Many companies build cultures that are focused on controlling the output of low performers, rather than growing and unlocking everyone’s skills. This approach is low-ROI and ultimately problematic for high-performance cultures. Leaders spend an inordinate amount of time handholding their least productive colleagues, instead of helping their strongest contributors move faster and do more. Meanwhile, because these tactics are focused on pushing the work forward rather than figuring out how to get better, they fail to turn low performers into high performers. Ultimately, by failing to nurture skill or motivation, low performance cultures stunt growth and repel top talent. Organizations need to build cultures that are obsessed with high performers, focusing the culture on keeping high performers and making new ones. First, reduce meetings down to the minimum viable number, so top talent can spend their time on more interesting, impactful work. Second, ask questions to measure your team’s motivation and conduct monthly health checks. Finally, mentor high performers on concrete, high-leverage skills. Élodie is a senior leader in a technology company. She has a young child and a husband who also works. She is particularly strong at two skill sets: leadership and collaborative problem solving. Because of this, she’s considered critical for major company initiatives. What’s her reward for being such a high performer? Stressful goals: Because she’s done so well in the past, she often receives the most complex and risky goals after others have failed. Meeting mania: Because she is seen as an essential part of the team and can often solve even the thorniest of issues, her days are filled with back-to-back meetings, which requires her to get work done at night and on weekends. Under-mentored: Because her organization focuses on fixing and improving “squeaky wheels,” Élodie feels under-mentored by her leaders. Since she doesn’t cause problems, her needs are not met. Return-to-office pressure: Because she’s “high profile,” Élodie has a higher expectation to work from the office, resulting in less flexibility. On top of that, leadership is becoming harder. Skill gaps, decreasing loyalty, worsening volatility, and higher worker expectations have increased the burden on leaders to the point where leaders are burning out at significantly higher levels. After battling burnout for months, Élodie quit, despite her company taking all the standard measures to retain talent. So why aren’t current attempts working? For many reasons, and as we describe in our book Primed to Perform, many companies build cultures that are focused on controlling the output of low performers, rather than growing and unlocking everyone’s skills. For example, think about your task management meetings, where you review what tasks are red (problematic), yellow, or green. Who is this meeting for? Its purpose is typically to ensure that low performers get the bare minimum done. But is it helping low performers improve? And is it the best use of high performers’ time? In both cases, usually not. Or consider traditional annual performance reviews, which are typically designed to strike fear in low performers rather than help high performers excel (which comes instead from continuous developmental coaching). Rigid goal setting and approval, mandatory training programs detailed procedural guidelines — none of these processes accelerate your most valuable colleagues. This approach is low-ROI and ultimately problematic for high-performance cultures. Leaders spend an inordinate amount of time handholding their least productive colleagues and managing what they’re working on and how, instead of helping their strongest contributors move faster and do more. Meanwhile, because these handholding tactics are focused on pushing the work forward rather than figuring out how to get better, they fail to turn low performers into high performers. Ultimately, by failing to nurture skill or motivation, low performance cultures stunt growth and repel top talent. Organizations need to build cultures that are obsessed with high performers, focusing the culture on keeping high performers and making new ones. Here’s how. Read more here.It’s critical to avoid the financial burden of making a wrong hire. Two approaches to conducting interviews — structured and conversational — can yield different insights about a candidate. While structured interviews make it easier to compare candidate responses and help ensure each interviewer covers distinct areas without redundancy, they may fall short in uncovering the candidate’s communication style and adaptability to change in a real-world setting. Conversational interviews offer a unique opportunity to get to know a candidate better by engaging them in a discussion about a real problem your organization is facing or has faced, but they can also present greater opportunities for bias to creep in. Here’s what each interview method can reveal about a candidate and when you might want to use them. Interviewing candidates involves more than assessing their hard and soft skills — it’s crucial to choose the right method to gain a comprehensive understanding of their potential long-term fit for the team and company. During my time in human resources, I frequently encountered new hires who possessed extensive experience and expertise but struggled to adapt, which ultimately benefited no one. This mismatch often stemmed from a lack of alignment between the candidate’s values and the company’s environment and core principles, as well as the hiring manager’s lack of understanding about a candidate’s long-term career aspirations and motivations. This misalignment can create conflict, hampering interpersonal relationships and productivity. It’s also costly: The Society of Human Resources Management puts the average cost of hiring an employee at nearly $4,700, and according to Indeed, the cost can go as high as $20,000 depending on whether outside recruitment vendors are used. Therefore, it’s critical to avoid the financial burden of a poor hiring decision. Making a stellar hire can depend on interview technique. Two approaches to conducting interviews — structured and conversational — can yield different insights about a candidate. Here’s what each method can reveal, their limitations, and when you might want to use them.   Structured interviews Structured interviews are meant to go deeper than what’s on a candidate’s resume, prompting them to provide specific answers about their past job responsibilities, relevant experience, and expertise. Interviewers will often be asked to focus on a specific theme such as technical expertise, culture alignment, or leadership and use the same set of questions for each candidate.   What they reveal This approach makes it easier to compare candidate responses, helps ensure that each interviewer covers distinct areas without redundancy, and allows for a more thorough exploration of key topics from the candidate’s resume. For example, a direct question like “Do you know Python?” typically results in a straightforward yes or no answer, whereas a more open-ended question such as “How would you optimize the performance of a Python program?” will encourage a more detailed response and show whether a candidate’s methodology aligns with the team’s problem-solving approach and goals. Similarly, behavioral questions such as “Tell me about a time when you had to manage conflict at work” can help you understand how a candidate might handle conflict based on their description of their past actions. Hypothetical questions like “What would you do if you had conflicting priorities?” can give you a sense of a candidate’s thought process when managing typical job-related scenarios. Read more here.   Remote work can be a blessing and curse for those just starting their careers. While it has clear benefits (improved work-life balance, geographic flexibility, and eliminating commutes), it’s not without drawbacks. There are unique challenges that come with starting your career remotely: isolation, distractions, and communication gaps. Fortunately, you can overcome these obstacle. Here’s how.   When I first stepped onto campus as an undergraduate student, I was determined to make as many friends and connections as possible. I wanted to form lifelong memories, and ultimately, forge professional relationships that might help my career. You could find me at almost every seminar, interest meeting, or networking event on campus (and maybe even a party or two). Outside of the classroom, I completed several in-person film and journalism internships alongside my typical responsibilities with the college newspaper, rugby club, and filmmakers club. Calling myself a social person would have been an understatement, and I expected to maintain that level of activity upon entering the workforce. After graduation, my professional career did start off strong. I was offered a position with Forbes Advisor as an updates editor — though it came with an unexpected challenge: fully remote, online work. Like me, around 15% of Gen Zs around the world currently work in fully remote positions. For many more recent grads, this set up may initially seem like an attractive option. It offers geographic flexibility, access to a global job market, and in some cases, improved well-being and work-life balance. While these benefits have certainly reigned true, in my experience, there are also unique challenges that come with starting your career remotely. If you’re a recent grad who is considering this kind of work, you should know what obstacles might come your way — as well as how to overcome them. Here are the challenges I’ve personally faced and the tactics that have helped me thrive in a remote environment. Challenge #1: Isolation The most prominent challenge I faced when beginning my career remotely was intense isolation and loneliness during the workday. Video meetings and Slack messages quickly became the norm for interacting with my colleagues. While digital communication did offer some unique benefits — like chatting with people around the world — I missed the intimacy of in-person interactions. Most of my days were spent holed up in my room, staring at a screen for eight hours. I could almost feel my social skills declining, and my mental health took a hit as a result. Loneliness is not an uncommon feeling for people in my position. Fifty-three percent of remote workers find it difficult to connect with other employees, according to a 2023 Pew Research survey. To manage the loneliness, I knew I had to make a change. That’s when I intentionally began to establish a healthier work-life balance.   How I Overcame It 1) Working from a new place. I began commuting to a coworking space at least once a week to mix up my work environment and engage with new people face-to-face. Many coworking spaces have open desks with free-for-all seating, conference rooms, lounge areas, and other commodities (like free coffee) that make the experience comfortable. Anyone — remote, hybrid, and even in-person employees — can visit these spaces, which leaves room to socialize. Watercooler conversations and group lunches used to be a thing of the past. But in a coworking space, surrounded by other people, my workday returned to what I was accustomed to. I formed new connections and my productivity increased. Most importantly, the simple act of getting dressed, leaving my home, and heading to a different location boosted my confidence and made me feel like a part of the workforce. There are multiple coworking spaces in almost every major city in the country. In fact, coworking space inventory is expected to hit 41,975 worldwide by the end of this year. All this to say, there are plenty of options available. Some spaces allow you to pay daily to access the facility, or you may have to pay a monthly fee (usually between $90 to $250) for a standard subscription. If a coworking space is out of your price range, a coffee shop is often the next best option. Read more here. One big challenge that leaders have when figuring out how or where their companies can grow is that a dearth of data about future problems and opportunities. In these situations, there are three techniques that leaders can employ to develop insights: look...It’s hard to set a strategic direction in the midst of uncertainty. One persistent problem is that the data to justify a course of action only becomes clear when it’s too late to act. This problem — or information-action paradox — demands a paradoxical solution. In this case, leaders need to act when the data tells them not to. That’s not to say that leaders should ignore data. Rather, they should recognize the limits of the data they usually use to make strategic investments such as market size, growth rates, share, margins, and so on. The existing data describes what has already happened, not what might or will happen. Strategy making shouldn’t be left to guesswork or pure hunches either. Instead, leaders should deliberately wander to find fresh insight that can help them make sense and set a course through uncertainty. This article describes three specific ways to do just that. 1. Seek early warning signs of change. One of the pillars of Satya Nadella’s change program at Microsoft has been shifting from focusing on lagging indicators, such as revenues, to leading indicators, such as net promoter score. Lagging indicators result from past decisions. Leading indicators point to future problems or opportunities. Beyond having leading indicators on dashboards, executives should seek our early warning signs of change in two places. The first place is with customers. Understand how current customers are considering emerging solutions. One thing to watch for is “near misses,” where customers considered, but ultimately rejected, choosing alternative suggestions. Such an analysis helped the Australian arm of global law firm King & Wood Mallesons see signs that customers were beginning to take new legal technology providers more seriously, spurring action to develop a capability around technology before the need showed up in traditional data. Ideally, executives should spend time with a wide spectrum of customers: loyal mainstream customers, customers that have recently switched to other solutions, and customers in extreme circumstances. One beverage company trying to understand hydration carefully studied how militaries functioned in extreme heat. It helped the company come up with innovative solutions, which it could adapt for more mainstream uses, such as tablets to add to water to provide extra nutrients or new packaging that kept beverages cooler for longer periods of time. Insight Center Collection Executing a Growth Strategy What value creation means today. Second, executives should have first-hand knowledge of the relevant startups in their sector. Most startup companies fail, of course, but paying careful attention can help to spot important changes early. Microsoft’s early investment in OpenAI gave it a window to changes in the artificial intelligence industry. Go deeper than the big name, publicly visible startups; seek ones that are still in stealth mode. Or visit a university lab and get a glimpse of next-generation technologies. This exploration strengthens the intuition to set a course through uncertainty. Read more here. Learning practical project management is always hard work that requires putting one’s “nose to the grindstone.” Practical management skills don’t come easy, and sometimes the most brilliant of people must work hard to hone their management skills. An example is Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. He was a terrible supervisor, known for throwing expletives at his own staff, and people really hated working with him. Steve Jobs himself admitted that he lied to his most trusted partners and ditched his closest friends who stood by him when he failed during the first few years of Apple Inc. Brilliant technical brains do not automatically translate into brilliant managers. Threats, harassments, lies, micromanagement, and regular violations of rules continue to exist in many organizations. Introduction   Learning practical project management is always hard work that requires putting one’s “nose to the grindstone.” Practical management skills don’t come easy, and sometimes the most brilliant of people must work hard to hone their management skills. An example is Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. He was a terrible supervisor, known for throwing expletives at his own staff, and people really hated working with him. Steve Jobs himself admitted that he lied to his most trusted partners and ditched his closest friends who stood by him when he failed during the first few years of Apple Inc. Brilliant technical brains do not automatically translate into brilliant managers. Threats, harassments, lies, micromanagement, and regular violations of rules continue to exist in many organizations.   This article discusses how a project manager can keep their eyes open and move beyond their self-drawn, self-controlled, and tightly closed circle to think outside the box. It is important to remember that this article is not advocating for a project manager to become a “say yes to everyone and everything” person. Rather, the aim of a project manager should be more of what not to become than what to become.   Duck Test Yourself   We have all heard this before: If something walks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably a duck. It applies to most managers, especially those holding a management diploma who were appointed as managers. They believe that if one can behave like a manager and walk like one—with a tie and suit and effective bark—then they can become a successful manager.   A message on the internet (without an author attribution) reads as: “Power is not controlling other people. Power is controlling yourself. Trying to control other people is the first sign that you are entirely out of control. Controlling other people is what weak people think power is.” A power-hungry project manager ultimately suffers the worst possible repulsion and becomes isolated. Many of us try to avoid those managers, even years after we quit working with them. The lesson here is that a project manager entering a terra incognita requires an open mind and a deep yearning to learn.   Per one study, there are 16 different personality types, mainly classified into four groups, as depicted in Table 1 (16 Personalities, n.d.; Carlos III University of Madrid, 2016). Inherently, we all fall into one of these groups and can become excellent managers—but only if we put our own selfishness aside and learn alongside the team.   Read more here. Here are 5 variables to consider when deciding to say “no” or “yes” to something. Saying “yes” to every opportunity that comes up can help you achieve a certain level of success. However, continuing to operate from a place of automatically saying “yes” can often hold you back from achieving your next level of success, whether that be climbing the career ladder or running a successful company. Here are 5 variables to consider when deciding to say “no” or “yes” to something. Saying “yes” to every opportunity that comes up can help you achieve a certain level of success. However, continuing to operate from a place of automatically saying “yes” can often hold you back from achieving your next level of success, whether that be climbing the career ladder or running a successful company.  There are many reasons why people get into the habit of saying “yes.” But whether you say “yes” to open more opportunities, because of FOMO, or to please other people, the negative impact is the same—you hamper your personal and professional growth potential.   Once you get into a cycle of always saying “yes” at work, it can be difficult to break out of it. Plus, the urge to completely fill your time can spill over from work into your personal life as well.   Overfilling your time, in a work context, can look like back-to-back meetings and continuously getting pulled into projects that you shouldn’t be, or don’t want to be, involved with anymore. Quite often, filling your time by always saying “yes” is not actually productive, because it is not sustainable and it wont contribute to your long-term growth.   According to the Pareto Principle, 20% of our activities produce 80% of our results. However, when you’re so busy running around, filling up your time, you rarely consider what you need to be doing to achieve your end objective in the simplest way.   The impact of this lack of space can be grave—your health starts to suffer; you feel exhausted and drained; and you may ultimately feel burnout.   Saying “yes” to everything also means that you don’t have the space to take on aligned opportunities, that is, opportunities that are part of the bigger vision of what you’re trying to create, and that you feel excited by. Saying “no” gives you the opportunity to invest your time wisely and advance your career goals thoughtfully. Read more here. Consider the last time you had conflict with a coworker. It doesn’t have to be as dramatic as a full-throated shouting match or a yogurt thrown across the break room. It could be a moment in which you perceived a passive-aggressive snipe from a colleague during a team meeting, or an incident of gaslighting in a private conversation in the hallway afterwards. Discussion around “toxicity” and how it relates to workplace culture has garnered attention in recent years, and this toxicity in question can take on countless forms. According to a 2023 survey from the American Psychological Association, 19% of employees said their workplace is very or somewhat toxic, and those who experienced workplace toxicity were over three times more likely to report damage to their mental health than those who observed a healthy work environment (52% vs. 15%). Moreover, I believe this problem can be expected to grow worse as more workers are forced to return to the office in the wake of the pandemic. Consider the last time you had conflict with a coworker. It doesn’t have to be as dramatic as a full-throated shouting match or a yogurt thrown across the break room. It could be a moment in which you perceived a passive-aggressive snipe from a colleague during a team meeting, or an incident of gaslighting in a private conversation in the hallway afterwards. Discussion around “toxicity” and how it relates to workplace culture has garnered attention in recent years, and this toxicity in question can take on countless forms. According to a 2023 survey from the American Psychological Association, 19% of employees said their workplace is very or somewhat toxic, and those who experienced workplace toxicity were over three times more likely to report damage to their mental health than those who observed a healthy work environment (52% vs. 15%). Moreover, I believe this problem can be expected to grow worse as more workers are forced to return to the office in the wake of the pandemic. Evolving employee dynamics and an increased awareness of toxicity in the modern workplace is a reality that employers must face. One way to do this is for teams to invest in helping workers establish “toxic-proof” skills, such as emotional intelligence, to combat toxic workplace culture and the fallout—employee dissatisfaction, quiet quitting and worker exodus—that can follow. WHAT IS A TOXIC WORKPLACE CULTURE? At one point or another, we’ve all experienced moments of disaffection with the boss or a coworker. We may have even felt attacked in the workplace. But are all of these moments representative of toxicity? What if the negativity or anxiety a worker is feeling isn’t a direct or deliberate aggression from a colleague? What exactly are the conditions that constitute a toxic workplace culture? According to Business Leadership Today, toxic workplace culture “is a culture in which conflict is common and the work environment is negative because of unethical behaviors, a lack of inclusion and disrespect.” Let’s take a closer look at that definition: First, the qualifier that conflict in the workplace must be “common” implies that one or two adverse incidents aren’t necessarily indicative of a sustained culture of toxicity. Workers are human, and humans can be guilty of lapses and poor judgment from time to time—especially in a work environment full of daily pressures and disparate personalities and backgrounds. Particularly when an incident is addressed by the involved parties (with cooler heads, of course) and resolution is an honest aim, work conflict can sometimes lead to healthy growth and a stronger foundation of mutual respect. Read more here. “He wants us to do what?” Jana, the project manager, just finished her one-on-one with Dean, the executive project sponsor on her project. Jana is debriefing Anil, the engineering lead, on their conversation. “Here’s the list of change requests he wants.” Jana handed the list to Anil. “Does he realize we’re almost done with development?” Anil asked. “I tried to explain that to him; he wasn’t having any of it.”“He wants us to do what?” Jana, the project manager, just finished her one-on-one with Dean, the executive project sponsor on her project. Jana is debriefing Anil, the engineering lead, on their conversation. “Here’s the list of change requests he wants.” Jana handed the list to Anil. “Does he realize we’re almost done with development?” Anil asked. “I tried to explain that to him; he wasn’t having any of it.” Anil rubbed his forehead. “This is going to set us back at least a month. Does he know that?” “I told him. He gave me the ‘Give it the college try’ line. No schedule relief, no additional money.” “I’m already pushing the team to their max,” Anil said. “We can’t take this on and keep things on schedule. On another topic, do you have a decision on the blocking issue yet?” “I brought it up again with him; he told me he’d have a decision on Friday. I’m frustrated because I’ve heard that same line for the last three weeks.” “I’ll see what we can do, but no guarantees,” Anil said as he went to talk with his engineering team. “Dean is killing me,” Jana said to herself as she sat at her desk. *** *** *** For some of you, this story may seem a bit of an exaggeration; for others, it may be business as usual—a frustrating meeting where your project sponsor asks for the impossible, expecting you to deliver. You’re stuck in the middle with an unreasonable sponsor on one end and an exasperated project team on the other. Yuck. I’ve sat on both sides of the table—the sponsor trying to run a business and the project manager trying to deliver results that help the sponsor. Prior to becoming a sponsor, my attitude was, “The sponsor just doesn’t get it.” Once I became a sponsor, though, I began to see things a bit differently. I would get frustrated with project managers who hid problems from me; presented bad scope/schedule/budget news without any options for how to recover; or consistently said, “That’s out of scope” with no appreciation that my business had changed since the scope was first defined.   Read more here.A good apology can be a hard thing to find in the business world. Just look at the CEO of Kyte Baby. There are a lot of ways to mess up an apology. You can avoid taking any blame. You can go into too much—or not enough—detail about what you did wrong. Or you can appear too scripted and inauthentic in your delivery. There are a lot of ways to mess up an apology. You can avoid taking any blame. You can go into too much—or not enough—detail about what you did wrong. Or you can appear too scripted and inauthentic in your delivery.That was one mistake Kyte Baby founder and CEO Ying Liu made this past week, after denying an employee with an infant in the NICU the ability to work remotely. Liu’s first apology video was met with “backlash” online. So, hours later, Liu released another video, where she says she went “off script” to better apologize. ““I was the one who made that decision to veto her request to go remote,” said Liu. “This was a terrible decision. I was insensitive and selfish.”   In addition to authenticity, there are three components to any good apology, wrote UT Austin professor and vice provost Art Markman in Fast Company this week: You need to accept responsibility, express contrition, and detail what you’re going to do differently in the future to avoid the same thing from happening again.  Even if it’s tempting, you should avoid “conditionals,” wrote DEI consultant and author Amber Cabral. “Conditionals are sentiments like ‘I am sorry you were offended, I was just trying to . . .’ or ‘I am sorry you feel that way . . .’ or even, ‘I didn’t mean . . .’ Conditional apologies are not only ineffective, but can further offend. Instead, focus on what you did or didn’t do. Reserve explanations for your behavior for after your apology has been accepted. Offended folks don’t care about your reasons until they are made whole.”Effective and emotionally intelligent executives know they need to apologize not only when they personally make a mistake, but also on behalf of their team, wrote Markman. “It’s really important that when communicating about the errors made by your team that you take the blame yourself,” he wrote. “Great leaders accept blame, but spread the credit for good deeds across the team.”  Of course, all of this doesn’t mean that leaders (or anyone!) should apologize for things that aren’t their fault. “You may have colleagues who act badly, are sloppy, or otherwise cause problems for projects,” Markman wrote. “You can empathize with the people affected about the frustrations these individuals cause. You can even work to clean up the mess someone else made. But, you should not shoulder the responsibility for these individuals.” Read more here. No matter how successful a coaching session feels while it’s underway, if it doesn’t lead to change after it’s over, it hasn’t been effective. Unfortunately, too many managers don’t adequately follow through and thereby squander the important time they’ve invested in coaching. You can make the process more effective by adopting these practices after every session.No matter how successful a coaching session feels while it’s underway, if it doesn’t lead to change after it’s over, it hasn’t been effective. Unfortunately, too many managers don’t adequately follow through and thereby squander the important time they’ve invested in coaching. You can make the process more effective by adopting these practices after every session. Use this list of tips and questions to help you track the progress of everyone you’re coaching. It will help you offer meaningful support in follow-up meetings, as well as in between meetings. Right after the meeting: Write things down. You won’t remember everything you see, hear, and think about your employees’ progress, so write it down in a dedicated place. You might consider using a standard template to capture this information. Good notes will allow you to give more meaningful feedback as you move forward. After each session, ask yourself: What can I do to support this employee’s development between now and our next coaching meeting? What did I learn from this meeting that I didn’t know going in? What did the person I’m coaching learn? What key messages were reinforced in the meeting? Ongoing: These tasks should become a routine part of your management practice, if they aren’t already. Schedule time on your calendar to work on the tasks that are most difficult for you to remember or complete. Follow up on agreements. Review your written agreements periodically, and follow up on action items. If members of your team have requested specific help from you, make sure you’re getting them what they need. Read more here.The leaders who will thrive in 2024 are those who recognize that the future is not just something to prepare for; it is something to create with these three strategies. If the current year is anything to go by, 2024 is shaping up to be a monumental challenge, especially for business leaders. From navigating the uncharted terrain of economic and geopolitical uncertainty to adapting to revolutionary shifts in stakeholder perspectives and the sweeping advance of AI across every imaginable sector, leaders will most certainly have their hands full. On top of all that, they will need to make pulling it all off seem authentic. While I can’t shield you from what lies ahead, I can arm you with key insights about each major trend that will shake the world next year.   AUTHENTICITY IS THE NEW EVERYTHING Let’s begin by exploring the most far-reaching of them all: the growing demand for authenticity. Merriam-Webster recently announced authentic as the word of the year. It’s a choice that is sure to resonate with everyone who has recently interacted with the outside world.In 2023, we all witnessed deepfakes, dupes, and misinformation reach unprecedented heights, leaving audiences around the globe yearning for something real to latch onto. As Edelman and many others have noted, authenticity is rapidly becoming the key currency for brands and their leaders. Whether its mission-driven nonprofits or profit-seeking corporations, leaders across the world will find that the stakeholders of 2024 will be increasingly vocal about their desire for consistency between actions and the organizations, values, principles, and mission. And while the demand for authenticity has skyrocketed, supply is nowhere close to catching up.  In fact, some of the most renowned brands and their leadership seem positively clueless about how to foster authenticity. Elon Musk’s brutalization of Twitter’s brand identity and Anheuser-Busch’s failure to stand firmly behind its marketing campaigns are particularly vivid examples of how difficult it can be to articulate, and stay true to, an authentic vision while also trying to steer a business. Yet the rewards that authenticity can bring are well worth noting.Take Breakthrough Research’s 2023 Brand Authenticity report, for instance, which revealed the 20 most authentic brands that saw their stock prices increase by 59%, whereas the overall market dipped by 25% since April 2020. Research published by Harvard Business Reviewbacks up the assertion that customers are willing to pay more for authenticity when it’s appropriately on display. So, what can you do to amp up your authenticity levels?  Start with a brand audit to understand where you stand and what your audience expects from you. Then, align your brand’s actions with qualities like ethical behavior, high quality, reliability, and excellent customer service—just like Lego, Patagonia, The North Face, and Costco, which rank among the top for brand authenticity.   Read more here. Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the November–December 1974 issue of HBR and has been one of the publication’s two best-selling reprints ever. For its reissue as a Classic, HBR asked Stephen R. Covey to provide a commentary (see the sidebar “Making Time for Gorillas”). Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the November–December 1974 issue of HBR and has been one of the publication’s two best-selling reprints ever. For its reissue as a Classic, HBR asked Stephen R. Covey to provide a commentary (see the sidebar “Making Time for Gorillas”). Why is it that managers are typically running out of time while their subordinates are typically running out of work? Here we shall explore the meaning of management time as it relates to the interaction between managers and their bosses, their peers, and their subordinates. Specifically, we shall deal with three kinds of management time: Boss-imposed time—used to accomplish those activities that the boss requires and that the manager cannot disregard without direct and swift penalty. System-imposed time—used to accommodate requests from peers for active support. Neglecting these requests will also result in penalties, though not always as direct or swift. Self-imposed time—used to do those things that the manager originates or agrees to do. A certain portion of this kind of time, however, will be taken by subordinates and is called subordinate-imposed time. The remaining portion will be the manager’s own and is called discretionary time. Self-imposed time is not subject to penalty since neither the boss nor the system can discipline the manager for not doing what they didn’t know he had intended to do in the first place. Read more here.These four steps can help you prioritize more meaningful work in 2024. In most cultures, the calendar builds in some time for reflection. There’s a certain point in the course of a year when it’s natural to look back over the past, evaluate how things are going, and then think about what you might want to change in the future.These four steps can help you prioritize more meaningful work in 2024. In most cultures, the calendar builds in some time for reflection. There’s a certain point in the course of a year when it’s natural to look back over the past, evaluate how things are going, and then think about what you might want to change in the future.   In Western cultures, this time happens around the new year, when we’re encouraged to look back over the past 12 months, assess how we’re feeling about life, and develop resolutions for the year ahead. Of course, the “New Year, New You” concept is often ridiculed, because people typically hang on to those New Year’s resolutions for a mere three to six weeks, after which they return to whatever they were doing beforehand. I’ve written a whole book on how to be more effective at achieving goals that require complex change, but here I want to focus on how you might revitalize your relationship to work in 2024. It can be hard to see your flagging motivation from one day to the next. Every workweek has its ups and downs, and you can usually point to days when you came to work excited for what was in store and other days when you crawled through the fog just to get by.   THINK ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE The advantage of looking back over a whole year is that it causes you to think more generally about how things went. Lots of research suggests that the more distant you are from anything in space or time, the more abstractly you think about it. That enables you to average across all those ups and downs and discern the general trend. If you realize that you’re just not that excited about work overall, what can you do (assuming that quitting is not an option)? That is where the abstractness created by taking the long time horizon will fail you. You can commit to being more energetically engaged at work, but how exactly do you do that?   Read more here. In 2018, 31 companies listed on the S&P 1500 were led by former GE employees. GE is what was known as an “academy company”— an elite company that produces more talent than it holds on to, exporting effective leaders to other organizations and even industries. These talent incubators have been a feature of the business world since the 1970s.In 2018, 31 companies listed on the S&P 1500 were led by former GE employees. GE is what was known as an “academy company”— an elite company that produces more talent than it holds on to, exporting effective leaders to other organizations and even industries. These talent incubators have been a feature of the business world since the 1970s. In an effort to better understand the landscape of talent incubators in the 2020s, the Official Board, a firm that provides data on corporate organizational charts and executive movement, surveyed 853 executives on the topic in January and February 2023, asking for their thoughts on which companies are top talent incubators, and what qualities or practices make them unique. “Executive” was defined as a member of the board of directors, CEO, an executive reporting directly to a CEO, or a manager reporting to a CEO direct report. Our survey respondents worked at medium-to-large companies with more than $100M in annual revenue, including Global Fortune 500, Global Forbes 2000, and Russell 3000 companies. The survey was supplemented by our interviews with executive search consultants. Survey respondents identified their own function, industry, and region and were then asked to name the top three talent incubators in each of those categories. The consolidated table below lists the 25 most frequently mentioned companies.   See more HBR charts in Data & Visuals   Most of the above organizations are in the knowledge-based industries. This is typical of talent incubators — the extended investment in HR and development required to be a talent incubator is easier to find in industries with high profit margins (e.g., consumer packaged goods/“CPG” and consulting) compared to those with slimmer margins (such as restaurants).   Read the full article here.Business leaders have navigated an immense amount of change in recent years: varying hiring trends across industries, evolving remote and hybrid work strategies, swings in the number — and type — of people switching jobs, and changing generational preferences. But none of that compares to the seismic shift AI represents as it starts to fundamentally redefine the way we work across sectors and societies.Business leaders have navigated an immense amount of change in recent years: varying hiring trends across industries, evolving remote and hybrid work strategies, swings in the number — and type — of people switching jobs, and changing generational preferences. But none of that compares to the seismic shift AI represents as it starts to fundamentally redefine the way we work across sectors and societies. As the CEO of LinkedIn, a platform dedicated to creating economic opportunity for the global workforce, it’s no surprise then that in almost every conversation I have these days, especially with fellow CEOs, I’m consistently asked the same question: “What is happening with AI and work, and what does it mean for me? Here’s my response: The world of work is changing this fast and the most important thing to do is realize that the old playbooks, especially around talent management, will not work — now, it’s time to adapt. Ignoring that truth all but guarantees that your business will fall behind. But embracing it, with a focus on three big shifts, will set your business up for new levels of success in the age of AI. Read more here.Emotional intelligence expert Harvey Deutschendorf details how self-awareness can help even the most nervous interviewer. Self-awareness is not only the basis of both professional and personal growth, but a crucial ingredient in any job interview.  Traditionally, as job seekers, we spend much of our time and effort perfecting our resumes to showcase and highlight our skills, as well as thinking how we will respond to questions such as “tell me about yourself.” While the focus is on technical skills and past experience, the fact that we are being interviewed tells us that employers have already decided that we have the necessary skills for the position. What hiring managers want to learn during the interview process is how we will fit into their organization and whether we have the personal attributes to excel in the job.   Self-awareness is not only the basis of both professional and personal growth, but a crucial ingredient in any job interview.    Traditionally, as job seekers, we spend much of our time and effort perfecting our resumes to showcase and highlight our skills, as well as thinking how we will respond to questions such as “tell me about yourself.” While the focus is on technical skills and past experience, the fact that we are being interviewed tells us that employers have already decided that we have the necessary skills for the position. What hiring managers want to learn during the interview process is how we will fit into their organization and whether we have the personal attributes to excel in the job.   This is where self-awareness can help us stand out from the other applicants. Being self-aware can allow us to show self-confidence, authenticity, and adaptability. It helps us show our strengths in the optimal light and talk about our weaknesses in a manner that will not turn the interviewers off.   In my new book, Emotional Intelligence Game Changers: 101 Simple Ways to Win at Work + Life, the first tip speaks to the importance of self-awareness and how to develop it. And according to Anna Papalia author of the upcoming book Interviewology: The New Science of Interviewing “an interview in the most basic sense is a set of questions about you, the more you know yourself the better you’ll do.” Read more here. What is Agile? The Agile Manifesto, created in 2001, represents a turning point in software development. It was formulated by a group of like-minded software developers who sought a more flexible and collaborative approach to building software. The manifesto outlines 4 key values and 12 principles We will talk about shortly after these values and principles. Let’s continue with Agile’s definition.What is Agile? The Agile Manifesto, created in 2001, represents a turning point in software development. It was formulated by a group of like-minded software developers who sought a more flexible and collaborative approach to building software. The manifesto outlines 4 key values and 12 principles We will talk about shortly after these values and principles. Let’s continue with Agile’s definition. Agile is a software development approach that prioritizes flexibility, collaboration, and customer feedback. It is characterized by its iterative and incremental nature, where work is divided into small, manageable units, and the development team regularly delivers functional portions of the product. Agile encourages adaptability to changing requirements and an ongoing dialogue between team members and stakeholders. It emphasizes customer satisfaction, encourages self-organizing teams, and values continuous improvement throughout the development process. Agile is more than just a methodology; it is a mindset and a set of guiding principles that aim to optimize the software development process for efficiency and customer value. Read full article here.As organizations grow and projects become more complex, scaling Agile practices can present unique challenges. One of the core values of the Agile Manifesto, “Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation,” emphasizes the importance of delivering tangible value to customers through functional software rather than relying solely on extensive documentation.As organizations grow and projects become more complex, scaling Agile practices can present unique challenges. One of the core values of the Agile Manifesto, “Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation,” emphasizes the importance of delivering tangible value to customers through functional software rather than relying solely on extensive documentation. However, a misconception often arises that this value dismisses the need for documentation altogether, posing difficulties in maintaining effective communication and knowledge transfer as projects and teams scale. I recognize that addressing scaling challenges while upholding the value of working software over comprehensive documentation requires a balanced approach. In this article, we delve into the topic of “Adapting to Scaling Challenges: Working Software Over Comprehensive Documentation.” We aim to dispel the misconception surrounding documentation in Agile, providing strategies to strike a harmonious balance. By identifying essential documentation needs, embracing lean documentation practices, promoting collaborative knowledge sharing, documenting decision-making processes, automating documentation generation, and fostering a culture of continuous learning, organizations can navigate scaling challenges while maintaining agility and effective communication.   Read more here.I’ve contributed dozens of articles from a project management training perspective on his site, including a series of articles title Back to PM Basics. The articles attempt to provide a classroom level of instruction via detailed directions. My goal is to share a perspective based on more than two decades of project management experience. The content is very targeted, and potentially saves interested readers from sorting through endless search results or purchasing formal training.   I’ve contributed dozens of articles from a project management training perspective on his site, including a series of articles title Back to PM Basics. The articles attempt to provide a classroom level of instruction via detailed directions. My goal is to share a perspective based on more than two decades of project management experience. The content is very targeted, and potentially saves interested readers from sorting through endless search results or purchasing formal training. All the articles were posted on ProjectManagement.com and were created before artificial intelligence services such as ChapGPT became mainstream. I was interested in exploring the potential of my services no longer being relevant since AI content is readily accessible by all and creates content based on many sources (it leverages the power of potentially thousands of input data sources). I decided to put it to the test. I pretended I had been handed a project and didn’t know where to start. I typed: “What are the first steps of creating a project management plan?”   Read more here. Tips for feeling motivated, embracing bad ideas, getting over creative blocks, and more. Some conference room tables boast bowls of candy or a gaggle of diminutive bottles of water. Others, painfully benign centerpieces, like a vase filled with colored glass beads. But when the Chronicle Books publishing team visited Lego’s headquarters in Billund, Denmark, they were delighted to discover Lego bricks at every gathering point instead.      “The Lego headquarters in Billund are spectacular and purposely designed to foster creativity and play at work—every conference room, table, and workspace has a bowl of Lego elements available to help employees build through their challenges and think with their hands,” says Brittany McInerney, Chronicle Books’ associate editorial director for entertainment. “Everyone we met seemed to center their daily jobs on the core company goals of creativity and play. It was so inspiring, but also left us asking: How do they do that? How do you sustain that level of creativity when it’s your everyday job?”   Read more here. Many projects are started to create change or to make the world better in some way. The growing list of risk megatrends (more on that in a moment) poses significant challenges to the traditional view of risk. Disruptive risks are growing in significance and impact, so mitigating or transferring risk entirely is no longer going to be enough. Why does our approach to risk need to evolve? As I write this late in 2023, two risks are increasingly becoming pervasive. They are acknowledged as a severe concern for project managers in the Building Resilience Through Strategic Risk Management report:Many projects are started to create change or to make the world better in some way. The growing list of risk megatrends (more on that in a moment) poses significant challenges to the traditional view of risk. Disruptive risks are growing in significance and impact, so mitigating or transferring risk entirely is no longer going to be enough. Why does our approach to risk need to evolve? As I write this late in 2023, two risks are increasingly becoming pervasive. They are acknowledged as a severe concern for project managers in the Building Resilience Through Strategic Risk Management report: 1. Climate change: This was the year that climate change hit home for me in a whole new way for two reasons. First, I have seen the adverse effects of climate change. The 2023 wildfires in Canada have been shocking to witness. These natural disasters had far-reaching effects, like negatively impacting air quality in New York. These experiences challenged the view that Canada, a colder country in the northern hemisphere, might be able to escape the negative impact of climate change. Second, I read The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells, which is about the consequences of global warming. Wallace-Wells powerfully explains that a range of outcomes, from likely to less likely, will result from climate change. Facing these challenges in the coming years will be easier if we invest in enhancing our resilience earlier. 2. The AI transformation: The rise of a new generation of artificial intelligence tools like Bard, ChatGPT and Midjourney also raises risk implications. Like many of you, I have mixed views about AI. I recently experimented with it and found some interesting results. As a science fiction fan and technophile, I’m excited by the potential.   Read more here.Here are five key tips that will help you become an effective and successful manager. Being a good manager is about more than just being proficient in your field — in fact, it's a distinct skill that requires its own cultivation. As Michael E. Gerber says in his classic business book, The E-Myth, not all good bakers should become bakery owners. Over the course of my entrepreneurial career, I've found this advice to ring true again and again, and it continues to motivate me to improve my own management skills. In this article, I want to share five essential tips that will help you become an effective and successful manager. I apply these tips every day in my role as founder of cat brand tuft + paw, and it's led us to incredible results.Here are five key tips that will help you become an effective and successful manager. Being a good manager is about more than just being proficient in your field — in fact, it's a distinct skill that requires its own cultivation. As Michael E. Gerber says in his classic business book, The E-Myth, not all good bakers should become bakery owners. Over the course of my entrepreneurial career, I've found this advice to ring true again and again, and it continues to motivate me to improve my own management skills. In this article, I want to share five essential tips that will help you become an effective and successful manager. I apply these tips every day in my role as founder of cat brand tuft + paw, and it's led us to incredible results. 1. Embrace radical honesty — high empathy + high directness The foundation of effective management lies in radical honesty — a perfect balance between high empathy and high directness. This means being forthright and transparent in your communication while empathizing with your team members' feelings and perspectives. Avoiding difficult conversations can create more significant problems in the long run, undermining trust and respect — and frankly, wasting everyone's time. Incorporating radical honesty into your management style can be challenging, especially if you're a naturally reserved person, but I promise the payoff is worth the effort. I recommend periodically checking the radical honesty graph from Kim Scott's book, Radical Candor, which serves as a reminder of the balance you're aiming for. Strive to address issues directly and promptly, keeping in mind that honesty is the highest form of integrity. By cultivating this open and transparent environment, you will foster a culture of trust and respect within your team. 2. Build trust and rapport through face-to-face interaction While radical honesty is essential in the workplace, it's also important to build personal trust and rapport with your team. Make time for unstructured get-togethers with your team members, providing an opportunity for genuine connection beyond work-related discussions. Listen actively to the conversation and participate. We're all humans with our own desires, concerns and experiences, and connecting on that personal level is the best way to show that you care. Over time, this approach fosters a sense of belonging and strengthens the team's commitment to achieving shared goals. Building strong relationships with your team will not only enhance team morale but also enable you to better understand everyone's unique strengths and weaknesses. Read more here...I probably need to stop paying so much attention to my LinkedIn feed. It inevitably frustrates me. On the other hand, I channel the frustration into articles like this one. This time, as is often the case to be honest, my frustration comes from proponents of Agile who are focused on the pure ideals of what Agile was originally intended to be. Note that I didn’t write “what Agile is” because that's evolved, while some of the purists have not.I probably need to stop paying so much attention to my LinkedIn feed. It inevitably frustrates me. On the other hand, I channel the frustration into articles like this one. This time, as is often the case to be honest, my frustration comes from proponents of Agile who are focused on the pure ideals of what Agile was originally intended to be. Note that I didn’t write “what Agile is” because that's evolved, while some of the purists have not. One exchange went something like “I can’t believe how many people claim that Kanban is an Agile methodology, next time someone says that to you, make sure to tell them that they’re wrong.” Which generated responses like “I know, it’s crazy, the next thing you know they’ll be claiming that Lean is an Agile methodology!” Now, the information conveyed isn’t wrong — Lean started in manufacturing long before the Agile Manifesto was written, and Kanban was originally a way to visualize the flow of work within Lean manufacturing environments. My issue is that most people aren’t going to worry about the nuances of how these approaches started, what they were originally designed for, and whether they are part of ‘pure’ Agile. They’re just going to read that Lean and Kanban aren’t Agile and interpret that they are inappropriate for an organization that is looking to become more Agile. Which couldn’t be further from the truth. The popular position on LinkedIn seems to be that consultants will bundle anything they want under the label of Agile to sell their services to organizations who don’t know any better. As a result, organizations end up with methodologies that aren’t aligned with the Agile Manifesto, and they need to be “protected.” What do organizations want from Agile? I’ve worked with a lot of organizations over the years who have been looking to improve their use of Agile. In some cases, they are trying to increase the number of projects they could deliver using an Agile style of work, and in others it’s been a commitment to an Agile transformation that will allow them to apply Agile principles to all activities within their business. All these organizations have their own ideas of what Agile means to them, and they’ve all explained their Agile concept in slightly different ways. None of those organizations wanted me, or anyone else, to tell them that their Agile definition was wrong because it didn’t perfectly align with the ideals outlined at the time that the Agile manifesto was written. Nor did they want me to educate them only on methodologies and approaches that were developed as a direct result of that definition of Agile. They simply wanted to be able to improve the way that they worked. Read more here.Instead of having your employees dread meetings, create a dynamic session for them so they can feel their time is being valued by learning the five Ps of productive meetings.Instead of having your employees dread meetings, create a dynamic session for them so they can feel their time is being valued by learning the five Ps of productive meetings.   