Page 1

Volume - 4 - Issue 5 August 2016

Chapter News

- Capt. L. N. Prasad

The Way We Solve

Problems . . .

- Navneet Bhushan

The Joy of Volunteering!

- Venkatraman Lakshminarayanan

PMPC 2016

PM Accomplishments

The Lighter Side of PM

- Rajiv

DID YOU KNOW?Co

nte

nts

Q. This is the technique used

to analyse any business

process with an intention to

i d e n t i f y i m p r o v e m e n t

opportunities

Thanks and Best Wishes

Soumen De, PMP

soumen@pmibangalorechapter.org

Editor’s NoteEditor’s NoteDear Friends,

Greetings from PMI Bangalore India Chapter!

thPMI Bangalore India Chapter recently concluded the 11 edition of

Management Practitioners’ Conference (PMPC 2016). The focus of the

Conference was "Enterprise Agility..." which resonated with the current mood of the

industry. Once again the Conference was a smashing success with delegates and speakers saying nice

words about how they enjoyed participating in the Conference. This

Conference was managed as a project with detailed planning, risk

analysis, cost management, contract management and

stakeholders management among other things. One of the

important stakeholders of the Conference were the team of

volunteers who managed the entire project. I myself, being a

volunteer, it often makes me wonder what makes the volunteers

come together to organize this Conference year after year with the

same kind of passion and enthusiasm. In a volunteering framework

there is no formal power or hierarchical structure, no command and control mechanism, hence they

only do volunteering work based on INTRINSIC motivation with no expectation for pleasing their

management or for getting some reward and recognition. With busy lives, it is often hard to find time

to volunteer. It is noted that these volunteers look for the higher purpose rather than focus on narrow

things. They don't lay bricks; they build a cathedral. They leverage the volunteering opportunity to

make friends, reach out to the community, learn new skills, and take the learnings to advance their

career. Volunteering also helps protect their mental and physical health and reduces stress. In our

office, we work with the team members who are not volunteers; they are paid staff. So should we get

more results from them when compared to getting the same work done from a team of volunteers? As

managers, we usually use a combination of INTRINSIC and EXTRINSIC motivational skills to get the

work done. We try to make the team align with the purpose and values of the organization. Usually

walking up to them to give a “pat-on-the-back“ or highlighting their accomplishment in leadership

forum makes a stronger impact on their motivation compared to crediting their salary account with a

small 'award' component. When we look at any high performing team, like the team on a mission

critical project or a team winning the final against its opponent in an Olympic game, we can see that

they will be driven more by INTRINSIC motivational factors rather than EXTRINSIC factors. Donning

the national flag at the victory podium is what propels them to give their best. INTRINSIC motivators

are often the most powerful motivators and we as leaders need to recognize the impact from these

motivational factors in getting the best from our team.

Happy Reading.

Project

Chapter News

Editorial Board

- Capt. L. N. Prasad

Murali Santhanam, PMP

Namita Gupta, PMP, PMI-ACP

Rama K, PMP, PMI-ACP

Shikha Vaidh, PMP, PMI-ACP

Soumen De, PMP

Sujata Sahu, PMP

PMPC 2016: The prestigious event of

this month was the Annual Project

Management Practitioners' Conference.

This was held at the NIMHANS

Continued on Page 7...

convention centre th thfrom 14 to 16

July. The Conference

was attended by

nearly 800 delegates,

special invites and

other dignitaries.

The Conference was

inaugurated by Mr. R Gopalakrishnan, former

Director, Tata Sons.

The Way We Solve Problems -Creative vs Methodological

2 Page

Volume - 4 - Issue 5 August 2016

The Way We Solve Problems -Creative vs Methodological

- Navneet Bhushan

solution, refining it by adding more

components to achieve new

functionality needed.

This leads to the solution becoming

more complex than the original

problem. In fact, the monsters that we

created need to be managed now - we

will create infrastructure to manage it.

We will not let it go at all! After all that

has given us past success. Anybody

knows how many Enterprise IT systems

have become these monsters?

This is a problem fission reaction that

keeps on building bigger and bigger

complexity rather than Value needed by

the end customers. Had we spent more

time in thinking about existing and future

needs of the users, we would have solved

problems that are really need to be

solved.

Think! Think deeply! However, “Observe”

and “Learn” are two very strong,

unfortunately highly neglected, ACTION

verbs in solving problems.

This is not about too much analysis

leading to paralysis (that's where may be

the Post-Fact Data Analysts get into - Six

Sigma Experts (The pseudo ones) are you

listening!) - it's about active

processing of experiences.

