Industry future lies in high-tech project management

To avail the next generation of opportunities, experts at the inaugural session of Bangladesh Project Management Symposium 2020 have emphasised the importance of rapid changes to the industry landscape through innovation and digital transmission by acquiring knowledge and skills for project management.

The two-day virtual programme, which began on Friday, was hosted by the Project Management Institute's (PMI) Bangladesh chapter. 

The keynote titled "Courage, Adaptation and Project Economy" was presented by Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Robi Axiata Limited Mahtab Uddin Ahmed.

He said, "In project management today, we need to have the courage to change our mindset to adapt to the 'new normal' life and learn from the past to leverage the present. We must not rely on past success to seize the future."

He described the new mode of life as reality when business people have to use technology to manage their projects simultaneously by understanding the real perspective and exit their comfort zones. 

Work from home has become the norm today following a surge in the number of online workplaces, he added. 

In the session titled "Taking your Agile to the Next Level with Disciplined Agile: A Tool Kit for Optimising your Way of Working (WoW)," PMI Vice-President (Disciplined Agile) Mark Lines said, "With the Disciplined Agile toolkit, you can better optimise your agile teams and teams should choose a life cycle appropriate for the context." 

Success does not come from adopting a prescriptive framework or methodology, although it may be a good start, he said.  

"For true business agility, we need to choose our agile, bespoke agile, by optimising for our unique situations. Successfully agile organisations take responsibility for evolving their own agility," he added. 

In the Project Strategy session, Deputy Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of United Commercial Bank Limited Md Abdullah Al Mamoon said a project is not a part of operations alone. 

"It is the strategic business objective for the organisation. So, during project initiation, make it compatible with the business strategy." 

"Even existing texts of the 'PMBOK' ['Project Management Body of Knowledge'] prescribe and advocate many remote approaches in project team management and decision-making – like the Delphi method. So, I would say we do not need a different strategy during Covid-19. Instead, we need to adapt to and adopt the changing scenario," he added. 

During the panel discussion titled "What Not to do During Digital Transformation," Chief Digital Officer of Mutual Trust Bank Limited Shyamol B Das said, "To make an effective digital transmission, do not launch lots of applications at a time. Instead, do phase-by-phase implementation of technology to get good results in turning towards digitalisation." 

"Rearranging and reskilling people instead of removing them may be the best thinking from the business side today when we are discussing job termination. The Minimum Viable Product [MVP] concept may give a good insight into your digital transmission process today," he added.  

Head of Truck Operations, Ticket and Ride of Shohoz Adnan Khan said, "To manage a project, we regularly follow up with morning stand-up sessions. We learn from the previous day and it works as a continuous learning philosophy." 

"If you incorporate fintech, you have to ensure a strong app first. But do digital transmission because it is needed. Do not do it as part of fashion," he added. 

President of PMI Bangladesh Chapter Shamima Begum welcomed all to the symposium while PMI Regional Managing Director (South Asia) Dr Srini Srinivasan talked about agility in project management.

On the occasion, PMI's Region 11 Mentor (South Asia) Girish R Kadam requested to work with the PMI Bangladesh chapter and make this platform more effective with the passion and commitment of the youth. 

Director (Outreach) of PMI Bangladesh Chapter SM Firoz Ahmed thanked all the participants at the end of the event.