The GeCCo competition provides the participants and other interested viewers with outstanding world-class keynote speakers. Everyone is welcomed to join and see the keynote speeches about current project management topics.

Sunchana Johnson, UK

The Secrets to Successful Project Management Teams

 

 

Originally from Croatia, Sunchana is an independent P3O PMO Governance, Risk & Planning Consultant and has been running her own company since 2010, based in Scotland, UK.  Sunchana is a full member of Association for Project Management (APM), Committee member and volunteer for APM Scotland.

Sunchana has accomplished a great deal for corporate and public-sector clients in a career spanning over 20-years in Project Management, Portfolio & Programme Management, PMO, Regulatory, Business Change and Technology Transformations in delivering key strategic programmes worth up to 2 billion GBP.  Sunchana worked on the London Olympics in 2012. She managed several large, complex consultancy programme engagements in both private(Barclays Bank, Ernst & Young, Standard Life Aberdeen, WorldCom, UUNET, RBS, Scottish & Thames Water, ARCADIS, Verizon, Vodafone) and public sector organisations (DWP). During 2018/19 she was engaged on the Brexit Programme for a large insurance company in the UK.

Peter Coesmans, Netherlands

Agile Project Management

 

 

In his own words…

Getting results from projects and programmes. In public and private sector. Agile or linear. As interim/change manager or as senior project/programme manager. That is who I am. Hands on. Improvement with people. Organizing in a smart way. Achieving results. Based on attention for people, organization, process and context, steer towards what needs to be achieved. On time, within budget. Using flexible steering and my broad experience with PM and Agile methods and techniques. Managing complexity rather than simplifying it. I achieve results that last, long after I am gone. Because they’re not (only) codified in procedures, systems, structures, but in people. Focussing more and more on sustainability.

I was amongst the founding people in the Agile community (long before that term was coined in the agile manifesto), being Netherlands’ first DSDM practitioner and trainer and worldwide one of the first DSDM coaches. I have been involved actively in the development of the project management parts of DSDM, which formed the basis for what’s now called AgilePM. I was reviewer of the DSDM Programme Management, and was co-author of Agile Portfolio Management.

I have delivered many (international) presentations on Agile, and am co-author of several books and articles on programme management, project management and Agile. Recent publications: IPMA’s international standard of Programme Management, ABC’s international standard for Agile Portfolio Management, White paper on Agile Project Management.

 

Armin Buchner, Austria

Practical ways of keeping intercultural project team together

 

 

 

In his own words…

• business consultant at next level consulting (Consulting for project- and process management)

• currently BA study in economic computer science

In the last 8 years I have worked as a Lead Product Engineer for a global company producing pumps for oil- and gas industry. In my role I have developed products as well as grown production sites all over the world. In my presentation I want to talk about the special needs, challenges, communication and practical ways of keeping an intercultural project team together and lead them till the final project end.

Susan Schwartz, USA

Leadership is Not a Solo Sport

 

 

 

Throughout her career, Susan Schwartz led a variety of corporate and government teams successfully through technology deployments and organizational changes which resulted in improved core operating procedures.  She credits the cross-functional, global team productivity successes to leveraging her team members’ strengths within a culture that encouraged innovation and personal growth. Her constructive change tool box includes a variety of methods that combine process review, crucial conversations, and knowledge sharing strategies.  She enjoys helping technically-focused subject matter experts develop their professional skill sets and identify areas where their colleagues can balance engagement capabilities to create a high performing team.

Last year, she published her first book, Creating a Greater Whole: A Project Manager‘s Guide to Becoming a Leader which unlocks the not-so-secret secrets of what aspiring managers need to become strong leaders. It’s practical “outcome-tested” strategies and thought-provoking questions offer individuals a tool to craft a personalized framework to help them learn how to help people come together to create something larger than themselves.