Dear Practitioners,

Less than four months ago we enthusiastically welcomed a new year, setting new goals and drawing new plans for our personal and work projects. Little did we know that a deadly viral pandemic would soon upend it all, sending governments, businesses, and individuals into a tizzy.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has taught us the need to be always prepared for disruptions to work and life. This crisis is putting leadership to the test, requiring leaders to not just display strong business acumen but also resilience and empathy. How businesses emerge from this crisis will depend a lot on their leaders – how they steer the business during uncertainty, and inspire employees and other stakeholders to persevere and put in their best during these trying times.

We at PMI understand the challenges and anguish that the project community is going through and are trying our best to help companies and individuals prepare for the days ahead. We are offering practitioners a host of free digital resources that will greatly enhance their skills for a post-COVID world. Do check out our COVID-19 Resource Hub and start your digital learning journey.

If you are an agile project practitioner, I urge you to use the Disciplined Agile (DA) toolkit. The toolkit helps you to pick the right strategies for your current situation by assessing your work conditions and alerting you to the tradeoffs that you are making while choosing an option. Read an article on this subject by Scott Ambler, vice president and chief scientist for Disciplined Agile, PMI, in this issue of Manage India.

Most organizations have kicked off business continuity plans to minimize disruption and enable teams to work from home today. In this issue, we talk to senior practitioners to understand how organizations from different industries are managing the COVID-19 crisis. Do read our cover story that shows the importance of a project management framework to quickly set new plans and programs in motion.

We recently released our Pulse of the Profession® in-depth report, Tomorrow’s Teams Today (2020), which is a highly relevant study in today’s context. In today’s project economy, teams are formed around a fundamental understanding that change happens through projects. Project teams will need to be agile and change-ready to thrive in the project economy. Flip the pages to read an article on the report.

I wish you and your family all the best to come out of these difficult times unscathed. Stay safe, keep a positive attitude, and believe that this, too, will pass. Please feel free to reach out to the PMI India team for any help.

Kind regards,

Srini Srinivasan
Managing Director, PMI India