Proposal of a National "Australia" PMI Chapter 

 

 

To Members of the Sydney Chapter;

Your Board, and the Australian PMI Council (APC) are investigating the potential to move towards creating a national PMI organisation in a suitable form. The options for the structure of this body are in the process of being appraised. However, it is envisaged that this will be closely aligned to the existing PMI Global Operations Centre’s (GOCs) Chapter with Branches Model.

The whole concept, and the associated steps, will need to be approved (or not) by the Members in accordance with our Bylaws, NSW State Law and the PMI procedures. Your Board is committed to making this a transparent and inclusive process with full engagement and consultation with the Members. The material below is provided to inform the Membership and to provide a basis for future dialogue.

Briefly, the main advantages of an Australian PMI organisation are to:

  • allow us to speak as a national entity to government and corporate Australia
  • enable us to speak as a national entity to the Australia media
  • enable us to seek, and benefit from, National sponsorship
  • enable us to review,  support and finance speakers on a national basis
  • enable us consolidate key strategic and operational functions at a national level, such as marketing and Certification training
  • enable us to leverage economies of scale in administrative and support operations

PMI’s global Policy is to encourage Chapter's to consolidate into a Chapter with Branches model, where there is a suitable cluster of existing Branches. 

A large amount of informative material can be found at the PMI web site URL  within "Get Involved then Community Development" 

Here are two presentations, from past Leadership Institute Meetings (LIM), which provide information on some of the Branches around the world, that have/are converting to the Chapter with Branches Model:

  • Chapter with Branches presented at 2006 LIM Download here 
  • Lessons Learned from implementing a Chapter with Branches Model presented at USA LIM 2007 Download here

Here is the GOC’s Leader Guide doc (which puts the pros & cons quite well): Download here  


As you can see, there is a considerable body of material and experience to leverage off.
 
Factors to be Considered

1.    The Australian PMI organisation needs to: 
a) be able to be put in place in a cost & effort effective manner
b) be viable once constructed
c) able to be communicated to the Members in an honest and comprehensive manner sufficient for them to vote for it, and then, actively support it 
 

2.     Be scalable to the Australian situation. Of the small number of Chapters that have amalgamated, or are moving to form a Chapter with Branches, to date they have all been: 

a) Under 1,000 members (in the combined total, or considerably less). Note: NZ Chapter, at 1,550 members, is in a different "class" as it was formed at inception as a Chapter with Branches.  The UK Chapter with 4,800 members was formed before the Chapter with Branches model was codified, and it is the closest to our potential situation. As such, we have commenced a dialogue with them to leverage off their experiences.

b) In a small geographic area (Sweden is the largest one to date), within the same time zone and with the ability for the Board to meet F2F on a regularly basis.

c) Currently there are:

i) 2 Chapters that have completed transition to a Chapter Branch model - Sweden with 980 members with 4 Branches, and Williamite (Oregon) with 220 members with 3 Branches,

ii) Poland is yet to complete (some legal issues are apparently being resolved with their government) and 2 Chapters elsewhere in the world are apparently close,

iii) The GOC advises that there are another 26 Chapters who have commenced the process (ie to potentially collapse down to 6 -10 Chapters?)
 

This is a very different situation to that which exists within Australia, where we have over 5,000 members across 5 States and the ACT, and with 3 time zones.  As such this issue of scalability is being examined in detail by the APC and options are being appraised (many other Organisations have faced and successfully dealt with such challenges and thus this is not expected to be a “show stopper”).
 
3.         This Proposal to form an Australian Chapter/Organisation will also be materially affected by the GOC’s ongoing program to directly engage with Governments and Corporates via their permanent Staff located in Representative Offices around the world. In that these Staff will appropriately present themselves to Corporates, Governments, Academia and other Organisations as being the "public and official face" of "PMI in Australia". They will thus inevitably become a focal point for interaction with major Stakeholders and it will be largely irrelevant (or not obvious, or not of any consequence) to these Stakeholders that these PMI Staff do not directly represent the State based Chapters. Thus, these GOC Staff may achieve many of the main objectives, that the Australian Chapter is envisaged to satisfy. However, there will still be considerable value in forming a national Chapter/Organisation to coordinate Chapter/Branch operations and reduce overheads etc.
   

4.         Options 
 
Broad Options that exist include:

  • Creating a new Australian Chapter as a new legal entity. Then dissolving the 6 existing Chapters into the new Chapter and transforming them into 6 Branches,
  • Transforming an existing Chapter into the new Australian Chapter. Then dissolving the remaining 5 existing Chapters into the new Chapter and transforming them into 6 Branches,
  • A phased based approach to move us towards Option “a” or “b”,
  • Stay with the current 6 separate Chapters.

 

Note: Which Capital City the potential Australian Chapter is to be located in, has not yet been determined, and options are being appraised in conjunction with the GOC. 

5.         Organisational Change Approach

This will include:

  • Progressive emails to members to provide periodic updates of developments
  • Articles in the Chapter Newsletter to provide information on specific aspects of the concept
  • Information on the Chapter website, this will include a FAQ section
  • Our Secretary, Gus Sabatino, as a Point of Contact (POC), for email or telephone queries secretary@sydney.pmi.org.au  or 0410 699 371 
  • Biefing sessions at Chapter Breakfast sessions and evening Meetings
  • For those particularly interested – detailed interactive sessions with Members concurrent to the conduct of Chapter Breakfast sessions and evening Meetings
  • Distribution, via email, of proposed Bylaws amendments and or required Votes in accordance with our Bylaws – this to have the specific wording provided, as well as the pros and cons articulated
  • Formal meetings to debate Motions as required
  • Electronic, or in person Votes, on proposed Motions

Please read the material and ponder the issues, as this will be a key strategic crossroads for our Chapter. It is one that will inevitably draw heavily on the Board's time and require considerable ongoing engagement with our Members.

Feel free to give the POC a call, or send him an email (or myself in the second instance), to discuss any aspect of the Chapter with Branches model or the various options and issues.
 
Regards,

President, MPM, PMP
Sydney PMI Chapter, Web Site: www.sydney.pmi.org.au 
Mob: 041 366 2370, Hph: +612 9904 3370, Wph +612 8087 1825
Email: president@sydney.pmi.org.au


 

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