Calendar of Events

September 2026 PMI Austin Lunch & Learn  

Headline: You Don’t Need a Title to Lead: Using Influence to Drive Change and Deliver Results

Practical ways to lead change without formal authority.

PMI Austin Lunch & Learn | Thursday, September 17, 2026 | 12:00–1:00 p.m. CT | Virtual 

Earn 1 PDU | Power Skills

Open to members and nonmembers

People at every level can influence decisions and help their teams move change forward. Credibility, strong relationships and a clear understanding of stakeholders often matter as much as formal authority.

In this virtual PMI Austin Lunch & Learn, Andrea Pratt-Smith, MBA, PMP, will explain the difference between authority and influence. Through practical examples, she will help participants map their sphere of influence, understand what resistance may be signaling and decide how to challenge the status quo constructively.

You’ll leave with a practical influence approach you can apply to a current challenge and one action to take next.

You’ll learn how to:

· Recognize when authority is needed and when influence may be more effective.

· Identify the people, relationships and decision points within your sphere of influence.

· Apply a practical influence approach to a current workplace challenge.

· Choose one action to take after the session.

About the speaker

Andrea Pratt-Smith, MBA, PMP, is an award-winning Agile practitioner, project management consultant, trainer, facilitator and international speaker with more than 20 years of experience helping leaders and teams turn ideas into meaningful results.

She is CEO of Creative Minds Project Development & Consultation and founder of The Bahamas Agile & Project Management Community (BAPMC), a professional community dedicated to building connections, sharing knowledge and creating opportunities for project management and Agile professionals.

Andrea is a licensed Professional Kanban Trainer and the first licensed Professional Kanban Trainer in the Caribbean. She also teaches for a PMI Authorized Training Partner, with courses in project management, Agile, Kanban, leadership and team effectiveness. Her sessions emphasize practical tools that participants can use in their own organizations, regardless of job title.

Cost: $8 Members | $13 Nonmembers 

Register: https://pmiaustin.org/calendar-of-events 

The meeting link and instructions will be emailed to you upon registration within your receipt.

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Looking for the Zoom Link? 

Login via "Member Log In" and look under "My Calendar"; click on the event to see the Zoom link, or search your inbox for an email from pmiaustin@pmiaustin.org

Questions? please email our Lunch & Learn Committee Chair at LunchNLearn@pmiaustin.org.