The PMI-CIC Chapter Meeting Luncheon will take place on Thursday, May 16th at 11:30. Please join us at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Center located at 909 Robert D. Ray Dr., Des Moines, IA.

 Project teams have been using agile techniques and approaches in various forms for several decades, yet there remains significant confusion around what it really means to be agile in implementing projects. Therefore, for our May 16^th Chapter Meeting, we have gathered a panel of local professionals to help provide clarification. One of the four panelists is:

 

Andrea Brunk

Andrea's Agile journey began in earnest three years ago when she took on the task of building from scratch the PMO at Grinnell Mutual. The professional skill sets of portfolio, program, and project management were new concepts to the century-old company, but they were well-supported by the executive leadership's intent on changing the way IT worked to deliver the right business value faster. The extensive overhaul included new Enterprise Architecture, Software Quality Assurance teams, Process Excellence efforts leveraging Six Sigma and Lean, formalized IT Service Management, and, of course, an Agile mindset.

This cohort of changes had the benefit of building in unison from the foundation up. No one area was so well established that it couldn't draw from another area. With the partnership of a talented staff, collaborative peers, supportive executive leadership, and a stellar Agile coach, Grinnell Mutual constructed teams, practices, processes, and tools to improve engagement in prioritized work. The initiation of a giant platform modernization program took the overhaul up a degree in difficulty but also tested the enterprise's ability to leverage fast feedback, continually improve, and rapidly adapt to change.

The journey continues for Project Managers and Scrum Masters at Grinnell Mutual, who partner together as peers in the PMO, as well as the rest of the company. Andrea enjoys the challenge of tailoring the project management skill set to shape a sustainable environment in which motivated employees deliver customer value quickly.

PMI Triangle - Strategic - 1 PDU