Introduce yourself

Patrick Weaver is an Australian based APM member of over 20 years. He has worked as a project management consultant specialising in scheduling since 1985 and is the Managing Director of Mosaic Project Services Pty Ltd. His consultancy work encompasses: developing and presenting project management training courses, developing and advising on project schedules and project control systems, and the forensic analysis of project data. He is a graded Arbitrator, a trained Mediator and an experienced Negotiator.

Patrick has been a member of APM since 1986 and is a member of the PMI College of Scheduling and the Australasian Regional Council of the Chartered Institute of Building.

Mark Lomas - I head Hyder's Transportation Services business for East Asia, based out of Hong Kong.

As Chairman of the Association for Project Management Hong Kong Branch, I help promote the profession and practice of PM within HK and the markets it serves.

From the late 90's I have been leading collaborative design teams on complex, major infrastructure projects and continue to do so, learning every day.

Starting out as a structural engineer in the 80's, I gravitated towards the management of design rather than design itself and continued to develop this skillset at Meinhardt in Hong Kong from late 1994. As Director of Project Management at Meinhardt, I managed teams of project managers and multidisciplinary design teams on a varied portfolio of projects, from feasibility through to handover, as well as managing the PM consulting business.

Great to have an online community and see APM into the 21st C.

A quick intro:

I'm Ronny Don, Programme Manager for Babcock International Group (Marine Div) at Clyde and have been for the past 3 1/2 years, so lots of experience dealing with project/programme delivery to the MoD sectors, inc. budgeting, tendering/commercial, governance, security and relations.

I've been an active supporter of APM for many years. I have deployed the use of APMBoK within my programme area and set the development plans for all to align with APM Competence framework and training to APM standards. This is having very positive effects on programme delivery and governance. As someone who sees Project Management as a qualification/skill in its own right, I'm waiting with baited breath to hear we have been accepted to chartered status.

Looking forward to some interesting debates.

Ronny

 

 

I am Steve Kay, Project Manager with Logistex which is a supplier of automated warehousing systems. I have been with Logistex for 9 years, prior to that I was involved in the project management of defence projects spanning 12 years with three other companies, EASAMS, Westland Helicopters and DERA before it became Qinetiq.

My role is the delivery of the software element of our projects so I have an interest in anything that I can learn that will improve that.

I am hoping that this forum will prove to be a good place to visit for general discussions, advice and answers.

Congratulations on the new site!

I'm Steve Syder, a freelance Programme Manager with experience in both the public and private sectors.

I've been a member of the APM so long that I can't remember when I joined! I'm a Fellow of the APM, an APM Certificated PM and an Advanced MSP Practitioner. I'm also involved in the APM's Pilot for the new qualification scheme, which is a very exciting development for our organisation.

I see this new web site as a great place to swap ideas and to help each other with project-related queries. It's also potentially a great place to mention potential roles for APM project managers if we see opportunities arise where we are working.

Lisa Hogben

I am a Graduate Project Manager working for London Underground, I previously worked as a bid writer in the security industry and decided to pursue project management after always wishing for the opportunity to see something through from start to finish.

Since my career is in its very early stages, I hope to use this site as well as the wider APM events and community to aid my development and call upon the experience and knowledge of others with relation to my everyday work and my studies.

 

Hi everyone!…finally the site is done, good job.

My name is Ade, I am a graduate project manager with years of experience within the private sectors (IT, Telecommunication and Finance). I presently work for Fidessa plc (www.fidessa.com) a leading marketdata/trading platform provider, and I hope this site open up other area of interest and share ideas.

  

First of all Congratulation for the new website.

My name is Dimitris Antoniadis and I am a Project Manager with Carillion Plc.

I have been working in the construction industry in excess of 20 years and I have been on both sides of the fence, contractor and client.  During these years I have managed a variety of projects and set up three programme offices.  I am also working as a part time lecturer at Thames Valley University lecturing project management to young bright minds.

On the education side I have a PhD for my research work on 'Managing Complexity in Project Teams', an MSc in Project Management and have published and presented a number of papers on Project Management issues at International conferences.  During my spare time I am a reviewer of paper to the 'International Journal of Project Management' and the 'Construction Management and Economics' Journal.