We've all been there. Whether as an attendee or a leader, we've all had the thought, "Could this have just been an email instead of wasting everyone's valuable time?" Most employees dread team meetings and it's no wonder why; a shocking 92% of employees believe meetings are unproductive and costly. Why might you want to conduct a meeting? Perhaps you want to brainstorm new ideas, solve problems, make decisions, plan out new company changes, introduce new team members or clients or train new hires. There are many great reasons to hold meetings. But to give your meetings the best chance at being deemed productive and successful, start implementing the five Ps of productive meetings. Follow these simple guidelines I personally use and you will have rockstar meetings. The 5 Ps of productive meetings   1. Purpose It's confusing entering a meeting without being told what the purpose of the meeting is. Make it as clear as possible so everyone can be on the same page from the beginning. State the amount of time the meeting is allotted for and what needs to be decided by the end of that time. Also, you don't need to wait until the meeting starts to share the purpose. When my partners or I conduct meetings, we make sure the participants of the meeting know ahead of time why the meeting is taking place. It's an unsettling feeling for most employees to have to anticipate a meeting they know nothing about.   Read more here...For a lot of people, negotiation feels awkward. But the old adage is true: You don’t get what you don’t ask for. Luckily, like most things, negotiation gets easier the more times you do it. And the good news is that even if you don’t get everything you ask for, chances are you are likely to get some. In fact, according to one recent survey, 83% of people who negotiate their salary when they accepted a new job say they received higher pay. For a lot of people, negotiation feels awkward. But the old adage is true: You don’t get what you don’t ask for. Luckily, like most things, negotiation gets easier the more times you do it. And the good news is that even if you don’t get everything you ask for, chances are you are likely to get some. In fact, according to one recent survey, 83% of people who negotiate their salary when they accepted a new job say they received higher pay.   NEGOTIATION SHOULD BE A CONVERSATION, NOT A POWER STRUGGLE The first step in asking for anything (a raise, a promotion, remote work, more flexibility, a new assignment, etc.) is to approach the conversation as a collaboration instead of a power struggle. Statements like “I would love to understand what the opportunity is to get closer to this salary,” open up the conversation rather than shutting it down with a simple yes or no. And if you get a no, try setting expectations on a time frame to get to a yes by agreeing on benchmarks that you can reach and check back on in three to six months. PREPARATION PART 1: RESEARCH Research is important, both when you are negotiating salary in a new role or hoping for a raise in your current job. The first step is to find out the market salary range for the position by using sites like salary.com, payscale.com, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Look to see what people with similar titles in your industry earn (just remember to factor in location and length of experience).   Read more here... Many agile teams struggle with too much WIP, work in progress. They might have overcommitted to work they thought they could finish. Or their managers asked them to multitask. That multitasking caused the team to miss their expected time commitments. (And let's remember many of these teams also must solve production support problems.) Many agile teams struggle with too much WIP, work in progress. They might have overcommitted to work they thought they could finish. Or their managers asked them to multitask. That multitasking caused the team to miss their expected time commitments. (And let's remember many of these teams also must solve production support problems.) All these "commitments" lead to too much WIP and no way to "catch up." Everyone feels overwhelmed. Many teams then try to replan for the next iteration or the next batch of stories. Instead, consider a one-hour workshop to ask what to do now, next and never. The answers to those questions will help the team reduce its WIP and start increasing throughput. After the one-hour workshop, plan for the shortest possible time and re-evaluate the WIP.   Organize the Workshop If you are all in one location, get a big conference room with a large table or sufficient walls. Your job is to bring many index cards and dark markers.  If you have a distributed team, conduct the workshop virtually using online tools. Make sure the team has access to a shared board for the cards.   Read more here. Surprise, surprise - though many CEOs in the financial industry want their workers to go to the office every day, most middle-managers don't want to come back. This week, contributing writer Shalene Gupta came on to the Most Innovative Companies podcast to discuss the results of a new study from Deloitte about workers’ desire to return to the office. Surprise, surprise– though many CEOs in the financial industry want their workers to go to the office every day, most middle-managers don’t want to come back. Here’s some of what we talked about below–Gupta already wrote about a few of these findings in a news article. Tune in for more discussion on the study and to hear Staff Editor AJ Hess’s interview with financial influencer Vivian Tu who explains why Gen Z can’t stop talking about money on TikTok.   Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe!   Few middle-managers want a full-time return to office or full-time remote.  In the study, only 13% of respondents said their ideal schedule was a return to office five days a week, and only 8% wanted to be fully remote. Only 18% of respondents said they wanted to be in office 3-4 days a week. That’s no wonder.    People required to go to the office full-time might just quit. Sixty-six percent of respondents who are remote said they’d leave their job if they had to go in five times a week. That’s especially true for caregivers who may need extra help at home if they go into the office.    Read more here. Lately, I’ve been hearing this question from CEOs a lot: “How do we get everyone back in the office without losing a ton of good people?”   The return-to-office (RTO) debate has long been in a stalemate, but the power dynamics keep shifting. During the pandemic, few people wanted to change roles amid all the uncertainty. Then came the Great Resignation, where a booming job market and worker shortages gave employees the power to vote with their feet, leaving companies that required in-office time. But now, with layoffs on the rise and AI threatening to make some jobs obsolete, employers who want people physically present—50% of companies—may gain the upper hand. Google, for example, recently announced that performance reviews would take into account unexplained absences from its three-day-per-week in-office requirement, with badge records being used to identify those who’re consistently falling short.   Lately, I’ve been hearing this question from CEOs a lot: “How do we get everyone back in the office without losing a ton of good people?” The return-to-office (RTO) debate has long been in a stalemate, but the power dynamics keep shifting. During the pandemic, few people wanted to change roles amid all the uncertainty. Then came the Great Resignation, where a booming job market and worker shortages gave employees the power to vote with their feet, leaving companies that required in-office time. But now, with layoffs on the rise and AI threatening to make some jobs obsolete, employers who want people physically present—50% of companies—may gain the upper hand. Google, for example, recently announced that performance reviews would take into account unexplained absences from its three-day-per-week in-office requirement, with badge records being used to identify those who’re consistently falling short. And yet, 60% of exclusively remote employees say they’re extremely likely to seek employment elsewhere if they can’t continue working remotely at least some of the time. Others say they won’t return to the office, even if it means missing career opportunities or getting laid off. For many, it comes down to issues of autonomy: the freedom to work, parent their children, or exercise where and when they want. On top of this, there’s the issue of saving money by forgoing costly commutes, lunches out, and expensive work clothes. Work-from-home advocates also point to better mental health by exiting the rat race and spending more free time on enjoyable activities with family and friends.   Read more here. Whenever I start on a new project, one of my favorite things to do is to write a quick project charter. It helps me to begin to hone in on the key drivers of the project, and to reveal gaps in the implementation. It also helps to possibly come up with some easy ideas for improvement from the get-go to help the project. Using templates like this is helpful, as it provides a comprehensive checklist of all the items you should be thinking about. For example, the project charter template I use forces me to think through each of the key elements of the project:Whenever I start on a new project, one of my favorite things to do is to write a quick project charter. It helps me to begin to hone in on the key drivers of the project, and to reveal gaps in the implementation. It also helps to possibly come up with some easy ideas for improvement from the get-go to help the project. Using templates like this is helpful, as it provides a comprehensive checklist of all the items you should be thinking about. For example, the project charter template I use forces me to think through each of the key elements of the project: Vision and objectives Scope (what’s included and what’s not) High-level description of deliverables Customers that the output of the project serves Project stakeholders Roles, responsibilities and organizational structure for the project Approach to planning the project High-level plan Specific plans for resources, funding and quality assurance Generalized schedule with key milestones And finally, there are those critical catchall things such as risks, issues, assumptions and constraints.   Read the full article here.They don’t call Project Management “the accidental profession” for nothing. Many of us arrived here from a business or management background, but a lot of us came into this profession via a more indirect route, specifically, through a technical discipline that landed us in front of a new project. And this is where it can get really interesting. I recall one particular meeting I attended based on an invitation from a high-level executive who suspected his head of Program Controls was doing a poor job.They don’t call Project Management “the accidental profession” for nothing. Many of us arrived here from a business or management background, but a lot of us came into this profession via a more indirect route, specifically, through a technical discipline that landed us in front of a new project. And this is where it can get really interesting. I recall one particular meeting I attended based on an invitation from a high-level executive who suspected his head of Program Controls was doing a poor job. The executive was right. This fellow wasn’t trained in PM – he had a Ph.D. in a technical discipline, and knew just enough PM jargon to insinuate himself into the newly-created slot he occupied. His Team was large, as was the conference room, so I just took a seat in the back and kept my ears open. “Here’s the problem I want addressed” he began, standing in front of the rather large white board. He drew five large rectangles on the upper third portion of the white board. “These represent the major program offices” he stated. He then drew about a dozen smaller rectangles in the middle third of the white board, in a different color. “These are the major projects within the portfolio” he said, as he drew lines both between the mid-level rectangles and the high-level ones. He then drew around twenty small rectangles on the bottom third. Read more here.As I've built my company, I've grown a much thicker skin when it comes to rejection — and so can you. Here's how. When you set out to create something, you're going to hear a lot more "no'' than "yes" — but don't let that discourage you. Instead, make it work in your favor. I founded TO THE MARKET to power the ethical and sustainable supply chain, a value proposition that seems hard to argue with, but that hasn't stopped me from being on the receiving end of a steady stream of rejection. It's taken me a long time to learn how to accept rejection and turn it into a driving force. From understanding how to process feedback to practicing patience and establishing a network of support, these lessons have been invaluable — and essential — to my growth as an entrepreneur, and every step of the way was a vital one on my path to building my business.When you set out to create something, you're going to hear a lot more "no'' than "yes" — but don't let that discourage you. Instead, make it work in your favor. I founded TO THE MARKET to power the ethical and sustainable supply chain, a value proposition that seems hard to argue with, but that hasn't stopped me from being on the receiving end of a steady stream of rejection. It's taken me a long time to learn how to accept rejection and turn it into a driving force. From understanding how to process feedback to practicing patience and establishing a network of support, these lessons have been invaluable — and essential — to my growth as an entrepreneur, and every step of the way was a vital one on my path to building my business.   Below are some of the biggest lessons I have learned to date; those that have kept me going and still keep me going even today. Related: The Key to Confronting Rejection Without Breaking Your Resolve 1. When you receive feedback, consider where it's coming from You will hear a lot of advice and, even though you may think you should hang on everyone's every word, you would do yourself a service to take much of it with a grain of salt. Focus most closely on what comes from people who have actually done what you are doing — those who are in the industry doing your role and have real-world, hands-on experience.   Read more here.Here are a few strategies to help executives support and enhance their managers' performance. Effective managers are the backbone of any successful organization, driving performance, employee engagement and overall company growth. They are responsible for guiding and supporting their teams to ensure alignment with organizational goals, creating a more efficient and productive workplace. This article explores the importance of effective managers and provides actionable strategies to enhance their skills and abilities.Here are a few strategies to help executives support and enhance their managers' performance.   Effective managers are the backbone of any successful organization, driving performance, employee engagement and overall company growth. They are responsible for guiding and supporting their teams to ensure alignment with organizational goals, creating a more efficient and productive workplace. This article explores the importance of effective managers and provides actionable strategies to enhance their skills and abilities. Why effective managers are essential If it wasn't obvious already, effective managers are critical for numerous reasons. First and foremost, they contribute to increased employee satisfaction. Managers who are approachable, supportive and communicative create a positive work environment that employees are happy to be a part of. This leads to reduced turnover rates, as employees are more likely to stay in a job where they feel valued and supported. Moreover, effective managers improve team performance by setting clear expectations, offering constructive feedback and helping team members develop their skills. They foster a sense of camaraderie and collaboration that boosts morale and productivity. Read more here.Picture this. You're assembling a piece of furniture from a box, but the instruction manual is missing. You have all the tools, all the parts, but you're at a loss about where to start. This is what a hybrid work model without proper documentation feels like. It's like being in a spaceship without a navigation system. Recent research conducted by McKinsey has shown that a whopping 68% of companies lack a structured "playbook" to guide their hybrid work model.Picture this. You're assembling a piece of furniture from a box, but the instruction manual is missing. You have all the tools, all the parts, but you're at a loss about where to start. This is what a hybrid work model without proper documentation feels like. It's like being in a spaceship without a navigation system. Recent research conducted by McKinsey has shown that a whopping 68% of companies lack a structured "playbook" to guide their hybrid work model. I was surprised to see this, as I always work with clients who I help develop a hybrid work model on a clear and transparent playbook for them to use going forward, which later formed the basis for my best-selling book on hybrid work. With the Covid-19 pandemic sparking an unprecedented shift to remote and hybrid work environments, it is paramount for businesses to iron out their approach. The old adage, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail," holds true now more than ever. Dissecting the survey The McKinsey survey assessed how well companies implemented 12 identified key practices for an effective and sustainable hybrid work model. Interestingly, a major pitfall for most companies lay in creating an equilibrium between on-site and remote work — a "true hybrid" model, if you will. In a sense, it's like trying to play a symphony with a missing sheet of music. The performers have their instruments, they're keen, they're talented, but without the conductor's guidance, they're unable to synchronize their efforts. It's a clear miss on performance improvements and efficient real estate utilization, akin to leaving money on the table at a poker game.   Read more here.The generally accepted way of assessing progress on a project, and predicting its completion, is to use a critical path method schedule. However, the CPM paradigm does not work across a wide range of projects where there is no predetermined sequence of working that must be followed. There may be a high level “road map” outlining the desired route to completion and/or specific constraints on the sequencing of parts of the work but in most agile projects, the people doing the work have a high degree of flexibility in choosing the way most of the work is accomplished. The generally accepted way of assessing progress on a project, and predicting its completion, is to use a critical path method schedule. However, the CPM paradigm does not work across a wide range of projects where there is no predetermined sequence of working that must be followed. There may be a high level “road map” outlining the desired route to completion and/or specific constraints on the sequencing of parts of the work but in most agile projects, the people doing the work have a high degree of flexibility in choosing the way most of the work is accomplished. The focus of this post is to offer a practical solution to the challenge of assessing progress, and calculating the likely completion date in agile projects. WPM as an Alternative to ES and CPM Work performance management (WPM) is designed as an alternative approach to project controls. It uses the same concept as earned schedule, but offers a simple, practical tool that uses project metrics that are already being used for other purposes. The function of WPM is to assess progress and calculate a predicted completion date in a consistent, repeatable, and defensible way by comparing the amount of work achieved at a point in time with the amount of work planned to have been achieved at the same point in time. Then based on this data, you calculate an expected completion date. Read more here. As a new manager at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), I was determined to show others how it was done. But I took on too many clients simultaneously and didn’t ask for help. When a colleague tried to tell me things were going south, I ignored him. My stubbornness, naivete and ignorance led to screwing up not one job, but three. As a new manager at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), I was determined to show others how it was done. But I took on too many clients simultaneously and didn’t ask for help. When a colleague tried to tell me things were going south, I ignored him. My stubbornness, naivete and ignorance led to screwing up not one job, but three. Not only did I mess things up, but I wasn’t honest with myself about what happened, why it happened, and how I contributed to it. I was accountable for three spectacular failures, and for years was in denial of my own culpability. I was also too proud to admit my failures to colleagues and management and help others learn from them. Later in my career, I came to grips with what happened and was willing to share the experience with others. But there were times along the way I could have helped others but didn’t. Bad on me. Read more here... Project management software makes it easy to plan projects, allocate tasks and keep teams organized so that deadlines and goals are met. With so many project management systems on the market today, however, choosing the right option for your needs can be difficult.Project management software makes it easy to plan projects, allocate tasks and keep teams organized so that deadlines and goals are met. With so many project management systems on the market today, however, choosing the right option for your needs can be difficult. To help, we analyzed dozens of the leading providers and selected the best project management software in 2023, based on pricing, features, customer support and more. Best Software for Project Management of 2023 ClickUp: Best for Agile Development Teams Monday.com: Best for Startups on a Tight Budget Asana: Best for Collaboration Tools   Read more here... In an era defined by data and precision, you need more effective methods to unlock the potential that each employee possesses. Performance analytics can help. Every employer wants an effective and efficient workforce. In fact, want is the wrong word here. You need your workforce to be productive. It’s a basic requirement for a healthy, functioning company. Every employer wants an effective and efficient workforce. In fact, want is the wrong word here. You need your workforce to be productive. It’s a basic requirement for a healthy, functioning company. With that said, many businesses still trust leadership to use “gut instinct” when it comes to major decisions like hiring, evaluating performances, and deciding when to let people go. In an era defined by data and precision, you need more effective methods to unlock the potential that each employee possesses. Performance analytics can help. THE NEED FOR TARGETED PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS Feedback is essential in the workplace. Performance reviews provide important insights into how an employee is fairing over time. Two-way communication keeps feedback loops open. Goals, such as OKRs (objectives and key results) and KPIs (key performance indicators), are also helpful. They create frameworks and determining factors to guide performance over time. Incentives, such as raises and bonuses, encourage employees to perform better, too. And yet, despite all the tools that you likely already employ, in most cases, the dual task of assessing and improving performance remains a vague, indefinite practice. Managers and HR teams are still collecting, processing, and analyzing the data on their own. And in the end, you have to make key decisions about employee development based on your own anecdotal experience and analysis. The age of data has finally started to break this status quo with the introduction of performance analytics. Read more here. What do you really need to be a great manager? Are there certain people skills you need to succeed? How do great managers operate to oversee and lead the people on their teams?    We surveyed more than 100 managers about what they believe are the most important people management skills. From understanding employee motivations to mastering negotiation, here are the people skills you need to be a superb manager. What do you really need to be a great manager? Are there certain people skills you need to succeed? How do great managers operate to oversee and lead the people on their teams?    We surveyed more than 100 managers about what they believe are the most important people management skills. From understanding employee motivations to mastering negotiation, here are the people skills you need to be a superb manager.   NEGOTIATION   Although there are a lot of skills that make up a brilliant manager, I think that mastering the skill of negotiation can deliver the greatest payoffs. Few people understand the complexity and multi-layered nature of this skill, as it comprises emotional intelligence, communication, reflection, adaptability, and many more. Without it, you, as a manager, cannot reach an agreeable solution, no matter the subject or issue.   Like many of us, I wasn’t born with this skill, and I had to hone it as I worked my way up to becoming a CEO. Today, a win-win negotiation style helps me get excellent results for everyone involved, secure new clients, and build rapport with the team. I also encourage our managers and team leads to nurture this skill as I understand the long-term value of it—both in the professional and personal life.   Tatsiana Kerimova, CEO, Orangesoft   CONFLICT RESOLUTION   Conflict resolution skills aren’t just helpful when there’s a disagreement between colleagues in your team. Resolving conflicts well means you’re able to listen to both sides without judgment to understand where each person is coming from and what they want.    It also requires patience, collaboration, negotiation, consensus building, creative problem-solving, and the ability to stay calm when faced with highly charged emotions.    These skills are just as valuable for preventing conflicts and maintaining a healthy work environment on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, people who are skilled at conflict resolution also are exceptional managers across the board.   