It has to be beyond Politics, beyond

specific persons, beyond specific

relationships, beyond petty personal

gains. It has to be at a higher selfish

goal. As my selfish goal is that I win

if my customers create more-

everyday!

There is a considerable debate and

explanation of whether there can be a

process for creative problem solving in

contrast to methodological problem

solvin. Many believe creative problem

solving is too creative to be reduced to a

process. TRIZ enthusiasts differ here of

course!

Creative Vs Methodological

problem solving

A reported study in 2007 provides an

interesting verification of the difference

between creative thinking and

methodological problem solving. The

right brain is active more for creative

thinking and also the diffused visual

attention rather than the focused

attention on visual triggers. Very

interesting indeed - if you are a good

traffic navigator and knows how to find a

place in a crowded city you may be more

methodical, while if you work on diffused

visual inputs to imbibe a geography and

use these for constructing or imagining

your world - you may be more of a

creative thinker.

The study however discovers another

point - before the ideation process - what

was the state of your mind. Whether it

was more right brained excited or left

brain excited will impact how you solve

the problem.

Well this confirms to a large extent the

psychological inertia of core competence

- we have been solving problems in a

particular way throughout our life. We

use the same particular thinking

whatever be the problem. The

engineering mind will always reduce

the problem into smaller more

manageable problems while an artist

will always try to construct patterns

from observation.

Before the actual problem solving, I have

found in my workshops as well, we need

to prime the minds of the participants

into different methods by playing games

or solving problems by different methods.

Then the output of the workshop

increases - better quantity and quality.

How do we solve problems?

•

•

First, we acknowledge something to be a

problem only when it becomes a pain in

the, well, neck. Unless, it becomes a

monster hitting us where it really hurts -

we don't look at it at all. May be because

we have been told to "Stop Worrying Be

Happy", we forget about any active

problem hunting. Here in lies the first

danger - Stop Worrying doesn't imply

Stop Thinking.

How can we be proactive in hunting

problems?

Be there to observe how and what our

customers need - don't ask – all

Feedback systems fail to get to the

essence of what is needed.

Spend time in observing, getting inputs,

looking at how our customers do their

work and then think some more - well

our Top Managers must be saying - you

can't keep on thinking. Do - Act -

Execute. Well, execution without

thinking or what the Japanese call

Hansei, is a recipe for disaster.

We invariably or 99% of time design the

solutions for wrong problems. This is for

the simple reason that we have not spent

time in developing the understanding of

the problem, describing it from multiple

perspectives, looking at it from inside and

outside.

After we have developed a solution for

the wrong problem which also by the way

will be a sub-optimal solution, we find the

actual problem to be different because in

our cause-effect mind the solution that

we proposed haven't triggered the

desired results. Then we say – oh, the

real problem is not what we solved but

THIS. Now comes the fantastic ingenuity

of human mind and lethargy in letting

go of partial success. We say – “any

ways we have a solution that we

designed for what we thought is the

problem. Now how can we use the

solution to solve the newly identified

problem?” We work on tweaking the

PM Article

The Joy of Volunteering!

Page 3

Volume - 4 - Issue 5 August 2016

The 60 PDUs have been broken down into

Earn by Education track (35 PDUs) and

Giving Back (25 PDUs). And within

Education track, each of the Technical,

Leadership, and Strategic & Business

Management should at least be having 8

PDUs each which gives a good spread.

These 3 above are called the PMI Talent

Triangle.

60% of PDUs are from the Education

Track which is good, to grow as an

individual. And PMI itself has quoted that

the number of PDUs in the “giving back”

track has been reduced. I do not believe

this needs to constrain somebody from

actually “giving back more” to the

community. Volunteering needs an

attitude to learn and experience new

things and a willingness to share one's

experiences and knowledge without

expecting too much in return, though it

still gives you much in return (if only

people can look beyond the monetary

part of returns).

If you keenly observe one of the PMI

Talent Triangle elements of Technical,

there is a lot to teach and a lot to learn in

the aspect of Agile Practices, Governance,

EVM, Performance Management,

Schedule, Time, Budget management.

Each PMI certified member can share his

or her knowledge in the technical area of

expertise and continue to contribute to

both teach and learn in the process.

In doing so, the entire PDUs that were

gained in the “Technical” part of PMI

Talent Triangle can be easily put into

action for claiming the 17 PDU (out of the

25 PDU) as part of “Giving Back”. Also,

there is no limit to the volunteering

PDUs. So the more, the merrier.

Volunteering is so addictive that you will

constantly be pushed towards more and

more.

There is no good day to start it – Start

small, Start Now! Make a difference to

self and to others!

