Women in Project Management SIG Autumn Newsletter 2016

Women in Project Management SIG Autumn Newsletter

1. Welcome from our new Chair
2. Introducing the Women in Project Management committee
3. Events to look out for in the next three months
4. Links we like
5. Book reviews
6. Follow us
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1. Welcome from our new Chair

Welcome to the latest edition of our quarterly newsletter.

Our well attended AGM was held in London. At the meeting we welcomed the new committee for 2016 and also bade farewell to Teri Okoro as our Chair for four years. Teri has led our SIG through four years of exciting growth, she has developed a series of talks that have been held at APM events up and down the country and also masterminded the delivery of our video created to celebrate our 21st Anniversary in 2014. Happily Teri is still continuing with us on the committee.

We had our first committee meeting by teleconference and quickly established that WiPM is going to take a more diverse shape this year in that the 11 highly skilled volunteers are spread out from London to Glasgow. The previously London centric nature of the SIG has now been challenged with volunteers from Glasgow, Preston, York, Leeds, Coventry and Birmingham which means we are now in good shape to support women in PM up and down the country.

The first task of the committee was to delegate the lead responsibility for all of the planned activities and the expectation at our next full meeting is that the dates will be set for the whole of next year so watch this space, and we are also initiating a quarterly newsletter.

The next three important activities for us are;

To represent Women in project Management SIG at the Volunteer Forum in Belfast
To present the 2016 National Women in Project Management Conference (almost sold out already!) and we hope to meet many of you there.
Be present at the Manchester conference….

A diverse membership is fundamental to the ability of the project management profession to deliver projects successfully. We will be a critical friend to the APM in regard to best practice for inclusion and diversity and will be looking for a response to the inequalities we hear about in the press or experience at work.

Over the next year we will lead by example by ensuring our network is accessible to as many kinds of project manager as possible with respect to gender, ethnicity, sector and location and more, and to ensure that the talents that these people bring to the profession are recognised and valued fairly. We want to hear your experiences and ideas so we can develop an action plan.

Maura Launchbury, APM WiPM SIG Chair

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2. Introducing the Women in Project Management committee

The newly elected Women In Project Management committee is now in place. Each quarterly newsletter we will introduce you to members of the committee, what their key responsibilities are and why they joined.

	I’m Maura Launchbury. I have been associated with the Women in Project Management SIG since 2007, four years ago I joined the committee and became involved in planning the 21st Anniversary Conference 2014. In 2015 I stepped forward to lead the creation of the highly successful National Conference for Women in Project Management attracting 200 delegates to hear very exceptional speakers. The WiPM committee offers an opportunity for me to share my values with APM to the benefit of all our members. I value inclusivity, fairness and professionalism and I would use these values to ensure the WiPM keep all of these in mind when conducting their business. These values will help APM reach the broadest audience and attract people from all backgrounds and sectors into the project community. My day job is as programme manager for a national scientific research facility, Diamond Light Source.
	I’m Jeanette Pope, I’m the professional development manager for project management in the Military Air & Information business at BAE Systems. I’ve been in project manager for 10 years now, however I started my career in Finance. My WiPM responsibilities include the preparation of the quarterly newsletter. I’ve been working with WiPM for three years now, and I’m in my second year as a committee member. I’m also a member of the Henley Women in leadership committee. I’m keen to see the progression of women into senior leadership roles, particularly in the project management profession.
	I’m Hollie Woodard, I’m a project manager in the Rail Industry working at VolkerRail Ltd. My WiPM responsibilities include assisting in organising events, in particular the APM conference in Manchester in December as well as contributing to industry articles. I have recently joined the WiPM SIG and am keen to develop my own skills in activities outside of my day job but also work with likeminded individuals to help shape the future of Women in Project Management.
	I'm Emma Wright, I'm the portfolio management office lead within the Delivery Directorate at West Yorkshire Combined Authority. I also lecture part-time on the MSc (Strategic) Project Management, my particular specialism being in the people element of project management. My WiPM responsibilities include representing the SIG at events and assisting with the planning of events. I joined the WiPM group two months ago to better influence the number of women choosing project management as a career.