I have been a Committee member of the Thames Valley Brnach since 2004 and an APM member since 1990.  I am also a founding member of PMGreece (the Association of Project Managers in Greece).

Ritchie Somerville is an Edinburgh based APM member. He has worked in local government for 15 years, firstly in town planning, and then in a consultancy role on a wide range of property, organsational and IT projects for the past 10 years.  During this time he has specialised in project strategy, project initatiation and project review. 

Ritchie completed a Masters in Strategic Project Management from the Heriot Watt University in 2009 and is currently preparing several articles on Project Management Maturity models, Project Management Maturity in the public sector and the influence of Prince 2 on Project Management Maturity.

 

Ritchie only joined the APM this year, but is also a chartered member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and a Member of the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM), as well as being a member of the PMI.

Roger Garrini is currently an audit manger working for Selex Galileo which is part of Finmeccanica.

I am currently working on topics such as ERM and Business Continuity having previoulsy worked on Project Management Development. I have worked for the same Company through its various guises in Marconi BAE systems and now Selex Galileo and am now considered an expert for  Risk Management.

Previously, I was a project manager in various types of airborne radar but this included work on cars, civil avaiation projects and space studies. Outside work cricket dominates my time with League admin, playing (still) and coaching , the rest I waste on aviation history.

Afternoon all,

I'm Terence Burke, a freelance project and programme manager with 10+yrs experience in both private an public sectors.

I'm about to complete my application for membership, so this onl;ine community is a great help to converse with other PMs and memebers of APM.

Site looks and feels great too guys!

 

My name is Pete Spencer

I became a member of APM back in the late 80's whilst working for IBM's Professional Services organisation based at South Bank in London. I worked mainly providing support to clients in the Financial Services sector in the City.

Since then I've followed many a project road, from 1993 as an independent, and am now, probably, semi retired ploughing a slightly different furrow in my garden near Perpignan in France.

Having said that I've recently turned my mind to writing a book on Project Management and how to enjoy it.  PM can be stressful but it can also be fun.

That is one of the reasons for joining this community (I'm sure by using this term you'll gain entry to the next issue of "Private Eye") and getting input on how sound my ideas are for the book.

In addition it will allow me to "give back" the experience I have gained over the years plus continue to learn from you guys at the sharp end.

All in all everyone wins so more power to your elbow.

p.s.All I've got to do now is find a suitable photo to paste in!

 

 

Great to see the new site; well done to all at APM.

 

I'm Martin Bishop.  After time spent in project communications and as a project manager I am now EDF Energy's Project Management Community and Academy Specialist.  Part of my role is to facilitate, build and maintain our company-wide project management community so I am keen to see how this new service will complement our traditional mix of communication channels.  I also hope to pick your brains on a number of topics over the coming months!

Great to see the online is up and running!

I am a full member of APM and have worked in the programme/project environment for over 15 years and for my employer the DWP (Government Department) for over 35 years. I am currenlty working in a Centre of Excellence as a Senior Governance and Assurance Manager, joining this discussion group with the aim of learning from others experience and being able to ask questions and get the views of those working outside government. 

I am looking at moving towards implementing P3O in our team and would appreciate hearing from others who have done the same.

 

Laurence Seton - Professional Engineer, Project Management Professional, author of the book "On Top of Everything" about Projecteze: The Ultimate Organizational System. (www.ontopofeverything.com) .

Living in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Over 25 years of project management experience - in manufacturing, land development, oil & gas, transportation, facility management, health care, training and management consulting.

It's a pleasure to join APM and I look forward to learning a lot.

When I sat (& passed) my MBA finals in 1991 at the grand old age of 40 I vowed with my classmates that we'd never sit an exam ever again. Ten years later I sat (& passed) the APMP exams and became a Member - so much for planning!

The attraction of PMgt is that it teases your ego with the prospect of actually being able to control something - perhaps with a benefit somewhere. Also the methodology looks reasonably straightforward with a liklihood of success. However I spend my time within MOD procurement so there are plenty of opportunities for improvement.

What was that definition of repeated behaviour and expectations of different results?

This website is certainly not repeated behaviour and it deserves to encourage us all to move forwards - and outwards. Sometimes a lateral approach is just as rewarding.

Hello everyone!

