NYS Forum PM Steering Committee

Meeting Minutes

Held: May 17, 2010, 8:30 - 9:30 AM, at Keane offices
Next Meeting: June 21, 2010, 8:30 - 9:30 AM, at Keane offices

Attendees (members attending in person highlighted in bold, attending via phone in bold italic)

PM Committee Members
Brenda Breslin, State Co-Chair (DOH),
Vivian Conboy, State Co-Chair (NYS Tax),
Chris Foster, CRT Co-chair, (CGI),
Jon Haverly, CRT Co-chair, PM COP Lead, (Keane),
Connie Benton (NYS OSC),
Jonathan Blake (Keane),
Girk Cakmak (Bowne) (1),
Susan Mardon (NYS DOT) (3),
Mary McDonald (NYS DMV) (1),
Melissa Morgan, Newsletter Lead, (TEK Systems) (3),
Ellen Peil (NYS DEC),
Bob Pennacchia (NYS DOH),
Diana Pinto (NYS Thruway),
Drew Prescott (NYS OFT),
Alan Ross, Newsletter Lead, (GOER),
Kelly Smith-Lawless (NYS DMV) (3),

2009 Initiatives

The following initiatives were generated from the Forum strategic planning session on Friday, July 10, 2009. They will serve as the initiatives for this program year.

Updates to the SDLC - Girk Cakmak:

Background: Several work groups (Security, Business Continuity, and Web Group) would like to work with the PM work group to update the PM Guidebook. There is also a desire to add the agile process as well as best practices from the work groups into the guidebook.

A call for presenters went out on 4/14 for the live event scheduled at the Desmond on 5/26. Our group is not speaking at the event. Volunteers are being sought to write an addendum for The NYS PM Guidebook reflecting the SSDLC Deb's presentation outlines. Jon and Brenda participated in a meeting with Chuck, Mark & Deb from the security group to discuss next steps. The suggestion was to add a topic at the end of the Guidebook to cover the new material and use the existing template.

Jonathan discussed the potential need for adding agile methodologies to the Guidebook. After much discussion it was determined that next steps should be to hold a Round Table session to gauge the amount of interest. Connie will check with the OSC agile contacts to see if they would be willing to participate. Based on that the potential to add to the Guidebook can be discussed.

GOER Training - Alan Ross:

Background: There is an interest to assist GOER with the PM training (PM Fundamentals as well as more advanced PM training) they provide.

"Train the Trainer" will be in September, following a course pilot in April for NYSIF. GOER has requested our assistance in identifying the trainers. We need a clear communications, with an explanation of "WIIFM" and a clarification of the audience for the April pilot from GOER to solicit volunteers. Alan shared an update with the attendees. The curriculum is being finalized over the next couple weeks. There is an inter-agency meeting on 5/27/2010 to go proof read the material. Marketing will begin now to identify trainers for classes beginning in the fall. Alan mentioned that a letter will be going out to agency CIO's in the June timeframe soliciting instructors for the train the trainer program,. Bob asked that the state work group members be informed when the letters are going out so they can follow up with their respective CIO's.

NYS PM Guidebook updates: Drew will continue to keep the group apprised of how we can be of assistance. It has been a slow, methodical effort to date. OFT is currently looking over the scope and is seeking input from agencies. There is a need for an editor/writer with Quark or Quark Express knowledge.

BA Coordination with IT Skills Development Work Group (ITSWG) - Connie Benton:

Background: The ITSWG would like to continue the BA sessions that were kicked off with the PM COP on May 12th and another joint session held on December 15th. Chris has held discussions with the ITSWG to see where the BA subject matter would fit into the current Forum work groups. Chris does not see how the PM work group could take on another initiative and the attendees agreed. Chris and James Nicol spoke with Greg Benson to see how best to proceed. It was agreed to put out a survey of the latest attendees to gauge their interest in leading a work group dedicated to BAs. Depending on the responses we may assist with a transition to a new work group or continue to co-lead with the ITSWG. There is a BA webinar scheduled for June and spearheaded by James and the ITSWG. No assistance has been asked from our work group at this time.