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3. Events to look out for in the next three months

Collaborative women in built environment event
Teri Okoro attended the event on 20th September, representing the APM Women in Project Management. The event, under the heading “Stories that push boundaries” was an evening, cross-sector, collaborative event designed to connect and inspire women in the built environment. Look out for outputs #Beinspired

APM WiPM Conference
There are a few places left at the next Women in Project Management conference “Developing World Class women” will be held on 29th September, in London.

Projects now and in the future depend on a large and diverse pool of talented professionals. Women working across projects, programmes and portfolios have a critical role to play in providing the breadth and depth of capability needed to ensure project success in the UK and beyond.

World Class Women will explore the role of women in the project management profession; how to become a world class professional and how the profession can benefit fully from women in the profession.
More details can be found here.

Christmas Networking Event
Look out for information on our Christmas networking event to be held in Leeds on the 17th November. This exciting event includes a panel session discussing the underrepresentation of women in project management and what steps could be taken to ensure a better gender balance. Location and timings to be announced shortly.

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4. Links we like

Each quarter in the newsletter we will include links to articles, webpages & blogs of interest to the members of our community. For this Autumn quarter our recommended links include:
Thales Interview with the APM Women In Project Management Committee
Check out this link to read the full interview with the APM Women In Project Management in the Thales Learning & Development Emagazine “Enhance”. The interview explores the upcoming Women in Project management conference, unconscious bias and the gender pay gap amongst other topics.

Girl’s guide to project management
This fantastic website offers a female view on everything project management related. Written by Elizabeth Harrin, this multi-award winning blog, is updated three times a week with new articles. The website also contains helpful hints and tips on better meetings & documentation, managing stakeholders and teams. Check it out here: http://www.girlsguidetopm.com/ or on facebook A Girl’s Guide To Project Management @girlsguidetopm or twitter http://www.twitter.com/pm4girls/

WeAreTheCity
Looking to reach out to other career minded women, looking for networking opportunities near you, wanting tips on speaking up in meetings? Check out the WeAreTheCity website and twitter feed to keep your follow on twitter WeAreTheCity HQ@WATC_updates or via their website wearethecity.com. There are 60,000 other women doing this right now!

What’s your attitude to Unconscious Bias & Diversity?
Having done a bit of research into the topic of unconscious bias there appears to be a view in the literature that our biases can and do play a substantial role in the way we engage with people, and some of the decision’s that we make about them.

Our brains use visible categories to do this, which includes gender (of course amongst a variety of others). As humans we then go on to assign a set of social characteristics to people, based on these biases. It’s a very human thing to do however it can impact our decisions in a negative way, for example assigning ability to do activities based on how someone looks. To be aware of and understand your unconscious bias more, and further explore your attitude to diversity, click here: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/education.html
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5. Book Reviews:

Read any good books lately that you’d like to share?

Join 150,000 other women and Emma Watson on twitter #OurSharedShelf. The British actress and Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women is not only leading the #HeForShe campaign on twitter, but also encouraging women to share knowledge and inspiration through reading.

This read has been found helpful by a committee member when searching for your next career move "Super Secrets of the Successful Jobseeker and Super Secrets of Successful Executive Job Search". The author Simon Gray does a good blog and newsletter as well - http://careercodex.com/

Career coaching and job search strategies - Career Codex
Career coaching and job search strategies is based on real-life experience, not textbook theory. "Our proven approach helps you stand out from the crowd".

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6. Follow us

You can follow us on social media:
Join the debate on our LinkedIn group: APM Women In Project Management SIG
Follow our achievements and celebrate success on Twitter APM Women in PM@apmwipmsig #apmwipm
Let us know your ideas, what you think of the newsletter, our webpages & all our social media channels.