My name is Don McAlister.  I'm the Director of Program Management for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR).  PWR is a California based aerospace business, specializing in liquid rocket propulsion and energy management products.  PWR is part of Pratt & Whitney, which is one of the businesses of the United Technologies Corporation (UTC).  I'm very pleased to be part of this new network and I hope to be able to learn from, and share with, all of you, for our mutual benefit.

Don

Hi,

I have been an Examiner in Project Management since 1992 and a Mentor. I am very interested in change management and the very different views of what that means across the globe. I use the term to describe how leadership go about getting large groups of people to change for specific reasons. The first 20 years of my career where spent as an IT programmer, analyst and project manager - the first half of that in the Royal Navy.

I'm really interested to hear about definitions of change management and the role of psychology-based approaches to making change stick. Equally, I am very keen on portfolio, programme and project management best practice and shared experience.

We all have stories to tell and I'd love to hear yours.

Hi, I am Jane Stephens - I currently work as a Business Change Project Manager for AstraZeneca - drawing the Maintenance Excellence Programme (for our Facilities Management department) to a close.

My project management experience started  with engineering capital projects  - a great foundation & discipline for change management projects.

 I will be leaving AZ at the end of June  and after taking the summer off will be working for myself in the project management and change arena, aiming for a more flexible working life.

I am looking forward to a joint sharing of best practice and lots of interesting discussions.

 

Jane

      

 

 

Hi everyone - I am an avid "linked-in" user and it's great to have a specialist project management outlet to communicate with like minded people - well done to apm for creating this site.

My name is Tim Hearne & I manage my own building consultancy and project management business. My background is from major corporate business (HBOS Plc and BT etc) and I'm applying the skills that I learnt at this end of the business, to smaller building projects. I am now mostly managing school works, for both new buildings and refurbishments, and really enjoying the change from high pressure fast track projects!

I am offering a "one stop shop" for small clients who lack experience in dealing with the details and legislation involved with construction. Along with being a member of the APM, I am a chartered building engineer and a registered CDM Coordinator (health and safety advisor) - my experience includes working for architects, builders and major international companies and wearing a number of "different hats".  Like most individuals in the project management industry, I still enjoy the buzz of seeing projects returned on time etc. and seeing the satisfaction on my client's faces when I make them great big savings!

I hope that after all of the effort put into this site by the apm individuals, it receives the rewards that it deserves. 

Scott Vinall - Contracts Manager for a Finnish company specialising in mineral processing and metallurgical projects. Currently based in Sydney Australia and responsible for a team of 11 project managers & engineers on projects ranging in value from $1M to $100M.

 I started my career as a design engineer in the UK but gravitated into project engineering and project management of mostly petrochemical and power generation projects in various locations around the globe.

 

I'm always on the look out for new measurement tools, eg. 'Balanced Scorecard' to monitor the departments performance and am passionate about the ongoing development and mentoring of the younger members of my team and feel that this forum will be an ideal location to share ideas and methods.

I am Programme and Projects Office Manager at the Institution of Engineering and Technology.  The IET's PPO was first set up in 2003 when it was just called the Projects Office, with myself as Manager (and only member!).  It was the start of a sometimes tricky journey as a major task was introducing and embedding a new controlled approach to projects in an environment where the concept of a project was itself fairly alien and unwelcome in some areas.

However, I perservered and with appropriate support I'm still here and the IET is significantly more project friendly and more successful in acheiving the benefits it looks for from new developements.  I now have a team of two full time project managers who can be assigned to key projects where previously project managers were generally recruited from the business as 'one-offs' for a specific project.

As we matured in this area the time became ripe last year to embark on a set of programmes to deliver the new corporate strategy for the next three years.  This is going to be a challenging but interesting time but the work put in over tjhe past seven years should give us a good basis for success.

I have been a project Mannager in both the private sector managing IT projects for General Electric (GE PMP) and now working for West Mercia Police managing specialist construction projects varying from £300K to £8m.

I have only been a member of the APM for less than a year, but have been consistently fighting for Project Management to get the official recognition it deserves as a seperate discipline - I am keen to see the association reach it's long over due Chartered Status.

I am particularly keen in change management and risk management as they seem to be the two most critical areas in the differing industries in which I have worked.

Well done APM for setting up the site!

