E114 Learning from Games with Andrea Clinton and Daniel Zitter

In this episode of Project Management Office Hours, PMO Joe welcomed Andrea Clinton and Daniel Zitter. Prior to this discussion we all participated in a Workshop using the Project Management Board game led by Daniel. The discussion included lessons learned during the workshop, the benefits of games for learning, the next generation of PMs, as well as the career transition Andrea recently experienced and how her long project management career helped with the change.

Andrea Clinton is a career project manager and leader. She has dedicated her expansive 25 year career to the craft of project management. She has worked across industries from education to manufacturing, software development to data center design/build, gaining experience at variety of companies from small start-ups to Fortune 5 companies such as Apple.

Daniel Zitter loves project management, and he’s happy to tell anyone who will listen! He appreciates the complexities of managing a project. He enjoys discussing it with others and teaching the methodologies, thought processes and how to deal with the questions and challenges that are sure to arise. He is Co-Founder of PM Zone and the Project Management Board game.

If you’re wondering does playing a board game simulate running a project and what can you learn from the game, here is what Andrea had to say, “As we were working through the program, within our gameplay, if you will, you think that you’re going to start working on your tasks and you have them all lined up and you’re thinking, what could possibly go wrong? I’ve got this, this is totally easy. And then before you know it, there’s a risk thrown up and you have to stop and address that risk or there’s a constraint that comes up and then you have to turn around and go backwards or have to try and borrow resources from somewhere else.”

We train our youth with games all the time whether in school, at home, or activities. Gaming helps to break down any barriers which might pop up when you are “supposed to be learning”. The fun and excitement of the gaming workshop allows players, Project Managers, to experience situations and learn together building stronger teams and better situational awareness.

Listen to the entire episode to hear the full story from Andrea and Daniel.

Connect with Andrea Clinton:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-clinton-16a0172/

Connect with Daniel Zitter:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielzitter/

Thank you to THE PMO SQUAD and The PMO Leader for sponsoring this show.

The PMO Squad is a leading provider of PMO and Project Management services in the US. They assist clients building and improving PMOs, provide Project Management Consulting services, deliver custom Project Management Training and provide Project Management staffing services. Learn more about The PMO Squad – https://www.thepmosquad.com

Where do PMO Leaders go for Information, Learning, Networking and Services? The PMO Leader community has “Everything You Need to Become a Great PMO Leader”. One PMO World, One Community! Learn more about The PMO Leader – https://www.thepmoleader.com

Developed by project management professionals, the PMzone solutions provide all the knowledge and tools required by both experienced and occasional project managers. Whether a project has just landed on your desk, or managing projects is your full-time job, we’re happy to help you hone your skills through courses and games that offer practical tools to help you master project management

Daniel Zitter loves project management, and he’s happy to tell anyone who will listen.

He appreciates the complexities of managing a project. He enjoys discussing it with others and teaching the methodologies, thought processes and how to deal with the questions and challenges that are sure to arise.

And he’s happy to share his knowledge and experience with clients, friends and acquaintances – because he believes deeply in what he does, how he does it and that doing it right makes a huge difference to the outcome.

Daniel is an experienced and certified project manager. He is a licensed industrial engineer and holds a Project Management Practitioner Certification “In Good Standing” from the Project Management Institute (PMI). He is also an accredited PMO – Certified Consultant, of the PMO Global Alliance, and was a member of the Jugging Committee for the 2019 PMO global awards competition.

Connect with Daniel on LinkedIn.

Andrea Clinton is a career project manager and has dedicated her expansive 25 year career to the craft of project management. She has worked across industries from education to manufacturing, software development to data center design/build, gaining experience at variety of companies from small start-ups to Fortune 5 companies such as Apple.

Andrea has experience as a project manager, PMO leader, consultant, process designer and business owner. After completing her graduate degree in Global Management at Thunderbird last year, Andrea has most recently, thrown her skills towards two businesses which include the start-up of a restaurant and the growth of the project management team at Maverick Power.

In addition to recently opening a restaurant in Scottsdale, Masons Famous Lobster Rolls, Andrea is keeping her skills sharp working as an independent project management and leadership consultant.

Connect with Andrea on LinkedIn.

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Project Management Office Hours is intended to provide Project Management professionals a place to drop in and discuss Success Stories, Best Practices, and Lessons Learned. Project Management Consultant Joy Gumz has shared with us, “Operations keep the lights on, strategy provides the light at the end of the tunnel, but project management is the train engine that moves the organization forward.”

Each of us has a unique story to tell, but collectively we share a message that organizations who embrace Project Management Best Practices perform better than those which don’t. Organizations which align Projects to Strategy perform better. Organizations with Engage Executive Sponsors deliver better results. Organizations which measure Project Management performance outperform those which don’t.

During our Project Management Office Hours, we hear directly from Industry leaders how to make an impact in our profession. How we, collectively, will Advance Project Management Best Practices, One Listener at a time!

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Joe Pusz started THE PMO SQUAD to bring real world PMO Leadership experience to the consulting space and to advocate for Project Management through his blog PMOJOE.com. The old saying is “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Following this mindset Joe left Corporate America in 2013 to start THE PMO SQUAD and work with fellow Natural Born Project Managers to advance Project Management Best Practices.

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THE PMO SQUAD focuses exclusively on PMO and Project Management consulting. Corporate America is full of Accidental Project Managers running projects who haven’t been trained to be PMs. To help solve this problem THE PMO SQUAD is on the Leading Edge with PMO As a Service. PMO As a Service allows our clients to focus on their respective core competencies while THE PMO SQUAD delivers Project Management expertise. Contact Joe at 678-591-7868. Follow The PMO Squad on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.