Women in Project Management SIG

and SW Branch

Are you part of it? Change and Diversity

SIG Introduction by Teri Okoro

3 July 2014

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WIPM SIG - Overview

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WIPM addresses the development and promotion

of women working in project management

environments and works to maximise the

availability of expertise in the project

management profession.

We actively promote investment in gender

diversity to ensure that all project managers have

the potential to develop a highly rewarding

career, supporting both men and women in their

efforts to maintain a balance between the many

demands imposed on them whilst striving to

retain their own identity.

• Developing a powerful profile

• Promoting a no barriers culture

• Engaging and responding

• Collaborative community building

WIPM SIG Strategy

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Regional Events Scotland - September

London - Knowledgeshare

Thames Valley - tbc

Main Celebration Event 25th September 2014

Webinar 9th April 2014 (RPP/FAPM & support group)

2nd date tbc

Other

Video, Publications and Blogs, Survey

Inspire, PM feature/database, Joint Events, etc

21st Anniversary Celebrations

Diversity Initiatives

APM

Other

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Thank You

Q & A

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Presentation

Are you part of it? Change and Diversity Sobitha Sashikumar

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Are you part of it? Change & diversity Sobitha Sashikumar

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What is diversity?

•It is who you are – your branding

•It is something that cannot be changed and is therefore constant

‘Diversity encompasses acceptance and respect.

It means understanding that each individual is unique,

and recognizing our individual differences.

These can be along the dimensions of

race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status,

age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies.

It is the exploration of these differences in a

safe, positive, and nurturing environment.

It is about understanding each other and moving beyond simple tolerance

to

embracing and celebrating the

rich dimensions of diversity contained within each individual.’

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Diversity can be classified into the following main areas

• Gender

– 50% of the world’s population is female, 40% of the global workforce

are women, 70% of the total global spend in households are made

by women

• Race

• Ethnicity

• Sexual orientation

• Social class

• Age

• Ability

• Seniority

• Religious/spiritual practices

• Health status

• Family of origin

• Size/body type

• Political beliefs

• Educational background

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Areas to consider.....

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Why is diversity perceived to be so difficult?

As a receiver

•Needs you to be aware

•Involves additional thinking

•Adaptation

•Honour the uniqueness of each individual

As well as being influenced by

–Upbringing, background, environment, attitude, culture and beliefs

As an owner

•Increases

consciousness

With the growing dependency on teams + the effects of globalisation,

companies and managers are continually experiencing difficulties in managing

teams comprised of diverse individuals.

In "globalised" or multicultural teams, there is so many opportunities for

misunderstandings, which makes global project teams with members from several

work locations, companies or countries, a challenging task that requires a

multidisciplinary approach.

Since the accepted forms of diversity have substantially increased, leading to

nearly every team experiencing some form of diversity, it is critical that project

managers understand how to increase diversity awareness among team members.

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Why is it so important in a project environment?

What are the benefits of using diversity to your

advantage? ‘Diverse and inclusive business communities make for innovative thinking, better

decision making and greater commercial success’

Chris Sullivan, Deputy CEO, RBS

•Follow the sun requirements

•Global reach

•Enables you to manage better by developing better relationships

•Influence the thinking and behaviour of your leaders

•Provides opportunities

Addressing diversity in the workplace enables

you to address systemic forces such as power,

privilege, prejudice, discrimination, and

oppression that hinder optimal development

Diversity and organisational change

•Employees most important factor to project teams and organisational

success

•Employees are most difficult to manage globally

•Global Project teams usually comprise a diverse group of professionals with

complementary sets of skills

•Cultural diversity can bring several advantages to global organization:

• Innovative approaches to problem solving,

• Greater wisdom and experience

Cultural diversity remains an important catalyst for originality and inventiveness

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What is the challenge?

Company culture

• Get the right balance –

• Single, static, identifiable culture Vs a strong, cult-like cultures (not open to

change)

• Organisations have to survive in an environment that is

• Complex

• Dynamic

• Ambiguous

• Full of threats and opportunities present additional demands – internal control

/ need to adapt to the environment

• Corporate cultures themselves need to be open for change and have diverse

views

The Corporate culture must therefore help the organisation

Spot opportunities and threats in the environment

Facilitate a dynamic response in adapting to them

By providing an answer on how to make use of diversity to their advantage

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Corporate culture

‘The pattern by which a company connects different value orientations

(rules vs. exceptions or a people focus vs. a focus on goals) in such a way

that they work together in a mutually enhancing manner.

The corporate culture pattern shapes a shared identity which helps to make

corporate life meaningful for the members of the organisation and

contributes to their intrinsic motivation for doing the company’s work.’

Corporate culture consists of shared networks of meaning, providing

coherence and a sense of commitment even though the pattern of meaning

is continuously reconstructed in an ongoing process of reconciliation. This

acknowledges that corporate culture needs to reinvent itself constantly.’

Fons Trompenaars and Peter Prudhomme

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Diversity in project teams and organisations

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Organisational cultures need to be adaptable to a changing environment.

Changing corporate culture = finding a balance between radical change and

organic modifications, between bold moves and incremental adjustment.

• Ensure the strengths of existing corporate culture are maintained such that

there exists a meaningful corporate culture with a mix of existing core values

and new, aspirational ones.

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What is the future?

One world get the right people, doing the right jobs

for the right customers at the right price

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Next steps & action plan – What are you going to change?

• Short term

• Medium term

• Long term

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Questions

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at an APM event

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