2010-2011 Chapter Event Details

Managing Virtual Project Teams

In this exciting, fast paced session you will obtain tips how to manage team members that you cannot see and possibly reside on another continent. The presenter will give you a brief historical perspective on the virtual world and then cover how the “best virtual teams” work in such companies as Sun Microsystems, L-3 Communications, and Johnson & Johnson.

The presenter will tackle difficult issues such as culture and developing trust in a virtual environment. Participants will be asked to contribute features of virtual teams that worked best for them. Tom will also discuss 17 Survival tips for Virtual teams.

Tom Mattus is the President and Founder of Successful Strategies International, Inc. (SSI). Mr. Mattus has over 25 years of professional experience in training, business management and development.

As a corporate officer of SSI and previously at PCI Global Inc., Tom has worked with such Fortune 1000 companies as Johnson & Johnson Worldwide, Wyeth International, CitiCard, Marriott International, Sony, Standard Chartered Bank, Olympus, Cablevision, and Pearson to help resolve their project management and leadership needs, thus improving quality and performance. Tom received his BS from Widener University in Chester, PA and his MBA from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. Tom has also been featured in PMI Magazine and most recently was published an article in Projects@Work and Project Magazine.

Start Your Engines: How to Initiate and Plan Your Projects

This workshop introduces simple techniques to effectively initiate and plan your projects. The major focus is an in-depth look at how to plan, organize, and conduct a Project Initiation Workshop; the major focus is an in-depth look at each possible sample agenda item for the Workshop. Each item’s goals, process and expectations and tips are reviewed. The second major focus is a demonstration of a method for project planning by capturing activities/tasks and their relative information so a project schedule can be built as a result. Activity definition, sequencing, duration estimation, and ownership are examined. Different types of planning are discussed and the implications of personnel resources are reviewed.

Lisa DiTullio is a leading force in project and business management. She is the principal of Lisa DiTullio & Associates, LLC, a practice dedicated to introducing project management as a business competency, enabling organization to improve decision-making, instill accountability and enhance communications. She is the editor of ProjectBestPractices, a quarterly newsletter from ProjectWorld, a regular blogger for the Silicon ValleyPM and ProjectConnections sites, and a contributor to PM Network Magazine. She’s also the author of Simple Solutions: How Enterprise Project Management" Supported Harvard Pilgrim Health Care's Journey from Near Collapse to #1. Her second book, Project Team Dynamics: Increased Speed, Enhanced Performance is due out early next year. Lisa is a recognized international speaker and trainer in her field. Scores of organizations – from college campuses to governmental agencies to Fortune 100 companies have gained from Lisa’s insights and tell-it-like-it-is keynotes and programs. Audience members and workshop participants leave educated, engaged, and energized – armed with actionable practices for immediate success.

Lisa is adamant about maintaining simplicity in business and is passionate in supporting our future leaders – her program called Be Prepared for Projects! Informs college students what they need to know to be successful in today’s project-oriented business environment. As past director of the project management office (PMO) at Boston-based Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Lisa was a core member of the turnaround team for an organization that went from being placed in State-supervised receivership to being the #1 Health Plan in America on the U.S. News & World Report/ NCQA America’s Best Health Plans four years in a row. Lisa actively supports her community; she is a member of the Board of Director on the South Shore Chamber of Commerce, the chair of the Women’s Business Connection, a preeminent women’s organization within the South Shore Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the ATHENAPowerLink® Governing Body, a program which provides women-owned businesses an opportunity to work with a panel of advisors to grow business. With a blended family of five children at home, Lisa has a first-hand appreciation of how simplicity works in keeping it all together.
15 Lily Pond Lane | Cohasset, Massachusetts 02025  Tel: (617) 842-8037 | Fax: (339) 220-3003
Email: lisaditullio@comcast.net, info@lisaditullio.com
WebSite: www.lisaditullio.com

"Preparing Watson for the Jeopardy Challenge - a PM journey in IBM Research"

IBM has committed to playing a super computer against human contestants on the game show Jeopardy. IBM showcased its industry-leading questionanswering technologies in this much anticipated event. Although the project began focused on the underlying research, it has now morphed into something much larger, demanding the skills and tools of the project managementdiscipline. Dave will discuss the challenges of working in a Researchenvironment as well as the specific issues of this particular "problem".

