English BookClub May 2026

This Month’s Focus Book
Business Acumen for Project Managers: Everything You Need to Know to Succeed as a Project or Program Manager
by Steven Haines
Presenter: Emma Simon, PMP - Technical Project & Program Manager, Women in Projects Network
Emma is an experienced technical project and program manager with extensive experience in complex international environments, She is an active contributor to the Women in Projects Network. She’s passionate about helping project professionals strengthen their technical and soft skills.

Event Description
In this May edition of the Nexus of Learning Book Club, we explore Business Acumen for Project Managers by Steven Haines - a practical guide to understanding how organisations make decisions, what numbers matter, and how to link project delivery to business value.
Read with us: We warmly invite current members and new joiners to get the book and read along. We’ll review key chapters together and host a guided discussion on the call. No time to read beforehand? You’re still very welcome - join, get inspired, and network with peers; the session is designed to spark your curiosity and motivate you to read the book afterwards to deepen your technical and business knowledge.
Emma will walk through the most relevant chapters and examples to help you translate business concepts into day‑to‑day project decisions - covering how organisations evaluate opportunities, which data and financial indicators shape choices, how to connect project outcomes to value, and the kinds of calculations/metrics commonly referenced in product and portfolio conversations.

What You Will Gain
Reading the book and joining the session will help you to understand:
• how product‑driven organisations evaluate options and make investment decisions,
• the data, indicators, and value drivers that inform business cases,
• practical ways to link project outcomes to measurable business value, and
• the numbers behind projects (including basic calculations and metrics) so you can speak confidently with finance, product, and leadership.
You’ll receive high‑impact highlights and a structured reading guide in the session; reading the book alongside the discussion gives you the full context and depth beyond what we can cover live, so you’ll be well‑placed to apply these ideas end‑to‑end in your projects.

Agenda:
18:30 – 19:00 CET Networking & Opening Remarks
19:00 – 20:00 CET Book Review, Discussion

PDUs:
You will earn 1.5 PDUs for your PMP certification (Business Acumen).
Additional PDUs can be submitted for reading the book.

Please address any questions to martin.bertram@pmi-gc.de

LinkedIn Community:
Women in Projects Network: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/9060376/
Book Club: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/10045952/