Project managers should be comfortable with data.

So let’s start with some numbers that underscore the need for you to learn some project management skills:

• $1 million is wasted every 20 seconds, which equates to $2 trillion a year, by organizations globally because of shoddy implementation of business strategy from poor project management practices, according to a global survey by Project Management Institute.
• A pending shortage of project managers may result in a $207.9 billion GDP loss by 2027.

That’s why you should register for this year’s Virtual Leadership Summit II event.

Federally Employed Women (FEW) will deliver a premier experience, August 9-13, that will help their members advance their careers. The week-long, online training event will offer more than 100 specialized courses on a variety of topics, including EEO, human resources, information technology, project management, as well as management and leadership. All courses align with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Executive Core Competencies (i.e., leading people, leading change, business acumen, result driven and building coalitions). FEW’s virtual platform also will have interactive exhibition features and plenty of opportunities for networking. Registration is open.

As part of this year’s offerings, “Introduction to Project Management Basics” will be available to attendees. This introductory course will provide an overview of project management, explain the five phases of project management and explain basic tools that can be used to manage any project. The participants will get a chance to actively practice completing a simple project plan during the course. The target audience for this session includes human resources professionals, managers, supervisors or those preparing for leadership roles, those new to project management, those who have not managed projects recently and those who have never taken a formal approach to project management.

Sheryl Vogt of Vogt Consulting Inc. will be the instructor for the upcoming training course. Citing a recent trends piece in Forbes magazine, she said project managers will embrace customized or hybrid project management approaches and methodologies. “To be prepared for this trend, anyone who is managing projects should be aware of and comfortable using recognized project management methods,” she says. “This course will introduce new project managers to the five phases and relevant tools for traditional project management. With this introduction, new project managers will have the basis to start using this method and tools in their own projects and also will have taken the first step toward understanding what they will need if they want to advance their project management skills for larger projects.”

Vogt has been working with process improvement programs such as Lean and Six Sigma since 1996 when she was trained as one of the first Black Belts at the General Electric Co. After working successfully as a Black Belt and Master Black Belt in manufacturing, engineering and service areas for General Electric, she began work as an independent consultant in 2000 and started Vogt Consulting Inc. in 2002.

As a consultant, she has assisted numerous organizations in all aspects of their continuous improvement efforts, including developing deployment plans with organizational leaders, mentoring and training individuals and facilitating improvement teams. She has developed and delivered Lean Six Sigma programs for manufacturing, service, health care and government organizations and has trained and mentored hundreds of Black and Green Belts on their projects.

Vogt holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Purdue University.

Register today for FEW’s Virtual Leadership Summit II and start advancing your career with more than 100 training opportunities.