Archie Payne, CEO, CalTek Staffing Read more here. Early in my career as a leader, I adopted the popular phrase, “My door is always open.” These magic words were intended to be a sign of support that, as a leader, I would be available for my team. It just felt so good to say that—to know that if a team member wanted to come in to talk about something important or just shoot the breeze, I would be there for them whenever they wanted. Then reality struck.Early in my career as a leader, I adopted the popular phrase, “My door is always open.” These magic words were intended to be a sign of support that, as a leader, I would be available for my team. It just felt so good to say that—to know that if a team member wanted to come in to talk about something important or just shoot the breeze, I would be there for them whenever they wanted. Then reality struck. In my quest to be supportive, my team took me up on my open-door policy. In fact, several people who were not on my team felt free to stop by if they were grappling with something. I was happy to be sought out and that I could be helpful…until I found I wasn’t getting my own work done. My days became laced with interruptions from co-workers coming in needing something, or just wanting to chat. I would drop what I was doing and attempt to engage with the person. Sometimes I was able to devote my attention to them, but many times I was preoccupied with work that I was supposed to be getting done. The quality of my time with others suffered, I was spending after-hours time trying to get other things done. My overall effectiveness as a leader tanked. I had to change something because it was affecting me, my performance and my relationships—not just with colleagues, but with friends and loved ones. Read more here.Saying something once is not enough, no matter how rousing or inspiring the message might be. Just because you’re communicating, it doesn’t mean you’re doing it well. At the core of every great relationship is great communication. The same is true of great teams. Effective communication is necessary for any leadership team to work together cohesively, engage employees, and create loyal customers. Just because you’re communicating, it doesn’t mean you’re doing it well.   At the core of every great relationship is great communication. The same is true of great teams. Effective communication is necessary for any leadership team to work together cohesively, engage employees, and create loyal customers. Some of the symptoms of poor communication include disconnection, gossiping, and inefficiency. The Society for Human Resource Management surveyed 400 companies with 100,000 employees each and found that companies lost an average of $62.4 million per year because of inadequate communication with and among employees.   In my work as an executive coach, I have noticed that there are six mistakes that crop up consistently that sabotage great communication. Read more here. Most weekday mornings, Cate Scott Campbell, who runs her own communications company, logs onto a coworking session from the comfort of her home to kick-start her day. The 50-minute sessions, on a platform called Groove, create a virtual space for her to get her tasks done alongside up to three strangers. The work is bookended by check-ins with the other participants, to talk about goals and then report back on how much was accomplished.   Most weekday mornings, Cate Scott Campbell, who runs her own communications company, logs onto a coworking session from the comfort of her home to kick-start her day. The 50-minute sessions, on a platform called Groove, create a virtual space for her to get her tasks done alongside up to three strangers. The work is bookended by check-ins with the other participants, to talk about goals and then report back on how much was accomplished.   “It’s really helped me understand how long things actually take to get done,” Campbell says. “It’s a good way to catch that momentum in the morning and get the day off and running.” In her daily Groove session, Campbell typically completes tasks like organizing her to-do lists and replying to emails, helped by the fact that there are other people in the session to hold her accountable in a low-stakes way, which she says was the impetus for her to join the platform. Otherwise, she says, working from home often lacked the structure she needed to get things done. Read more here. Back in No More Watermelon Status Reports: How to Use Stories to Explain Project State, a reader asked how to help management understand why an estimated duration was “so long.”Back in No More Watermelon Status Reports: How to Use Stories to Explain Project State, a reader asked how to help management understand why an estimated duration was “so long.” The answer is that the manager is playing the “Bring Me a Rock” schedule game. That’s when the manager wants the project manager or the people doing the work to reduce their estimate durations. The Bring Me a Rock schedule games tend to occur under these conditions: When people estimate alone and you, the project manager, rolls up the estimate. Even when teams estimate, if the people know they will work alone, they tend to add buffer time to their estimates. When your manager wants to see a Gantt Chart and pick out certain tasks or people for more detailed understanding. Bring Me a Rock occurs when a more senior person tries to pressure a less senior person into changing the original estimate. If people estimate or work alone, the project manager is much more susceptible to pressure from senior leaders. Read more here...Like many of you, I’ve sat through several quarterly or annual program reviews. One of the agenda items is usually a look back from the start of the period, and seeing how many goals were reached, how many of the planned items were completed, and what changes occurred along the way. It is not uncommon to find that about half of what was accomplished was what we expected, and the other half was new or unplanned.Like many of you, I’ve sat through several quarterly or annual program reviews. One of the agenda items is usually a look back from the start of the period, and seeing how many goals were reached, how many of the planned items were completed, and what changes occurred along the way. It is not uncommon to find that about half of what was accomplished was what we expected, and the other half was new or unplanned. In fact, there were some reviews where we completed exactly zero of the things we went into the quarter or year hoping to get done. This meant, mathematically, that being on the plan was no better than a coin-flip as to if it would complete (at best), or a direct sign that something would never get done (at worst.) To the uninitiated, this meant that planning was a waste of time. I think that’s the wrong conclusion to draw. Read more here...Long before I had even heard of project management or thought much about my future outside the very near term, I was a soldier in the United States Army. Being quite undisciplined in my youth, a dramatic change was required to set me on a path to success.Long before I had even heard of project management or thought much about my future outside the very near term, I was a soldier in the United States Army. Being quite undisciplined in my youth, a dramatic change was required to set me on a path to success. It seemed the Army would assist me with my lack of discipline—and it did just that. After joining, it didn’t take me very long to notice that motivation, discipline and leadership was strong within the Army—and just what I needed in my life at that time. This held even more true in the airborne units (which makes sense, as you are jumping out of airplanes). It took just over a year of pleading and submitting requests to my chain of command before I was approved for Jump School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Once approved and graduated, I was to report to a unit in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. However, I noticed this was not an active airborne unit, so I quickly channeled my undisciplined youthfulness to take initiative and made a detour to Fort Bragg, North Carolina (aka home of the Airborne). Read more here...Dean, a project manager, was conducting a project post-mortem with Tania, his VP. “Why the month slip, Dean?” Tania asked.Dean, a project manager, was conducting a project post-mortem with Tania, his VP. “Why the month slip, Dean?” Tania asked. “Well,” Dean started, “we didn’t get on the vendor’s calendar early enough for integration testing. They couldn’t schedule us in when they needed us, so we had to slip.” Tania shook her head. “Hold on, Dean. The vendor is Conset, right?” “That’s right.” “If I remember correctly, we did a project with them last year and the same thing happened; we didn’t get on their calendar early enough and it caused a slip. Were you aware of that?” “I wasn’t.” “I specifically asked the project team to include that in the lessons learned. If I recall, Tarun was the PM. Did you talk with Tarun or look at his lessons learned?” Dean looked down. “Um, no.” Read more here...By identifying and developing one's strengths, aligning with passions, cultivating a growth mindset and positively impacting the world, individuals can unlock their full potential and create a life of abundance, passion and fulfillment. By identifying and developing one's strengths, aligning with passions, cultivating a growth mindset and positively impacting the world, individuals can unlock their full potential and create a life of abundance, passion and fulfillment. You are capable of achieving greatness, and it all starts with embracing your unique strengths and talents. Throughout history, many successful individuals have leveraged their strengths to achieve incredible success and make a difference in the world. In this article, we will explore the science behind embracing your strengths and provide inspiring examples of individuals who have used their strengths to achieve greatness. The first step to unlocking your full potential is to identify your strengths. What are you naturally good at? What brings you joy and fulfillment? By focusing on your strengths, you can achieve greater success and positively impact the world. Additionally, research has shown that individuals who use their strengths are happier and more satisfied with their lives. Read more here. What is Agile Organization Design? It's a powerful approach to designing organizations that allows for adaptability to customer demands. According to organizational design expert Jay Galbraith, there are five key components that make up an effective organizational design: strategy, structures, processes, reward systems, and people practices.What is Agile Organization Design? It's a powerful approach to designing organizations that allows for adaptability to customer demands. According to organizational design expert Jay Galbraith, there are five key components that make up an effective organizational design: strategy, structures, processes, reward systems, and people practices. When these components are aligned and support each other, the organization is most effective, as people get a consistent message about the appropriate behavior. But why should you care about organization design?  Simply put, to achieve your business strategy, your organization must have the capabilities to support it. This includes the skills, competencies, and alignment of your employees. If your organization's capabilities and strategy are incompatible, it becomes less effective. Imagine needing to respond quickly to customer requests to be successful, but your existing department structure and processes make even a small change to a product take months of decision-making and development. Your current capabilities would not support your new strategy. Read more here.Do you really know what your team needs? You may sometimes struggle to determine what motivates your team and how this affects their performance. The good news is that simple techniques give you a pretty good idea of what makes your employees tick. Here are five simple ways to find out what your team needs. Do you really know what your team needs? You may sometimes struggle to determine what motivates your team and how this affects their performance. The good news is that simple techniques give you a pretty good idea of what makes your employees tick. Here are five simple ways to find out what your team needs. 1. Look for the telltale signs If you are unsure what your team needs, look for the telltale signs. Are they working long hours? Are they stressed? Are they not participating in office talks? Are they complaining about something in particular? If so, it might be time to take a closer look at what's going on with your team. It's important to remember that every team is different, and many factors contribute to each person's happiness on the job — which means you need to figure out what makes each tick. Read more here. Uncertainty feels like the main topic in a lot of my conversations lately. With economic signals being mixed, layoffs coming rapidly and a lot of political friction happening around the world, it’s easy to understand why. This got me thinking about some of the lessons I’ve learned throughout my career that have helped me deal with uncertainty. These four keys have helped me repeatedly, and maybe they can help you as well:Uncertainty feels like the main topic in a lot of my conversations lately. With economic signals being mixed, layoffs coming rapidly and a lot of political friction happening around the world, it’s easy to understand why. This got me thinking about some of the lessons I’ve learned throughout my career that have helped me deal with uncertainty. These four keys have helped me repeatedly, and maybe they can help you as well: 1. Communicate, but don’t BS: I always start here because when there is a lot of uncertainty, people are searching for information, facts and…well, certainty. Yet you often have none to give them. The default action I see in many leaders is that they vomit out a buzzword-filled nothingburger that leaves their teams more uncertain and more fearful. Read more here.Today, I want to share with you the biggest inspiration in my life - the Theory of Constraints. Although it may not sound as glamorous as Scrum or Kanban, it's definitely a topic worth exploring. The beauty of the Theory of Constraints lies in its ability to bring about changes while delivering much more value in less time and with less workload.Today, I want to share with you the biggest inspiration in my life - the Theory of Constraints. Although it may not sound as glamorous as Scrum or Kanban, it's definitely a topic worth exploring. The beauty of the Theory of Constraints lies in its ability to bring about changes while delivering much more value in less time and with less workload. Before we delve into the topic, let me surprise you with something. My favorite movie is The Predator. I talk about it during trainings, meet-ups, and so on. Why am I telling you this? The Predator is an extraterrestrial hunter who sees reality in a completely different way than we do. While we see things in standard colors, The Predator sees things in infrared. This gives him an advantage in certain situations, but it also limits him in others. I bring this up because just like The Predator, every project manager, Scrum Master, Product Owner, director, consultant, or Agile Coach should also have different perception modes. Read more here...As an agile coach I often have Scrum Masters come up to me because management is complaining there are too many meetings in Scrum and that their developers aren't 100% utilised on developing the products.As an agile coach I often have Scrum Masters come up to me because management is complaining there are too many meetings in Scrum and that their developers aren't 100% utilised on developing the products. I also have developers asking me if they can skip the Sprint Review and Retrospective as they have some work to finish off for the sprint and that is a much better use of their time than sitting in a meeting.  Why is it that so many people walk away from a Scrum event saying it was a waste of time, boring or not relevant to them? It's easy to be tempted to just drop an event, but each scrum event has a purpose that contributes to the overall outcomes so a better way would be to make these Scrum Events more effective and show the value each events contributes. Read more here...Which project management trends will we see in areas such as resource planning, collaboration, methods and tools?Which project management trends will we see in areas such as resource planning, collaboration, methods and tools? How are the roles of the participants in the project environment going to change? And what new challenges are in store for the PMO? In this article (updated in early 2023), we take a look ahead to the coming years in agile, traditional and hybrid project environments. The trends, however, do not apply to all industries and types of projects in the same way. We combine our own experience with the information from public sources and derive the main points from this. Based on assessments and forecasts, you will be able to implement the right strategies for your project management environment. These are the topics in store for you: Some recent studies Trend 1: Artificial intelligence in project management is on the rise Trend 2: Self-determined working in flexible environments Trend 3: Resource planning is becoming more and more important Trend 4: Greater focus on the benefits of results Trend 5: Knowledge sharing continues on the rise Trend 6: Agile and hybrid methods continue to gain importance Trend 7: Change management is becoming more important Trend 8: The PMO is becoming more strategic Trend 9: PM tools and automated data use Conclusion: 9 Project management trends in 2023   Read more here...I talk to a lot of PMO staff, PMO leaders and organizational managers who have PMOs report to them. The structures and approaches of those PMOs vary greatly, as do the challenges they face and the ways that they try to overcome those challenges.I talk to a lot of PMO staff, PMO leaders and organizational managers who have PMOs report to them. The structures and approaches of those PMOs vary greatly, as do the challenges they face and the ways that they try to overcome those challenges. But there is one aspect of PMOs that seems to be common across all industries, structures, operating models and maturity levels: the idea that PMO is somehow different from the rest of the business. Let me give you an example. In a recent conversation with a PMO leader, I was asked for advice on how to improve the way that the business interacts with the PMO. This leader was concerned that he and his team weren’t receiving information about changes in the strategic priorities quickly enough, and that as a result the project teams were struggling to keep up with shifting needs. Read more here...This is the third and final article in a series summarizing emotional intelligence (EI) for project managers. This is the third and final article in a series summarizing emotional intelligence (EI) for project managers. See "Unleashing the ‘Pow!’ in Power Skills" for an introduction to power skills, including EI and leadership. Then, read "Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers" for an overview of the personal (working-with-self) EI skills. This article focuses on the interpersonal (working with others), right-hand side of the EI quadrant model: It's where the magic happens—leading teams to delight stakeholders—but it can only be applied after we have our personal (with self) components in order first. Read more here... This CEO assessed the productivity and hourly wage costs of constant meetings, proposed something radical and the payoffs were remarkable.A few weeks ago, I got into an interesting discussion on LinkedIn about the value of meetings. The exchange started with this post, wherein I broke down the cost of a 90-minute meeting I'd just sat through. By prorating the salaries of everyone involved, I calculated that the hour and a half we spent cost our company $1,826. Then, I asked the person who ran it if he thought it was worth the money. We didn't have that meeting again. In the post's numerous comments, some people agreed with me and proposed things like including the cost of a meeting in each invite. Others mentioned how they'd made similar calculations while consulting, and quoted some astronomical annual costs for their companies. Read more here.Goals can be too vague to be helpful such as “improve quality” or too large to be meaningful like “create a new product that doubles revenue in three months” or so specific that they feel more like a checklist than a goal: “deliver project X on Y date.” Over time, many of us have moved to creating more helpful, meaningful goals using SMART statements: Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Timely. SMART goals are a big improvement in setting direction and understanding if teams are achieving them. If you aren’t familiar with the SMART approach, there are plenty of articles that can help you learn more about it. It’s worth the research if you haven’t done so already.Goals can be too vague to be helpful such as “improve quality” or too large to be meaningful like “create a new product that doubles revenue in three months” or so specific that they feel more like a checklist than a goal: “deliver project X on Y date.” Over time, many of us have moved to creating more helpful, meaningful goals using SMART statements: Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Timely. SMART goals are a big improvement in setting direction and understanding if teams are achieving them. If you aren’t familiar with the SMART approach, there are plenty of articles that can help you learn more about it. It’s worth the research if you haven’t done so already. But there is a difference between how SMART goals work, and how an agile team would like to operate. An agile team would like to have the flexibility to “discover” goals along the way or adapt and adjust their targets as they learn more information. While SMART is an excellent framework, and certainly better than most, it isn’t flexible enough for what today’s agile teams are looking to do. In thinking about goals, I discovered a new framework, created by Adam Kreek, using the acronym CLEAR. This method is not in conflict with traditional goal setting, but it leans much further into the agile mindset and attitudes that teams are attempting to live in today’s environment.   Read the full content here.Nearly every project experiences a problem or two throughout its normal life cycle. From difficulties sticking to the projected budget to issues like scope creep, these issues — if left unchecked — can cause an otherwise successful project to fail. Nearly every project experiences a problem or two throughout its normal life cycle. From difficulties sticking to the projected budget to issues like scope creep, these issues — if left unchecked — can cause an otherwise successful project to fail. Root-cause analysis (RCA) attempts to identify and resolve such problems at their foundation. Instead of resulting in a temporary fix that will eventually fail, effective RCA can solve these issues for good. The right root cause analysis template is a great place to start.  Read more here. Transform meetings from routine to motivating and inspiring.Team meetings are often the most telling sign of the culture of an organization. And who among us hasn't attended the painfully dry and dull weekly status meeting? The format is predictable: Each person shares their work status and then ends up with a brand new to-do list by the end. Status meetings can be useful. But most employees tune out of these meetings until it's their time to speak. This defeats the whole purpose of sharing information and engaging in a meeting. This format couldn't be worse for employee engagement and organizational morale. It causes employees to daydream, put themselves on mute, pretend they are taking notes on their laptop while perusing Facebook, browse other jobs on LinkedIn, etc. And with remote meetings, disengagement becomes even more likely. Read more here.What is one of the most important aspects of holding the Scrum Master accountability? If you immediately thought about something like removing impediments and helping the team get to Done, I want you to think of the bigger picture. How you show up as a leader has the biggest impact. Not sure what that means? Read on to see why your mindset and what you bring of yourself to your Scrum practice are critical to success.What is one of the most important aspects of holding the Scrum Master accountability? If you immediately thought about something like removing impediments and helping the team get to Done, I want you to think of the bigger picture. How you show up as a leader has the biggest impact. Not sure what that means? Read on to see why your mindset and what you bring of yourself to your Scrum practice are critical to success.   What “showing up” as a Scrum Master means At its most basic, “showing up” relates to the mindset that informs our lives as Scrum Masters. I sometimes describe this as integrating and calibrating our “being” and our “doing.” The aim is to bring our A-game to the team every day, doing the best we can in any given circumstance.  It’s about being grounded and present so we can expand our awareness, allowing us to see more of what might be happening on the team and in the organization.  Read more here...Welcome back to the professional Scrum foundations series. As introduced last week, empiricism is one of the underlying concepts of the Scrum framework. Scrum is founded on empirical process control, and transparency is one of the three pillars.Welcome back to the professional Scrum foundations series. As introduced last week, empiricism is one of the underlying concepts of the Scrum framework. Scrum is founded on empirical process control, and transparency is one of the three pillars. During each of the Scrum Events, and throughout the Sprint itself, the Scrum Team and the stakeholders need transparency so there is a common understanding. Transparency as such is way more than bringing “visibility”. It is about reaching ”a common understanding”. Read more here...Welcome back to the professional Scrum foundations series. As introduced last week, empiricism is one of the underlying concepts of the Scrum framework. Scrum is founded on empirical process control, and transparency is one of the three pillars.Welcome back to the professional Scrum foundations series. As introduced last week, empiricism is one of the underlying concepts of the Scrum framework. Scrum is founded on empirical process control, and transparency is one of the three pillars. During each of the Scrum Events, and throughout the Sprint itself, the Scrum Team and the stakeholders need transparency so there is a common understanding. Transparency as such is way more than bringing “visibility”. It is about reaching ”a common understanding”. Read more here...In the heat of "the battle" teams tend to forget why they use the Scrum framework after all and what the foundations are of it. Why do we have Sprint Planning sessions every other week, why does our Product Owner has these or those accountabilities, why did we started using a team board after all, why did...  In the heat of "the battle" teams tend to forget why they use the Scrum framework after all and what the foundations are of it. Why do we have Sprint Planning sessions every other week, why does our Product Owner has these or those accountabilities, why did we started using a team board after all, why did...  