E99 Don’t be a Waiter with Ben Peters
In this episode of Project Management Office Hours, Ben Peters and PMO Joe discussed Ben’s journey in the PMO space, Portfolio Management along with Engineering and Project Management in Cape Town!
Ben’s unique experience as professional spans over 18 years within the mining, oil and gas, telecoms, food, health care and the government sectors. With significant experience as a seasoned professional in all aspects of Project Management.
As we learn about his story and path into the PMO space he started not within the Project Management field rather an industrial engineering. “After industrial engineering studies, I found myself in the project management space applying those industrial engineering principles—Always be proactive. I am known within the city of Cape Town as an implementer, as a driver, as a continuous enforcer. I’m striving for change. I like change. I’m not waiting for anything because it’s just changing your mindset and maximizing those skills in the project management field.” Those early career experiences were setting the stage for a successful Project Management career as he learned the importance of mindset, organization, and management.
Ben shared that he enjoys solving problems and helping others. In Cape town he worked on a project to help citizens impacted with Covid-19. “You sometimes take it for granted, but it’s a great contribution that we do in the project management group that we’re touching lives. I think that’s the reason why I keep on working in this space.” As a government agency it is amazing to see the applications in project management take place and have such an impact on so many lives. We often tend to think of just business when it comes to PMO, however it applies to anything as Ben has experienced.
Connect with Ben:
Company Website – www.capetown.gov.za
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-peters-b-eng-hons-pr-eng-pmp-pr-cpm-mba-3a24bb7/
Or see the guest list for upcoming shows – https://www.thepmosquad.com/podcast
Thank you to THE PMO SQUAD and The PMO Leader for sponsoring this show.
The PMO Squad is a leading provider of PMO and Project Management services in the US. They assist clients building and improving PMOs, provide Project Management Consulting services, deliver custom Project Management Training and provide Project Management staffing services.
Learn more about The PMO Squad – www.thepmosquad.com
Where do PMO Leaders go for Information, Learning, Networking and Services? The PMO Leader community has “Everything You Need to Become a Great PMO Leader”. One PMO World, One Community!
Learn more about The PMO Leader – www.thepmoleader.com
Cape Town, colloquially named the Mother City, is home to just under 4.5 million and 1.5 million households. The City is an independent sphere of government, which has a broad range of powers and functions in its execution of its constitutional obligations. 
It is a growing city, by 2030 we expect 5.12 million people to be residing in Cape Town, where growth is characterized as both formal and informal. Approximately 3.5 million people live in formal residential conditions, while approximately 500 000 people resides informal, vulnerable conditions.
The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring socio-economic crisis has exacerbated conditions, especially for the most vulnerable.
Looking forward, it is projected that there will be a sharp increase in unemployment, increase in business closures, and increasing inequality and hunger.
Considering the contextual specificities of Cape Town, value creation in the public sector is not just about the rate of expenditure but the about benefits created and engendered in projects and programmes for all stakeholders AND residents.
Excellence in project, program and portfolio management it critical to ensure the City of Cape Town is able to continue to deliver on what is needed and what is promised with the intended outcomes, so as to ensure benefit to all residents.
The City of Cape Town’s Corporate Project, Programme Portfolio Management (C3PM) Department in its current form has been a decade in the making, having undergone multiple iterations of structure and ways of operating. It is now a global leader in pioneering benefits in the public sector.
Barend Daniel’s (Ben) Peters’ experience as professional spans over 18 years (15 years’ senior management) within the mining, oil and gas, telecoms, food, health care and the government sectors.
He has significant experience as a professional engineer, project manager, programme manager, portfolio manager and senior manager in construction, information technology and business improvement industries. He has advanced portfolio, programme and project management, general management and leadership capabilities.
Ben has been exposed to multiple project, programme and portfolio management frameworks and lifecycles. He is capable of sharing his knowledge in creative and innovative ways. He is well known for my strengths as an implementer and solution finder / solver to any given problem. I am a confident decision maker.
Ben has achieved the highest status of Gold Winner in the International Project Management Association (IPMA) Achievement Award as Young Project Manager of the Year in 2016. He was also recognised as Employee of the year within the Corporate Services Directorate, City of Cape Town in 2018. With these achievement, he has proved that with his unique approach, he is in the “Top League” and a master of his craft.
The Water Resilience Programme in Cape Town received bronze for Innovate Project of the year where he was the Programme Manager.
As Director of the Corporate Project Management Office, the PMO has received honours of Gold (winner) for the 2020 South African PMO of the year, African PMO of the year 2021 and Top 4 for the Global PMO awards under his leadership.
Ben is an active member at the South African Institute of Industrial Engineering and Project Management Institution, President for the Association for Project Management South Africa and Head of the International Project Management Smarter Cities Special Interest Group.
His senior management experience inspired him to obtain more knowledge within the business and management environment and therefore he completed his MBA (Master in Business Administration) in 2019 at the University of Edinburgh (Herriot Watt Business School).
Ben is a sports fanatic in his private life. He believes in a team culture and loves all sports. He is a keen tri-athlete, MTB rider.
Connect with Ben on LinkedIn.
ABOUT PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE HOURS SERIES
Project Management Office Hours is intended to provide Project Management professionals a place to drop in and discuss Success Stories, Best Practices, and Lessons Learned. Project Management Consultant Joy Gumz has shared with us, “Operations keep the lights on, strategy provides the light at the end of the tunnel, but project management is the train engine that moves the organization forward.”
Each of us has a unique story to tell, but collectively we share a message that organizations who embrace Project Management Best Practices perform better than those which don’t. Organizations which align Projects to Strategy perform better. Organizations with Engage Executive Sponsors deliver better results. Organizations which measure Project Management performance outperform those which don’t.
During our Project Management Office Hours, we hear directly from Industry leaders how to make an impact in our profession. How we, collectively, will Advance Project Management Best Practices, One Listener at a time!
ABOUT YOUR HOST
Joe Pusz started THE PMO SQUAD to bring real world PMO Leadership experience to the consulting space and to advocate for Project Management through his blog PMOJOE.com. The old saying is “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Following this mindset Joe left Corporate America in 2013 to start THE PMO SQUAD and work with fellow Natural Born Project Managers to advance Project Management Best Practices.
ABOUT OUR SPONSOR
THE PMO SQUAD focuses exclusively on PMO and Project Management consulting. Corporate America is full of Accidental Project Managers running projects who haven’t been trained to be PMs. To help solve this problem THE PMO SQUAD is on the Leading Edge with PMO As a Service. PMO As a Service allows our clients to focus on their respective core competencies while THE PMO SQUAD delivers Project Management expertise. Contact Joe at 678-591-7868. Follow The PMO Squad on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
Where do PMO Leaders go for Information, Learning, Networking and Services? The PMO Leader community has “Everything You Need to Become a Great PMO Leader”. One PMO World, One Community! Learn more about The PMO Leader – www.thepmoleader.com
