitachi Vantara in México City, and Meena Nandelli, CAPM, a master’s student who at the time we spoke was a project manager at Microsoft in Hyderabad, India. Key Themes [02:...
Sep 06, 2023•25 min•Season 6Ep. 14
Generative artificial intelligence tools, from ChatGPT to Bard, are changing the way people work—including how people lead teams and manage projects. We discuss this with: Kristian Bainey, PMP, CEO, K-Pic Systems Inc., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: Bainey shares his tips to help project managers write ChatGPT prompts that will return strong answers, how project professionals are using generative AI tools to craft project charters and format project documentation, how to build support for integratin...
Aug 23, 2023•24 min•Season 6Ep. 13
A project that doesn’t align with an enterprise’s objectives will never be considered a success. But project managers with a strong understanding of the business landscape and their organization’s goals can execute projects that drive their companies’ priorities—and deliver real benefits. We discuss this with: Ayobamiji Iyiola, PMI-ACP, PMP, senior IT project manager, First Bank of Nigeria, Lagos: Iyiola discusses the processes he uses to determine his organization’s goals, how he created succes...
Aug 09, 2023•25 min•Season 6Ep. 12
Organizations always look for ways to innovate and improve, but continuous evolution without preparation and strategy can lead to change fatigue and burnout. We discuss this with: Rose James, PMI-ACP, PMP, program leader, Edward Jones, Houston: James discusses the typical signs of burnout, why project teams might feel fatigued by seemingly constant organizational change, strategies project leaders can follow to lead their teams through change effectively, and how leaders can help team members re...
Jul 26, 2023•27 min•Season 6Ep. 11
Project professionals are boosting their personal branding—through blogs, speaking engagements and strong social media presences—not only to help them stand out as forward-thinking leaders but also to share their knowledge and give back to the project management community. In a joint discussion, guests discuss how they decided where to focus their personal branding efforts and their top tips for other project professionals looking to elevate their personal brand, plus how strong personal brandin...
Jul 12, 2023•23 min•Season 6Ep. 10
Introducing new ways of working to teams can be challenging, but they can also bring new insights and solutions that help teams deliver successful projects. We discuss this with: Alexandre Mariano Vieira, AHPP, PMI-ACP, PMP, project manager, SSA México, México City: Mariano Vieira discusses how he evaluates whether a new way of working would be a good fit for his teams or projects, how he introduced agile techniques to create a hybrid approach and how this new way of working improved project del...
Jun 28, 2023•21 min•Season 6Ep. 9
Agile is moving further into the mainstream, and much like its name suggests, these approaches are evolving. We discuss this with: Tammy Ashraf, PMI-ACP, Earth science systems integration manager, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA: Ashraf discusses the benefits of agile approaches, how traditionally risk-averse organizations are embracing agile techniques, and the skills project professionals need—such as servant leadership and a greater understanding of digital collabor...
Jun 14, 2023•18 min•Season 6Ep. 8
The construction sector is moving toward a more digital and connected future, with new technologies changing how teams are executing projects. We discuss this with: Rami Kaibni, PMI-CP, PgMP, PfMP, senior projects and development manager, Field & Marten Associates, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Kaibni discusses how new tech, including building information modeling (BIM), is helping boost efficiency in project planning and execution, how his teams decide whether or not to use a specifi...
May 31, 2023•20 min•Season 6Ep. 7
Companies across regions and sectors face myriad cyber threats from ransomware and phishing scams to attacks from professional cybercriminals—a growing number of them now using AI. In response, organizations are launching cybersecurity projects to keep their companies’ and customers’ data secure. We discuss this with: Gordon Yan, PMP, vice president, IT project manager, OCBC Bank, Singapore: Yan discusses how Singapore’s banking industry is reacting to more phishing and impersonation scams, arti...
