February 2020 Newsletter

 Dinner Meeting Recap

Feb 2020 Professional Development Dinner Meeting: "Disciplined Agile Certification & PMI Integration" (2 PDU's). If you attended, please remember that PDUs are self-reported. This month's fall under the strategic category. The organization code is C079 and can be found typing in “Northeast” a list will display to choose from:

Now back to our speaker, Joshua Barnes. Did you know:

• He is the founder of Process Mentors
• 1 of 8 Disciplined Agile Instructor Trainers (DAIT) in the world. Yes, world!
• CDAC, CDA, SPC, PSM and the list goes on and on

So what is a Process Mentor? They help organizations adopt modern ways of delivering value through their products using Lean and Agile principles in context of solving complex problems.

Joshua walked us through the the Disciplined Agile(DA) principles, processes and various tracks for certification. PMI purchased DA back in 2019. At this time, a PMI user may not have access to all documenation, guides, etc. There are currently over 100 practices for DA. These practices include several overlaps between the PMP processes and DA. With that said, there are also gaps in the process. The bottom line is that this is an ever evolving process, and a challenging undertaking for all involved parties. The good news is this: Performing DA increases the probability of success AND a unified process.

The Seven Principles:

To learn more about these principles: https://disciplinedagiledelivery.com/principles/

In addition to the principles, there are various “lifecycles” that should be understood as to what works best for you and your customer. While they may have an idea of what would work best for them, it is your responsibility as a PM to pave the right path. There are currently seven lifecycles. Each one carries their own advantages and disadvantages. These include the complexity of the project, the team size, the need to get the item to market or put into place, and of course cost. Please visit the Disciplined Agile website for more details: https://disciplinedagiledelivery.com/lifecycle/.

There are six different certification levels (see list below) with varying qualifiers in each level. Each certification is based on project types or needs, qualifying experience, and future career goals. Joshua stressed that participants should be prepared for a rather challenging process.

1. Disciplined Agilist (DA)
2. Certified Disciplined Agilist (CDA)
3. Certified Disciplined Agile Practitioner (CDAP)
4. Disciplined Agile Lean Scrum Master (DALSM)
5. Certified Disciplined Agile Coach (CDAC)
6. Certified Disciplined Agile Instructor (CDAI)

Joshua provided our local chapter with a surpise and an upcoming treat! PMI-NEFL chapter will be looking to select ONE chapter member to become a DA Champion. Who will it be? Stay tuned for more information on the website and check your emails! We enjoyed our evening with Joshua and look forward to hearing more from him in the future. If interested in learning more please contact Joshua at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Or on twitter at @JoshuaBarnes

And finally, there will be a two day DALSM workshop in Jacksonville in late March or early April. The first 6 registrants will get a 15% discount. Please contact Joshua Barnes directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

SkillFest2020 Photos (Follow-up)

Anyone who signed up for a portrait using “Sign up Genius”, please check your email or spam folder for an email from: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Your portraits will be in a folder that expires 1 month from the date of the receipt of the email! If there are any issues, please contact Connie Pirkle at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Upcoming Events

Please check out our events page for all event registration information

Chapter News

• The Military Outreach Team has a new VP role! Please congratulate Shelon Pounds, MBA, MA, PMP.
• The Technology and Communication Team has 2 new VP’s! With Eric Rakov (current VP of Technology and Communications) stepping aside, the Board of Directors decided to split the current role into two VP roles. We are pleased to announce our new VP of Communications, Sheryl Eliam, PMP, and our new VP of Technology, Amanda Johnson, PMP, PSM, LSSYB.
• And for those who attended the dinner session a big shout to Vanessa Stewart for the fresh scrolling powerpoint presentation. The updated version is awesome!

The board held their semi-annual meeting the weekend of February 8 offsite in Jekyll Island.

Some of the highlights:

• Each VP presented an update out on their progress / results from their 2019 goals and discussed what worked / what didn't work.
• Each VP collaborated with their teams (as well as other VPs) and presented their objectives, SMART goals and action plan for 2020.
• Teams also participated in several facilitated ice breakers and a leadership training session focused on effective delegation.

We will start to see the fruits of their labor in the upcoming weeks and months. We will be sporting a fresh new website that will encompass the new PMI logo. There will be emails coming out soon asking our opinions on what the local chapter logo should look like. There was a sneak peek of what it might look like at the last Dinner Meeting. We welcome ideas!

