Dear Practitioners,

I hope you and your family are doing well and keeping your spirits up.

Earlier this month, many of us were able to resume some of our daily activities, while others in the containment zones continue to bear severe restrictions. Most of us have managed our physical and mental wellbeing quite well during these prolonged periods of isolation.

COVID-19 has shown us how we need to be aware of how situations can evolve fast, and, at the same time, know how to respond to it. Our ability as individuals and organizations to quickly adapt to change will be important way beyond COVID-19.

PMI’s Disciplined Agile (DA) toolkit, which offers a hybrid agile approach to solution delivery, comes at an opportune time when we’re trying to adapt to new ways of working. In this issue of Manage India, we illustrate the concept of customized Ways of Working (WoW) through an article by Scott Ambler, vice president and chief scientist, Disciplined Agile, as well as our cover story in which we talk to some of the early adopters of DA on paradigm shifts for project managers.

I’m proud to say that PMI, as an organization, has displayed remarkable business agility during this time. As cities shut down across the world, we addressed a big concern of those scheduled to take our Project Management Professional (PMP)® exam. In April, we moved the exam online, with a live proctor monitoring the candidate during the test. We believe this testing option will continue to be important in the post COVID-19 world. We have also delayed changes to the PMP exam format to 2 January 2021, so that exam candidates have sufficient time to prepare for it.

PMI-sponsored events, including the PMI India Regional Conference, have been shifted to a virtual format. We are helping our customers continue to build skills and prepare for the future with the Common Ground webinar series. PMI has delivered a variety of free resources, sneak peeks of new digital offerings, and virtual events during this time.

In the spirit of expanding engagement, we recently launched the Region 11 Women Engagement Committee to help promote a culture of inclusion and engagement in chapter boards, global volunteering, and membership. Our workspace and upskill contests have seen enthusiastic participation from members.

This is a great time for learning. We have launched an introductory online course, the Basics of Disciplined Agile, for those of you who want to understand the principles and applications of DA.

For our REP community, we’re inviting applications for the newly launched Authorized Training Partner program.  Learn more about the program and how to apply for it here.

May you continue to thrive in these interesting and challenging times, and stay safe.


Kind regards,

Srini Srinivasan
Managing Director, PMI India