Repository/Social Networking - Jon Haverly:

Background: Based on feedback from the strategic planning session there looks to be a larger initiative to create an online repository for Forum work groups. Tied into this will be an initiative to create an acceptable networking option for the work group. Discussion at the strategic planning session included the possibility of leveraging something like LinkedIn.

There are ongoing discussions about a Facebook page for the Forum. Corinne is seeking more discussion on collaboration options. The Forum is still awaiting an update from the CIO Council on a CIO repository option that could be used by all agencies. Jon will check with Nancy Mulholland to see if there is an update.

PMO Roundtable Meeting (PMO RT)
 
Q3 2010 PMO Knowledge Repository Session (may include social networking)
Scheduled for Thursday, May 13th from 2:30 to 4:00 in Conference Room A at DOT
Owner(s): Ellen Peil
Action Plan: (Action - Assigned to - Status):
  • Send out a save the date reminder to attendees - Ellen - Done
  • Send reminder emails to attendees on May ? - Ellen - Done
 
Q3/May session went very well. Fourteen people from seven agencies were represented. There is a core group of attendees at each session. Ellen will look to reach out to other agencies to see why they may not attend.
The next session will be in the August timeframe and will be on Portfolio Management. Ellen will reach out to Laurie Hitchcock from NYSIF regarding the Innotas tool to see if their experience could be part of the session. It is also used by Courts and Workers Comp.
Consider the following topics for future meetings:
  • How to communicate PM/PMO value to Agency Executives (strategies, briefing books...)
  • Working session on Knowledge Repository requirements
  • How to maintain the PM momentum/ Marketing strategies for a PMO
  • PMO strategic planning and outreach
 
PM Community of Practice (PM COP)
The next session is being planned for June 24th in ESP Meeting Room 5. The topic will be the Statewide Financial Management System project with speakers from DOB (Mahesh) and OSC (Roseanne).
 
Jon reported that there are already about 50 people signed up.
The next PM COP will be held in conjunction with GTC in September. The workgroup agreed we should maintain a presence at, and support of, the GTC event. Discussion resulted in general agreement that we would work toward a panel presentation/discussion on "Sustaining the PM mission is Changing Times". That topic would allow us to address both the pending change in NYS administration and the unprecedented fiscal crisis the state is facing. Brenda will try to get a curriculum outline for the course "Project Management - Portfolio Management in Tough Fiscal Times" to be sure we are not redundant.
Consider the following topics for future meetings:
  • Look into OSC Retirement System Phase 2 Project
  • Training sessions such as MS Project or SharePoint.
Joint Events
Event - Responsible - Status
  • Joint PMI Session - Brenda and Chris -Scheduled for May 18, 2011 and the speaker will be Sandy Harris speaking about the process of creating a PMO for a major corporation from the ground up.
Sandy taught for Sabre (the computer side of American Airlines). And, over time, became a PM, and then the basis of the AA PMO. The meeting will be held at the usual PMI Chapter time and location (5:30pm networking, 6:00 dinner, 7:00 speaker, 8:00 adjourn at the IACC). The earlier time is too difficult for the PMI chapter's regular attendees and the state government attendance was down significantly last year resulting is substantial expenses to the PMI chapter. We will use Forum's PM lists to advertise the event.
PM Committee Newsletter
2nd Quarter Newsletter was published 4/26/2010
1st Quarter Newsletter published 1/20/2010
PMO Director and CIO/IT Director articles will alternate every other newsletter. This would be an "opinion" piece. Also, discussed making the Newsletter shorter, and possibly releasing more often. Diana reminded all that they are open to new ideas - please feel free to offer some! Diana has asked that we continue to carry the published dates for the last year so we have a record.
Owner(s): Melissa Morgan & Diana Pinto
Actions (Section - Assigned to - Status):
  • Strategic Planning Recap - Ellen - Pending
  • PM COP Recap - Jon - Pending
  • SDLC Initiative Update - Girk - Pending
  • Interview with Joanne Riddett, Thruway CIO - Diana - Pending
  • Repository/Social Networking Update - Jon - Pending
  • GOER PM Class Update - Diana - Pending

Next Meeting: June 21, 2010, 8:30-9:30 AM, at Keane offices