Churchill Agile PM Workshop

Are you grappling with an unprecedented level of change that is adversely impacting your organization at different levels namely at the enterprise, business unit, or project? Are you trying to make organizational transformations in a chaotic environment? Then this workshop is for you. You will see how the concepts of agile project management were used to find a resolution to seemingly unsolvable problems in a very short time frame.

Summary Description of Workshop

This workshop looks at how continuous change can hinder the initiation and execution of a project. Change can adversely impact an organization and create a chaotic environment which is difficult to predict and to run projects in. The workshop juxtaposes the Churchill case study and modern projects and looks at the importance of dealing with volatility and change. When Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in May 1940, it was a period of calamitous change. The workshop examines what he actually did, and how he transformed his organization to turn his perilous situation around. Churchill was a Project Manager as well in the modern sense driving a project to completion.

This workshop examines Churchill as a PM managing the UK in the Summer of 1940. It describes the strategies he took to overcome incredible odds. Not only did he have to stave off an imminent enemy invasion but he had to move the peacetime economy to one that could support a war. This meant acting with incredible agility, understanding the military supply-chain, focusing slender resources on the immediate threat, unifying a disparate economy, and directing its output into immediate military use. With very little time Churchill had to transform his organization. Churchill set up a governance framework that could keep his organization on track with its projects.

Through this interactive workshop, you will be given a chance to use just your skills to tackle some of the most daunting project management problems ever faced by a project team as he walked a "political tightrope." Participants will be introduced to the problems faced by Churchill after the disaster of Dunkirk. You will see how Churchill undertook the seemingly impossible, to deliver a victory in an aggressive three month time frame. The goal is to take away valuable lessons in agility you can use in your work.

Designed under the Lessons-from-History series, this Best Practice in Project Management Workshop will breathe new life into project management learning. The workshop takes lessons from the historical project and enables you to recognize the parallels in your own organization and projects. You will undertake a range of practical exercises throughout the day enabling you to relate lessons back to your own projects and apply new learning to your own projects.

This fully interactive one day workshop incorporates principles from leading Project Management methodologies such as PMBOK and PRINCE2, but also demonstrates that successful Project Management does not need sophisticated tools. Upon the successful completion of this workshop, you will be able to better utilize project management and identify warning signs that could take a project off track, and how to counter these.

Who Should Attend?

Project Management methodology can be used by a broad range of workers. From coordinators through to middle and senior levels of management, anyone who has ever been tasked with ‘getting the job done' can benefit from attending these workshops:

• Are you responsible for managing projects in your workplace?
• Do you contribute to project outcomes?
• Are you responsible for transformations in your organization?
• Managers, project managers and members of teams responsible for contributing to project outcomes will all benefit from the insights gained from this unique workshop.

Although the workshop does incorporate principles from leading Project Management methodologies such as PMBOK and PRINCE2, it also demonstrates that successful Project Management does not need sophisticated tools.

Learning Objectives

You will learn how the lessons learned from Churchill’s administration can be applied to project management today. Upon the successful completion of this workshop, you will be able to better utilise project management and the concepts of agility. The workshop juxtaposes this story to modern projects so that we can learn how Churchill:

• overcame institutionalized resistance to change,
• selected his project team,
• continuously challenged preconceived notions,
• managed communications,
• evaluated key technologies,
• prioritized various initiatives,
• instituted a transformation across the enterprise,
• used information to enhance decision making,
• used metrics to track and guide the solution.

Entertaining and full of intriguing historical details, the workshop helps project managers to think about the impact of decisions they make every day.

The Benefits of the Workshop

In today's world, changing environments and situations make projects difficult to manage successfully. The benefits of the workshop include the ability to help project team members to:

• identify strategies that deal with potential changes which could impact the project
• stay focused on the project objectives so changes do not take the project off track and into another direction
• assess the impact of a change for its potential value (opportunity) or its potential costs to the project
• set up proactive communications with stakeholders when changes occur

The workshop is based on the following publication.

Note: This course conforms to the internationally recognized standards of the Project Management Institute (PMI®). You will receive 8 PDUs (professional development units) upon completion.