New Chapter Board Elected
The PMI West Bengal Chapter conducted its first election during the months of April to June 2014. Ms. Sonali Bhattacharya passed the baton of the chapter president to Mr. Nilanjan Chanda. The new board acknowledged Ms. Bhattacharya’s achievements as president. With great energy and commitment, she has established a culture of high level performance and made the presence of the chapter felt within the community. The chapter looks forward to new leaders to take the vision forward and take the chapter to greater heights.

The Project Managers’ Confluence was organized on 13 June at the premises of Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) GDC in Kolkata. The event was an occasion to share industry’s best practices. The forum created an opportunity for project management practitioners to learn best-in-class solutions from the industry, develop their expertise, and showcase success stories and case studies.

The event was inaugurated by Mr. Sridhar Bakshi, vice president and center head, TCS Kolkata. There were several distinguished speakers from PMI India, PMI West Bengal Chapter, and TCS. The session commenced with a welcome address by Mr. Sushanta Sinha, learning manager - east, TCS. The other speakers were Mr. Jitendra Roy Choudhury from HDR Salva, Ms. Leena Gupte from PMI India, Mr. Nilanjan Chandra from PMI West Bengal Chapter, and Mr. Soumya Chatterjee from TCS Kolkata. The anchor for the entire program was Ms. Suparna Bhaumick, regional LDP program co-ordinator.

Ms. Gupta spoke about PMI activities, initiatives, academic outreach, and the advantages of becoming a PMI member. Mr. Roy spoke on “Stakeholder Management - Challenges and Solutions” and highlighted stakeholder management basics, the process involved in stakeholder management, project planning, initiation, generation, development, and execution. He highlighted the chapter’s vision, mission, its various communities, geographical coverage, activities, and initiatives.

Mr. Chatterjee spoke about the execution of large global programs in TCS, and the challenges and achievements encountered in its execution. He highlighted the role of customer relationship, stakeholder management, resource allocation, aspects on fund mitigation, concept of large program management, complexities, risks, and best practices.

The chapter also conducted its first strategic meet on 9 August after the board elections. The event was attended by board members and extended board members who formulated the chapter’s strategy for 2014-2015. The board as a whole has been actively involved in discussing, reviewing, and approving the plans of high level strategies. The team provided valuable thoughts and ideas that gave fresh perspectives to many existing problem areas. The team discussed and analyzed the ideas to confirm they fit into the organization’s mission, vision and values so as to enable the chapter to sustain and grow to newer heights.