David Shepler, PMP® leads the Program Management Office for the IBM Research Government Support Team at the T. J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, NY. The PMO provides PM support to research projects serving government clients, offering resources and services, process guidance, and tools to IBM researchers as they seek to meet government requirements under research partnerships. David brings PM skills developed over 3.5 years in the IBM consulting practice (Global Business Services), where he provided strategy and change services to federal and state government clients. Prior to joining IBM, he spent three years as a research assistant at the RAND Corporation and ten years in the U.S. Air Force as an intelligence officer. He has a Master's in Policy Analysis from the RAND Graduate School, a Master's in Public Management from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a B.S. from the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Cell: (845) 514-7374 Fax: (845) 432-0559
Email: shepler@us.ibm.com

Lean Project and Program Management:
Principles, Practices and Tools for Accelerating Value Delivery and Developing High-Performing Teams

Lean Project and Program Management is a system for continuously accelerating the delivery of customer value at the project, process and portfolio levels in project-based organizations. This presentation will introduce you to Lean Program Management principles, practices and tools so you can decide whether and how you can use them to significantly improve your team, group or organization’s performance.

Dr. Julian has been helping blue-chip companies improve operations and technology performance for almost two decades. His clients have included GE Capital, J.P. Morgan Chase, Pfizer, Vanguard, Sotheby’s, BMW, Warner Music, Johnson & Johnson, Gartner, Eastman Kodak and many more. Before starting Julian Advisory Group over eight years ago, he began his career at Accenture and was a Vice President at Rath & Strong, a leading global consultancy in the field of lean and six sigma, where he served as engagement lead and Master Black Belt Coach. Dr. Julian holds a doctorate in Adult & Organizational Learning from Columbia University, a BS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Columbia University, and an MBA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is a member of the Project Management Institute, the Academy of Management, and the Agile Alliance. He has presented at several PMI chapter meetings, roundtables and career development workshops in New York City.

Making Project Management Agile

There has been a lot of interest and hype about “Agile”. In this session Stacey will talk about the underlying agile concepts and how you can immediately apply these concepts to your projects. With a few adjustments to how you manage your projects you will see increased productivity and happier customers. * In this presentation we will:

• Review the 4 underlying agile concepts
• Give examples of how agile concepts can be applied to various different project domains
• Interactive exercises to help illustrate how to apply agile techniques

Stacey Berlow is a software product consultant and founder of Project Balance, a practice focused on helping companies address the challenges inherent in developing software and managing IT projects. With over 18 years of product and project management experience and she has successfully directed multi-million, large-scale, multinational, and offshore IT development projects. Her background includes healthcare, insurance, and manufacturing industries.

Ms.Berlow spent 3 years in China where she consulted with small and large IT software services companies and now lives in Westchester County, New York.

Using Thinking Styles to Improve Project Team Performance

Project managers can no longer be experts at project theory and methodology alone. To be truly successful as a project leader, you need to build high performing teams. In addition to moving teams through the phased of the Project Management process, you need to be able to ensure the movement through the four stages of team development – Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. Having tools designed to build knowledge about individual preferences is a great way to move quickly through the early stages and into performance.

This 45-minute session will be highly interactive. You will have the opportunity to identify your own thinking style and gain valuable knowledge about other styles. The facilitator will insight into how to improve communication between styles and give you a way to identify any particular challenges your project teams could have based upon the ‘thinking diversity’ of the group.

• Thinking Styles identification
• The four thinking styles
• Project team strengths and challenges based on ‘thinking diversity’

Cathy Cassidy is CEO of Martin Training Associates, the global leader in supporting organizations to develop fully functional matrix organizations. Cathy supports key clients in facilitating and coaching leaders with designing and implementing matrix based processes and procedures at the enterprise-wide level that enables teams to deliver results without authority. Through Martin Training Associates she works with both large and small sized clients in the profit and not-for-profit sectors. She has supported Pfizer, Inc., Grocery Manufacturers Association, PetSmart, College Center for Library Automation, DeLangen Laden, Cisco, International Paper and Xpedex.

