On 27 March, lockdown began in South Africa due to the rampage of the Covid-19 pandemic.  

The Covid-19 lockdown had a seismic impact on project activities and how we manage projects across sectors and markets, major and small projects, and capital and service projects.  

Economic changes strained stakeholder collaboration and support for projects.  At the same time, opportunities appeared out of uncertainty. Opportunities emerged to innovate and to create positive change. Space was created for the “Great Reset” to address critical societal issues—equity, inclusion, sustainability, climate change, service provision, and notions of wellbeing, value creation, and benefits realization and distribution. Some projects adapted; others ended. Some organizations innovated while others disappeared. How organizations and their projects reacted to these disruptions and related opportunities were as important as the disruption itself.  Were organizations and their projects able to pivot, adapt, be agile, and be resilient?  Were projects and project workers able to unlearn, learn, and relearn from these experiences to move forward from the disruption and reimagine a new way to create value and benefits for customers, stakeholders, and organizations?  How did business, government, and NGOs shape their futures through these project experiences, moving forward beyond Covid-19 into the future?  

The PM Summit 2021 offers attendees the opportunity to learn directly from lived experiences conveyed by project storytellers and explored by expert speakers.  

Project storytelling is vital for understanding our work as project workers and enriching our learning by engaging and empathizing with the storyteller’s personal experiences. Through stories, we connect with the storyteller and their experiences and can glean multiple lessons. Through storytelling, we gain an entry into the inner world of the storyteller that is engaging and would not be readily available through discussion of theoretical ideas. A good storyteller can be an inspiring leader who enables us to learn, be influenced, and be inspired. We will learn from mistakes, failures, discoveries, and a different lens on managing projects in a dynamic and disruptive environment.   

With “Once upon a time…,” we enter the story from where we are! And we all remember a good story. It is the insight that we gain from storytelling that we can integrate with formal learning and training.  The practical experience conveyed in stories will help us to grow professionally and improve our performance.  

Join us on 27 March 2021 for a day of project stories, learning explorations by expert speakers, and micro-skill workshops. Help us to weave a super narrative of learning and reimagining from the year of Covid-19 and capture this super narrative in a unique form that you can continue to experience year after year.  

What is the PMI South Africa Chapter Project Management (PM) Summit?

In its fourth year, the PMI South Africa Chapter Project Management (PM) Summit is a forum for our attendees to engage in critical conversation and co-creation of knowledge and lessons about pertinent project management themes, trends, and challenges. Our presentations will engage the attendees. 

The PM Summit is moderated by an expert in critical communications and conversations. 

We create a critical thinking and learning thread that runs throughout the day and helps the attendee integrate this new knowledge. Attendees will gain a clear sense of learnings, applications for the work environment, and issues or topics for further exploration.