Andy

Hi

I am Paul Naybour Business Development Director from Parallel Project Training. I am pleased to see the APM embracing new technology and it will be interesting to see how this develops.

www.parallelprojecttraining.com

 

Hi, my name is Adrian Belsey.

I have worked in the IT industry for over 20 years and have achieved Chartered IT Professional status with the British Computer Society. 

Throughout my career, I have managed software and systems development projects through the full project life-cycle, having started work as a software engineer and progressed through several consultancy and management roles, including pre-sales, quality management and currently project and programme management.

I have grown my technical and commercial experience through the application of IT in a number of industries including transport, insurance, manufacturing, finance and the public sector in both local and central government. 

I have a keen interest in the development of people and the application of soft-skills alongside the technical disciplines in the management of projects.  I am a PRINCE2 Practitioner, have been a member of the APM since 2009 and have been involved with the APM Staffordshire Chapter committee since March 2010.

My experience of the APM to date has been a very positive one and there is an obvious desire to progress the profession.  I’ve found forums and discussions in other social networking groups that I use on LinkedIn to be very informative, sometimes controversial but always thought provoking.  I hope that this continues to be the case with the APM community as it moves forward.

Finally, I’m looking forward to seeing the outcome of the APM’s campaign for chartered status for the PM profession.

 

Hi all, I'm Kevin Marshall and I'm a project manager for Babcock Integrated Technology in Rosyth, Scotland.

My current role is the programme manager for engineering on the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carrier programme.

I've worked for Babcock for over 20 years in various roles, the last 5 as a project manager, mainly in the commercial marine and oil & gas sectors.

I'm an APM member and currently studying for my MSc in Project Management at Robert Gordon Uni in Aberdeen.

Nice to meet you all.

Hi, I'm Tarnia Bowman, and I am a Project Manager at Micro Focus. Took APMP qualification in 2000 whilst in another role, and moved into Project Management in the company 5 years ago.

Great to see this new forum, and look forward to contributing my opinions and finding out others feelings on topics, and how they get over issue too.

Steve Horne, Head of Programme & Project Management in the Department for Communities & Local Government's Property Asset Management Divsion.

My team and I are responsible for delivering varying building realted projects - refurbishments in occupied buildings, relocations, plant replacement , etc - across the CLG estate.

I have been a member of the APM the last 6 or so years, and have recently achieved Practitioner status in Managing Successful Programmes.

I hope this forum will help braoden contacts, act as a vibrant place where ideas can porblems can be bounced around, and to enhance the qulaity of project delivery.

Well done on this new initiative!

My name is Marta Moreira. I am a Programme Director and I am currently working at the search division of Microsoft.

I have over 12 years project and programme management experience specialising in the IT and Media industries.

I am a certified PRINCE2 practitioner and SCRUM Master and Practitioner (CSM and CSP).

I look forward to exchanging ideas and experience with the rest of this community!

 

I am the Head of Project Management for Davis Langdon's Schools Sector as an Associate Project Manager/ Project Director.  I specialise in undertaking the Bid Director role for contractors in both Academies and BSF and the Lead Technical Adviser/ Project Director for Local Authorities on BSF schemes.   I am responsible for developing our Bid Director/ Bid Management offering to the Private Sector and managing a number of bids for Private Sector Partners.  I am also developing and delivering the Technical Advisor Training programme to other Technical Advisors and schools specialists within Davis Langdon.

Previously, I worked for a boutique Project Management consultancy in London, and prior to that, I was a Project Manager in a Strategic Health Authority.

Originally I was a Royal Engineer Officer, working in a variety of areas, including de-mining, amphibious engineering, topo and Geo-graphics and infrastructure engineering.

My linked-in profile can be found at:  http://uk.linkedin.com/in/darrentalbot 

Penny Chalton - I work in Programme Leadership within Deloitte specialising in Public Sector programmes.

I have worked at Deloitte since November 2006 bringing over 8 years strategic and operational Local Government public sector experience and wider organisational development cross sector experience spanning 10 years.

I am a Prince2, Advanced Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) and Management of Risk (MoR) practitioner, Gateway reviewer and Investors in People reviewer. I specialise in risk management and recently developed elearning module on risk for use with Deloitte staff. Also on benefits realisation and currently work in the role of benefits manager on a complex set of programmes in central government. 

