Dear chapter members and those interested in project management,

I hope you had a great summer and have returned safely.

The following figure shows the membership development of the PMI Germany Chapter since the merger of the German chapters at the beginning of 2021. After a longer phase in which the number of members remained largely constant or grew only slightly, we are currently experiencing a highly encouraging increase. - In the case of exchange-traded shares, a stock with such a price trend would certainly be set to “STRONG BUY”.

Now the figure does not reflect a share chart, but the membership development of the PMI Germany Chapter and of course the question arises as to what has led to the growth.

I personally see the following reasons:

1.  The topic of project management is “again” coming more into focus. The world's crises can only be overcome through projects and professional project management. Economic value creation is increasingly taking place in the project form of work. Accordingly, it is important to have well-trained and networked project managers who know their trade. More and more people, especially younger people, see it that way. PMI in general and the PMI Germany Chapter offer a great platform for personal development, further training and networking.
   
2. With PMI:NEXT, PMI has adopted a strategy that focuses more strongly on the project manager target group again. It has moved away from the term “changemaker”, which is perceived very diffusely, especially in non-English-speaking countries. PMI's target group is project managers and people who aspire to manage projects and those who are responsible for managing projects in their organizations. This is also increasingly being recognized in the target group described.
   
   
3. PMI is addressing the right topics that are currently important. First and foremost, there is the topic of AI in project management, in which PMI invests heavily and constantly produces new offerings that are generally free of charge for members. These offers are unique and help to transfer a very complex technology topic into the practice of project management. The acquisition of PMOGA (PMO Global Alliance) and PMWB (Project Managers Without Borders) has also brought PMI to the attention of people who are involved in projects and project management but for whom there were previously no offerings.
   
   
4. With the Global Summit Series, we had a great multi-day congress in Berlin in April, combined with a preceding student hackathon and various accompanying events. This drew a lot of attention to the topic of project management as well as to the PMI organization and the relevance of project management. This had a very positive effect, which continues to have an impact today.
   
   
5. Finally, we as PMI Germany Chapter with our 25 local groups and our many on-site events, our PM Summit taking place in Munich on November 25/26, 2024, our various initiatives, such as the Youth Empowerment Program or the Mentoring Program, our Communities of Practice, etc., also contribute to the fact that project managers are interested in us.

All of this is increasingly being recognized and has led to the PMI Germany Chapter being the chapter with the strongest numerical membership growth in Europe in the first eight months of 2024. Even though membership growth is not a central goal for us, we are of course delighted with the response.

Many thanks to all those who have made this possible and continue to make it possible, to Sandra Deichsel from PMI, who is in constant contact with us to discuss strategy and coordinate joint activities, and to the many volunteers of the PMI Germany Chapter, without whom none of this would be possible.

It is great to be a member of such a community!

Yours sincerely




Wolfgang Friesike