View source for Draft2:Project Leadership Institute

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The '''Project Leadership Institute''' (PLI) is a program designed to cultivate a diverse network of successful DOE project delivery practitioners—those capable of delivering major high-risk projects. The PLI program participants contribute to building a culture of project management excellence across DOE.

The Department of Energy has a long history of executing highly technical one-of-a-kind projects to accomplish its mission.  Continuous improvement of [[project management]] practices and the cultivation of the next generation of project leaders are critical to our future success.  In this light, the [[Secretary of Energy]] called for the creation of the PLI in his December, 2014 memorandum, {{PDFLink|File:Improving the Department's Management of Projects.pdf|Improving the Department's Management of Projects}} (Retired).  Over the course of 2015 and 2016, the [[Office of Science]] led a planning effort to craft the PLI program.

It is run by [[SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory]] on behalf of Office of Science.

{{Official URL|text=pli-slac.stanford.edu|url=https://pli-slac.stanford.edu/}}

== Mission ==
The mission of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Project Leadership Institute (PLI) program is to cultivate a diverse network of successful DOE project delivery practitioners—those capable of delivering major high-risk projects. The PLI program participants contribute to building a culture of project management excellence across DOE.

== Vision ==
The vision for the PLI program is to provide cohort participants with a prestigious, transformational professional development experience that is simultaneously both a leadership development and project delivery course of study and practice, tailored to the DOE context. The program is rigorous and intensive.  It will include experiential learning components and interaction with leaders from a variety of fields. Participants will undertake self assessment activities to reveal strengths and potential weaknesses in the project leadership context. The PLI program will emphasize critical leadership development principles including stakeholder communications, perspective-taking, ethics, service, and self-reflection.

The program will offer a structured point of entry into the DOE project leadership community. Today, new entrants into this community typically rely on ad hoc interactions and project peer reviews to make connections outside of their home institution. The PLI will provide a “front door” means to gain access to the community’s collective experiences and perspectives through the network of PLI alumni, Board members, and instructors/speakers. Alumni will continue to contribute to and derive value from the network well beyond their cohort participation. The PLI network will amplify support of project delivery excellence through individual service exemplified by peer review and mentorship.

The PLI program participants and administrators will, over time, accelerate the pace of learning. Together they will build a library of knowledge in the form of publications, recordings, case studies, reflections, and other materials that will articulate insights and lessons learned from DOE projects. This knowledge will have broad benefit, not only to the PLI network, but also to the wider DOE complex. The PLI will promote the development of tools and informational resources that aid DOE project executives, project teams, and other key participants in major projects.

A key indicator of the PLI program’s success will be the willingness and enthusiasm of prospective participants and their Laboratory Directors (or equivalent senior executives) to seek the opportunity. A successful PLI will be regarded by a broad cross section of DOE’s programs and contractor organizations as an essential career/workforce development resource.

==Core functions==
The PLI program has the following characteristics intended to fulfill the [[Project Leadership Institute#Learning objectives|Learning Objectives]]:

* It is cohort-based: each calendar year a new cohort of roughly 20-25 participants from across the DOE complex will participate as a group. 
* It will provide cohort participants with a prestigious, transformational professional development experience that is simultaneously both a leadership development and project delivery course of study and practice, tailored to the DOE context.  It will emphasize experiential learning components and interaction with leaders from a variety of fields.
* It will emphasize critical leadership development principles including execution of complex projects, stakeholder communications, leading effective teams, and the role of a project leader.  Participants will undertake self-assessment activities to reveal strengths and potential weaknesses in the project leadership context.
* It will promote the development of tools and informational resources that aid DOE project executives, project teams, and other key participants in major projects.
* It will be rigorous and intensive.  It features six instructional sessions (five in-person, one on-line), and a year-long capstone project.  The full commitment of the cohort member and support from the sponsoring institution will be required.
* A certificate of PLI program completion will be issued to those who fulfill the program requirements.  Participants will earn professional development units (PDUs) for Project Management Professional certification.

==Learning objectives==

=== Creating Effective Strategies and Managing Risks ===

* M1: Prioritizing, implementing, and enabling a proactive safety culture from project inception to closeout
* M2: Anticipating and managing project risks through rigorous analytical methods
* M3: Employing effective front-end and acquisition planning
* M4: Negotiating equitable partnering arrangements and contracts
* M5: Employing effective decision-making processes to make high quality, data-driven decisions
* M6: Developing and implementing effective systems engineering-centric approaches
* M7: Managing effective change management processes
* M8: Analyzing and aligning strategy, structure, and culture

=== Becoming a more Effective Leader ===

* L1: Exercising resiliency in challenging and stressful scenarios
* L2: Growing awareness of diversity engagement and inclusive leadership principles, including bias recognition
* L3: Enhancing emotional intelligence and self-awareness required to lead diverse teams.
* L4: Developing a leadership mindset

=== Leading High-Performing Teams ===

* T1: Building high-quality teams that demonstrate consideration for varied skills, strengths, experience, and potential
* T2: Setting and managing clear team expectations and accountability
* T3: Modeling authentic leadership
* T4: Demonstrating awareness of cultural differences and inclusive team practices
* T5: Creating the conditions for constructive conflict and group ideation.
* T6: Using strong and effective communication skills to build trusting relationships, give effective feedback, and ask for help

=== Managing Partnerships and Building Trust Relationships in the Department of Energy ===

* D1: Demonstrating awareness of relevant organizational history, culture, and operating dynamics that inform a leader’s ability to effectively anticipate opportunities and foresee challenges
* D2: Achieving effective performance management in matrix-organization contexts, including those that are multi-cultural and multi-institutional
* D3: Creating and facilitating inter-lab or inter-site partnership agreements
* D4: Demonstrating effective communication skills and practices that are tailored to diverse stakeholder groups and individuals
* D5: Creating alignment among primary stakeholders through development of clear, concise, consensus project goals

== Leadership ==
See [https://pli-slac.stanford.edu/pli-staff-and-contacts PLI Staff and Contacts].

== Contact ==
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

2575 Sand Hill Road

Menlo Park, CA 94025

E-mail: {{Email|address=pli@slac.stanford.edu|name=}}

==Related links==

* [[Learning Nucleus]]
* [[Learning management system]]

== External links ==

* [https://pli-slac.stanford.edu/ Official site]
* [https://scpd.stanford.edu/ Stanford Center for Professional Development]

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