PMI West Bengal Chapter organized a Learn and Earn session on “Implementation of Lean Concepts in the Construction Sector” in the CSM Technologies campus in Bhubaneswar on 5 August. CSM Technologies assisted the chapter in reaching out to project managers in Orissa.

Chapter president Sumit Kumar Sinha gave the delegates an overview of PMI. Manoranjan Misra, executive engineer, CSM technologies, spoke about Lean concepts in construction projects and touched on various aspects, including their application in the construction sector and the consequent benefits, value stream mapping, root cause analysis, and last planner tool. He also presented a case study of a bridge construction on the Mahanadi in Cuttack using Lean concepts.

On 9 September, another Learn and Earn session was organized on the topic, “Organizational Change Management for Business Transformation in Digital Era.” The speaker was Kallol Basu, business consultant, Tata Consultancy Services.

On 19 August, the chapter organized a workshop for the students of XLRI – Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur. This was part of the chapter’s outreach program to strengthen its student membership base. The workshop team was led by chapter president Sumit Sinha, and comprised chapter office bearers Sudipa Mohanta, Abir Biswas, and Chirabrata Majumder.

Mr. Biswas explained the benefits of being a student member of PMI and how PMI certifications help in building a career in any industry. Ms. Mohanta and Mr. Majumder conducted a quiz on the five Process Groups and 10 Knowledge Areas in the light of the “Dilbert Principle.” Dilbet Principles say companies should consider promoting their least competitive employees as a means to reduce the damage that they can do to the company’s growth. The discussion was to identify non-productive and productive managers, and how process groups play a part.The team had a meeting with Prof. Rajiv Mishra, head - project & operations management, XLRI, during which Prof. Mishra invited the chapter to organize two sessions for project management students and support the institute in other collaborative engagements with PMI. The chapter conducted elections for six positions in September. Saon Sen Nandi and Rekha Unni, were elected to the posts of secretary and communications respectively.

The board of directors nominated the members for these positions: Pratik Singh for events, Abir Biswas for marketing and strategy, and Chirabrata Majumder for corporate and student outreach.