16 February 2010 – Project Management Seminar

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16 February 2010 – Project Management Seminar

Introduction:
Project management is one of the world’s oldest professions (the construction of the walls of Jericho may well have been the world’s first project). Until 1950, project managers were considered tradesmen. Over the last 60 years, projects have evolved from construction sites to become the world’s most common work form for tackling unique activities; regardless of the nature of the activity or the industry. Project management has become an attractive course of study at universities and colleges.

Project management is much more than activities and budgets. Project managers need to be able to build, manage, and dismantle a goal-oriented organisation, tailored to execute a specific job; they need to be able assemble, develop, and collaborate with an inter-organisational team. Furthermore, a project manager needs to continuously secure support from company management and manage external stakeholders, such as suppliers, governmental authorities, and interest groups, who often have an impact on the project manager’s daily work.

Place: Rosenkildehuset, Stavanger
Date: 16 February 2010
Time: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Programme
9:00 a.m. Welcome and Introduction from the Chairperson

9:10 a.m. Project Management – Work Form for a Changing World
Presenter: Per Willy Hetland, professor at the Norwegian School of Management, Stavanger

Presentation:
New ideas and theories on project management are not limited to the fact that, in a few short years, everyone will be working in or with projects. It is just as important to recognise that we will see a great diversity of projects; from well-defined deliveries to exciting innovations. Nevertheless, all these projects will have something in common: they will be executed in a changing world. This places new and greater demands on project management competence. While it used to be good enough to deliver a specified project on time and on budget, there is an increasing demand for bold project proposals and an ability to navigate project processes dynamically, through rough and unpredictable seas.

The object of this presentation is to give insight into the new project management challenges facing us and examine the competencies project managers must possess to master these challenges.

Hetland has developed Master of Management programmes for project management.

10:15 a.m. Avoid Catastrophic Projects – An Introduction to Risk Control
Presenter: Jan Petter Bekkevold, Consultant at Holte Consulting

Bekkevold has quality assured and analysed risk for large projects for the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, the Municipality of Oslo, and the biggest actors in the oil industry.

Presentation:
Awareness of project risk has increased significantly now that scandals and budget excesses are receiving more attention in the media. There are increasing demands on project management teams and setbacks are no longer acceptable. Projects that should have been altered, or maybe never even started up, are allowed to continue, putting the company’s reputation, profits, and future existence at risk. Proper risk control is a powerful tool for keeping projects on the right track

The most important risks in projects are often associated with scope, time, cost, technology, resources, organisation, and external or market factors. The project owner and project management team are reliant on a good strategy, competence, proper methods, and, not the least, systems and tools for controlling risk and preventing the project from ending in disaster. Continuous risk control ensures that the project is executed in line with the project owner’s goals, the staff’s expectations, and requirements for your own delivery.

The presentation will introduce risk in projects, how to achieve good risk control, and how to use risk control as a tool for avoiding catastrophic projects.

11:15 a.m. Lunch and Mingling

11:30 a.m. Scrum – When the Result Is More Important than the Process
Presenter: Trond Hansen, Technical Expert, TietoEnator Energy Component (EC) Global Solutions (GS)

Hansen is the “Scrum Police” and is employed as Technical Expert at TietoEnator ECGS. He has many years of experience, from several companies, implementing and using the Scrum Framework for software development. Hansen works with the development of automated tests on a daily basis and has the role of both Scrum Master and team member, in addition to being a Certified Product Owner.

Presentation:
The systems development industry has used the waterfall methodology for many years, in an attempt to get everything right on the first try; unfortunately, results have often been disappointing. TietoEnator ECGS has, like many other suppliers, chosen to focus on agile projects that use Scrum as a development model. The Scrum Framework focuses on close collaboration with the customer, frequent deliveries, removing obstacles before they become problems, and the ability to learn form one’s own experiences. Among other things, his presentation will look at the difference between traditional and agile projects, describe the Scrum process (roles, artefacts and activities) and discuss the implementation of, and experiences with, Scrum at TietoEnator ECGS.

12:30 p.m. Panel
All presenters will be participating in a panel discussion, dialoguing with each other and the audience.

Register with the Stavanger Chamber of Commerce at http://www.rosenkilden.no/index.cfm?tmpl=meetingShowDetails&meetingId=2609, by 12 p.m., 15 February 2010.