18 06 2023 at 00:00
Interview Jim Roofthooft
Let me continue the series “Everything you wanted to know about the Past Presidents”, with a very active past president…
I would like to introduce you to Jim Roofthooft, President nr 1.
Jim was Founding Vice President PMI Benelux Chapter 1998 – 1999 and President PMI Benelux Chapter 1998-1999.
Hello Jim,
As a first question I would like to ask you: how are you doing?
Fine, enjoying my retirement (I’m 74) with my family (daughter and grand-children), my dog (daily walks in the park or in the Ardennes) and still occupied with my hobby: electronics (tube amplifiers and microprocessors).
How did you come to PMI BeNeLux/Belgium Chapter? And why did you decide to take the mandate as President?
It’s a long history. In the ’80 ies’ I did a lot of “projects” and decided that there must be a better way to manage them so I got interested in the subject and researched the literature I could find (Internet was not what it is today!). This had a positive impact on my work and also NCR (the company I worked for) became more project oriented. They gave me the opportunity to study for a “Master certificate in Project Management” from the George Washington University in the States. That’s how I got in contact with PMI US. There were only 2 PMI members in Belgium. I never knew the name of the other person. I obtained my PMP certification end 1992.
NCR was taken over by AT&T and during the merger a PM group (SME: Subject Matter Experts) was created of which I got the lead (Director for PM in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa). One of the initiatives of the group was to increase the number of PMP’s in order to increase our success rate of our projects. So, I decided to create a PMI Chapter for Northern Europe (no other Chapter existed in these countries). In April ‘95 PMI US accepted my request as a potential Chapter.
I organized several meetings to get the necessary traction thanks to sponsor companies (there was no funding so we had to rely on sponsors for meeting rooms and refreshments, principle we are still using) like: Jansens Research, Microframe, Oracle, Cap Gemini, Artemis, Eurocontrol, Microsoft, NCR).
NCR separated again from AT&T and during that time I got no time to create a Charter and Bylaws to create a real Chapter.
In January 1997 I got an interview with Data News and this really started the interest in Belgium for Project Management and PMI.
In June 97 I went, together with Louis Mercken (co-founder of the Chapter) to Paris for the first PMI Europe meeting. We started a workgroup to create the Charter, Bylaws but also the legal Belgium documents and this was the real take-off of the Benelux Chapter.
Such an interesting story about the beginning of project management and the creation of our Chapter.
What do you remember from that time?
It was a hectic time organizing activities, first solo and thereafter only with a few people (many thanks to all who helped during that period) but once we got visible on the Belgian market, we got the help of many more volunteers using their own experience, contacts and relationships to grow the Chapter.
During your mandate, what is your best experience?
In the early days I got the support and finance from NCR (the company I worked for) for organizing meetings and refreshments in their building, to organize the mailings (still by post at that time) and that there are still a lot of good people willing to volunteer for a not-for-profit organization.
And what a bad experience?
The slow progress we made in the beginning (’92 – ’97)
If you look into the mirror, how do you evaluate your mandate? What would you do differently?
Get earlier in contact with the media to make PMI visible to companies, universities, training organizations and all people interested in PM.
And what would you wish it still existed?
I do not know what our contacts are with the Scandinavian countries, but I regret that I lost contact with them over time.
How to attract members to become presidents?
It’s a new experience, outside of your comfort zone of your daily work and to get in contact with people from different industries, responsible for different types of projects with different requirements and methods. It opens your view on PM but also enriches your contacts and relationships within other industries.
What do you advise to the current president and to the coming presidents?
I no longer have a view on the membership but one of the industries, the building industry, was largely underrepresented in the past. On the other hand, it is one of the first type of industry that uses PM’s. If we want to increase our knowledge/experience in PM and the impact of the Chapter, we need to involve as many different industries as possible.
Unfortunately, that’s still the case… Less members are coming from the building industry.
Any anecdote to share with us?
It was one of the first meetings where we had more than 40 participants.
The meeting was held in the NCR building and I was not aware that at 8 o’clock all the lights in the meeting rooms went out automatically. There was no panic, but it took me some time to find the override button.
How do you imagine the PMI Belgium Chapter in the future? And how do you imagine Project Management?
I think that PM is going to change a lot over the coming years. PM was already changing the last decennia with new approaches, methods, like Agile, the use of the web, electronic communications, and social media. I do not know what the impact of AI will be on the PM profession?
What can I wish you for in the future?
My professional career has ended. A good health to continue enjoying family, dog and hobbies.
I wish you all the best.
Do I miss an important question for you?
No, I think we covered all points.
What do you want to also share with us?
Continue the good work with the Chapter!!
I would like to thank you very much for agreeing to share your experience with our members and I am looking forward to welcoming you at the PM Fair on 13th of October 2023.
Christine Dassy
President 2022-2023