“The best way to find yourself is to lose

yourself in the service of others” -

Mahatma Gandhi

Doing something good for self and for

others is the hallmark of volunteering.

The recent floods at Chennai reaffirmed

my faith in the power of volunteering

when thousands of volunteers from all

parts of the state came out to the flooded

streets to take care of their fellowmen.

What they got in return is the goodwill

and change of mindset about the youth of

today, the adults of tomorrow.

Volunteering is not only needed in the

time of crisis but also in all walks of life,

at all times in life.

“Give a little.. Get a lot..”

The reason to title the topic as “The Joy

of..” is due to the fact that there is

immense joy that one receives when he

or she volunteers for a cause. The cause

does not need to be necessarily

philanthropic or only to the

underprivileged but also to the people

who have the thirst for knowledge and

lack the self-confidence to be able to

learn something new to improve in their

lives. Skill-based volunteering and

corporate volunteering as part of CSR

activities are also great ways to

volunteer.

I wish to focus on how the skill-based

volunteering became a part of me and

how I believe each one of us should start

focusing on it, if not already.

I started my foray during my school &

college days when I volunteered for

coordinating the playing & outing

schedules within friends, managing

multiple tech events at college as part of

various tech associations, to start with.

This drive continued post joining the

industry where I started to volunteer for

project management trainings (post

working hours, in house) wherein I

helped many co-workers complete their

The Joy of Volunteering! - Venkatraman Lakshminarayanan

PMP exam preparation. The thank you

emails from them was more satisfying

than actually facilitating the course itself.

I also had the privilege to volunteer in

the apartment complex as a board

member for almost 4+ years contributing

to various events and initiatives for the

benefit of the co-apartment owners. The

smile in the faces of residents, especially

the kids gave such a satisfaction that

money couldn't buy. One more

volunteering experience is with the PMI

Bangalore India Chapter, in conducting

various agile related courses helping 100s

of participants clear their PMI-ACP

certification.

When PMI recently changed their CCR

process, I was one of those who felt that

it was in the right move than just being a

passive PDU seeker. As part of growing

up in a responsible society, I think it

definitely is a mandate to all the PMI

certified professionals to give back to the

community in many ways than one.

The beauty of the entire change is that it

makes the individuals now focus on

giving back to the community at large,

and make their lives and others more

meaningful.

Total PDUs (60 for PMP, PgMP, PfMP,

PMI-PBA and 30 for PMI-ACP, PMI-RMP,

PMI-SP respectively)

No more earning of 15 PDUs by just

doing the work at the desks (reduced

to 8) – Which in my opinion is a great

move.

What remains the same?

What has changed?

•

•

PM Article

4 Page

Volume - 4 - Issue 5 August 2016

PMPC 2016by PMI Bangalore India Chapter. The

team was recognized for demonstrating

outstanding project management

techniques during deployment of seven

satellites in Geo Stationary Orbit at

approximately 36,000 km altitude above

earth surface.

Ms. Shalini Urs, Founder Chair-Person,

Myra School of Business in her address

shared her opinion and views on

Enterprise Agility. Her reference to “The

Red Queen Effect”, the constant battle

between the Enterprise and Innovation

was well taken. Example like US police

adopting Don't pokemon and drive

and nokiafication made audience

enjoy the session. She also highlighted

the next disruptive technology like

BlockChain, essentially a giant network

which records ownership. Audience

applauded when she concluded her

speech saying mindset need to change

and Changing the Mindset is not as

easy as handset.

Distinguished Guest, Padmashri

Dr. Annadurai M, Director, ISRO Satellite

Centre, Indian Space Research

Organization explained ISRO's target of

Valedictory Address

Address by Distinguished Guest

Make in India and launching satellites. He

mentioned, India started late but is latest

in the field with it’s own GPS and many

other satellites. His explaination on how

India has been working on stringent

deadlines for its target of one satellite

every month and how being agile is

helping the organization to achieve it

mesmerized the audience. Audience

connected well to see achievements of its

country and applauded loud enough to

show how much they loved the session.

Mr. Murali Santhanam, Past President,

PMI Bangalore India Chapter did the

honours of closing the Conference. In his

address he thanked the Delegates,

Sponsors and Volunteers for their

dedication and commitment. He called all

the volunteers on stage and

congratulated them for yet again

successful Conference.

PMI Bangalore

Chapter had

introduced a

Mentor forum

named as 'PM

Enlight'. Keeping

in tune with the

theme of PMPC “Architecting Project

Management for Enterprise Agility”.

PM Poster is an opportunity to

experience, in a Poster format, about the

best practices,

management tools and

new business trends

related to Project

Management during

the PMPC.

