Virtual Luncheon | Rob Hanna | When Good Projects Do Bad Things

Ways of Working

PMI Honolulu Hawaii Chapter Virtual Meeting

Title: When Good Projects Do Bad Things

Speaker: Robert Hanna

Date: Friday, October 22, 2021 | 12:00 Noon - 1:00 PM HST

Topic Description: After becoming a successful software project manager, Robert became a turnaround specialist for troubled projects. Join us as Robert shares common issues that arise on projects and, more importantly, techniques he has used to resolve them. Whether you're just getting started with a project, currently in the middle of one, or recently completed one, you'll gain strategies to recognize and address issues that many projects face.

Learning Objectives: Share issues that arise on projects and techniques to resolve them. Common issues include:

Poor requirements management
Unclear roles and responsibilities
Insufficient time for testing
Responsibility without authority
Scope creep
Lack of transparency
Unmanaged risk

Speaker Bio: Robert Hanna works at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), managed by the California Institute of Technology, as a Strategic Planner in the laboratory’s Project Support Office. He performs critical assignments, provides process improvements, and supplies strategic inputs across the laboratory’s spaceflight, technology and science missions. In addition, Mr. Hanna teaches Project Management and Strategic Decision Making with Data Analytics to executive MBA students in the U.S. and Southeast Asia with the University of Hawaii Shidler School of Business.

At one point during his career Robert managed the $28 million dollar Mission Operations and Navigation Toolkit Environment (MONTE) software project. MONTE was first used to successfully navigate the NASA Phoenix Lander to the planet Mars in 2009. Since that time, MONTE has been used to fly spacecraft by space agencies around the globe and is considered to be the world’s gold standard for deep space navigation.

Mr. Hanna received his MBA with honors from the University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Applied Physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He has received numerous awards for his work, including NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal, one of the agency’s highest individual honors.