There are loads of blogs and articles on specific practices, tools and techniques. Some easy, some way more advanced. Whatever the practices you and your team are using, there are some fundamentals that always need to be taken into account. Always. Read more here... I recognize that the title of this article will likely spark some raised eyebrows, if not some raised hackles. All well and good, but stick with me for a bit. There’s a method to my madness and a means to my mien.I recognize that the title of this article will likely spark some raised eyebrows, if not some raised hackles. All well and good, but stick with me for a bit. There’s a method to my madness and a means to my mien. It goes without saying that in the years since its advent, agile has taken hold in many places. So very many people, teams and organizations have adopted agile as their principal means of product development, and particularly of building software. The intent of agile is an important one to remember. It was supposed to enable faster delivery of more relevant value to customers, by providing solutions that support their needs and allow them to be more successful. These are all very, very good things to want. The rise of agile was a response to the reigning paradigm of the day, lovingly referred to as “waterfall”—and disparagingly referenced as “big design up front.” What’s important to recognize is that waterfall wasn’t a methodology so much as its own philosophy. It showed up in many different ways of creating products (not just software), and in many different forms. More to the point, it evolved to become what it was for a reason. It was as much a reaction to problems with what came before it as agile was a reaction to waterfall. Read more here...Project management leadership is critical for successful projects. A good project manager with excellent communication skills builds trust, influences engagement by the team, and creates a first-class environment of collaboration. Everyone has a different approach to a job, and if you’re looking to strengthen your skills and boost consistency, it helps to determine what kind of project manager you are.Project management leadership is critical for successful projects. A good project manager with excellent communication skills builds trust, influences engagement by the team, and creates a first-class environment of collaboration. Everyone has a different approach to a job, and if you’re looking to strengthen your skills and boost consistency, it helps to determine what kind of project manager you are. There are several project management styles and each has its advantages and disadvantages in the smooth administration of your projects. Once you identify your personal style, you’ll be able to perfect your approach and better explain your methods in future interviews. Read more here.Nowadays, confidence is a hot topic — and it has every reason to be. Here's why it's an essential trait for leaders to consistently nurture. Nowadays, confidence is a hot topic — and it has every reason to be. Here's why it's an essential trait for leaders to consistently nurture. We live in times when personal development and growth have transformed into one of the most important topics that intrigue our minds. Together with establishing healthy self-esteem, proactivity and productivity skills, confidence has turned into a viral subject that interests virtually everyone who aims at elevating their personal development. In today's dynamic and competitive world, it's the confidence that enables us to showcase our strengths, what we are good at and what helps us stand out in a sea of individuals sharing the same passion. Read more here. Anytime you see the words large scale combined with seven challenges in one article title should give the reader pause. The word solutions in the title can be an obvious path to success for large, complex information technology (IT) projects. But first, we need to understand what a large-scale IT project is.Anytime you see the words large scale combined with seven challenges in one article title should give the reader pause. The word solutions in the title can be an obvious path to success for large, complex information technology (IT) projects. But first, we need to understand what a large-scale IT project is. Large-Scale IT Projects and Their Scope In short, a large-scale IT project is any project that threatens the continued existence of a business if the project fails. This definition covers any scenario involving large-scale IT projects. When we specifically focus on an IT project, the project can consist of a wide area network (WAN) with one or more metropolitan area networks (MANs) or local area networks (LANs) inside a WAN. A large-scale IT project can also be a complex rewrite or creation of a complex IT application using DevOps best practices. Read more here. Teamwork makes the hybrid policy work. When it comes to hybrid work, 46% of employees reported being engaged when their team determines their own policy of when to come into the office, according to a November Gallup survey. Teamwork makes the hybrid policy work. When it comes to hybrid work, 46% of employees reported being engaged when their team determines their own policy of when to come into the office, according to a November Gallup survey.  By contrast, 41% of respondents are content to make the decision individually, and just 35% reported being engaged if leadership determines the top-down policy for everyone. It makes sense when you think about it. Team members know best what they need in order to collaborate and socialize together effectively. After all, the only useful function of the office is to facilitate collaboration, socialization and mentoring: people are much more productive on their individual tasks at home. It’s often the case that rank-and-file teams want to determine what works best for their needs. Read more here. I don't think anyone would disagree with the idea that to prevent burnout in any aspect of life, sometimes you need to stop, take some time for yourself, and step back. Throughout my career, I have found an essential middle ground between the perpetual intensity of leading an organization and the burnout that leads to completely stepping away — and I've also found that it often goes unnoticed or unknown.I don't think anyone would disagree with the idea that to prevent burnout in any aspect of life, sometimes you need to stop, take some time for yourself, and step back. Throughout my career, I have found an essential middle ground between the perpetual intensity of leading an organization and the burnout that leads to completely stepping away — and I've also found that it often goes unnoticed or unknown. I think this middle ground is akin to the daily practice of mindfulness, of being able to use pockets of your day (even if they're only moments at a time) to ground yourself and bring you back to the present moment. Not only is it something that will help you individually, but if practiced consistently and implemented regularly, it will help your teammates and your company. Read more here.The future of project management has been a topic of exploration pretty much since project management has been around. In the grand scheme of things, this is not very long. The future of project management has been a topic of exploration pretty much since project management has been around. In the grand scheme of things, this is not very long. Modern project management as we know it is a recently emerged construct. The history of project management only reaches back to the late 1950s, with the advent of the Polaris nuclear submarine platform for the U.S. Department of Defense, and the efforts to address plant turnaround scheduling problems for Dupont. These efforts gave rise to a number of innovations in how to think about managing temporary organizations with schedule-intensive and time-sensitive efforts. Most notably, PERT and CPM emerged wholesale from these efforts, and have remained relatively unchanged ever since. Read more here. Quiet quitting is a new phrase flooding social media. Why is it trending and what does it really mean for employees and leaders in the workplace?Quiet quitting seems like odd terminology since it has nothing to do with actually ditching your job for greener pastures. Many argue that there's no such thing as quiet quitting because it simply refers to workers doing their assigned job during their typical workday. What they're not doing is taking on any extra duties, or participating in extracurriculars at work. It's about rejecting the idea that work has to take over your life. And, while the buzzy phrase has been seemingly replaced by fast quitting (for now), what we must not ignore is the real reason why these terms were coined in the first place. Read more here.Being a project manager requires a significant spectrum of skills and abilities. Doing it well means mastering a range of perspectives. We need to be able to confidently guide, structure, lead and support as we manage complex challenges and navigate uncertainty.Being a project manager requires a significant spectrum of skills and abilities. Doing it well means mastering a range of perspectives. We need to be able to confidently guide, structure, lead and support as we manage complex challenges and navigate uncertainty. For most of us, however, that means focusing on the projects of others. Project managers are the stewards of the dreams and ambitions of those we serve. We respond to their visions and work out the strategies to bring them to fruition. I have long characterized myself in my role as a facilitator of other people’s content; I bring the capacity, skill and knowledge required to create the requisite structure and deliver desired results. What this also means is that we are comparatively less focused and attentive to our own personal projects. That is unfortunate and potentially limiting. It may be something you may want to reconsider thinking about going forward. Read more here  Look up any list of the top challenges currently facing leaders—Forbes, McKinsey, Gallup, KornFerry, each have their list—and, despite some differences, they all rest on a common denominator: They all require an enormous amount of energy and learning agility from leaders, not only for personal stamina, but for engaging and inspiring others. These can be tiring, disorienting times, with rapid competitive pivots, new ways of working that aren’t always working, mass resignations, and increased strains on mental and physical health. How can we find the abundant energy needed to be bigger than the challenges we face and be a guiding force for others? Here are three laws of energy management that, on the one hand, can guide us and, on the other hand, we break at our peril.  Read more here. Only organizations and leaders who cultivate an environment where ideas can flow freely and be challenged without judgment can make it. Here's how to make sure your company encourages the right kind of conflict. Only organizations and leaders who cultivate an environment where ideas can flow freely and be challenged without judgment can make it. Here's how to make sure your company encourages the right kind of conflict. Bruce Lee, a brilliant philosopher and martial artist, warned us that untested ideas guarantee unrealized potential. He created Jeet Kune Do — not as a new style, but as a general epistemology (theory of knowledge) to be open-minded to all styles to find what works — and along the way, "absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own." Lee's genius extends way beyond martial arts as truly strengthening an organization (and one's character, for that matter) requires ongoing ideation and adaptation. Read more here. Where is artificial intelligence taking project management? AI has turned up in the project management trends articles over the past few years and it’s now most definitely here to stay.Where is artificial intelligence taking project management? AI has turned up in the project management trends articles over the past few years and it’s now most definitely here to stay. I caught up with Lloyd Skinner, CEO at Greyfly, a consultancy specializing in improving project outcomes through the application of AI tools and experienced professionals, to talk about how AI is changing the way we lead projects. Read more here.Your workforce is geared to tackle perpetual challenges: innovation, competitiveness, and quality. But as the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus so accurately declared 2,500 years ago, “There is nothing permanent except change.” Your workforce is geared to tackle perpetual challenges: innovation, competitiveness, and quality. But as the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus so accurately declared 2,500 years ago, “There is nothing permanent except change.”   The skills to recognize, navigate, and embrace change are distinct ones. Do your people have change skills? Without them, other abilities may not be enough to deliver core business objectives, long-term growth, or social good and sustainability commitments. To read more, click here. Let's talk about estimation. The project estimation process is the bane of existence for so many project managers. It’s not just that it’s high-pressure, hurried, and mostly done off the sides of our desk. It’s also that our efforts usually get carved down into a compromise that is almost never accurate or ideal. Let's talk about estimation. The project estimation process is the bane of existence for so many project managers. It’s not just that it’s high-pressure, hurried, and mostly done off the sides of our desk. It’s also that our efforts usually get carved down into a compromise that is almost never accurate or ideal. But one thing I do love about the process of estimating is the opportunity it creates for some really important conversations to surface. Read more here. Timelines are a mission-critical tool for project managers. Whether you’re using project management software to get the job done or using a spreadsheet, the ability to create an accurate visual representation of what needs to happen, when, and in what order should be one of your PM superpowers. A timeline is a visual representation of a list of events in chronological order. It includes a subject, data, and a linear scale where the unit distance of a line represents a proportional amount of time. A Gantt chart is a popular timeline used in project management to show a project schedule. In the Gantt chart, a list of tasks is displayed vertically, and the corresponding time intervals of each task—and sometimes their dependencies—are displayed horizontally. Read more here.Business decisions are based on many different data-driven variables. A useful tool for helping evaluate whether to move forward with or abandon a key business maneuver is calculating a cost-benefit analysis. Business decisions are based on many different data-driven variables. A useful tool for helping evaluate whether to move forward with or abandon a key business maneuver is calculating a cost-benefit analysis. A cost-benefit analysis, or CBA, is a simple comparison of the projected or estimated business costs or opportunities of a project against the benefits to the business. The benefits to knowing this information proves invaluable when planning and forecasting work. To read more, click here. Avoiding construction cost overruns is a project priority second only to timely completion, and avoiding them should be the top priority for any project manager. Budget overruns are the bane of any project, construction or otherwise, and these planning oversights are potentially disastrous and unfortunately common. According to KPMG, less than a third of all projects came within 10% of their initial budget in the past 3 years. Avoiding them is paramount to delivering construction projects to the satisfaction of your clients.   Most Common Cost Overrun Causes Inaccurate Estimates Inaccurate estimates are easily avoidable. They are most likely to come from a firm looking to underbid the competition. Overpromising on a budget and having costs substantially exceed the estimate is a sure way to lose clients. While estimate accuracy is important and may make the difference between getting awarded a job and being passed over for it, you protect your business best by slightly overestimating and then delivering the project under budget. This will give project managers budgetary wiggle room should the project run over budget. Finally, if the additional budget is no longer needed upon timely completion, the boost in reputation will bring a firm more work and thus more money in the long run. Read more here.In the past five years, the project management industry has seen significant growth in terms of job opportunities. Northeastern University reports that “as of 2017, 71% of global organizations have a project management office (PMO).” In the past five years, the project management industry has seen significant growth in terms of job opportunities. Northeastern University reports that “as of 2017, 71% of global organizations have a project management office (PMO).” By 2027, it is estimated that there will be another 22 million jobs added to the project management sector. As individuals look to reimagine their careers and work, there are many opportunities to do so in the world of project management. Where to Start Project management has historically been a field heavily focused on construction, IT, and engineering; however, over the past decade, there has been significant growth in project management across industries. As organizations focus on maximizing returns and efficiencies, increasing fiduciary responsibility, and implementing innovative products and services, opportunities for project managers (PMs) can be found in most organizations and industries. Determining where to start should be a two-pronged approach to leverage some of your past experience and subject matter expertise in addition to industry outlooks and forecasts. Read more here. At the time of this writing, it's spring. So, I've been spending as much time as I can outside. A few ways to spend a great time outside are by tinkering with a vegetable garden, playing with your kids, riding your bike, or getting in shape.At the time of this writing, it's spring. So, I've been spending as much time as I can outside. A few ways to spend a great time outside are by tinkering with a vegetable garden, playing with your kids, riding your bike, or getting in shape. Now, unless you're oblivious, fruits and veggies don't just magically grow. You need to work the soil, plant the seeds in a well lite area, and water your plants if you want a bountiful harvest. Likewise, kids don't just magically learn things. You need to work with your kids, send them to school, and spend time teaching your kids, and magically getting in shape remains elusive. Read more here.One thing that makes a smaller organization more nimble, usually, is its size: there aren’t a lot of layers between decision makers and the boots on the ground. One thing that makes a smaller organization more nimble, usually, is its size: there aren’t a lot of layers between decision makers and the boots on the ground. So it may seem counterintuitive to suggest that smaller organizations can derive value from adding more managerial infrastructure, but that’s the story we saw when we crunched the numbers for smaller organizations in a new study, The State of the PMO 2022. Read more here. When I first started managing projects, changes were something that my colleagues and I used to try and avoid at all cost. They messed up plans, took people away from their assigned tasks, and often required rework or created wasted effort.When I first started managing projects, changes were something that my colleagues and I used to try and avoid at all cost. They messed up plans, took people away from their assigned tasks, and often required rework or created wasted effort. At the same time, we all knew that stakeholders would have ridiculous questions that they would want to be answered about proposed changes that would either require massive amounts of analysis or complete guesswork—and often both. If we could avoid considering a change request, we would—every time.There are many reasons why a project may need to change hands. Some reasons are fairly innocuous. The previous manager moved or a company reorganization required a reshuffling of responsibilities. Or they might have left the company. There are many reasons why a project may need to change hands. Some reasons are fairly innocuous. The previous manager moved or a company reorganization required a reshuffling of responsibilities. Or they might have left the company. Or the reason might have been more dire. The project is in trouble. There are big financial and deadline disasters looming and the stakeholders have held the previous project manager responsible and brought you in to save the day. Whichever the scenario, you have a team waiting on your direction, a project to complete, or a sponsor who needs to feel the confidence that you have everything handled. And you have the leftovers of your predecessors which may be a lot…or a little. Where to start? To learn more on how to prepare a Project Takeover Checklist, click here. The year was 2020, and like many companies, our team at Wagmo was happily and productively working together in person to change the way people think about pet wellness and insurance. Then March hit, and everyone was immediately thrown into a remote workplace. Little did we know, the disruption would lead to one of the most powerful positive changes for our young company. Read more here.Use this feedback system with your teams and clients, and watch your productivity soar. The life of a business leader or entrepreneur is akin to running an obstacle course in the middle of an earthquake and a tornado all at once. To say that there is huge uncertainty, risk and an ever-changing landscape, would seem like an understatement. With such uncertainty, it can be challenging to offer consistency in production and customer experience, which can lead to a weaker brand presence and fluctuating revenue. While technology has integrated long-term data analysis into business systems, from email open rates, to time spent on webpages and advertising performance through conversion ratios, there is an amazing four-step feedback process that we use in our business and with our clients that increases performance and speed to scale. Read more here. As employees continue to quit by the masses, companies are at war for talent. But despite it being a job seeker’s market, interviews are still just as nerve-wracking. Here’s how you can best prepare for and crush your interviews—and land the job. Preparing for an interview—no matter how good the job market may be—is still just as daunting as ever. With a record 48 million Americans quitting their jobs last year amid the Great Resignation—a trend that's shown few signs of slowing down—and more than 11 million open jobs, employers are fighting to recruit top talent. But even if it’s a job seeker's market, preparing for an interview still means doing your homework, putting in the practice and knowing how to answer—and ask—the right questions. Read more here.   We have been toiling away long and hard, being accountable, going the extra mile, starting early and finishing late to get the numbers and hammering those key performance indicators (KPIs). Then we get promoted to become responsible for others as the team leader. Usually, we get no formal leadership training for the new role and are left to work it out by ourselves. How do we keep moving up the ladder of success? There are a number of things we have to study in order for this new role to become the catalyst we need to deliver our career aspirations. Read more here What I've learned in my career as an entrepreneur about how to measure true success. What does it take to become a successful entrepreneur and what does "success" even mean today? These are questions worth exploring, especially if you are just starting out.    You can never be fully prepared for the slings and arrows of entrepreneurship. Starting a new company from scratch is one of the hardest things you can do. Every obstacle and challenge will come your way, especially in the early years. Let’s start with first principles: An entrepreneur’s job is to innovate, create jobs and grow revenues. But before you can do that, you need to determine if you really have the drive, dedication and confidence to fight for your dream every day, despite the obstacles. If you don’t have that hunger and perseverance, then entrepreneurship may not be for you. Read more here Project management offices are prevalent in some industries. They are still comparatively rare in others. PMOs are not a new construct, however. Arguably they are as old as project management itself. Formal project management got its start with the advent of the Polaris nuclear missile platform as well as plant turnarounds at Dupont. They are what gave us, respectively, PERT and CPM—tools we still recognize and use to this day. These efforts also were the genesis of what we would recognize as program management offices. These undertakings weren't simply about process, although process is what was retained after the programs went away. The original intent was building a management structure to get complex, challenging work done. The organizational dimensions were as important as the practices being employed. Fast forward several decades, and PMOs are being implemented for a myriad of reasons (and some enterprises have multiple PMOs playing a variety of roles at a range of organizational levels—as well as at differing levels of formality). Depending upon mandate, the PMO might be the organizational home of all or a subset of project managers. They might advocate for process, or they might police standards. They might report progress and results, or coordinate the process of defining what those results should be. Some facilitate specific aspects of the process, whether chartering or lessons learned. A select but surprisingly effective few take the role of champion and storyteller, sharing the experience and accomplishments and promoting continued improvement. Read more here Leadership, listen up: Why 'The Big Quit' is the catalyst organizations needed to create more equitable hiring practices and attract the best new employees.These concerns, plus the added weight of the pandemic, has led employees to reevaluate their choices, and for many prompted the question, “What place does work have in my life?” With a significant percent of Americans leaving their jobs, many are left wondering why open positions are remaining hard to fill. The truth is, people aren’t rushing back to work. Companies desperately need to hire, yet they no longer hold the power. Employees can get higher wages at the next company, plus signing bonuses, tuition assistance and flexible work-from-home schedules. Put simply, those looking for jobs have much more leverage and room for negotiation than in the not so recent past.  While some speculate that the power will tilt back to employers as people burn through their savings, companies that want to stay ahead of the curve should use “The Big Quit” as a catalyst for a new approach to hiring. Here are six ways HR teams and corporate leadership can provide more diverse benefits to attract top talent.  Read more hereDiversity, Equity & InclusionMy parents always told me as a kid that actions speak louder than words. Not surprisingly, leaders in every sector are feeling the intense heat of accountability as organizational stakeholders evaluate the alignment between their words and actions pertaining to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). And while many leaders are unapologetic about having no intention to drive even a modicum of meaningful change, there are countless others who truly support DEI in their heads and hearts but are sheepishly paralyzed in practice – leaders who deeply struggle with making the transition from well-intentioned believer to high-impact builder. Read more hereWho needs extroversion when being quiet can be even more inspiring? I manage people based across the world in Western as well as Eastern Europe, Southern Africa, and Asia. This means managing time zones, remote working, and cultural differences from my 10-square-meter bedroom in Morocco. I’m shy, introverted, and pretty damn awkward sometimes, making it an even more daunting challenge. I’ve also never met my team members in person because they’re new, having joined us during these pandemic times. So how does a stuttering introvert who couldn’t even say hello on the phone five years ago handle being a manager? It’s taken quite a few years of work, but it boils down to doing these four things. Read more here From its inception, project management has always emphasized communication as an effective enabler to optimize project outcomes, and our own research has continued to confirm it to be an essential team skill. From its inception, project management has always emphasized communication as an effective enabler to optimize project outcomes, and our own research has continued to confirm it to be an essential team skill. To ensure the product or solution being developed will meet the customer’s needs, it is critical that project leaders create space for stakeholders to provide input and shape strategies. But establishing communication channels is only the first step in effective collaboration. The harder part is gathering, synthesizing and actually acting upon multiple perspectives and insights — and that’s where many companies fall short. Read more hereAccording to U.S. government data, 4.3 million people quit their jobs in December of 2021, bringing the 2021 total to nearly 47 million. That’s an all-time record. At the same time, more jobs are being created, and there are a considerable number of job openings (over 10.9 million in the United States in the same month). According to U.S. government data, 4.3 million people quit their jobs in December of 2021, bringing the 2021 total to nearly 47 million. That’s an all-time record. At the same time, more jobs are being created, and there are a considerable number of job openings (over 10.9 million in the United States in the same month). The global economy is recovering from the unprecedented impact of the pandemic, and it’s creating situations that no one has seen before and that aren’t fully understood. Factors like supply chain issues, significant wage growth, accelerating inflation, and the ongoing impact of the virus (and measures designed to counter it, like vaccine mandates) all add to the uncertainty in the job market for multiple industries and geographic regions. Read more here Our craft has become so focused on KPIs, goals and performance that we sometimes forget what is most important: people and leadership. We all need to work on making project management more human again. Here's how. Having worked as a project manager for over 20 years, I have seen a general trend of our craft becoming more and more focused around KPIs, goals and performance. While these are not bad things, I personally believe that project management should revolve more around people and leadership. I think we all need to work on making project management more human again. Those who have read my articles about leadership or listened to any of my talks know that for me, the human being is always in the center of attention. Yes, we need goals and KPIs and any of the leadership tools we learn about. However, these should be used more as decision-making tools and not result in punitive measures. Read more here Digital transformation is a new normal. The pandemic has had an indisputable impact on customer behavior, forcing companies to rethink what needs to change in their business processes—including their products and services, customer engagement and, above all, the capacity of its IT infrastructure to support new business models.Digital transformation is a new normal. The pandemic has had an indisputable impact on customer behavior, forcing companies to rethink what needs to change in their business processes—including their products and services, customer engagement and, above all, the capacity of its IT infrastructure to support new business models. Digitalization has become a strong ally for many companies to remain competitive—and technology is now center stage more than ever because the pandemic has changed the way we work and socialize. But technology itself is not the sole determining factor of an enterprise’s success. Its intensified presence has equipped stakeholders with the right amount of data and intelligence to help them make timely decisions, ones that lead to higher success rates when dealing with change. Read more here No matter how brilliant your marketing strategy is, it’s the execution that determines whether you succeed or fail. Any organization can build a strategy focused on delivering a value-rich customer experience. But it is only successful organizations that can efficiently and effectively implement that strategy and generate impactful results.    