Excerpt from Marilyn Smith's Bi Weekly address dated 2/7/2012:
In the winter of FY2011, a group of staff from across the department came together to brainstorm and develop resources to support project efforts in IS&T. This group became known as the PMBA Working Group.
Initially, the group focused on creating and piloting tools and templates for the initial phases of a project, with the intention of making them helpful, accessible, and easy to use. What they fostered in the process was communication, teamwork and a positive work environment. This has now evolved into the beginnings of an IS&T Project Community of Practice - a place to share project related information and experiences that is open to all staff who want to participate. It is intended to be a learning community that enables staff to develop personally and professionally through both conversation and collaboration.
To get things started, the working group has developed three components:
- A public wiki (https://wikis-mit-edu.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/confluence/x/LLCsB) that houses the tools and templates for project planning (and eventually all phases as community contributions grow)
- A group of volunteer coaches to partner with and support individual projects and staff (https://wikis-mit-edu.ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/confluence/x/BpuZB)
- A list-serv to ask questions, post comments and communicate information (email ist-cop@mit.edu* to join)
I would like to acknowledge the staff who have guided and participated in this effort over the past year: Wendy Bastos, Deb Bowser, Myra Hope Eskridge, Kate Fontanella, Marco Gomes, Amon Horne, Barbara Johnson, Bill McAvinney, Karon McCollin , Kevin Mullins, Anne Silvester, Lori Singer, Joanne Stevenson, Patricia Sheppard (facilitator) and Doug Walsh. And special thanks to Elaine Aufiero, who has served as scribe for the effort since its inception.
If you would like to know more, have feedback or are interested in exploring opportunities to collaborate on future efforts, feel free to reach out to any of staff mentioned above or send an email to the list.