After two years of cooperation between the non-profit association WECF and the Social Responsibility Program of the PMI Germany Chapter, the introduction of the project management manual "Project Execution Masterplan" was successfully completed. In particular, the focus has been on the introduction and establishment of project management standards in WECF’s department of "Energy & Climate."
The cooperation partner, WECF e.V. Germany, is a non-profit association based in Munich and is a member of the international network WECF (WECF stands for Women Engage for a Common Future, Link: https://www.wecf.org), which includes more than 150 women's, environmental and health organizations that carry out projects in 50 countries – with the goal of creating a just, sustainable, and healthy environment for all.
To introduce and establish professional project management at WECF – that was the clear shared vision of the collaboration project between August 2019 and May 2021, which was led by Chris Schiebel, Volunteer at PMI Germany Chapter.
Developing a project management handbook was the main objective of the joint initiative under the name "Project Execution Master Plan." The project management knowledge imparted was to be applied step by step as a new standard. To this end, the project participants were trained, and the methods applied were refined in a WECF-specific manner. The approach to manage projects in a structured and sustainable way with the “Project Execution Master Plan” was based on a structure derived from the PMBOK® Guide 6th Edition and the key documents described therein.
WECF is basically working on many projects in different countries and on several topics, which differ greatly, especially in their complexity and the degree of predetermined structure. Therefore, in the development and implementation of the Project Execution Master Plan, particular attention was paid to projects as "pilots," which are mainly structured and managed independently by WECF. One pilot project was “Green Energy in the Hands of Citizens” in Ethiopia.
Installation of photovoltaic panels on the roof of a coffee cooperative in Ethiopia (Photo: OCFCU)
Because of the project management competencies now imparted at WECF and the jointly developed "Project Execution Masterplan", the PMI Germany Chapter has indirectly, but sustainably, made a social contribution – a core task of the Social Responsibility Program to indirectly support non-profit organizations by imparting project management competencies, which they could not afford otherwise – help for self-help, in other words.
After over two years of successively defining, using, optimizing, and establishing the PM handbook, Katharina Habersbrunner, Team Leader "Energy, Climate and Gender" WECF e.V. Germany, was very satisfied:
"Through the support, WECF has been empowered to deliver better outcomes for sustainable societies."
Background information about this initiative in the issue 01/2022 of the PMI Germany Chapter Magazine
More about the Social Responsibility Program of the PMI Germany Chapter e.V. here.