The Project Management Institute of Central Florida and Daytona State College launched its initiative to train and retain project management talent to support local industries in Volusia County, with a keynote speaker from the industry.
Scheduled on March 26 at the News-Journal Center, the initial event was kicked off by CEO and
founder of Crosswind Learning, Antony “Tony” Johnson of Carrollton, Texas. On his website, he also says he is the son of Duane “The Rock” Johnson, “but that is another story.”
The PMI-CFL Satellite Chapter was established as a workforce initiative and Daytona State Associate Professor Grady Meeks, Jr. is serving as the organization’s first president.
As DSC students graduate, become technically competent and excel in their fields of endeavor, the inevitable will happen: They will be put in charge of a project. Johnson’s presentation addressed that eventuality, which is bound to become a challenge in every successful professional’s career.
Because of their abilities and skills, he said, they will be given responsibilities, most of the time, without the authority to make decisions. Case in point, the author mentioned a time during his career as a project management trainer when he counseled an engineer who excelled at crunching numbers. Johnson recalled telling him, “You are a project manager now. Your new job has very little to do with numbers. Now it’s all about communication.”
The speaker also stressed the role of project manger in bridging the divide between the technical and management mindsets in organizations. Johnson has a reputation as a project management trainer, par excellence. In his company’s blog, he offers a clear word image that stresses the importance of knowing what you are doing when managing any project.
After enumerating elements of a well-managed project in detail, he writes, “A number of pieces must come together as applicable. Like a smooth running machine, if everything is going well, all is good. When it’s not so smooth running, the out of alignment pieces are usually pretty obvious.”
Enduring professional success never happens by accident, he counseled attendees at the opening event.
Professor Meeks followed Johnson with an overview of DSC’s Advanced Technical Certificate in Project Management and alluded to the program’s hands-on focus. He gave a brief recap of how previous classes supported local community efforts and showcased how the current efforts are assessing trends of Bike Week and how the program offers solutions for the event’s organizers in addressing some of the findings.
He concluded by emphasizing the difference between involvement and commitment when it comes to professional success. “It’s like bacon and eggs,’ he said. “The chicken is involved, but the pig is committed.”
David Siegel, President of Central Florida FPMI-CFL congratulated DSC’s current class for the excellent planning and execution of the inaugural event and thanked attendees for their presence. He also commended DSC for the quality of its Program Management Certificate program and pointed out its achievements, track record and standing in the national ranking.
The event closed with insights and a Q&A session by former graduates of DSC’s program and students from the present graduating class. Expositors included Annika and Olivia Thomas, Jane Davis, Captain Scott Lee, and Chuck Somers, all of whom offered nuggets of wisdom derived from their times at DSC and their professional experience as project managers.
The audience learned about their tools of choice, how everyone in the process is important, the role of influencers, the value of time and how program managers are the gatekeepers between chaos and achievement.
Davis who previously oversaw DSC’s migration to Oracle’s PeopleSoft business applications made a notable contribution when she said, “Formal education is important but project management is about people. This is a field for people persons.”
The closing event was the second of a two-pronged approach to the project.
First same the Community Service Learning Project with the City of Daytona Beach Bike Week ( a business process improvement/profit-loss study). That event took place with student workers/volunteers March 9-18, from 9 a.m. to midnight most of the days.
The second was the PMICFL-DB Satellite Chapter Launch the News-Journal Center, which was free to all and which provided ample food and involvement from across the college community.