No matter how brilliant your marketing strategy is, it’s the execution that determines whether you succeed or fail. Any organization can build a strategy focused on delivering a value-rich customer experience. But it is only successful organizations that can efficiently and effectively implement that strategy and generate impactful results.  So what’s the key to execution? Increasingly, it comes down to these three things:  1. Project management skills and critical thinking. 2. The ability to offer personalized services tailored to meet individual desires, budgets and mindsets. 3. The automation and optimization of marketing operations. Read more Understanding the current project management trends and where things are heading in 2022 is key to staying on top of the profession. The best way for project management professionals to stay ahead of the game is to keep up-to-date on new technologies and invest in their professional development. As a project manager, you must keep up with... Understanding the current project management trends and where things are heading in 2022 is key to staying on top of the profession. The best way for project management professionals to stay ahead of the game is to keep up-to-date on new technologies and invest in their professional development. As a project manager, you must keep up with what’s trending. If you don’t, then how can you expect your team to be prepared for the future? In this article, we’ll cover the key topics that are expected to be trending in 2022. Use this as an opportunity to think about how each trend affects your organization and industry, and how you can prepare for these changes. Trends in Project Management to Look Out for in 2022 The following are the seven project management trends we’ve identified will be prevalent in 2022. Read more The best project managers have a few important things in common. I won’t make you read all the way to the end to get the answer: they communicate effectively and aren’t afraid to do so through conversation. This one trait will determine the success of any project manager responsible...  I won’t make you read all the way to the end to get the answer: they communicate effectively and aren’t afraid to do so through conversation. This one trait will determine the success of any project manager responsible for any project.  No two team members are the same – this you know. Like any personal relationship you have – from parents and children to friendships – how you respond and motivate individuals on your team will greatly differ; successful project managers are able to do this with effective communication skills. Effective project managers have to be able to communicate with all types of people – because that’s just what they’ll get on their team. Detailed versus big picture. Creative versus technical. Introverted versus extroverted. The following skills are signs of an effective PM who can communicate successfully: Read more Time is money, as all business owners know. Workflow, time management and internal administration – if you can make these processes more efficient, not only will you boost your bottom line, but it...Time is money, as all business owners know. Workflow, time management and internal administration – if you can make these processes more efficient, not only will you boost your bottom line, but it will also free up your time to focus more on the creative side of business life.  Even if every business could benefit from improving its efficiency - you just need to know how you’ve already added a project manager to the team, as head of your company you need to nail the basics of good organization. So take a step back and set some processes in place – your clients, bank balance and sanity will all thank you. Read on for efficiency enlightenment. Read moreProduct Manager and Project Manager are two job descriptions that are often confused with each other. In spite of the fact that they might have a few comparable functions. If you are interested in... Product Manager and Project Manager are two job descriptions that are often confused with each other. In spite of the fact that they might have a few comparable functions. If you are interested in knowing the difference between these two positions, then you are on the right page. In this article, you will learn about the distinct features that differentiate product managers and project managers from each other. Read more Trying to be all things to all projects in all situations at all levels of complexity results in the needs of no one actually being addressed, and many being massively inconvenienced. What starts as big and complex simply gets worse over time. But there is a different and better way.The life of a project manager centers around processes. To some, that is appealing. They like the structure, the formality, the rigor and the detail. It gives them comfort and confidence that they have dotted, crossed, cross-referenced, codified and confirmed all the nitty-gritty details of the project they are responsible for and the people they coordinate. There are others, of course, who run screaming in the other direction for precisely the same reasons. Not only do they not value the detail, they do not see the point. Forms, checklists and templates seem like bureaucracy run rampant. Rather than getting on with the meaningful work they are responsible for, their desks and their inboxes are awash in unnecessary, unvalued and unasked-for paperwork. You might read the descriptions above, and presume that the first passage describes project managers and the second reflects the team members who they victimize. While this can certainly be true, the descriptions can readily cut both ways. Team members (and sponsors) can obsess over details that the project manager considers both well in hand and micromanagerial overreach. There are also, thankfully, project managers who take a pragmatic view of the processes that they manage and how they serve the projects they are responsible for. Read moreBetter than anyone, tech leaders understand the value of the right technology when it comes to project management—but also better than anyone, tech leaders know there’s more to good project...Better than anyone, tech leaders understand the value of the right technology when it comes to project management—but also better than anyone, tech leaders know there’s more to good project management than the right software. It’s essential for project managers to do careful work up front, including ensuring requirements are shared and understood, setting up a communication system, defining a clear scope and more. If a project manager doesn’t lay the proper groundwork, the best talent and tools in the world can’t bring a tech project to a successful conclusion. Below, 16 tech leaders from Forbes Technology Council share their best project management tips. Tap into their experience when planning your next tech project. Read more Work-life balance is no longer "the thing," writes Brantlee Underhill of the Project Management Institute. An article from Work-life balance is no longer "the thing," writes Brantlee Underhill of the Project Management Institute. Brantlee Underhill is managing director, North America at the Project Management Institute. Views are the author's own. As the pandemic has made clear, the concept of work-life balance has been redefined. The old definition — if it ever was genuinely accurate — was that "work" took place from 9 to 5, and "life" happened outside those hours, as if there were dividers between our working and non-working hours where we could or would only experience one facet of life at a time. Or maybe this supposed duality was the expectation pre-pandemic, and what I believe has contributed to the lack of being fulfilled in the wholeness of life. Yes, we have choices, and it's great that we can choose this or that. Overall, if we aren't clear on our purpose or why we are doing what we are doing, our chances of living with fulfillment will be limited. Read more I recently realized something that I never really thought about before (at least, I don’t remember thinking about before): Project managers share a lot of the same needs and requirements with salespeople.I recently realized something that I never really thought about before (at least, I don’t remember thinking about before): Project managers share a lot of the same needs and requirements with salespeople. Crazy, right? Many of you are probably scratching your head, thinking, “Dave has really lost his mind now.” You might be right, but let me try and explain. Here are some things we have in common with salespeople… Read more...As good product folks, we know that customers must recognize a problem before they consider buying our solution. Companies that don’t have supply chain issues (or think they don’t) are not in the market for ERP systems.As good product folks, we know that customers must recognize a problem before they consider buying our solution. Companies that don’t have supply chain issues (or think they don’t) are not in the market for ERP systems. Organizations that don’t think they are hacking targets don’t invest in security infrastructure. “Couch potatoes” don’t care about traction metrics for running shoes. Households without pets (mostly) don’t buy cute doggy sweaters. We don’t shop for antidotes to unrecognized diseases.To read more, click here.Hybrid project delivery has been around for a while as a concept. There is a niche methodology that claims hybrid is a specific combination of waterfall planning and agile execution.Hybrid project delivery has been around for a while as a concept. There is a niche methodology that claims hybrid is a specific combination of waterfall planning and agile execution. But for most people, "hybrid" simply means an approach to project management and delivery that combines elements of both traditional and agile disciplines in a way that makes sense for each project. The implication is that the mix will be different from one PM to the next and from one project to the next—based on individual project manager and team preferences, as well as the project’s unique needs. To read more, click more.The art of “reading the room” is a technique most professionals don’t know about or understand how to do. Almost anyone can learn how to read a room to help navigate business scenarios.The art of “reading the room” is a technique most professionals don’t know about or understand how to do. Almost anyone can learn how to read a room to help navigate business scenarios. It just takes time to learn the language spoken and understand the dynamics playing out in front of you. People convey much more than their words can say. Learning the mechanics of reading a room full of people can benefit anyone. For a project manager, it can help successfully lead a team. To learn more about group gynamics, things to pay attention to and tips on reading a room, click here.It’s easy to get caught in the daily whirlwind, especially when you have a long list of tasks and boatloads of firefighting to do.It’s easy to get caught in the daily whirlwind, especially when you have a long list of tasks and boatloads of firefighting to do. However, if left unchecked, all these, on top of sticking to manual processes, can bog you and your employees down — leading to inefficient workflows, low productivity, and even cost you money. The solution? Streamline your business processes to save time and resources, manage your workload better, and ensure your business operates optimally. While there is no one-size-fits-all formula to achieve efficient business processes and workflows, there are tried and true ways to help you pull this off — which we’ll cover in this guide. To learn more on the guide tips, click here.It is exciting to speculate what the future may hold for Business Intelligence (BI) and its applications. When BI methodologies, practices, and tools are incorporated into a project, you can expect optimized productivity, mitigated risk, and maximized project effectiveness.It is exciting to speculate what the future may hold for Business Intelligence (BI) and its applications. When BI methodologies, practices, and tools are incorporated into a project, you can expect optimized productivity, mitigated risk, and maximized project effectiveness. What Is BI? Business Intelligence is an abstract and trendy term that is tossed around and used frequently across industries. BI, at its simplest, is a technical process for analyzing and delivering data that helps business leaders and project teams make smarter decisions based on all of the relevant information available. It helps businesses and teams run more intelligently. To learn more about BI, click here. Good teams become great teams under great leaders. One skill great leaders need is emotional intelligence. Good teams become great teams under great leaders. One skill great leaders need is emotional intelligence.  To read more, click here.You’ve earned the Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification. What’s next? There are three broad choices to continue learning: two traditional options and one innovative strategy you might not know about yet.You’ve earned the Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification. What’s next? There are three broad choices to continue learning: two traditional options and one innovative strategy you might not know about yet. Before diving into those options, let’s examine why professional development and certifications are worthwhile. 3 Reasons Why Professional Certification Is Worth Your EffortPutting additional time and energy into certifications as a working professional is a daunting task. You already have a full schedule of activities. The thought of taking on additional studies may feel overwhelming.To read more, click here.Project management is a business process. Like all business processes, it is subject to improvement.Wise organizations and teams seek to continuously improve processes to optimize performance. That is what assessments,  coaching, consulting, and training are about. Wise individual practitioners also seek to continuously improve processes to optimize performance. To read more, click here.We live in the golden age of online learning and career possibilities. That wealth of knowledge carries a problem: There is a limit on how much time and money we can invest in learning new skills given our project and personal responsibilities. We live in the golden age of online learning and career possibilities. That wealth of knowledge carries a problem: There is a limit on how much time and money we can invest in learning new skills given our project and personal responsibilities. It is far too easy to fall victim to analysis paralysis with all of the options and take no action.To read more, click here.The decision to implement a new technology solution is a significant one and, in many cases, a project that typically an organization is unlikely to undertake often. The decision to implement a new technology solution is a significant one and, in many cases, a project that typically an organization is unlikely to undertake often. It is a project that requires a significant investment of money, time, and effort and so, return on investment (ROI) represents an important set of metrics that an organization should keep at the forefront of their minds.To read more, click here.Organizations are facing the challenge of what work should look like now that restrictions from Covid-19 are beginning to lift. Cali Williams Yost is the founder and CEO of Flex + Strategy Group, a firm that helps organizations unlock performance and engagement by reimagining how, when, and where work gets done. Organizations are facing the challenge of what work should look like now that restrictions from Covid-19 are beginning to lift. Cali Williams Yost is the founder and CEO of Flex + Strategy Group, a firm that helps organizations unlock performance and engagement by reimagining how, when, and where work gets done. To read more, click here.We are living in unprecedented times. Problems are only getting more complicated, challenging, and uncertain.  We are living in unprecedented times. Problems are only getting more complicated, challenging, and uncertain. These problems are continually met with shallow collaboration. This is caused by remote teams spread across time zones, more specialized roles, language barriers, overstimulation, and siloed organizations to name a few. Sound familiar? PMI empowers the world to make ideas a reality. Wicked Problem Solving is the rocket fuel for getting that work done. Learn more about how to make ideas reality with WPS, click here.  The simple truth for new project managers is that the projects they are assigned don’t usually matter much to their organization. They are generally small and relatively easier projects that are given to new PMs simply because they represent a fairly “safe” environment to gain experience and begin practicing the discipline.  The simple truth for new project managers is that the projects they are assigned to don’t usually matter much to their organization. They are generally small and relatively easier projects that are given to new PMs simply because they represent a fairly “safe” environment to gain experience and begin practicing the discipline. However, those small, straightforward, relatively less important projects can come with some significant challenges. One of those challenges that happen quite frequently is the need to share resources. It may be that a team member is allocated to two different projects, or that they have to spend some of their time working in an operational or support capacity in addition to the time spent on the project. In theory, this is simple: X% of the individual’s time is spent working on the new PM’s project, Y% of the time is spent on something else. Click here to read more. It’s difficult to believe that remote work has become a household name in just a matter of two years. Pre-pandemic, only 17% of employees took advantage of remote working, but COVID-19 caused that number to jump to 44% as 16 million knowledge workers packed up their desks in a hurry in March of 2020.Now that vaccinations are on the rise across the United States, offices around the country are reopening. While the return to normal office life might appeal to some employees, others are eyeing the future of remote working and wondering how to ask employers to work remotely post-pandemic.  Requesting to work remotely pre-pandemic used to involve in-depth research into how that could work. Employees used to have to convince employers to take a significant risk in letting them work remotely because remote work was largely uncharted territory. Now, it’s more appealing to a larger swathe of workers and more trusted by employers as a reasonable way to work.  Not all employees want to continue to work remotely. Some found remote work challenges untenable, like social isolation, juggling children engaged in at-home learning, or sharing a space with roommates. However, for many, the advantages of remote work far outstripped the drawbacks, causing them to pursue a future of remote working. To read more, click here.In this article, I refer to “a single point of failure” as the situation when a company utilizes someone with unique expertise/knowledge that no one else has, or is the only one who does a particular task. In this article, I refer to “a single point of failure” as the situation when a company utilizes someone with unique expertise/knowledge that no one else has, or is the only one who does a particular task. By having these single points of failure within a team, you risk facing problems if that person becomes unavailable—or even worse, just isn’t part of the team anymore. Fortunately, there are various ways to mitigate this! 1. Rotate roles within the team There are several tasks that often fall by default on the scrum master or the “nice guy’s” shoulder. A good example is sharing a screen so everyone can see the backlog for planning or a refinement session, or sharing the board in a daily scrum (if it’s not physical). To read, click here. Being a project manager can be challenging. Whether you’re developing a web-based platform, a new software, a mobile app, or deploying a new software system, every project manager has to juggle the different facets of IT project management. Being a project manager can be challenging. Whether you are developing a web-based platform, a new software, a mobile app, or deploying a new software system, every project manager has to juggle the different facets of IT project management.  Project teams need to stay updated on everything from the basics of project management to its predefined constraints, including resource utilization, scope, timelines, and budget. Find out more about the challenges and issues of IT project management, click here. Over the past year, the world underwent a rapid digital transformation at an unprecedented scale. Not only did the volume of work we do grow exponentially, but so did its complexity.  Over the past year, the world underwent a rapid digital transformation at an unprecedented scale. Not only did the volume of work we do grow exponentially, but so did its complexity. With the introduction of hybrid workplaces, never-ending Zoom meetings, and countless Slack threads, employees have suffered reduced productivity and engagement along with widespread burnout. The problem has been exacerbated by the mass adoption of new work applications, and a growing amount of data, systems, and workflows.  All of this has led to what we call unstructured collaboration. The ability to identify, address, and harness this unstructured work is what’ll set the most successful organizations apart from the rest in the post-pandemic world. To learn more about what unstructured work is, click here to read more. Remote project management is the new norm with face-to-face interaction remaining difficult in the wake of Covid-19. However, that doesn’t diminish the ongoing and increasing importance of project management to organizations, as projects are key to develop new capabilities and deliver improvements. Remote project management is the new norm with face-to-face interaction remaining difficult in the wake of Covid-19. However, that doesn’t diminish the ongoing and increasing importance of project management to organizations, as projects are key to develop new capabilities and deliver improvements. But this doesn’t make projects any less risky to manage. When polling 1,200 attendees of a recent AXELOS webinar about the types of issues they face, the problems ranked as follows: Lack of communication – 63% Heavy workload – 50% Technology issues – 34% Achieving limited success – 18%. To read more, click here “If you want to accord with the Tao, just do your job, then let go.” (Lao Tzu) Let go? But what if things don’t turn out the way we want? What if others don’t notice who we are and what we’ve done? The Tao Te Ching (Chapter 24) reminds us we can either be directed by our self-image and cling to what we’ve done, or we can let go and live in harmony with the Tao. It’s our choice. Wouldn’t it be great if we always got to do a job we loved to do, the world paid us a living to do it, and we could just lose ourselves in the joy of doing our work? At the end of the day, we could let it all go knowing we could do the same again the next day. The reward, as it were, would lie in the moment; it would not lie in some future payoff. Unfortunately, a lot of the time our work is not a joyful end in itself – it’s a means to an end. Often, a large part of the reason for doing our work does lie in the future. We’re striving after something we desire: more money, or more security, or the esteem of other people. It’s the results we want, and we don’t have them yet. Nonetheless, we act and feel as if we own the results already. So we take our work very personally. This is why we stay close by and why we don’t “let go.” Why do we do this? To read more, click here. A lot has been written about the onboarding process, but so many articles are written by personnel from the talent management area—and very few from the team's point of view (either project or service managers). I have found even less information from the viewpoint of the new collaborator, for whom incorporation tends to be a major source of uncertainty—and often anxiety. There is a tendency to think that the process of incorporating a new employee is a short one—one that is carried out exclusively on the day of the welcome, or that may last a maximum of one week (or occasionally in some organizations, extend until the end of the trial period). However, this usually depends on the position, the interested party, and especially on the means, the company uses to achieve the objective—to ensure that the new employee generates value for the company, within the cultural environment that the company offers. To read more, click here.  There is a-l-o-t involved when running a successful project: the manager and team relationships, the myriad of tasks that need to be completed, the budget, the deliverables, etc. With all the moving parts that ought to be handled effectively, project managers can’t afford to have poor communication skills, especially when sending emails.Poorly crafted emails can cause disunity, needless purchases, friction between managers and employees, etc. To avoid these needless yet frustrating hassles, we’ll share X reliable tips that will help you write effective project management emails.  Just by using the tips shared in the guide, you can drastically improve how your emails are written. This helps you become a better communicator, which is absolutely necessary to the success of your projects. To read more, click here.What defines a project’s success? An ideal scenario would be when the project deliverables meet the client’s expectations and are completed within time and budget. However, it is not as easy as it sounds. Project managers need to meticulously plan every nitty-gritty and track the performance at every level to come out successful.Capacity Planning helps one predict the shortfall or excess of resources in advance. It allows the project managers to be better prepared for future projects and avoids any last-minute hiccups. With proper resource planning, the project can be successfully delivered. Let us now take a deep dive into the concepts of capacity planning and its role in enhancing project performance.  