PMI France, Ukraine-Russia War (Some facts and thoughts),
Paris2Connect, Le Grand Palais éphémère –
Temporary Grand Palais
REPORT
By Yasmina Khelifi
International Correspondent
Paris, France
INTRODUCTION
In each report, I’ll try to give you insights about project associations in France and some projects: this month,
PMI FRANCE
PMI in France was founded in 1995 and unified as one chapter PMI France in 2013. With more 5000+ members, PMI France is the 1st Chapter outside of North America, 1st in Europe and regularly ranked between the 3rd to the 5th in the world. PMI France is a unified Chapter with 12 regional “branches”: each branch can organize conferences, webinars, workshops, networking events, to name a few.
PMI France has launched a PMBoK7 study group. This PMBoK7 study group is a community of practice organised by the PMI France chapter. It is the second time that the chapter has organised such an initiative. In January 2018, the first study group was held on the launch of the sixth version of the PMBoK. This study group interested around forty people located around three continents: America, Africa and Europe, who collaborated for more than a year to produce fifteen webinars and deliverables. The goal was to study the differences between the fifth and the sixth versions of the PMBoK to learn and share knowledge on PMbok6 and the new Agile Practice Guide. We received several testimonies from some of the members of the study group who said the project helped them to prepare their CAPM and PMP certifications while others explained it gave them opportunities to further their knowledge in project management in general and PMBoK6 and Agile Practice Guide in specific. These participants truly appreciated the experience and expressed it through the project closure survey. Moreover, the study group contributed to fostering links between members.
Similarly to the PMBoK6 study group, the goal of the PMBoK7 study group is to help its members understand the content of PMBoK7 through discussion, conversation and sharing of experience, analysis and visual representation. Currently, there are 116 volunteers interested in the study. The study was launched on the 13th of January 2022 and will continue until July 2022. The study is divided into 15 sessions; every two weeks, it holds a webinar to discuss and share one subject of the PMBoK7 content. All the information about the group can be found on: https://pmi-france.org/groupe-detude-pmbok-v7
Major Projects / Programs in France
Ukraine – Russia war: some facts and thoughts
Some facts[1]
French investments in Russia are very important: 19 billions euros most of them in the energy sector. More than 500 enterprises are operating in Russia, which account for 160 000 employees. There is a French-Russia economic committee where French top managers talk with Vladimir Poutine. France is the fifth provider of Russia.
Consequences of the war
Lately, in the news in France, many CEOs of mid firms (not only big ones) called the radio because they were worried of the consequences of the economic sanctions. It doesn’t mean they approve the Russian invasion but they were thinking of the local employees and their families who may lose their jobs and also of their societies.
So the conflict will have economic consequences in France.
Another unexpected consequence is that child adoptions from Ukrania and Russia are suspended. That’s the war that kills projects and lives.
Generosity for all?
BNP Paribas, a French bank, doesn’t take fees to money transfer to Russia.
French telecom operators (like in many countries) remove roaming costs from and to Ukraine. In this awful situation, we could see generous behaviours. Some French people went by car to bring back people. Some French families (and other European ones) welcomed warmly Ukrainian women and children. In social media, we’ve seen many CVs of Ukrainians reshared.
In France, we’ve also heard some voices of refugees’ associations surprised by this outpouring of solidarity: in Paris, there are many Afghans and Syrians who sleep outside with no jobs and are waiting for a clear status for years.
- Is the refugee status different from a country to another?
- Has the life of a human being more value depending on a country?
Some thoughts
When I saw the first images of the war, I thought it was irreal that a war happened just after the Covid pandemic where people suffered a lot. My second thought was to the Ukrainian refugees who had to leave behind their lives and their country. When will they be able to get back? This is such a huge uncertainty – and yet, they have to handle it. This is not a theoretical project management issue but an awful reality.
I always think I’m fortunate not having lived any war and I’m against any war. We have witnessed several wars recently: Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and also some revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.
Many people died, have their lives destroyed. Many people have flown their countries with no date of return.
- What’s the price of the freedom? Of the democracy?
- Can our model of democracy be exported so easily?
- Do we have the right to encourage wars in other countries for the sake of freedom whereas we sit confortably in front of the TV?
Perhaps I’m idealist but I always think we need to make all efforts to foster diplomacy.
I don’t manage any project with Ukraine or Russia but I have both Ukrainian and Russian friends. I keep in touch with them regularly.
Another unexpected and sad consequence is in Africa.
More…
To read entire report, click here
How to cite this report: Khelifi, Y. (2022). April Project Management Update from France; report, PM World Journal, Vol. X, Issue IV, April. Available online at: https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/pmwj116-Apr2022-Khelifi-pmi-france-and-update-from-france-report.pdf
About the Author
Yasmina Khelifi
Paris, France
Yasmina Khelifi, PMP, PMI- ACP, PMI-PBA is an experienced project manager in the telecom industry. Along with her 20-year career at Orange S.A. (the large French multinational telecommunications corporation), she sharpened her global leadership skills, delivering projects with major manufacturers and SIM makers. Yasmina strives for building collaborative bridges between people to make international projects successful. She relies on three pillars: project management skills, the languages she speaks, and a passion for sharing knowledge.
She is a PMP certification holder since 2013, a PMI- ACP and PMI-PBA certification holder since 2020. She is an active volunteer member at PMI France and PMI UAE, and a member of PMI Germany Chapter. French-native, she can speak German, English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese and she is learning Arabic. Yasmina loves sharing her knowledge and experiences at work, in her volunteers’ activities at PMI, and in projectmanagement.com as a regular blogger. She is also the host and co-founder of the podcast Global Leaders Talk with Yasmina Khelifi to help people in becoming better international leaders.
Yasmina can be contacted at https://yasminakhelifi.com/ or LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasminakhelifi-pmp-telecom/
Visit her correspondent profile at https://pmworldlibrary.net/yasmina-khelifi/
To view other works by Yasmina Kehelifi, visit her author showcase in the PM World Library at https://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/yasmina-khelifi/
[1] https://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/l-invasion-de-l-ukraine-va-enrayer-des-relations-economiques-soutenues-entre-la-france-et-la-russie.N1787687
