• Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria co-organized a panel on the role of women in project management
• The discussion was moderated by Tsvetanka Mintcheva, member of the Management Board of CWBB

What qualities women need to make a career in project management and what steps companies should take to promote equality. These were just some of the topics discussed by participants of the panel “Using the female force to close gender gap in project management” during the PMDay Bulgaria 2018 forum. The Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria (CWBB) was co-organizer of the panel which was moderated by Tsvetanka Mintcheva, Head of Global Banking Services Division and Member of the Management board of UniCredit Bulbank and member of the Management Board of CWBB. The other participants in the discussion were Irena Zhoteva, Irina Panayotova, Milena Hadjiivanova, Nina Prodanova-Lozeva and Mihail Mihaylov.

This panel aims to address the issue of equality, said Tsvetanka Mincheva at the opening. Corporations must create preconditions for equality and support women, Milena Hadjiivanova commented.

Mihail Mihaylov pointed out that companies should provide their female employees with opportunities for development. “We need to work on the stereotypes. If there is a proper attitude, everything is possible”, said Irena Zhoteva. Nina Prodanova shared that most of the people working in the field of project management were women. Female team members manage to balance emotions and are much better at multitasking, Mihail Mihaylov also commented.

An important part of the discussion was devoted to the qualities that a woman needs to possess in order to have a career in the project management field. According to Irina Panayotova, ladies need more self-confidence as well as to show their team members and colleagues that they believe in what they are doing. According to Mihail Mihaylov, however, the ladies should not try to be “more men” than necessary. He recommended them to have a firm stance and a soft approach.

An online poll among the audience outlined some of the qualities that a PM specialist should have – leadership, communication skills, dealing with multiple tasks, and so on.

Panelists shared their own experience in the PM field. Irina Panayotova said her skills in this professional sphere helped her in a difficult personal situation. Tsvetanka Mincheva also talked about her experience in PM.