I have experience of organisational transformation and improvement programmes holding a range of roles and responsibilities. Roles include programme and project management, strategy development and implementation, performance management, organisational change, training and development, systems and process integration and transformation.

 

Hi, I'm Dave Treby.  I am a project and portfolio manager at Capgemini, working on the Aspire account for HMRC.

I have 20 years in IT, of which 11 are in Project Management, across sectors including insurance, automotive and charity.

APMP since 2000.

Glad to see the new forum and looking forward to using it more.

Hi All,

Dr. Edward Wallington, founder of geoCognita, is a project management professional specialising in operational delivery of policy and business objectives within the environmental, geospatial and management information sectors.  Ed is particularly interested in the business benefits that can be realised when employing structured project management alongside management information systems and associated business processes.  Ed is also interested in the research of project management and the translation of theory into the operational environment. 

I am also keen to see social media utilised effectively, as a collaboration tool, for the benefit of project and delivery of business benefits.

For further information visit http://www.geoCognita.com.

Best regards,

Ed

 

Hi. I am Peter Hawkins and have been member of APM for many years.

 

I retired from Lloyds Banking Group (after 34 years) at end November 2009 having been a change management professional for c.17 years. I have managed projects and programmes and have been responsible for methodology definition and roll out, with a special interest in Benefits Realisation (and have presented on the subject to APM ad BCS events).

 

I am now starting up a small business to offer my services in change management advice, guidance and coaching. I am particularly interested in doing more coaching, having recently become an associate member of the Association for Coaching.

I think this site provides an ideal opportunity to share ideas and obtain others views on some of the challenging situations we face.

I can be contacted via peter.hawkins@focussedchange.co.uk.

 

 

Hi

I am Paul Naybour Business Development Director from Parallel Project Training. I am pleased to see the APM embracing new technology and it will be interesting to see how this develops.

www.parallelprojecttraining.com

Hi all. I am an APM Practitioner since 2005 and Prince 2 qualified project manager. I have been member and advocate of APM for many years. This contact group is going to be especially great for me as I left the UK in 2008 for role as Programme Manager in NZ managing portfolio of Rail and Ferry projects. Staying up with the APM has just become easier for me. I've been an active supporter of APM for many years and have just completed a review of my project management framework using the APMBoK within my programme area. I am looking forward to the day we are recognised with the award of chartered status in my chosen profession. Before leaving the UK I worked for London Underground for 24 years, which is where I cut my project management teeth. The close contact this community will bring will be invaluable for me in the lead up to and beyond the emergence of the Auckland Super city.

Clearly I am not able to attend any events back in UK so this will be my sounding board going forward.

My name is Pauline Pritchard.  I am an experienced Project Suppoort Officer and practised Junior Project Manager with up to four years experience.  My career objective is to obtain a Junior Project Manager position that will allow me to continue developing my project management skills, with a long-term aim to progress to the role of Senior Project Manager.

I am currently working on a long-term assignment in the Public sector.  Initially I was employed as a Project Support Officer but further into the assignment I was moved into a Programme and Project Planning Officer role and then into an Integrated Estimating Coordinator role; the two latter I work in alongside each other.

I joined APM some time ago as a member of APM to assist in my learning and development of PM.

My career in PM is in it early stages and I am really excited about the new online community.  I look forward to using the site regulary to learn from other PM professionals, read topics and contribute to discussions.

The great thing for me is it is live.  I have visited other websites and read many books but if you have a question it stops there.  Here you can follow your understanding up by posting a question.

Thank you APM for what I consider a great tool.

Regards, Pauline

Hello,

My name is Nick Johns. I run my own project and programme management consultancy, GPPC Ltd. I am a Fellow of the APM and a member of the SIG Steering Group. I am an ex-senior civil servant and also spent over 29 yesrs in the telecoms and defence industries in PM roles. I am also involved with the IPMA and the PMI.

Hello to everyone...

Excellent to see this community go live and am looking forward to many healthy debates going forward.

My name is Paul Yeomans and I'm a Programme Manager for Aviva UK Life (York) working for the Business Change & IT team - I've been with them for two years having previously worked as a Programme Manager (and Senior PM before that) for BSkyB.

I have recently started doing some visiting lecturing at one of the local York Universities (YSJ Uni) in Project and Programme Management.

