The Executive Director shares her vision for PMI-Montréal

Towards a project management culture that is ever stronger and more deeply rooted in organizations in all sectors of activity.

In September 2022, I seized the opportunity to take the helm of PMI-Montréal, an organization and a team that are exceptional in many ways. While I knew the organization was strong and in excellent health, I did not fully appreciate the commitment, dedication, and vision of its network of allies. I am sincerely impressed and buoyed by the support of these professionals, men and women of action and conviction, whether they are members of our association, board members, PMI-Montréal ambassadors, leaders of our communities of practice, trainers or volunteers. I feel truly privileged to work with people who are so professional and dedicated to their profession. They are a powerful source of inspiration. Together, we will continue the work undertaken by our predecessors with the same enthusiasm.

Year after year, more than 5,000 professionals voluntarily decide to join and participate in their local chapter, PMI-Montréal, which is now one of the largest in the world and the second largest in the Francophonie.

I would venture to say that this number will increase because we will continue to grow and evolve. 

This collective strength is a major advantage in continuing to elevate and promote our profession in all areas of activity of the modern economy. Project management professionals are passionate, and rightly so. How can we not be when we carry out projects that contribute to making our world? Nothing is more unifying, mobilizing, and meaningful for a team than the success of a major project.

More than ever, the PMI-Montréal team is looking ahead to the future for the organization and its members, and several projects will be the focus of our attention in the upcoming months, including conducting an extensive survey of members. Indeed, through this survey, I would like to get to know you better: your motivations, your ideas, your expectations, your needs, even your dissatisfactions, in order to work together with all of you to improve the performance and impact of PMI-Montréal. I thank you in advance for your participation, which will be crucial to the evolution of our organization.

However, three objectives have already emerged.

Elevating the profession

The concept of project management is broad, cross-cutting, and perhaps difficult to grasp. Educational work remains necessary. We will invest time and energy in promoting and democratizing the profession, since it is an essential element in the success of structuring projects in all sectors of activity, including the municipal, government, public service, and non-profit sectors. We will continue to make the business community and government entities aware of the many advantages of using experts in the profession, and we will encourage the next generation to choose this avenue for their career, regardless of their preferred industry.

We have come a long way from the days when project management was limited to the engineering, construction, and IT sectors. Today, project management is everywhere. Why? Because it is key to the evolution of products, services, strategies, initiatives, and business models of companies in all fields. It is key to making it possible. From an economy centered on operations, we have moved to an economy driven by innovation and continuous change, and therefore by projects. The phenomenon is global, and by 2027 it is estimated that some 88 million people worldwide will be working in project management and that the value of project-based economic activity will have reached $20 trillion[1]. If you haven't already done so, I invite you to read or listen to the Harvard Business Review's excellent interview with Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, a world-renowned author, strategist and project manager.

This is the context in which we are all moving forward together. Positive, promising, and so motivating for the future.

Democratizing know-how

Project management literacy abounds and evolves year by year. We also want to popularize and democratize the existing information in the industry so that a growing number of organizations and teams have access to it. We want to involve our members more in the production of new content so that our entire community is enriched by this knowledge and experience, whether through conferences, publications, or the sharing of our communities of practice.

Everyone wins when a brilliant strategy is implemented somewhere. Society as a whole improves and moves forward.

Driving excellence

Of course, we will continue to proudly encourage, support, and highlight members who distinguish themselves by their exemplary practice and their significant contribution to large-scale achievements, both here and abroad. They are a wonderful showcase for the expertise, brilliance, and capacity for action of Quebec professionals.

And speaking of talent, I would like to close with an invitation to come and support your industry colleagues at the Élixir Contest and Gala on May 9, in conjunction with the Symposium that will be held on May 9 and 10 at the Plaza Centre-Ville in Montréal. Save the date and let's celebrate the excellence of our peers! The call for applications is underway and all the information is available online, right here. We hope to see many of you there!

I wish you a very happy New Year 2023, filled with collaborations, experiences and achievements, in all spheres of your life.  

I look forward to getting to know you better in the coming months.

[1] The Future of Work Is Projects So You’ve Got to Get Them Right, Harvard Business Review, Nov. 2021.

Photo credit: Marcela Delgado