To read more, click here. Remote project management involves making sure projects run smoothly and get completed on time and budget, all while managing a remote team. It can be hard. Communication and motivation are major concerns for remote companies, and both of these things are crucial for good project management. In our recent State of Remote Project Management Report, we found that 39% of companies use a mix of different remote project management approaches to get the job done. Working across different time zones and a lack of visibility are some of the most common challenges.Whether you’re new to managing projects remotely or have dabbled in it in the past, there are things you can do to address these challenges and make it easier for yourself and your team. To read more, click here.  Much of traditional project management involved working along a pre-defined plan to achieve pre-defined goals. But in an agile environment, the concept of “done” is becoming increasingly obsolete. What does it take to effectively manage projects whose requirements are constantly shifting? Traditionally, the practice of project management has taken a linear approach. Based on the assumption that projects have a clear definition of “done,” project managers have generally been trained to work towards explicit and pre-defined deadlines, budgets, and scopes. But that assumption is becoming increasingly inaccurate. As agile becomes the norm, the systems that drive many of our organizations are becoming continuous, rather than fixed. The second we determine a system to be “done” is the second it begins its descent into irrelevance. Ask yourself, “When is Netflix or Google done?,” and you start to get a sense of the growing irrelevance of the concept of a finished project. And without a target end state, traditional project management tools such as Gantt charts, fixed budgets, or strict roadmaps are not only impossible to implement — they’re a waste of time.To read more, click here. We hear and use the term ‘difficult stakeholders’ regularly, but is it the person that is difficult, the relationship or the situation?It is hard to be truly objective, and the term ‘difficult stakeholder’ is almost always a subjective assessment. Sometimes the same person can be easy to work with in one context, and difficult in another. This points to particular situational issues which cause difficulties in reaching agreement. Sometimes a stakeholder seems difficult to one member of the team, but perfectly pleasant to work with to another.To read more, click here.As you improve your skills as a project manager, you will find that the skills that are the most difficult to master are those that have to do with people management. One reason is that organizations often have policies or statements that reflect their objectives as to how their employees are to be treated.As you improve your skills as a project manager, you will find that the skills that are the most difficult to master are those that have to do with people management. One reason is that organizations often have policies or statements that reflect their objectives as to how their employees are to be treated. These policies are even part of how organizations promote themselves to potential job candidates and in the marketplace. Your specific actions may not be immediately clear to you, but you still realize that it is important to the success of the policies and your career. Here's a plan of action to become an inclusive PM. To read more, click here.The world has begun to recover from the quarantine conditions we have all been living with for over a year now. The world has begun to recover from the quarantine conditions we have all been living with for over a year now. Similar to when the pandemic began, organizations will be looking to keep in-progress efforts running while also trying to adjust to a working environment that will feel foreign to most team members, at least at the start. As project managers and leaders, much of the responsibility will fall to us to make sure our teams keep delivering on promises made over the past year, while also gearing up for another major shift in our everyday patterns and collaboration. This means not only planning for our projects, but also planning for the shift in working conditions that we are going to be experiencing over the next several months and even beyond. To read more, click here.Every project management office has different ways of working, skills and expectations, but most expect and are required to provide business leaders with these five important dashboard metrics. Project management office dashboards are vital in helping business leaders and other key stakeholders stay up to date on project and portfolio performance metrics. Although there are numerous types of metrics, these five should be included in regular at-a-glance dashboard reporting.  To read more, click here. Project and portfolio management (PPM) is designed to help organizations deliver on their goals, optimize performance and become more adaptive in a constantly changing business environment. Project and portfolio management (PPM) is designed to help organizations deliver on their goals, optimize performance and become more adaptive in a constantly changing business environment. It is a secret weapon of IT teams to deliver value to the business, become strategically aligned with goals of the organization, and most importantly, show that value through data and reporting. If your organization has been searching for new ways to take advantage of the benefits of IT PPM through the optimization of your PPM strategy, your project management office (PMO) has the tools and the capability to do just that. Focusing on four key areas, your IT PPM can be the biggest influencer in your IT strategy and an extension of the business, rather than just a function of business.To read more, click here. We all hear about the importance of communication. However, communication on projects has specific challenges. It takes place not just within a team, but outside of the team, formally and informally—and involves colleagues across the organization with various expertise and backgrounds. Is it even possible to find a common language for everyone?We all hear about the importance of communication. However, communication on projects has specific challenges. It takes place not just within a team, but outside of the team, formally and informally—and involves colleagues across the organization with various expertise and backgrounds. Is it even possible to find a common language for everyone? We all talk, but do we communicate?Communication is a common part of our daily lives both at work and at home. We talk, we write, we smile and we frown, we use gestures. But the basic skills of communication can be taken for granted, and poor communication is often at the top of project failure statistics. To read more, click here.Whether or not you’re a project manager, you’ve probably heard of Agile. It’s a framework of behaviors and approaches that encourage “just in time” production that enables project teams to complete projects on time, with higher quality.Whether or not you’re a project manager, you’ve probably heard of Agile. It’s a framework of behaviors and approaches that encourage “just in time” production that enables project teams to complete projects on time, with higher quality. Agile encourages that a little of everything, including design, development, and testing. Portions of the project are done at the same time—as opposed to the traditional approach to projects, where one phase is closed and completed before the next begins. Agile encourages short, frequent feedback loops and embraces changes to requirements. In traditional project management (sometimes known as Waterfall), feedback is usually not collected until the very end of the project and changes are discouraged. To read more, click here.Taking a break becomes a dilemma when tight schedules, guilt or compulsion to perform gets in the way. I was speaking to a highly successful CEO.   When I told him I was going on a weeklong retreat, off by myself to be silent, he said, "I'm jealous.  I am up to my neck in work, but really need a break". A break whether fifteen minutes, a day-off, or vacation is a movement away from the constant flow of things to do and people to see.  A retreat adds a dimension of self-awareness with a rest from media input, meditation and contemplation.  Any break is a time to step back, rest and relax, turn off the thinking mind, and tune into what happens when you break the day to day routine. To read more, click here.Every decision involves making a choice between alternatives, with the project leader picking from a number of options. This selection is influenced by information (albeit sometimes insufficient) and preferences rooted in values and ethics. Every decision involves making a choice between alternatives, with the project leader picking from a number of options. This selection is influenced by information (albeit sometimes insufficient) and preferences rooted in values and ethics. In these circumstances, the modern trend of risk-based decision-making can be seen as a tautology: Every decision involves uncertainty and therefore incorporates an element of risk. The worst option is to delay a decision until all of the necessary information is available—and, as a consequence, all of the opportunities have evaporated. So how do you make good decisions? The starting point is to accept there will be uncertainty in all true decisions—and the outcome matters. You have to choose between different options while navigating any number of obstacles ahead of you: incomplete information to support the decision, no clear best path and unknown outcomes of some options. The challenge is to make the best decision in the available timeframe balancing risk and reward. No process can guarantee a good outcome every time, but working through a pragmatic process can help improve outcomes. To read more, click here.No one could have possibly made it through this pandemic unchanged—as a person or as a professional. Existing skills have been put to the test and new ones were developed along the way. Sometimes it was something relatively simple like mastering the mute button. Other times, it was a gamechanger, like learning no-code and developing an app or two.No one could have possibly made it through this pandemic unchanged—as a person or as a professional. Existing skills have been put to the test and new ones were developed along the way. Sometimes it was something relatively simple like mastering the mute button. Other times, it was a gamechanger, like learning no-code and developing an app or two. The basic idea? To move forward, we all had to let go of business as usual. That includes letting go of the antiquated notion that somehow you can pursue breakthrough innovation without a massive flameout every now and then. It happens. It’s how you respond that matters. To read more, click here.Cyber threats are growing, and even more dangerous is that their complexity has increased—as has their frequency. Additionally, the overall costs of successful cyber attacks on organizations have also been on the rise.Cyber threats are growing, and even more dangerous is that their complexity has increased—as has their frequency. Additionally, the overall costs of successful cyber attacks on organizations have also been on the rise. Why is this of concern to project managers? Cyber threats are becoming more impactful on an organization’s programs and projects. As such, an increased number of program and project managers must take steps to mitigate these risks. That demands they team up with cybersecurity professionals and gain a basic understanding of these threats. To read more, click here.In the wake of Covid-19, organizations are fundamentally rethinking their product and service portfolios, reinventing their supply chains, pursuing large-scale organizational restructuring and digital transformation, and rebuilding to correct systemic racism from the ground up. Traditional change management process won’t cut it. The author borrows from agile software development processes to reinvent the change management playbook.The business world has arguably seen more disruption in the last nine months than in the last nine years, bringing new and urgent demand for change. Initiatives are being launched by the dozen, adoption can’t happen fast enough, and the stakes are higher than ever. In the midst of a Covid-induced recession, and with some industries on the brink of extinction, change isn’t about fine-tuning — it’s existential. But traditional change management — often characterized by heavy process, lengthy timelines, and clunky rollouts — won’t cut it right now. As organizations fundamentally rethink their product and service portfolios, reinvent their supply chains, pursue large-scale organizational restructuring, determine on the fly how to operate in a virtual world and rebuild to correct systemic racism from the ground up, the type of change management required in this moment is quick, agile, and (in many cases) virtual. To read more, click here.Sharing knowledge has so many benefits: It’s at the heart of business continuity. It boosts team morale. It creates a culture of continued learning. It connects remote employees to crucial information. It encourages the flow of ideas and can even challenge the status quo.Sharing knowledge has so many benefits: It’s at the heart of business continuity. It boosts team morale. It creates a culture of continued learning. It connects remote employees to crucial information. It encourages the flow of ideas and can even challenge the status quo. From my point of view, it’s part of being a project professional. As a leader, you can set the right example and get team members in the mindset of knowledge sharing. If it’s presented as a norm, the team follow your lead and carry this behavior to other projects and teams within and outside of the organization. To read more, click here.In the spring of 2020, many of us switched to virtual work. It wasn't entirely new to me—I had worked from home one or two days per week in the past. However, there is a big difference between occasional virtual work and long-term remote work.In the spring of 2020, many of us switched to virtual work. It wasn't entirely new to me—I had worked from home one or two days per week in the past. However, there is a big difference between occasional virtual work and long-term remote work. Several companies have announced that long-term virtual work will be their policy going forward. This means that the improvised nature of virtual work we embraced in 2020 is no longer good enough. It is time to look for ways to improve our performance, comfort and happiness. Specifically, there are individual and team virtual working mistakes to avoid. To read more, click here.One year after COVID-19 first reared its head, career repercussions are still rippling around the globe—and unemployment or underemployment remains pervasive. One year after COVID-19 first reared its head, career repercussions are still rippling around the globe—and unemployment or underemployment remains pervasive. Working hours dipped 17.3 percent, or the equivalent of 495 million full-time positions, in the second quarter of 2020, compared with 2019, according to a September analysis by the International Labour Organization. Some regions are clawing back: Asia Pacific, for instance, saw a second-quarter jobs loss of 15.2 percent, compared with 28 percent (equal to 105 million full-time jobs) across North America and Latin America. Still, project professionals needn’t despair. While some industries and organizations are certainly struggling, others are abuzz with pandemic-driven activity—from rebalancing portfolios to launching major projects related to health, logistics, online education, and retail. In ManpowerGroup’s global survey, hiring prospects improved in 37 countries in the last few months of 2020, and weakened in only five. To read the report, click here. Many projects involve more than one person. And while collaboration and teamwork are often necessary in order to complete a project, they can have their downsides. Many projects involve more than one person. And while collaboration and teamwork are often necessary in order to complete a project, they can have their downsides. For example, there might be times when team members who are sharing the same project management software delete things that weren’t meant to be deleted, change dates without consultation, or otherwise make mistakes that can set a project back To ensure project management goes smoothly, then, it’s a smart idea to use project management software that comes with an activity feed. In this article, we’ll be taking a look at what an activity feed does, and how it can benefit your next project. To read more, click here. The unprecedented global health crisis is changing the way we work at truly astounding speeds.The unprecedented global health crisis is changing the way we work at truly astounding speeds. Suddenly, whether by choice or necessity, many of us find ourselves negotiating the new reality of remote work. As a technology supplier to the creative community, FunctionFox wondered how they could best support their current users, and make the transition to remote work easy, affordable, and intuitive for those that haven’t worked in this way before. With a recent survey* showing that up to 90% of creative companies are working remotely during the crisis, FunctionFox wondered how they could help teams to ride out the storm and prepare for recovery. To read more, click here.If I’m honest, the pandemic didn’t have much impact on my day-to-day working arrangements. I was already working virtually for almost all my clients with only occasional physical visits to one or two of them. As a result, I didn’t experience the disruption that many people went through as they were forced to adjust to a different way of working almost overnight. And I’m not in a situation where my home had to become multiple offices, school, and daycare all at the same time. If I’m honest, the pandemic didn’t have much impact on my day-to-day working arrangements. I was already working virtually for almost all my clients with only occasional physical visits to one or two of them. As a result, I didn’t experience the disruption that many people went through as they were forced to adjust to a different way of working almost overnight. And I’m not in a situation where my home had to become multiple offices, school, and daycare all at the same time. That made it easier for me to focus on the opportunities created by remote working a little earlier than some people, and I know some of my clients were frustrated by my excitement over what they might now be able to achieve while they were still trying to figure out how to keep toddlers off of video conferences! However, we’ve now been working in this new environment for a year, and if you haven’t yet shifted your thinking from “getting by until it’s over” to “maximizing this new way of working,” then you need to. To read more, click here. For any professional working in a change delivery role today there is always that constant need to stay informed with what’s happening in the sector; the skills needed to utilize different delivery methods; the help needs to manage the nuances of people. For any professional working in a change delivery role today there is always that constant need to stay informed with what’s happening in the sector; the skills needed to utilize different delivery methods; the help needs to manage the nuances of people. In other words, professional development is needed to stay knowledgeable, skilled, and competent in the role. For a long time, project management practitioners have had access to competency frameworks to help them self-assess their levels of competency against best practice benchmarks. Click here to read more. If I had to describe 2020 with one word, it might be "unexpected." Nobody’s year has gone the way they expected it to, and many of us—regardless of our role—are being forced into entirely new ways of working.If I had to describe 2020 with one word, it might be "unexpected." Nobody’s year has gone the way they expected it to, and many of us—regardless of our role—are being forced into entirely new ways of working. This is as true for product management teams as it is for anyone else. In a world where social distancing has become the new normal, product teams are learning how to stay efficient despite an almost instantaneous shift to remote working. But what impact has this shift to remote working had on product teams? And what tactics should we be adopting to adapt? To read more, click here.Agile has become ubiquitous in project management, with teams using it to spark out-of-the-box thinking and drive countless projects across the finish line. Yet almost as quickly as the approach popped up, companies and project leaders began to oversell it—and what seemed to be a radical way of thinking has become mired in repetition and monotony.  Agile has become ubiquitous in project management, with teams using it to spark out-of-the-box thinking and drive countless projects across the finish line. Yet almost as quickly as the approach popped up, companies and project leaders began to oversell it—and what seemed to be a radical way of thinking has become mired in repetition and monotony.   Agile was about being open and transparent, and people having the utmost importance in the process. Now, if you ask anyone about agile, it’s all about the three questions: What have you completed since the last meeting? What do you plan to complete by the next meeting? What’s getting in your way? There’s also the fear of being constantly monitored and the fact your performance is measured by your team’s velocity.  Click here to read more.The world is stuck right in the middle of a pandemic, which has had very different effects for the different industries. In some industries, companies are struggling to survive while others thrive. Many companies are experiencing extreme uncertainties regarding future developments. The world is stuck right in the middle of a pandemic, which has had very different effects for the different industries. In some industries, companies are struggling to survive while others thrive. Many companies are experiencing extreme uncertainties regarding future developments. Flexibility and resilience must be two of the most important qualities organizations require to drive the changes or cope with them. Changes are always implemented by means of projects, which is why there are currently more projects than ever before. The topics of project management, portfolio management, resource management, and PMO are therefore more important than ever. To read more, click here. As we close the books on the chaotic year that was 2020, it seems we are all taking a collective sigh of relief. As we close the books on the chaotic year that was 2020, it seems we are all taking a collective sigh of relief. But before we try to wipe the slate clean and start anew, it is important to reflect on what happened and how we can adjust and improve. Let’s take a look at what happened within the Project Management Office (PMO) and discern how it impacted roles and businesses and reactions to those changes.  Here are the findings of a survey recently conducted by KeyedIn of more than 200 project and portfolio management professionals. To read more on the findings, click here. The International Research Conference is a federated organization dedicated to bringing together a significant number of diverse scholarly events for presentation within the conference program. Events will run over a span of time during the conference depending on the number and length of the presentations. With its high quality, it provides an exceptional value for students, academics and industry researchers. The International Research Conference is a federated organization dedicated to bringing together a significant number of diverse scholarly events for presentation within the conference program. Events will run over a span of time during the conference depending on the number and length of the presentations. With its high quality, it provides an exceptional value for students, academics and industry researchers. ICPOM 2021: 15. International Conference on Project Organisation and Management aims to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of Project Organisation and Management. It also provides a premier interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the fields of Project Organisation and Management. Call for Contributions. Click here to find out more. The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation around the country and around the world. The adoption and integration of technologies such as cloud computing and digital collaboration was already underway, but has fast forwarded over the past year. And this rapid evolution encompasses the way that we work, including an expanded remote workforce, different channels of communication, and new ways to generate engagement with our teams and with our clients.The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation around the country and around the world. The adoption and integration of technologies such as cloud computing and digital collaboration was already underway, but has fast forwarded over the past year. And this rapid evolution encompasses the way that we work, including an expanded remote workforce, different channels of communication, and new ways to generate engagement with our teams and with our clients. Many of these changes were already underway. Online collaboration tools such as email and online chat programs had already seen increased usage. Documents, presentations and important files were already shared, accessed and utilized through cloud technologies and other collaboration platforms. But the digital transformation to which we should be aspiring is one that is truly transformative, and brings about not just a better and faster way to run our projects and programs, but one that creates an environment where our projects and teams are forever improved. Click here to read more.One thing we learned from 2020 is that it's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future. (Danish physicist Niels Bohr’s words from 1971 still ring true.) Still, the world doesn’t stand still, and project managers need to keep looking ahead. That’s the whole purpose of a project controls function: to produce information that helps us make decisions about the future. One thing we learned from 2020 is that it's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future. (Danish physicist Niels Bohr’s words from 1971 still ring true.) Still, the world doesn’t stand still, and project managers need to keep looking ahead. That’s the whole purpose of a project controls function: to produce information that helps us make decisions about the future. In many respects, project plans (schedules, budgets, etc.) are similar to economic forecasts. For decades, both have been used to make predictions more academically rigorous through mathematical techniques. The problem is these models are suited to the stationary physical world, where everything that happens is governed by the unchanging laws of physics—or to games of chance, in which the probability of something happening can be calculated fairly easily and accurately. They do not neatly apply to the intricacies of a dynamic project or economy. Click here to read more. Will 2021 truly be the year of epic charcuterie? Or maybe it’s the citizen care pod? Searching for The Next Big Thing has sent me down many an internet rabbit hole. And truth be told, the ROI is often not great. So in the spirit of uber efficiency, I present PMI’s latest report: Megatrends 2021. It has the scoop on the big trends, but it’s also specifically curated for project leaders so you can see how these tectonic shifts are actually playing out across projects. Will 2021 truly be the year of epic charcuterie? Or maybe it’s the citizen care pod? Searching for The Next Big Thing has sent me down many an internet rabbit hole. And truth be told, the ROI is often not great. So in the spirit of uber efficiency, I present PMI’s latest report: Megatrends 2021. It has the scoop on the big trends, but it’s also specifically curated for project leaders so you can see how these tectonic shifts are actually playing out across projects. “We know the world changed significantly in 2020, but our research confirmed the long-term impact of how these trends are changing how the world does business,” said PMI President and CEO Sunil Prashara. “There is virtually no industry and no geography that is untouched by the five megatrends outlined in this report. From COVID-19 to the climate crisis to the mainstream use of AI, these forces are driving change across sectors, requiring leaders to embrace new ways of thinking and working. As changemakers in their organizations and communities, project leaders are in a unique position to tackle these challenges and embrace new possibilities.” Without further ado, here are the 5 big megatrends you should be watching: Click here to read more.  