My LinkedIn profile can be viewed at http://uk.linkedin.com/in/paulyeomans

Paul

Hi Everyone,

I am currently managing a programme of work across Central Government where 'efficiency' is the buzz word. I have worked in a variety of PPM roles throughout the public sector since the mid 80's covering IT, Policy, Learning & Development and Change Management. Must mention a great People SIG event the other day on Ethics in project Management, some good thought provoking issues. Also one of the other attendees relayed a story which was very powerful and I 'stole with pride' on Friday when I used it to convince a sponsor that involving people at the 'coal face' is crucial.

Loving the site.

Una

I am a Regional Director in the Faithful+Gould office in Singapore. Originally from UK, I got my degree from Reading University. I have been living in Singapore since the early eighties. I have been working as a Project Manager for almost 15 years now and have seen the profession establish itself in the construction industry in Singapore over that period. I joined APM about 6 years ago.

I am also involved in PPP/PFI work in Singapore and the region.

Congratulations to APM on setting up this community and I hope it leads to an interesting dialogue and the sharing of views. The term Project Management still means lots of different things to different people and increasing awareness of what constitutes a good PM is still required.

 

Hi,

I'll admit straight-off that I am not a bona fida project manager; however I have practiced project management, and it is a key component of my skill-set both when doing 'hands-on' work with clients, and when supporting their endeavours to enhance the effectiveness of their teams.

I have 25 years’ experience in Pharmaceutical R&D, most recently at GlaxoSmithKline, where I have held management roles in Information and Library Management, and internal training and consultancy roles supporting business teams on a global basis. 

I am an experienced and certified practitioner in change management and Lean and Six Sigma, and an expert in knowledge management, with a proven track record in improving team performance and leading business change projects.

In July 2009 I set up RiverRhee Consulting – an independent consultancy that helps business teams to deliver more effective products and services to their customers, and to do so more efficiently. 

I feel there's a lot I can learn through my membership of this community, and I hope that, in turn, I can help the members within it.

My LinkedIn profile is available on http://www.linkedin.com/in/elisabethgoodman - I'm also an active blogger on http://elisabethgoodman.wordpress.com

Hello All

My name is James Norris and I'm an SPM with the construction company Mace.  I work in their Transportation team in the consultancy side of the business.  For the last two years I have been working on client site with London Underground managing a series of, mainly, power and comms upgrades.

My background is civil engineering and I've been working for around 13 years almost exclusively on railway engineering projects.

I'm looking forward to reading and participating in some interesting debate on this site.

Mike Kerrigan  -  I am a freelance trainer in project management and related subjects.  I come from a background in the electronics industry running projects for both defence and civilian markets.  

I develop training programmes in many aspects of project management for clients who include a major multinational French company.  I have special interests in planning, earned value and project risk management.

I look forwards to some interesting discussions through this new web site.

Mike

Hi Everyone,

 

I am based in Ireland and am a Construction Project Manager. With the downturn in construction in Ireland I am looking at pursuing roles around projects in other industries and locations, so I would be obliged if any of you could advise me in this regard.

 

I joined APM while I was studying for my MSc in Project Management in 2006. I am happy to see APM introducing this new forum as I believe it is very important for PMs to network with each other.

 

Hello,

After over 20 years working in various roles up to programme director (large projects) I am now a director of an organisational development company that delivers programmes for business growth through developing behavioural competencies.

A key area - behavioural competencies for programme and project delivery.

Hi all,

I'm Natacha Redon, Austrian and French with an equivalent to an architectural technology/shop fitting degree from Paris and currently studying building project management at Northumbria University since september 2009. I just finished my 2nd year and entering final year next September.

I am one of the invoce students in the North East APM branch since winter 2009.

I already learned a lot about management skills at the CPD events organized by the APM and hope to widen my knowledge by keeping myself aware of current issues through the online commuity.

I work as a specialist SME in planning and control. My key areas if interest are in Integrated Planning, work definition and schedule risk analysis. Apart from the technical aspects of this role I am also interested in how this vital discipline is enhanced and "sold" to the rest of the Project Management community, so that the full benefits that Intgrated Planning are realised by our Project Managers. Gaining this recognition will remove many of the frustrations that specialsts feel - at least that is my hope.