Conference Closure

PM Enlight

PM Poster

Transformations on Priority

Smart Cities

Acknowledgment & Recognitions

Padma Vibhushan Dr. M S Swaminathan,

Founder and Emeritus Chairman, M S

Swaminathan Research Foundation

couldn't join us in person due to health

issues but made sure he is not

disappointing the audience and connected

through Skype. He shared the challenges

and achievements of the green revolution

movement that he led. He also

emphasized on focused approach to run

long term transformation projects.

Dr. Ravindra A, Chairman, The Smart

Cities India Foundation delivered the

keynote address and explained “The

Smart Cities initiatives” by the

Government of India. He added how

Government of India has been harnessing

technology to create smart outcomes for

citizens and how Smart Cities are helping

in improving quality of Life by improving

infrastructure and other facilities. The

session was very interesting and

interactive with many questions from

audience.

On the third day of the Conference, The

Indian Regional Navigation Satellite

System or IRNSS team from ISRO was

given the "Project Excellence" recognition Continued on Page 6...

6 Page

Volume - 4 - Issue 5 August 2016

Soumen De, member of PMI Bangalore India Chapter, was invited to deliver

a key note lecture at the at India Analytics Summit 2016 in Bangalore thon July 26 , 2016. This event was organised by UNICOM.

He spoke on the topic on “Redefining your Business Strategy using Insights

from Big Data Analytics” to the delegates who came from across the

country to attend the event. During his presentation he discussed how data

analytics can help to meet the ever evolving customer expectation which is

often very different across regions making it more challenging to deliver the

'best' quality for each specific market. This session examined how the

automotive big data analytics can enable companies to develop a business

strategy that provides competitive advantage by improving launch quality

and customer satisfaction.

PM Enlight: This

year's PMPC 2016

mentoring session

with Industry

experts was offered

in four tracks,

Track 1: Managing

Career in VUCA environment, Track 2: How to become Agile

Transformational Leader, Track 3: Strategic Skills for effective

PMO Leader and Track 4: Career Choice as an

Intrapreneuer/Entrepreneur. We are happy to inform that this

year's edition of PM Enlight was well received by the delegates.

The feedback about the program and the mentor was extremely

positive. A special mention about Sunilraj Mallesh; he

managed the entire rollout of this program

singlehandedly.

PM Poster:

In this year's

PMPC 2016

Conference as

well this

program was

well

appreciated

and connected

with audience.

Almost 18 topics by 20 speakers were discussed and presented

to delegates over the 3 days of Conference.

PM Accomplishments

PMPC 2016 ... continued from Page 4

Article Contribution

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

- Maya Angelou”

This monthly newsletter is a forum where anyone can contribute through articles on Project

Management and related topics. Give wings to your writing skills and don't keep any untold

experience with you.

You can also claim PDUs for your contribution under category D (Creating new Project Management

knowledge). Additionally it helps you in improving your writing skills. Use this opportunity and excel

in the field of Project Management.

You can send your Articles or route your queries to :

or

Please note that you do not need to be a PMI or Chapter member to contribute articles for

PM Essence and participate in monthly events.

newsletter@pmibangalorechapter.org avp.pmessence@pmibangalorechapter.org

Page 7

Volume - 4 - Issue 5 August 2016

Chapter News ... continued from Page 1

A. systems engineering is the activity of

representing processes of an enterprise, so that

the current process may be analysed or

improved. BPM is typically performed by

business analysts, who provide expertise in the

modelling discipline; by subject matter experts,

who have specialized knowledge of the processes

being modelled; or more commonly by a team

comprising both. Alternatively, the process

model can be derived directly from events' logs

using process mining tools.

The business objective is often to increase

process speed or reduce cycle time; to increase

quality; or to reduce costs, such as labour,

materials, scrap, or capital costs. In practice, a

management decision to invest in business

process modelling is often motivated by the need

to document requirements for an information

technology project. Change management

programs are typically involved to put any

improved business processes into practice.

[

Business process modelling (BPM) in

Source - Internet]

PMP QUEST:

PM Footprints:

Agile Training:

PM Open Space:

nd rd th The monthly PMP Quest training was also conducted on 2 , 3 , 9 thand 10 July 2016. Nearly 32 members participated.

In the month of July 2016 one PM thFootprints session was held. On 28 July 2016,

Mr. Somanth Chakravarty, Product Owner, Projectplace

by planview, spoke on the topic "Project Management

with Kanban: From Basics to Metrics". The session was

well attended and enjoyed by all present.

th One day Agile foundation program was held on 30 July 2016.

