Abstracts

Digital Transformation for an Integrated Lean Project Delivery

Lean construction has been thought to be the panacea for poor productivity ailment in the construction industry. But difficulties remain because of implementation on site. This presentation highlights a viable integrated digital platform for lean project delivery. It has been implemented in over 80 projects with consistent positive benefits. The presentation will also cover its implementation in a Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) project setting.

 

Transitioning from allusive effectiveness to realistic outcomes. The impact on biases on project and risk management

Since good decision-making is critical for good leadership and guidance, project managers need to know how heuristics (mental disposition) and biases (personal inclinations) influence their decisions. Prof Bent Flyvbjerg argues ‘’there are ten most important behavioral biases in project planning and management that are likely to trip up project planners and managers. These biases negatively impact project outcomes and if the biases are not identified and dealt with up front it is inevitable that history will repeat itself’’. During the presentation, we will try to shed light on the topic, and provide you with some advice for early identification, along with some best practices that will allow you to address both heuristics and biases.

 

Portfolio Management

Abstract: TBA

 

The art curator as project manager: The exhibition "Beholding Liberty!" at the Hellenic Parliament

Abstract: For the celebrations of 200 years since the declaration of the Greek War for Independence (1821), the Hellenic Parliament organized, in 2021, the largest exhibition ever presented in its building, with original exhibits (367 artworks, objects, manuscripts, books), entitled “Beholding Liberty”. The introductory section (“Awakening of Hellenism”) is presented in the so-called Peristyle, outside the Plenary Hall, i.e. in a functional space, used by all the visitors of the Parliament as a corridor or atrium. On the other side, the main exhibition narrative (“Imprints of the Regeneration”) is presented in the so-called Hall of Trophies and Adjutants, actually the only room preserved from the original 19th-century neoclassical building (built in 1836-1843 as a royal palace for king Otto). In order to transform both the Peristyle and the Hall of Trophies and Adjutants into exhibition spaces, a series of works were planned with museum standards. Apart from the impressive in site exhibition, various digital tools have been prepared (site with virtual tour, plus digital bank), as well as full catalogues and short guides are printed (in Greek and English). As a result, for the first time the Hellenic Parliament presented such a complete exhibition, with high quality criteria, innovating at the same time the building of the parliament itself. The initial concept, the detailed content and the final design of the exhibition, the various works and their schedule, the selection of the external collaborators and the coordination of the many people and agencies that collaborated, demanded from the curator to have practically the role of the general manager of this project.

 

Artificial Intelligence in Project Management: Impact and Improvements

Dr. Noushin Mokhtari, Global Business Services, Business Solutions & Services, Data Process Consulting, Siemens AG

Artificial intelligence has long since outgrown advanced IT and technology applications. It continues to progress, even in more traditional areas such as project management. This work not only highlights the impact of AI on project management, but also provides some notable examples where AI could take over supplant tasks traditionally done by project managers. Impacts and improvements range from cost reduction to prioritization to resource planning and forecasting. Concrete AI examples for project management improvements include AI-powered tools that will take over administrative tasks, AI systems to keep projects on schedule and budget and of course AI-based risk mitigation methods.

 

Automation in Project Management

Project management is crucial for any business development because projects can lead to the success or failure of a business. Nowadays, businesses through projects and project management are leading the world. Academics and research can yield exciting developments in the project management discipline, especially where there is a well-organized collaboration with businesses. The first topic to discuss in this presentation will be future research areas in project management, including the future vision of EPPM (Engineering Project, Production Management Association). The second one will be about automation, how and what can automation provide for project management efficiency. The second part of the presentation will also include topics such as artificially intelligent, machine learning, and smart contracts; and how these can make many project management tasks much easier. Finally, there will be real examples of how to use automations for better project management in a company.

 

Design Thinking – driving Inspiration, Ideation and Innovation

Design Thinking – driving Inspiration, Ideation and Innovation. The genesis of Design Thinking dates back to pre-1960, lie in the development of psychological studies on creativity in the 1940s and the development of creativity techniques in the 1950s. This paves the way for the human-centric approaches in design and solutioning. The start of the 21st century brings a significant increase in interest in design thinking as the term becomes popularised in the business press. The design approach also becomes extended and adapted to tackle the design of services, marking the beginning of the service design movement. Stanford University's Design School begins to teach design thinking as a generalisable approach to technical and social innovation. Paul Rand defines Design Thinking as a way of life, a point of view. It involves the whole complex of visual communications: talent, creative ability, manual skill, and technical knowledge. Aesthetics and economics, technology and psychology are intrinsically related to the process. There are seven critical mindsets that we need to adopt and put to practice, driving inspiration, ideation and innovation. In this short presentation, we will use the Double-Diamond Model to discuss the Design Thinking process. The entrance to the Design Thinking process is Empathy. How do we know, understand and apply Empathy in this process? We conduct the Gallup CliftonStrengths assessment to individuals intending to adopt the Design Thinking process, so that they begin to understand who they are, their DNA, and their potential contribution throughout the Design Thinking process. The Design Thinking journey starts here.

 

Learning & challenges from setting up a Digital PMO

Sam Pecqueur, Head of Central Project Management Office, DEME Group

Three years ago, DEME embarked on a digital transformation journey. To drive this journey forward we have started a new Project Management Office, which is responsible to implement new processes and digital capabilities such as enterprise architecture. In this presentation our challenges and lessons learned will be shared, as well as the value we achieved with this PMO setup and our next steps. As a sneak peak into our learnings, we believe that a good PMO needs to role model the desired way of working, which in transformation needs to be with a very collaborative mindset but also requires a large upskilling effort. Another important challenge is the need of a PMO to be seen as a strategic partner for the organization to ensure focus, instead of sitting on the sideline.

Be clever: Explore and develop social intelligence

Dr. Giannis Petropoulos, Communications and Personal Development trainer, Hellenic American University

Emotional intelligence, also known as emotional quotient (EQ), is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others. It is a measure of how well a person can perceive, express, and manage their emotions, as well as how well they can handle interpersonal relationships. Emotional intelligence is important because it can impact a person's ability to communicate, handle stress, and make decisions. It is also an important factor in overall success and happiness in life. In this presentation we will outline the fundamental elements of social intelligence and its ongoing significance at the workplace.

We will explore how to develop our social intelligence by knowing ourselves, developing empathy, listening others, how to receive feedback and focus on what other people know, they understand and they feel. We will appreciate the ongoing learning process of adapting our style of behavior according to the situation. Through examples we will understand where to apply social intelligence both internally (person to person, group meetings, presentations) as well as externally (maintaining favorable relationships with customers or approaching new ones, etc),

 
Applying AI to Agile processes

Today, Agile methodologies are some of the most popular approaches to project management due to providing greater flexibility in deliverables and adaptability to change.  One of the key characteristics of such methodologies is breaking up the project into several phases which results in earlier delivery times, and ensures the product or the project deliverable meets customer's needs.

Applying AI to the Agile processes can contribute in improving agility and reducing risks. In this presentation we will showcase some examples to analyze how this is achieved.  We will explain how AI tools using sentiment analysis or historical data can ensure that project deliverables meet customer requirements.   We will show how NLP tools can be used to facilitate User Stories, and how Sprints' effectiveness can be improved by using AI and automation to save time and effort.  Using such tools we can better organize and plan Sprints as well as predict future Spirnts loads based on previous ones.

Topic: TBA