May 17, 2023•19 min•Season 6Ep. 6
Project professionals are in high demand, but how does someone break into the profession? In a joint discussion, guests share how they started their project management careers—one pursuing it from the start, the other taking the role unexpectedly—the top skills new project managers should develop and how organizations can help project leaders upskill. Plus, they share how certifications from PMI have given their career development a boost. Our guests include Johanna Kolerski-Bezerra, PMP, projec...
May 03, 2023•20 min•Season 6Ep. 5
More and more businesses are realizing that sustainability projects are not just good for the environment—they also can boost an organization’s bottom line. But project managers need the right skills to get organizational support to deliver successful initiatives. We discuss this with: Brittany Brama, principal sustainability program manager, C.H. Robinson, Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA: Brama discusses how she prioritizes sustainability-focused projects, how a passion project became a tool that ...
Apr 19, 2023•17 min•Season 6Ep. 4
Artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, collaboration tools—project managers are using a bevy of new technologies to boost efficiency and improve project outcomes. We discuss this with: Niral Rajani, project manager, Aristocrat, Sydney: Rajani discusses how tech tools can increase efficiency and reduce cost and time on projects, and how he uses machine learning to predict risk, complexity and resources on future projects—plus the steps he takes to ensure a smooth implementation for ...
Apr 05, 2023•18 min•Season 6Ep. 3
Resilience is a must-have for teams delivering projects in today’s disruptive and volatile world. So how do you build resiliency on teams? We discuss this with: Ray Jones, PMI-ACP, PMP, program manager, SMX Technology, San Antonio, Texas, USA: Jones discusses the new context for resilience in a more complex and ambiguous world, how project leaders can build team resiliency by leaning into a learning mindset, how he helped make a team more resilient by changing their work processes and environmen...
Mar 22, 2023•23 min•Season 6Ep. 2
For International Women’s Day, Projectified ® hosts a roundtable with three women project leaders to discuss what it’s currently like for women in project management, how teams benefit from diversity and how organizations can better support women leaders, plus questions they had for one another as fellow project leaders. Our guests include Janete Faustino, PMP, PfMP, portfolio management leader of operations strategy and performance, TAP Air Portugal, Lisbon; Bharti Ochani, PMP, IT project manag...
Mar 08, 2023•22 min•Season 6Ep. 1
Financial services companies—from established giants to new startups—face disruption from all sides. And as organizations explore new innovations to meet evolving customer needs, they must do so while considering risk management. We discuss this with: Ashley Butao, PMI-ACP, PMP, project manager, Capital One, Toronto: Butao discusses the biggest disruptions she’s seeing in the financial services sector, how agile approaches allow her teams to experiment and adapt fast, and how knowing your organi...
Jan 18, 2023•15 min•Season 5Ep. 24
As we kick off 2023, project leaders are looking ahead to new challenges and opportunities as well as looking back at what they accomplished in 2022. Projectified ® reconnected with previous guests to discuss the biggest changes they have seen in the world of projects over the last year, their top lessons learned, plus what they’re excited about—and the skills project managers need to succeed—in the year ahead. Guests include Elton Soares, PMP, project manager, General Electric, Florianópolis, B...
Jan 04, 2023•22 min•Season 5Ep. 23
To deliver an organization’s strategic objectives, project leaders must be able to look across the portfolio and decide which projects provide value and should be pursued, which go on the back burner and which are abandoned entirely. We discuss this with: Sunando Chaudhuri, PMP, PgMP, PfMP, director of IT, Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company Group, Abu Dhabi: Chaudhuri discusses why project leaders must understand their organizations’ goals to best prioritize projects, the different types of ...
Nov 30, 2022•19 min•Season 5Ep. 22
From feats of engineering and art to exploring the unknown, the 2022 Most Influential Projects showcase innovative and creative efforts from teams across sectors and regions. We discuss two of these projects with: Alicia Tkacz, partner and architect, Stufish, London: Tkacz discusses how producers, animators, architects and pop superstars ABBA collaborated to create the immersive ABBA Voyage show and the bespoke ABBA Arena, how clear decision-making processes kept team members aligned, and how th...