The Chapter news for the month of June 2016

During the month of June 2016, this event was organised at

Huawei Technologies, at their Divyashree tech park premises in Whitefield area with

turnout of over 140

participants. Leaders from ABB,

Huawei Technologies, SAP Labs

India were present. Talk was

well received. Webcast of this

PM Open Space talk was

organized at 10 different

locations with the help of our

Chapter Volunteers and EC

Members.

Volunteer Development Program - Discovery Village, Kanakapura Road

thOn June 4 close to 30 volunteers, from the PMI Bangalore India Chapter, took part in an outbound volunteer development

program.

From the very beginning of confirming the participants to coordinating the travel, everything was planned and communicated

meticulously. This was one of the first out bound development programs being conducted by the Bangalore Chapter. The program

was kick started by the Chapter President Vijay Paul and he introduced the trainer

in charge of the program from “Boundless Initiatve” headed by Col. HT. Jagadish

and Col. Ravi Raj Patil.

They explained the program guidelines and the schedule for the day. It's started

with introductions and each of the volunteer getting “number badges”. The

objective of the program was to learn with experience.

There were total four activities:

1. The first activity was focused on ensuring that the team can get through

hurdles with proper planning, observation and communication which involves the

team coming together to achieve the objective of passing through the hurdle.

2. The next activity involved, the team working together and overcoming obstacles using the tools given to each other and

complete the task in time assigned. It also stressed on negotiating and working together as a team.

3. Post lunch there was an activity which involved teamwork to answer 2 questions based on cards provided to each team

member. This emphasized on ensuring the team member with most important cards does

speak up and also the team comes out with logic to ensure the questions could be

answered on time.

4. Finally there was another physical activity which involved walking using poles and ropes

tied to each other. The ropes emphasized the importance of family and friends facilitating

balance in life along with work. It was fun filled learning experience for all volunteers.

The day wrapped up with a vote of thanks by the Chapter President and a few volunteers

sharing their experience. It was a fun filled learning experience for all participants.

8 Page

Volume - 4 - Issue 5 August 2016

PMI Bangalore India Chapter# 13, Suryastan Apartments, Andree Road, Shanthi Nagar,Bengaluru - 560 027, Karnataka, India

contactus@pmibangalorechapter.orgT +91 80 6583 3671, +91 80 2211 5772, +91 98868 14078http://www.pmibangalorechapter.org

ValueWorks; mail@valueworks.co.in

PM Essence

Disclaimer

“The mission of PM Essence is to facilitate the exchange of information among professionals in the field of

project and program management, provide them with practical tools and techniques, and serve as a

forum for discussion of emerging trends and issues in project management. PM Essence is YOUR

Newsletter and Bangalore Chapter welcomes story ideas and/or suggestions to make it still better. More

information can be found on the Chapter's website.”

All articles in PM Essence are the views of the authors and not necessarily those of PMI or PMI Bangalore

India Chapter. Unless otherwise specified, it is assumed that the senders have done due diligence in

getting necessary copyright and official clearance in respect of all letters and articles sent to PM Essence

for publication. PMI Bangalore India Chapter is not responsible for loss, damage, or any other injury to

unsolicited manuscripts or other material.

Dear Members,

Membership Statistics: Our Chapter had 111

new members and 105 members renewed their

membership in July'16. On behalf of PMI

Bangalore India Chapter, I welcome all new

members and thank them for renewing their

membership on time.

EEP Update: Members who missed to renew their

membership post October 2015 can still avail

membership fee benefit of $65 as part of

Economic Exception Program, hence renew your

membership now.

Appended is the list of few FREE web-based

seminars (webinars) for August 2016. We have

shared same list to your registered email; this is a

good opportunity to earn PDUs to maintain your

credentials.

PM Member’s Corner

The Lighter Side of PM

Technology Support : Ramesh Chandra Pathak, PMP

For any queries or suggestions, please write to Balakrishna Kasibatla, PMP, VP Membership, PMI Bangalore India Chapter at membership@pmibangalorechapter.org

Editorial Assistance : Smita Joshi Pant, PMP

Long standing members of the Chapter, who have completed 10 years of membership in PMI and PMI Bangalore India Chapter, were honoured

during PMPC 2016. The member who were recognized are, Mr. Ravi Krishnaswamy, Mr. Soumen De, Mr. Nilanjan Saha, Mr. Suresh Babu G,

Mr. Srinivas Durvasula, Mr. Sumatipal Kotangale, Mr. Raghavendra Deshpande, Mr. Jayaram Bellur, Mr. Anand Lokhande and Mr. Amaran

Arumugam