7+1 ideas to celebrate the PM day on 3.Nov.2022

What is the purpose of the Project Management day?

The Project Management Day is celebrated every year on the first Thursday of November. This year, the date is 3rd of November. The date serves to recognize and appreciate the effort that Project Managers and, respective project teams, add into our organizations by bringing results, services and products into “live”.

The date was created by LaVerne Johnson and Lori Milhaven from the International Institute of Learning (I.I.L.) to give a special day, to the 17 million project managers in the world, with deserved spotlight and recognition.

Project Managers increases by more than 7 times the probability of project success

Can organizations survive without projects? Not really! We live in a age of disruptive ideas, that, by consequence, increase the need for more projects to improve current products and services. The micro-needs and micro-desires, as I like to call in regard to the very small time or effort savings coming from the new products and services in specific market niches are the root cause. If you find an idea that can save 10 seconds time daily to someone life, then you might have found a potential product or service with high interest in the market. The challenge is in how to “get it done”? After the “business case” get approved, you need to set a project, contract the project manager and respective project team.

The Project Manager is on the lead to provide the best product, service or result, with the right scope, cost and time.

A well-trained project manager who works in an organization that uses high-maturity project management processes can increase the probability of success up to 67%.

Without Project Managers, organizations, would have a success rate similar to individuals New Year’s Eve resolution, that is of only 8% (Source: University of Scranton, 2016). It is not enough to declare the intention and a project plan! Organizations also need to use high maturity project management processes to execute it. According to PMI’s yearly report (Source: Pulse of the profession, 2018), between 64% and 67% of projects with high-maturity project management processes are delivered on scope, on time and within budget. Low-maturity organizations present corresponding figures of just between 36% and 43%. This means that a well-trained project manager who works in an organization that uses high-maturity project management processes can increase the probability of success up to 67%.

The history of Project Management

7 ideas for celebrating the day

The best way to honor the Project Managers is by taking the PM DAY to do something different with PM & PMO Department of your company. I have selected for you 7 different ideas:

1. Project Management simulation game

If the PM & PMO group is of 8 people or more, you can organize a competition in?SimulTrain?. ?SimulTrain?is a?Project Management Simulator?used in?project management?training programs. A group of 4 people plays the role of a project manager and manages a 3-month project in 6 – 8 hours.

Another alternative, easier to organize and for smaller group, is to perform a?PMchallenge ?or?PMwars ?in the PMI Project Management website. Those are quiz challenges that you can play alone or as a team. For that, you just need to be a PMI member.

2. Escape Room

Project Managers are known from their competence on problem solving. Nothing better for the PM day to proof that competence. Escape rooms are ideal for groups from 4-6 people. If the group is bigger, then you can consider booking more than one escape room.

3. Presentation from external expert

Another idea can be to invite a lecturer expert in a specific field of Project Management to give a presentation online or at the company place. If the theme is broad enough, it can come with the advantage that more departments can benefit out of it.

4. Presentation from a higher manager

You can book a meeting with the higher instance of project management in the organization, in case of a large size company, or with the CEO, in case of a small or medium size company. The subject for the meeting can be about the importance of the project management group in the organization.

5. Participation in a webinar

You should consult your local PMI Chapter In regard to available webinars. If any for the desired date, you can consider watching an?on-demand webinar . There are many?on-demand webinars ?available in PMI website, pre-select 3 interesting ones and ask your team to decide which one to watch.

6. Team workshop

When was the last retrospective done in your group? If the last was one year ago, or later, then maybe this idea could be interesting for you. There are other topics that can be considered in a PM & PMO workshop: definition of the group vision, mission and values, brainstorming to improve tools & methods and so on…

7. After-work event

In case the team would like to simply relax from their daily work and do something with the team but not related to project management, a possibility could be to celebrate, after work, around a drink or dinner at a restaurant or a sport event.

1 Bonus idea for celebrating the day

3.Nov.2022 is an important day for Project Managers. You should use the opportunity to appreciate every PM Colleague. Together with appreciation words, you can offer, for FREE for You, the “Project Your Life” Amazon kindle book.

From 3-7.Nov.2022, the Amazon kindle book “Project Your Life” is available for FREE and the paperback version is with 40% discount. This is my offer to the PM community in appreciation to work in this amazing world of projects.

The book is available in:

— Amazon:?link

— Book website (only for Portugal):?link

I wish You a Fa-Bu-Lux Life?:)