Cathy has written or co-written several Quick Guide publications on topics related to the working and leading without Authority including: Leading Successful Meetings, Change Accountability and Accountability for Leaders in a Matrix and developed training programs in key organizational topics of Innovation, Matrix Management and Project Steering.

Cathy has spoken at industry chapter meetings on the topics on Innovation, Project Management and team development including the Southern New England Connecticut, Hudson Valley, Milwaukee Southeast Wisconsin, Central Massachusetts and Westchester PMI Chapters as well as the American Society for Trainers and Developers Westchester/Mid-Hudson Chapter.

Cathy’s corporate experience included leadership positions with J.P. Morgan Chase and The Dreyfus Corporation and the New York Philharmonic.

Raised in Bronx, New York, Cathy lives with her husband and two sons in Carmel, NY.

Martin Training Associates will be represented by Catherine Cassidy, CEO, and Mureen Duffy, who will be raffling off 5-10 copies of "The Buck Stops Here" by Paula K. Martin, a $29.95 value.

Martin Training Associates, Carmel, NY 10512
Phone: (845) 282-8745
Send email to: info@martintraining.com.

Team Member Engagement

Dr. Ann Armstrong is a partner with Dale Carnegie of Westchester. With more than 30 years of experience spanning business and education, Ann provides training, consulting, executive coaching, sales coaching, instructional and program design, and education to organizations across industries and in higher education. Ann is an expert in adult learning and leadership, e-Learning, and leveraging technology to provide cost-effective, scalable and global solutions.

Ann’s career includes roles as an executive director at Columbia University’s Teacher’s College, an area practice executive for eBusiness and eLearning at IBM Global Services, and a vice president of Ernst & Young’s eLearning Financial Services Practice, where her team designed, delivered and implemented large-scale blended learning solutions for up to 210,000 global client employees. Ann is a certified IBM consultant and a confirmed IBM principal, and teaches doctoral students in instructional design and technology at Capella University and at University of Phoenix.

Ann received her doctoral degree in instructional technology and media from Teachers College, Columbia University. She also holds a Master of Education degree from Teachers College, Columbia University; a Master of Arts degree in instructional design, educational technology and media from Fairfield University; and a Master of Arts degree in economics from University of Cincinnati. Ann’s clients include Aetna, Bank of America, Citigroup, General Electric, IBM and Pepsico.

Tek Systems, represented by Angela Cafarelli, Professional Recruiter.

Tek Systems
1000 Bridgeport Avenue, Suite 330
Shelton, CT 06484
203-447-8336
www.teksystems.com
Angela can be reached by e-mail at acafarel@teksystems.com

Creating Resilience: Complex Adaptive Teams

Chaos Theory and its successor Complexity Theory have developed over the last two decades and have been applied to a range of disciplines. It was first popularized with the Butterfly Effect: small events can have big impacts. It provides a very practical lens to bring to your projects and organizations. This talk focuses on how to use simple project structures to cause breakthroughs and avoid catastrophes in modern, complex environments.

We will discuss concepts such as disequilibrium, adaptive leadership, nonlinearity and self-organizing teams. Special attention will be paid to the power of language on project teams.

The goal of this talk is not to leave you with some new buzzwords, but rather to provide new opportunities to take action and several new tools that can be quickly deployed on your projects.

Adam Josephs has worked with enterprise and start-up companies to accelerate their performance for over 20 years. He is currently the Managing Partner at Celerity Consulting Group LLC (www.celerityconsulting.com) which trains and coaches organizations all over the world. He works in a range of industries including software, semiconductor, material sciences and investment banking.