Nov 16, 2022•17 min•Season 5Ep. 21
Project management offices (PMOs) are evolving, taking on a greater strategic role to deliver value. We discuss this with: Fiona Lin, PMI-ACP, PMP, VP of the enterprise PMO, agile PMO and business transformation, Snap Finance, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA: Lin discusses why PMOs must support organizations across projects, programs, portfolios and processes, the importance of including PMOs in strategy planning, and how PMOs can help adopt and encourage new ways of working. R. Rooban Annamalai, PMP,...
Nov 02, 2022•20 min•Season 5Ep. 20
Artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept. Project leaders are putting AI to use on everything from automating day-to-day tasks to analyzing risk. We discuss this with: Milie Taing, founder and CEO, Lili.ai, Paris: Taing explains how project leaders’ perspective of AI has changed over the last few years, how AI is helping project leaders deliver more value and what impact a larger AI ecosystem will have on project management moving forward. Syed Ahsan Mustaqeem, PMP, senior engin...
Oct 26, 2022•17 min•Season 5Ep. 19
It’s time to lean into the power skills—communication, problem-solving, collaborative leadership and strategic thinking—that help project leaders influence stakeholders and deliver successful projects. We discuss this with: Swapna Yadavalli, PMP, PgMP, PfMP, VP of technology program management, Mastercard, Pune, India: Yadavalli discusses how leaders with power skills help their teams succeed, how strong communication and collaboration helped her team deliver a large-scale program and ways fello...
Oct 12, 2022•13 min•Season 5Ep. 18
In today’s uncertain business landscape, companies must be more agile than ever, embracing new ways of working and nurturing a changemaker mindset across teams. We discuss this with: Anne Cherouny, organizational change management leader, Boeing, Arlington, Virginia, USA: Cherouny discusses the benefits of organizational agility, how a lack of coordination and structured change management can hinder organizations’ agility, and how project leaders can embrace new ways of working on their teams. A...
Sep 28, 2022•20 min•Season 5Ep. 17
As urbanization increases worldwide, the public transportation sector is evolving. Teams are launching projects to meet changing consumer demands and employing new technologies with the goal of making public transport systems more sustainable, accessible and efficient. We discuss this with: Graham Currie, director of the Public Transport Research Group and professor of public transport, Monash University, Melbourne: Currie talks about innovations in technology and public transportation infrastru...
Sep 14, 2022•19 min•Season 5Ep. 16
The energy sector is evolving, with organizations and governments alike rethinking their options to push for a more sustainable future. We discuss this with: Meriem Lhammoumi, senior project manager, Jesa, Casablanca, Morocco: Lhammoumi shares how green hydrogen can impact the world’s decarbonization efforts, must-have skills to execute these projects, and the need for innovation in hydrogen storage solutions. Iván Jara, head of engineering, procurement and construction, Atlas Renewable Energy, ...
Aug 31, 2022•16 min•Season 5Ep. 15
Organizations worldwide are putting greater focus on ESG (environmental, social and governance). As companies ramp up their efforts, leaders are determining how to integrate ESG into their projects. We discuss this with: Mauricio Bolaños, PMP, ESG operations and program manager, VMware, Heredia, Costa Rica: Bolaños discusses how his company’s ESG office works across business units to collaborate with project leaders to integrate and track ESG efforts in their projects, the value of incorporating...
Aug 10, 2022•19 min•Season 5Ep. 14
Organizations are facing a massive shift in the workforce as people reevaluate what they want from their jobs. It’s up to project leaders to keep teams on track and to continue to deliver value, even amid high attrition. We discuss this with: Kierstin Gray, PMI-ACP, PMP, program director, Argodesign, Brooklyn, New York, USA: Gray explains how project talent turnover can impact a team’s deliverables and cohesion, and how adopting an agile mindset and strengthening communication and trust can help...
Jul 27, 2022•21 min•Season 5Ep. 13
