This live panel event from December 10th discussed what we as a PMO & RM community have learned over this challenging year. According to the trade press, burn-out and stress have been progressively increasing as we continued to work in our 100% distributed environments. The questions we explored included whether there were any solutions that we could employ immediately to improve the situation, especially if a large part of the workforce is interested in staying remote.
We were joined by Carol Rozwell of the Analyst Syndicate and Alicja Jaruszala, from iProjectize LLC, who is the recent author of The Heights of Resource Capacity Planning, Management, and Optimization.
Is it finally time to rethink how we get work done? We’ve been shifting to the model of teams for over a decade, but can we sustain the team if everyone is remote? Can better resource management become the glue that holds everything together?
We also hosted a post-panel presentation on using an integrated Skill Matrix with resource forecasting and capacity planning. Getting the RIGHT people to the right work assignment requires knowing more about staff members than just a limited number of skills. It requires understanding the proficiency level of an individual’s skills. A robust skills system combined with the capacity planning system also supports creating better, more lasting teams. Finally, a multi-dimensional skill system supports getting people the training they will need now to support project demands in the future.
Speakers:
Donna Fitzgerald
The host for this panel discussion is Donna Fitzgerald, the Chief Product Evangelist for Prosymmetry. Prior to joining the company, she spent ten years at Gartner. While she was there, her research heavily focused on better ways to get non-standard work done using the tools of strategic portfolio management, strategy execution, and all aspects of resource management. Ms. Fitzgerald is also a strong advocate that every company can be a Great Place to Work (GPW) by building a culture that allows and encourage all employee to do their best work.
Carol Rozwell
Carol Rozwell is currently a member of the Analyst Syndicate, where she specializes in helping organizations create and manage effective remote work programs. She also has an extensive background in designing engaging digital workspaces. Her current passion is supporting IT organizations to build more diverse, inclusive, and respectful workplaces. Her prior experience includes 20+ years working at Gartner covering such topics as digital workplace and integrated workplace management systems (IWMS). She is also a veteran of the halcyon days of high-tech companies in Silicon Valley east along the Rt 128 corridor of Boston.
Alicja Ruszala
Alicja (Alicia) Ruszala is the author of The Heights of Resource Capacity Planning, Management, and Optimization. Alicja triple majored in mathematics, computer science, and political science at Rutgers University and obtained her master’s in management information systems from NJIT. With over thirty years of experience working on large-scale technical implementations for major companies including HSBC, AT&T, Lucent, Philips, and AIG, Alicja is passionate about sharing her insights on resource capacity with wider audiences.
