25/10/2019
Let me share you something, a story, which might be useful for you as well.
In the beginning of October a few of us were in Barcelona, and not just for being part of history (the revolution for independence of Catalonia), enjoying the beach and different kind of craft beers, but to attend a PM conference so called PM Camp.
What is PM Camp?
This is not just one event, it’s rather a brand or as they called it a movement. There are multiple Project Management Camps happening in Europe throughout the year, addressing project- and team-leaders/managers, development teams, and everyone who is interested in project management, leadership and communication topics. The main idea behind it is to share ideas, learn and inspire each other. Thus unlike any other conferences the topics and sessions are formed together at the beginning of each day after a keynote (and of course after a coffee). If you want to learn more about the background, please visit the following link: http://www.pm-camp.org/ (… yes it is in German, but you can use google translate ;))
What sessions we attended?
So back to the story after a good swim in the sea, we had a chance to attend several sessions on very different topics (by that I mean really different). Let me give you some taste of it:
- Slow thinking: where we learned there’s no truth, just different perspectives, so you need to slow down, ask more, observe the situation, change your perspective, and rather do self-reflection before you criticize others. (Hard, but possible – or at least this is what we have been told)
- Project canvas: which is a very helpful tool either start a project or check during the project if everybody is on the same page.
- The Cooplexity model: this is a complex model… oh wait! Cooplex. :) The model and the theory behind reminds us that behind each project there’s a team. And to succeed you must have a committed and aligned team. How to do that? You can follow the 6 steps defined by the model.
- Cynefin model: it is a sense making framework: enable managers to identify how they perceive situations, and to make sense of their own and other people's behavior, based on 5 types of domain (Disorder, simple, complicated, complex, chaos).
- Mindfulness: this is from Buddhism, but not about religion. Practical knowledge how to train your brain, for example to able to avoid such situation that you would regret later. And as a side effect a relaxed state appears. :)
- Top tips for public speaking: 9+1 tips to apply when preparing and holding a presentation (or more).
- Talent of homeless people: the title tells the story. However the style of the presenter made us feel, that we are back in school again, and we will soon be called out to tell what you have learnt from the previous lesson… Do you remember that feeling? Not so pleasant…
- Building trust: what is trust? How do our brain work? How can we avoid being eaten by a tiger (a real one)? And what if the “tiger” is social pain? And of course if this is the topic there’s some neuroscience included.
- The Lazy Project Manager and the Art of Productive Laziness: “Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.”
- Feedback: Polite or effective, it’s up to you: “just” another way of giving feedback: from adult to adult, in others’ interests.
- How to get your team share information: how not to get lost in the information load we get. And how to manage meetings effectively (beware of the ninjas! Especially meeting ninjas).
- Liberating structures: techniques for brainstorming and for problem solving.
- Agile for my grandma: how can I convince my senior manager to use agile? Treat him like my grandma. It’s that simple. :)
This is not the whole list, and really just to give you a feeling how wide the palette was.
What’s next?
Currently we are working hard on sharing this experience with you.
