Category Archives: Team management

Seth Godin, guru of everything?

Okay, no one is the guru of everything, but I find Seth to be great at posing questions and giving just a bit of an answer. this post is a good example. Change is difficult. Mostly because it is complex and there are too many reasons why it fails. But, the way people act is a huge factor.

If you can’t figure out how the positive people are feeling, you will focus on the verbal negative people. Continue reading

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Prioritization and emergencies

So, what happens to a schedule when emergencies happen?
At one time or another the team will have emergencies that take them away from the critical work. In most projects, there will be changes to the market that cause emergency changes to scope, timelines or budget. And, often the PM is the one to direct and support the team through the emergencies. Continue reading

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Status reports – useful or not?

I’ve been reading a number of posts on LinkedIn and other blogs about status reports and why they don’t work. Most of theses are promoting a different model for status reporting. The problem is not with a format of reporting, but with the process of reporting. Continue reading

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Team burnout

A short post today because I’m suffering a bit from team burnout. It’s been a while since I’ve been here and I wondered how many project managers forget that teams get burned out and they need time to recover.

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People skills and your inner voice

Have you ever wondered why that team member suddenly causes you more problems when you have less time to deal with them?

It’s not them. Continue reading

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Project Management Office – why do I need one?

Most organizations that have a history of project management find themselves all over the success range from Fabulous Success to Spectacular Failure. This variety of outcomes is often the trigger for the executive to start on the PMO path. Continue reading

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Trust and delegation

Why don’t people trust? Well, I’d say the 99% of the time it’s not about thinking the person won’t do a good job – their desire and motivation, but more about the can’t – about their knowledge and ability. The can’t is where you hear things like ‘it will be faster to do it myself than show someone else’ or ‘they don’t have the experience’ or ‘they don’t have the time to learn’. Continue reading

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Communication – why is it so hard?

I’ve been looking around at blogs for inspiration for today’s post. It seems like communication is the topic of choice for bloggers. It is complex, even though it sounds simple. How hard is it to be clear, paraphrase for clarity, follow up, listen… and all the other tips people have out there. Continue reading

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Are you sure you trust the effort estimation?

To be honest, I often found myself questioning the reality of the estimates when I started my career in project management. The process wasn’t well managed – there was no consistent process to manage. Continue reading

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Are you getting the truth?

A project manager needs to hear the truth from the team and the sponsor. In a project that is making significant changes in an organization, the PM can only be successful if they get the truth. It’s not a case of “you can’t handle the truth” but more of a case of “you can handle anything as long as you get the truth.” Continue reading

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