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Lou Russell - Project Management events - Recap
Project Management can be FUN and more PRODUCTIVE!
By Jann Iaco, Director of CPLP, Event Management
Organization: ATDChi
Event dates: September 23rd and 24th, 2015
Thanks to ATDChi for bringing the “Queen” to Chicago! Queen and CEO, Lou Russell that is of Russell Martin Associates. ATDChi offered two opportunities to see Lou. One was a dinner meeting followed by an all day workshop. I was fortunate to have attended both. The all day workshop affirmed my hope and prayers that there is a better way to tackle project management in the Learning and Development industry.
Over the past 10 years I’ve attended two different project management classes. Those classes were dry, boring, where PM software reigned, and the human factor was eliminated. Control freaks need only apply! Lou’s approach is totally the opposite …delivered with a sense of humor and over 30 years of experience her approach strikes a realistic balance and strengthens your ability to properly manage the resources. For me, one of the big “aha” moments was getting clarity around the start of a project. We’ve all been in ‘launch meetings’ where they range from social ‘meet and greets’ to already dissecting the ‘plan.’ I learned that the first step is to define and an important component of that is making sure everyone of your stakeholders understands the “why.” So often the context of what a project is about is missing because everyone just wants to know the ‘plan.’ They just want the milestones they need to hit. Lou suggests that a project manager should spend some time on the project charter. And I learned that that the project charter can be updated at any time! Wow! I had come to believe that was etched in stone.
My second “aha” moment came when Lou took us through a terrific exercise in defining the scope diagram. Sure, you can use some fancy software, but nothing comes more to life than post-it notes on a piece of flip chart paper screaming at you that your inputs and outputs don’t align. And fine tuning the scope can be a breeze. Just add or eliminate a post-it! Seeing the whole project like that was music to this visual learner’s ears and eyes!
All hail the Queen! Thank you Lou Russell!
For more information on upcoming ATDChi events http://www.atdchi.org/
And for more about Lou Russell www.russellmartin.com
