Road Town, Tortola - The Ministry of Finance’s Project Support Services Unit (PSSU) recently facilitated an all-day virtual seminar, “PMXPO 2010 – Virtual Project Management Conference” at the Public Service Training Centre with one of the presentations on project negotiation receiving high marks from the 11 public officers in attendance.

The first session, “Project Negotiations: Deal Yourself a Winning Hand,” was hosted by Mr. Joe Lkas, Vice President of PM Centers USA. Mr. Lkas presented the top ten mistakes made when conducting project negotiations and provided techniques that persons can use to avoid such mistakes.

Participants gave that session high marks and agreed it was “very informative”. Project Analyst with PSSU, Mrs. Deborah Maddox, said that it was “the overall best presentation.”

One participant, Mrs. Jasmine Hodge-Bannis, Conservation Assistant with the Conservation and Fisheries Department said, “I learned when I should be silent, when I should speak, when I should negotiate, and how I should articulate myself.”

“Project negotiation is something that needs to be focused on more. This is a skill that we can improve. In relation to selecting and executing projects, we can do much better if we have better negotiation skills,” said Ms. Lydia Scatliffe, Accounts Supervisor at the Public Works Department.

Regarding what she gained from the workshop, Ms. Scatliffe said she will use the information to help her department “get value for money spent.”

In an interview with the Department of Information and Public Relations, Ms. Shaina M. Smith, Manager of PSSU, said, “This was the second year that the PSSU attended the Project Management Expo by gantthead.com. This year, we invited all public officers to attend as a way to increase service-wide education about project management.”

Ms. Smith added, “An opportunity like this one offers international exposure to public officers about industry best practises, which would enable a public servant to better plan and manage any size project.”

Other topics presented at the May 20 all-day seminar were: “Improving PM Competency with Social Media,” “Hyper Productive Agile,” “The New Public Sector Project Management Office” and “Project Portfolio Management”.

Persons interested in listening to the presentations can contact Mrs. Maddox. For more information regarding other project management workshops, contact the PSSU at 468-3701 ext. 4252.

The Project Support Services Unit was established by the Ministry of Finance to implement and maintain a project management system of policy and procedures to ensure the effective and efficient management of all government projects, with the goal of achieving value for money.