Dima Tawakkol (ITS) kicks off the PMI Networking meeting for the Project Management CoP. (Nancy Herlocher, LSA IT)
An interview with Dima Tawakkol, director of the IT Program and Project Management Office for ITS and a facilitator of the Project Management Community of Practice.
What were the initial goals of the Project Management Community of Practice?
The purpose of this group is to connect people who have an interest in project and program management. We support each other to gain certifications, acquire knowledge, and discuss success stories. We share and explore emerging methods, new possibilities, and best practices. We coach one another to improve the project, program, and portfolio management discipline across the university.
Are those goals the same now?
Yes. We have accomplished our initial charge to build a sustainable community, and the focus now is to continue to bring up engaging topics that address our group needs. Our membership continues to grow monthly, and we hope to provide project management training or some type of half-day summit in the next year or so.
How often do you meet?
The community meets monthly, except for August and September, which we take off.
What are some of the topics you have covered or have on the horizon for the next meetings of the group?
Previous topics have included:
- Diversity, Equity & Inclusion – How does it change project management and how we should change? We held an open discussion about how we as PMs can influence and lead in DEI followed by joining the Women in IT CoP for a social hour.
- Joint Networking Session with the Huron Valley PMI chapter. We held a facilitated session with the local PMI chapter with some framework for our activity, networking, and debrief where members got to learn about private vs. public project management practices.
- Michigan Medicine Change Management Model: Case Based Workshop. Led by Michigan Medicine’s Vic H. Divecha and Jan Palmer, we reviewed the Michigan Medicine change management process for procurement and practiced go-to role play as we walked through the implementation.
- Scheduled Demos of tools in use for Project Management – Reviewed and demos of the many tools used on campus across the different schools and colleges on campus.
Future topics are:
- Stakeholder analysis and how to engage with the different types.
- Risk management and mitigation
- How to keep your team engaged on your project.
How can people join the group?
- Subscribe to the MiiT CoP Project and Program Management MCommunity group
- Facilitators: Dima Tawakkol, ITS (tawakkol@umich.edu); Nadine Korc, HITS (nkorc@med.umich.edu), Karen Saito (kssaito@umich.edu) CAEN, Nicolette Frank, (nfranck@med.umich.edu) HITS