The chapter is also working towards more networking events. We are trying to connect with our members in the outlying areas by holding events in the Daytona, Palm Coast, Gainesville, and other partnering areas. This is great news for our fellow members who cannot drive to Jacksonville!

AND finally, more to come, but there is some chatter about some PMI Master Class. Hmmmm, I wonder what this is all about?

Member Spotlight

This month we are pleased to have the spotlight on chapter member Mark Heggestad. He is one heck of an interesting person. I know that some of you reading this will appreciate his side gig! Let us get started:

• How did you get into the profession of Project Management? Are you certified and if so, for how long? I have been working in IT for 32 years. I graduated with two majors, MIS and Management. I began my career as a COBOL programmer and migrated to team leader, platform director and eventually moved into Project Management and working with PMO's. I have been a PMP since 2004 and a Certified Scrum Master since 2016
• Would you like to share some interesting jobs/projects/accomplishments/”war room” stories? I am also a football official and have been for 35 years. I have worked 3 state championships, 3 NCAA playoff games, worked training camp for the Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings and now the Jacksonville Jaguars. I actually use Agile to manage our college football crew. There are many similarities between a football team (in this case the officials) and Agile. My training as a project manager helps in many ways. For example:
  • Scrum Master= Crew Chief
  • SCRUM Team = Crew of 7 officials
  • Product Owner = Supervisor
  • Roadmap = Season Schedule
  • Sprint Planning = contacting school, crew, setting timeline, travel (flights, hotels) and meals
  • Scrum = Study, Pre-game meeting and game
  • Sprint review = Game Reports, paperwork and supervisor follow ups
  • Retrospective = Film Review, Grades from Supervisor

Each week of the season, we follow this "sprint" and while no two games are the same, we take great pride in being prepared, working a good game and constantly getting better. Building a high performing team is the same if you are running a SCRUM team or a football crew/team. Here is Mark in action. Some of you I am sure will recognize some of the team’s:

• The best advice I got in the beginning of the career and still use today is…"Fall in love with Practice" - It takes 10,000 hours to learn how to play a violin. There is no way to learn to play a violin, unless you love to practice playing it. As project managers, scrum masters and IT leaders, we are "practitioners"…that means that we "practice" what we do all of the time. If practicing is all you do, you need to love doing it. It helps me to remember that when I am preparing/presenting a project deliverable (plan, status report, etc.), that I am always practicing. You can practice in other ways as well - reading the PMBOK, learning SCRUM, mastering PM tools like MS Project, Jira, Azure, Dev Ops etc. If it seems like a chore, just remember…You are practicing! If you look at an athlete like Tom Brady, his height, speed and abilities were above average, but what makes him great is that he loves to practice. What he eats, exercise, film and study. People who are great at what they do, do not work hard and they love to practice.
• When I am not working, you can find me… Golfing, biking, officiating or hanging out by our pool.
• Anything else you want to share about yourself / your journey? Fun facts? My wife decided she was sick of the cold and wanted to move to Florida. It has been wonderful. The people, the weather it is awesome! And for those sports buffs: In 2003, I was on the field when John Gagliardi broke the NCAA record for the most college football wins. ESPN made a film of John and I. You can find my cameo at 4:20 of the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4cU73z8Jdg I called the winning touchdown. In another NCAA record, I was on the field in 2005 when Kirk Talley won two games in the same day. Kirk now coaches in Florida at Warner University in Lakeland. Both records will likely never be broken in our lifetime 😊 https://youtu.be/G_VePbdj7xE

Chapter Opportunities

Speaker Engagements: Do you know or work with a local professional, senior PMP colleague, or community/business leader that you would want to hear give a presentation on project leadership, skills and techniques, or a specific knowledge area within the project management profession?

If you answered “yes,” we would love to hear from you! This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or submit your recommendation online.

Volunteer: There are other ways to get involved with the local chapter. We are always looking for ideas and venues for networking events. AND there are always opportunities to volunteer. Not only with the local chapter but within your own community.

Please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or register online.

PDU Claims

If you have attended previous chapter events, remember to claim your PDUs!

Find a list of PDUs from previous events here.

Find out how to claim your PDUs here.

Thank you to our sponsor, Nova Southeaster University - Jacksonville Campus!

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