A microcosm of what India represents on the global stage was on display at PMI India’s ninth Project Management National Conference in Chennai on 16 and 17 September. Leaders and champions from space research, IT, sports, defense forces, the social sector, and the world of spirituality spoke at the conference. The choice of speakers was a true reflection of the conference theme, “Project Management – Powering India’s Global Leadership.”

The keynote speakers were T.V. Mohandas Pai, chairperson, Board of Manipal Global Education Services; Mark Dickson, chair, PMI Board of Directors; Vishwanathan Anand, India’s first chess Grandmaster; A Dilipkumar Khandelwal, managing director, SAP Labs India; Anu Vaidyanathan, author and triathlete; S. Nambi Narayanan, retired ISRO scientist; Commodore G. Prakash, commanding officer, INS Venduruthy, and station commander, Kochi, Indian Navy; Anshu Gupta, founder, Goonj; and Gaurgopal Das, international life coach.

PMI India released the Hindi edition of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) and a white paper on managing Indian mega projects, at the inaugural event. The white paper, which lays down guidelines in the management of mega projects, is the outcome of a PMI India workshop on mega projects organized earlier in the year with leading practitioners, government officials, and academics from India and abroad.

“Organizations today are beginning to realize that success depends on having people with the right skills. They also know that strategy implementation efforts are significantly hampered by talent deficiencies. So, it is highly encouraging to see the importance executives and project managers in India are giving to project management talent development,” said Mr. Dickson.

Raj Kalady, managing director, PMI India, added, “India stands at a critical juncture where the future of economic progress will depend to a large extent on how well the country develops its human capital. When it comes to the success of projects, PMI research shows that organizations that invest in talent development experience high project performance. Through the annual conference, we have established a professional development platform for project managers that focuses on knowledge enhancement in both technical and non-technical areas as identified by the PMI Talent Triangle.”

The PMI Talent Triangle® is the ideal set of competencies that today’s project managers need — such as technical, leadership, and strategic and business management skills.

On the sidelines of the conference, PMI India co-hosted a CEO round table along with The Economic Times. Ten business leaders from various industries, including Mr. Dickson who represented PMI, spoke on their vision for “India@75: Opportunities and Challenges,” which was the theme for the round table. It marked the end of this year’s PMI-ET CEO round table series. The earlier two round tables were held in Mumbai and Hyderabad.

PMI leaders addressed the media at an interaction organized during the conference. Besides Mr. Dickson and Mr. Kalady, the interaction included vice president, organization markets, Craig Killough; and vice president, brand management, Cindy Anderson. The leaders spoke about the need to inculcate a strong project management culture in India that PMI leaders with experts who worked on the Hindi version of the PMBOK® Guide (above) and the team behind the white paper on managing mega projects (right) at the launch event.

Would improve project success rates and contribute to the country’s economic progress. Through the two-day conference, senior project leaders and practitioners spoke on a variety of topics — from industry-specific project management issues and skill building to team culture and managing a millennial generation. Those who had registered early for the conference received an invitation to attend a workshop a day before the conference, on how to identify one’s strengths.

In the annual awards presented by PMI India, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) received the Project of the Year award in the medium category for its Vasai East Project.

Tata Housing Development Company received the Project of the Year award in the small category for the Myst Tata Housing project in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd won the Contribution to the Community award for its “Bridge IT” project for the economically disadvantaged. And LV Prasad Eye Institute won the Project of The Year (NGO) for its community-based rehabilitation project for persons with visual impairment in Adilabad in Telangana.

There was no award this year for the Project of the Year (large) category.With over 850 delegates and an average rating of 4.27 on a scale to 0-5 for the sessions, the conference received a resounding thumbs-up from the delegates. The rating was done on the conference mobile app that was downloaded by close to half the delegates.