Tomorrow is International Project Management Day! PMI UK will be hosting its flagship Synergy conference tomorrow in London. Have a great day!
Last week, I interviewed Jon Clay, President, PMI UK Chapter about his thoughts on Synergy. He gives some great tips on change management at the end of the video.
Skip to 12 minutes to hear Jon give some great advice on projects that involve a lot of change management.
Below is the transcript. It starts at 3 minutes.
Elizabeth: I can see your face. Is it a Christmas decoration?
Jonathan: It’s a Christmas decoration.
Elizabeth: Was it left over from the original?
Jonathan: No, I’m not doing any work at the house and I’m sitting in the spare bedroom as the back of my house is being demolished. It’s a dusty place at the moment.
Elizabeth: Thank you very much for coming to the meeting. It was a pleasure to have you here.
We are grateful that you were able to join us at such short notice.
Jonathan: Of course!
Elizabeth: How long have you been Chapter president?
Jonathan: I have been the chapter president since January this year. This is the first year. Your presidents serve two-year terms. Before that, I was on the board for three years, working from the branch network we have throughout the UK.
Elizabeth: You have a lot of experience in the committee. What I noticed was that the titles for the positions on the committee are very grand. Although president is the head of the board, there were entry-level positions on it. Do you feel grand?
Jonathan: Grand? Jonathan: Grand? I’m very grounded. It’s a voluntary job, so having a grand title makes it more interesting. It’s always great fun.
Elizabeth: Yes. Elizabeth: Yes.
Jonathan: It’s a little-known gem that not many people are aware of. The best thing about PMI, and what we offer here at PMI UK and globally, is the network.
It is a great way to build a global network of people you wouldn’t have met otherwise. You can reach out to people whenever you need help, support or just want to chat about project management. It’s been a wonderful experience that has helped me to build a career.
The UK chapter offers both a local bit and virtual networking. You can meet people if you wish. This is to me, the most amazing thing. It was quite amazing when I got involved. It was not something I expected.
Elizabeth: This probably leads me to ask you about the PMI Europe initiative, even though we didn’t plan these questions. You are referring to their ability to meet up with others and network with them. You have a lot of the infrastructure in place now for that. Let’s hear more about this.
Jonathan: There are many things. In this day and age technology platforms are one the best ways to reach people. If you can do something here to help people in the UK that is technology-based, why not do it for everyone in Europe who is involved in PMI?
We work closely with other chapters of PMI around the world, especially in Europe, as many people travel between cities every day. People move all the time.