Walter Hamill, Intepros Sr. Regional Recruiter, NY Tri-State
whamill@intepros.com
845-363-1277
Brewster, NY

Intepros Consulting, www.intepros.com
781-761-1140
Suite 301, 750 Marrett Road
Lexington, MA 02421

10 Troublesome Project Management Ideas - and How to Combat Them!

Project managers often find themselves on the wrong end of a lot of misconceptions about project management. This session will deal with ten of these misconceptions and explain the potential danger or exposure that these ideas contain. Case studies and examples will be used to illustrate the ideas and recommendations will be made on how to combat these ideas should they creep into, or affect, your project.

The objective of this presentation is to help working project managers and teams:

• Recognize when a project stakeholder has a potentially bothersome idea regarding a project.
• Combat dangerous ideas and assumptions about project management, and choose tactics to re-educate stakeholders.
• Discover methods for engaging project stakeholders, and setting appropriate expectations for the project

Ernie Baker, PMP, is the president of Start to Finish PM, Inc., a Project Management Institute Registered Education Provider, headquartered in Verona, NJ. Ernie’s practice involves training and consulting with all type organizations on their program and project management initiatives. Over the past 25 years, he has worked with clients such as MetLife Insurance, Morgan Stanley, Disney, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Mercedes Benz USA, IBM, United Technologies, A&P, and Johnson & Johnson. His experience covers Information Technology, Engineering, Pharmaceutical, Consulting, Sales and Marketing, and Project and Program Management.

Ernie was a member of The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), Third Edition Update Project Team, and was a Reviewer and Contributor for The PMBOK® Guide, Fourth Edition. Ernie was awarded certification by the Project Management Institute (2001) as a "Project Manager Professional". He is also a Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+ - 1998), a certified Information Technology Project Manager (Project +-2000) and a Microsoft Solutions Framework Practitioner (2002).

Prior to entering the corporate world, Ernie served as an Engineer Officer in the US Army Reserves, serving as a Project Manager for various Military Civil and Combat Engineering projects. His last assignment was as a Commanding Officer for a Combat Engineer Company and held the rank of Captain, USAR.

Janelle Razzino, Razzino Associates, Inc.
220 Kinderkamack Road
Westwood, New Jersey 07675
(O) 201-722-3111
(F) 201-722-3113
(C) 201-925-6086
janelle@razzinoassociates.com

Agile: Tough Questions Answered

“Agile: Tough Questions Answered”, is an overview of Agile project management methodology and a hard look at some of the concerns about Agile including budget and re-structuring.

Synopsis: Oftentimes, “Agile” is used as an umbrella term for new methodology. In this presentation, you will learn about what “Agile” really means in project management- what its strength is, why it is so popular, where and why it is used. This speaker will focus on the mechanics of empirical process control and how it enables a higher degree of management, better long-term planning capabilities, improved team efficiency and improved alignment between results and the business goals of the product. The speaker will also compare the difference of Agile with traditional project management techniques and talk about how to implement of Agile in the workplace.

Mark C. Layton is an organizational strategist and PMI certification instructor with over 20 years in the project/program management field. He is the Los Angeles chair for the Agile Project Leadership Network and is the founder of Platinum Edge, Inc. — an organizational improvement company that supports businesses making the Waterfall-to-Agile transition.

Prior to founding Platinum Edge in 2001, Mark developed his expertise as a consulting firm executive, program management coach, and in-the-trenches project leader. He also spent 11 years as a Cryptographic Specialist for the US Air Force, where he earned both Commendation and Achievement medals for his accomplishments.

Mark holds MBAs from the University of California, Los Angeles, and the National University of Singapore; a B.Sc. (summa cum laude) in Behavioral Science from Pitzer College/University of La Verne; and an A.S. in Electronic Systems from the Air Force’s Air College. He is also a Distinguished Graduate of the Air Force’s Leadership School, a Certified ScrumMaster, a Certified Scrum Professional, and a certified SCPM (Stanford University Advanced Project Management).

When he isn’t partnering with businesses to improve ROI, Mark enjoys scuba diving, international travel and endurance cycling. He is the author of Wiley & Sons “Agile Project Management for Dummies” series (March 2011) and is a frequent speaker on Lean, Scrum and other agile solutions.