It’s close to a year since the world went virtual almost overnight. While there are some signs that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the pandemic, remote working is here to stay with many businesses finding that it is effective, efficient and embraced by employees.It’s close to a year since the world went virtual almost overnight. While there are some signs that there may be a light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the pandemic, remote working is here to stay with many businesses finding that it is effective, efficient and embraced by employees. From a day-to-day work standpoint, virtual teams have been far more successful than many organizations expected. However, there are some aspects of work that are facing more substantive change as a result of remote working models. Here, I look at the idea of remote hiring and onboarding. To read more, click here.Agile has often been positioned as the silver bullet from the training class that will deliver "twice the scope in half the time," only by shifting the "mindset" and throwing out centuries of knowledge. There will be #noprojects and #noestimations, and the Scrum Masters should replace Project Managers. Agile has often been positioned as the silver bullet from the training class that will deliver "twice the scope in half the time," only by shifting the "mindset" and throwing out centuries of knowledge. There will be #noprojects and #noestimations, and the Scrum Masters should replace Project Managers. The reality is that most Agile scaling initiatives beyond software product development or maintenance will fail if they are not treated and managed like a project with clear goals, resources and delivery timeframes. Project Management Knowledge areas, especially Organizational Change Management, Stakeholder Management, and Risk Management are even more important in adaptive delivery, aka Agile, than in predictive delivery. Click here to listen to the webinar.Time will fill itself whether we have something to fill it with or not. The important thing to realize is that time is not happening to you; you are determining what happens within your own time and taking control of it.Time will fill itself whether we have something to fill it with or not. The important thing to realize is that time is not happening to you; you are determining what happens within your own time and taking control of it. How can we ensure we make the most of every hour in the day? How can we take advantage of every opportunity? These three strategies will help you master time and maximize your day. To read more click here.Today’s project manager is tasked with building a project plan that not only succeeds in the face of change, but manages to create and deliver value no matter what obstacles or impediments may materialize.Today’s project manager is tasked with building a project plan that not only succeeds in the face of change, but manages to create and deliver value no matter what obstacles or impediments may materialize. When things go wrong in a project, it isn’t enough to merely not fail; a high-performing project leader needs to steer the project through uncertainty and still achieve outsized results. This level of resiliency is as critical to instill in the team and the organization as it is to build into the project. As it happens, the steps to creating a resilient project plan are generally already known to project managers. They know to identify, manage and mitigate risks, and should be constantly monitoring for new and better solutions to current problems. What may not be obvious is how to use these same steps to create a resilient team. To read more click here.Projects are the lifeblood of the modern business. In today’s world, organizations have to continuously evolve in response to emerging technologies, shifting customer demands and in response to competitor actions. Projects are how those evolutions are delivered, and it’s one of the main reasons why demand for project management has grown so rapidly over the past two decades. And headed into 2021, the need for excellence in project delivery has never been greater. Projects are the lifeblood of the modern business. In today’s world, organizations have to continuously evolve in response to emerging technologies, shifting customer demands and in response to competitor actions. Projects are how those evolutions are delivered, and it’s one of the main reasons why demand for project management has grown so rapidly over the past two decades. And headed into 2021, the need for excellence in project delivery has never been greater. Organizations are poised to implement their strategic recovery plans and to build a foundation that will springboard them into the future. Everything from the mundane optimization of new, pandemic-driven operating processes to the aspirational embracing of digital transformation is going to depend on the successful delivery of projects. It is therefore critical that organizations create an environment for those project teams that provides the greatest possible chance of success. And in 2021, that means ensuring those teams are as resilient as possible.To read more click here. Of course, there are many project management tools and techniques, and they vary among organizations. The tools and techniques discussed in this article are the ones I use, and I would be lost without them. It is important to always be on the cutting edge of project management, and I want to avoid anyone deriding me as a dinosaur project manager from the 80s or 90s.Of course, there are many project management tools and techniques, and they vary among organizations. The tools and techniques discussed in this article are the ones I use, and I would be lost without them. It is important to always be on the cutting edge of project management, and I want to avoid anyone deriding me as a dinosaur project manager from the 80s or 90s. It is a lot of work to stay current. My organization uses a vendor-provided, web-based application for our dashboard and project plans. This vendor provides emails with new trends in project management and free webinars. I get recordings of these webinars, too. That is my main method of staying current. Like any industry, you stay current by reading the latest information, attending webinars, and collaborating with colleagues to avoid silos. Project managers must decide which tools and techniques apply to their organization and industry. To read more click here.If I had to describe 2020 with one word, it might be "unexpected." Nobody’s year has gone the way they expected it to, and many of us—regardless of our role—are being forced into entirely new ways of working.If I had to describe 2020 with one word, it might be "unexpected." Nobody’s year has gone the way they expected it to, and many of us—regardless of our role—are being forced into entirely new ways of working. This is as true for product management teams as it is for anyone else. In a world where social distancing has become the new normal, product teams are learning how to stay efficient despite an almost instantaneous shift to remote working. But what impact has this shift to remote working had on product teams? And what tactics should we be adopting to adapt? To read more click here.Recently I wrote a book about what I call “good-enough contentment.” It’s an allegory about a forty-something man who is unhappy with his life. After a magical train ride, he learns to define what contentment means in nine areas of his life: career, family, health, friendships, finances, leisure, spirituality, giving, and legacy. Recently I wrote a book about what I call “good-enough contentment.” It’s an allegory about a forty-something man who is unhappy with his life. After a magical train ride, he learns to define what contentment means in nine areas of his life: career, family, health, friendships, finances, leisure, spirituality, giving, and legacy. Writing the story caused me to look back at my own life--the things I did well and the many mistakes I made. It inspired me to write about nine nuggets that I wish I could go back in time to tell my younger self. Some I would have done the same all over again, others radically different. All, however, are worth putting down in writing to spur your thinking about things you need to start, stop, or continue. Click here to read more. I thought it would be a good idea to start 2021 on a positive note – about climate change.  You know – the other existential problem we have as a globe right now?I thought it would be a good idea to start 2021 on a positive note – about climate change.  You know – the other existential problem we have as a globe right now? I will draw heavily from this BBC article, called “Why 2021 Could Be a Turning Point for Tackling Climate Change”, by Justin Rowlatt, which actually starts off a little gloomily.  … we’re way off track to meet carbon-cutting goals. On current plans, the world is expected to breach the 1.5 degrees C ceiling within 12 years or less and to hit 3C of warming by the end of the century.  What could turn that around? Luckily, it gets more optimistic. Click here to read more."It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair" - Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair" - Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two CitiesHad Charles Dickens been alive today he might have been writing about 2020. Given the human suffering generated by the pandemic in addition to the cornucopia of "normal" annual calamities, it would be very tempting to try to forget this last year as quickly as possible. But to do so means we lose the chance to appreciate what we have learned over the course of the year.  Click here to read more. Project management covers a lot of ground. That it does so is a necessary by-product of its origins. Project management as its own discipline borrows from a wide range of other ones to create the practices, the tools, the processes, and the systems that we call ours. We have synthesized together an array of influences to create a new and meaningful thing.Project management covers a lot of ground. That it does so is a necessary by-product of its origins. Project management as its own discipline borrows from a wide range of other ones to create the practices, the tools, the processes and the systems that we call ours. We have synthesized together an array of influences to create a new and meaningful thing. Of course, there isn’t just one project management. This doesn’t refer to the broad brushstrokes of “agile” versus “waterfall” versus “hybrid.” If we were genuinely honest with ourselves, every application and instance of project management is hybrid on at least some level. Every instance of project management is supposed to be a hybrid. As A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) itself states, project managers, need to adapt their practices as appropriate to support the unique needs of each project. Click to here read more.  February 2021 will be the 20th Anniversary of the meeting from which the Manifesto for Agile Software Development, or more colloquially the Agile Manifesto, emerged.  To celebrate this, the Agile20Reflect Festival will be held around the world during the month of February.  February 2021 will be the 20th Anniversary of the meeting from which the Manifesto for Agile Software Development, or more colloquially the Agile Manifesto, emerged.  To celebrate this, the Agile20Reflect Festival will be held around the world during the month of February.   The festival is a collection of agile learning events around the world, where each event is run by a local group such as a PMI chapter. This is a great opportunity for PMI members to learn more about agile, and for PMI Chapters to host an event for their members as part of the festival.   Click here to find out more.Daniel Goleman wrote this week in an HBR article with regards to emotional intelligence: "...one of the most persistent things I see people get wrong about the concept is that it equates to being “nice.” But it doesn’t, and misunderstanding this can get people into trouble."Daniel Goleman wrote this week in an HBR article with regards to emotional intelligence: "...one of the most persistent things I see people get wrong about the concept is that it equates to being “nice.” But it doesn’t, and misunderstanding this can get people into trouble." Some people have the same misunderstanding about psychological safety. If team members misinterpret safety to be about prioritizing each other's happiness over all else, this might result in a seemingly pleasant work environment. When staff suppresses legitimate concerns with what others are either doing or proposing to do to avoid coming across as being unpleasant it can lead to issues such as: Click here to read more.The pandemic-driven economic crash this year has seen a lot of people lose their jobs. While there is some evidence of a recovery occurring in many parts of the world, unemployment rates are still remarkably high in many industries and professions.The pandemic-driven economic crash this year has seen a lot of people lose their jobs. While there is some evidence of a recovery occurring in many parts of the world, unemployment rates are still remarkably high in many industries and professions. Project managers are no more immune to that than anyone else. That means that there are a lot of project managers with more time on their hands, and an increased need for volunteering to help out sections of our communities that are being hard hit by the impact of the pandemic. That creates the potential for project managers to showcase themselves to potential employers by volunteering—using philanthropy as a networking tool that may result in an offer of employment. But not all opportunities to volunteer are created equal, so how do you go about choosing the best ones—the endeavors that will provide personal networking value? I think there are a number of elements that you can look for. Click here to read more.Well, we’re about to turn the page on 2020. And while I’m hopeful that 2021 will be much less disruptive, I did want to share a few lessons I hope we take with us into the new year. Well, we’re about to turn the page on 2020. And while I’m hopeful that 2021 will be much less disruptive, I did want to share a few lessons I hope we take with us into the new year: Mental health deserves our attention: This year, I’ve heard more discussion than ever before about the need to monitor mental wellbeing and encourage people to put their mental health first.  I get that the modern economy seems designed to wring every productive second out of us. So it takes a conscious effort to turn off and tune out. Only then can you recover and be able to push forward and work on new projects.  Recharging doesn’t have to be a complex thing. One of the most powerful forms of rejuvenation I’ve heard from many people this year is mindfulness.  Click here to read more. Today’s customer is “digitally driven.” So, if your organization is going to thrive, digital must be at the core of what you do. Add-ons and tweaks aren’t good enough. To earn and keep customer love, you’re going to have to make sure they can access your products and services quickly and seamlessly. Today’s customer is “digitally driven.” So, if your organization is going to thrive, digital must be at the core of what you do. Add-ons and tweaks aren’t good enough. To earn and keep customer love, you’re going to have to make sure they can access your products and services quickly and seamlessly. For most legacy companies, this requires total transformation. Here is a five-step process to help you make the shift. Step 1: Understand Your Customer Customer-centricity is essential. You must understand your customer on a deep level if you are to create the kinds of experiences that will move their behavior in the right direction. Click here to read more. One thing is certain: COVID-19 has changed everything, and that includes how CIOs operate. They have had to flex hard in order to support the radically shifting landscape, including: One thing is certain: COVID-19 has changed everything, and that includes how CIOs operate. They have had to flex hard in order to support the radically shifting landscape, including: Going from an on-premise workforce to an over 50% remote workforce A huge spike in online selling Disruptions to supply chain and distribution channels Increasing regulations related to shutdowns and social distancing Increased anxiety of all stakeholder groups related to the uncertainty, doubt and fear that have become part of the daily 2020 experience Without a doubt, if it is pandemic related, urgency is front and center—and that can wreak havoc and bring chaos to IT organizations, especially ones that are now working remotely. Click here to read more. As a public relations officer, Akierah Binns is often asked to collaborate with stakeholders when it comes to communication management. The only problem was Akierah, an expert in communications, never learned how project management could help effectively streamline some of her processes. Once she realized how the two professions often go hand-in-hand, she decided to work toward getting her master's in project management. As a public relations officer, Akierah Binns is often asked to collaborate with stakeholders when it comes to communication management. The only problem was Akierah, an expert in communications, never learned how project management could help effectively streamline some of her processes. Once she realized how the two professions often go hand-in-hand, she decided to work toward getting her master's in project management. “When I received the PMI Educational Foundation (PMIEF) scholarship, it completely transformed my life because what it did was provide me with the impetus and the resources to obtain a master's certificate, and that has equipped me with specific skills,” says Akierah. Now, after studying project management skills and using them as power skills in her profession, Akierah notes that her skill set doesn’t just help her make an impact in her career, but in her day-to-day life as well: “Project management is knowledge that I can apply at the national- and community-level projects that we are working on to really change people’s lives.” Click here to read more.  According to Candid.org, $11.9 billion of philanthropic funds were donated to coronavirus-related causes in the first half of 2020. And remember that the full effect of the pandemic wasn’t being felt until March, so the rate of donation was even bigger than it appears from that headline statistic.According to Candid.org, $11.9 billion of philanthropic funds were donated to coronavirus-related causes in the first half of 2020. And remember that the full effect of the pandemic wasn’t being felt until March, so the rate of donation was even bigger than it appears from that headline statistic. This amount is massively bigger than donations to any other disaster, and other reports have suggested that those donations have appeared faster and with fewer strings attached than is normal for large-scale philanthropic contributions. Maybe this is just a blip, a reflection of the unprecedented situation and the need for large-scale funds to fuel research into treatments and vaccines. But I have to believe that at least some of the changes happening within philanthropic organizations and among corporate donors are here to stay. Click here to read more.2020 has been one of the most challenging of the past 10 years. The public health crisis sweeping the world has caused great harm to people and economies, directly and indirectly.2020 has been one of the most challenging of the past 10 years. The public health crisis sweeping the world has caused great harm to people and economies, directly and indirectly. Fortunately, there are signs of hope—such as multiple potential vaccines on the horizon. That tells us that an economic recovery is on the horizon. However, it looks like the recovery will be uneven. What is the K-Shaped Recovery?There has been much debate about what the post-pandemic recovery will look like. The pessimistic view advocates for an L-shaped recovery (i.e., a dramatic fall and extended period of minimal growth). My view is that the K-shaped recovery seems more plausible. A K-shaped recovery means that some parts of the economy will recover and grow rapidly while other groups and industries will have a much slower recovery. Click here to read more.Inspiration is the great intangible that can push teams to greater heights. Can you instill it?Inspiration is the great intangible that can push teams to greater heights. Can you instill it? It’s true: money can motivate some people. So can fear. But at the end of the day, if someone does not want to do something, they most likely won't. They most definitely won't do it well. Every project leader knows the frustration of trying to motivate an underperforming or unwilling team member. But there are ways to cultivate an atmosphere where motivation has a chance to grow, where so-called “lost causes” can find their value. It happens when leaders recognize individuality, be inclusive, and build trust. One of the best ways to motivate people is to include them in decisions. If someone has been excluded from a decision that affects their work, they’re not going to feel that they are a contributing, respected member of the team. Inclusion can inspire a non-engaged team member to get more involved. Click here to read more.The baseline is a fundamental concept that still seems confusing for many project professionals. In essence, the baseline comprises initial reference data captured prior to the start of a project. This information allows the team to compare the status before and after a project to determine its impact. The baseline is a fundamental concept that still seems confusing for many project professionals. In essence, the baseline comprises initial reference data captured prior to the start of a project. This information allows the team to compare the status before and after a project to determine its impact. Imagine you’re at a software development company and your senior leader has put you on a project to develop a system with 10 different but integrated features. You begin by trying to detail the scope, deadline, costs, risks, and all other details you believe to be relevant. Once you’ve collected that information, you’ve reached the end of the planning stage Click here to read more. It’s safe to say that 2020 wasn’t the year anyone thought it was going to be this time last year. For many industries, it has been a rollercoaster ride, from sharp, sudden downturn to slow recovery to a slowdown again. Changes to operating models have occurred overnight and then continued to evolve throughout the year as the world has learned more about how to handle the spread of COVID-19.It’s safe to say that 2020 wasn’t the year anyone thought it was going to be this time last year. For many industries, it has been a rollercoaster ride, from sharp, sudden downturn to slow recovery to a slowdown again. Changes to operating models have occurred overnight and then continued to evolve throughout the year as the world has learned more about how to handle the spread of COVID-19. All this has happened against a backdrop of trends in technology that are disrupting how businesses plan, invest, and run daily operations. This evolution has been slowed in some areas by the lack of funding, while it has accelerated rapidly in other areas by the demands of the pandemic response. And it’s fair to say that whatever the end game is for the pandemic—a return to normal, a new normal or no normal—many of those technology-driven changes are going to become permanent. Click here to read more.Senior healthcare executive and author Jackie Gaines shares advice and support for experienced and aspiring women leaders.Senior healthcare executive and author Jackie Gaines shares advice and support for experienced and aspiring women leaders. Today’s project leaders have their work cut out for them as they navigate through the pandemic and face unprecedented levels of chaos. There’s little room for mistakes, uncertainty lurks around every corner, and people are anxious and worried. Still, this is the perfect time for women leaders to let their skills shine, says Jackie Gaines, an award-winning senior executive with more than 40 years of leadership experience. As the command-and-control style of leadership is increasingly being replaced with a culture of collaboration, creativity, emotional intelligence, and engagement, it’s never been more important for women to embrace characteristics and abilities they have always brought to the table. “Women leaders don’t need to mimic masculine behaviors to do a great job,” says Gaines, author of Wearing the Yellow Suit: A Guide for Women in Leadership. “Not only do we have everything we need to lead on our own terms, but our natural abilities and characteristics are also exactly what organizations need now more than ever.” Click here to read more.The world of business is moving toward storing and exchanging documentation in electronic formats—and the transition is swift. While this process has its advantages, my team and I have been working on a major report based on a data set of more than 250,000 records, and the project has highlighted some problems. Namely, as it becomes easier to preserve every iteration of a document, finding useful information becomes harder.The world of business is moving toward storing and exchanging documentation in electronic formats—and the transition is swift. While this process has its advantages, my team and I have been working on a major report based on a data set of more than 250,000 records, and the project has highlighted some problems. Namely, as it becomes easier to preserve every iteration of a document, finding useful information becomes harder. There are two basic types of document storage and retrieval systems with a couple of nuances: Systems that rely on taglines or document characteristics for sorting and searching (e.g. document titles, taglines in emails, dates, authors, senders, receivers, etc.) Systems that allow the full content of most document types to be searched (think Google) If your organization isn’t using one or more of these systems, it soon will be!  You’ll probably find that they solve many problems typically found in paper-based systems, but they also introduce a new suite of issues. Here are some of the ways in which these systems fall short—and ways to overcome these challenges: Click here to read more.When I think bleeding-edge tech, water and sewage systems aren’t the first things that come to mind. But DC Water—the 2020 PMO of the Year Winner—snapped me out my narrow views. The utility is responsible for delivering clean water to residents and businesses in Washington, D.C., USA. And it saw an opportunity for technology to help it do that job more efficiently. When I think bleeding-edge tech, water, and sewage systems aren’t the first things that come to mind. But DC Water—the 2020 PMO of the Year Winner—snapped me out of my narrow views. The utility is responsible for delivering clean water to residents and businesses in Washington, D.C., USA. And it saw an opportunity for technology to help it do that job more efficiently. Led by its IT PMO, DC Water leaned into what is now a US$11.3 million project portfolio full of industry 4.0 tech—always intent on making sure the utility’s innovations deliver on its business purpose. “We work at the luxury of the business itself. We’re not here to simply deliver technology. We’re here to deliver technology that solves a business problem,” says Tom Kuczynski, vice president of IT, DC Water. Click here to read more. As all-remote teams have become more popular, it is useful to examine organizations using this format effectively for some time. GitLab is one such organization I have written about before. It was deliberately all-remote, with no offices, long before the pandemic. Yet, it successfully manages over 1,250 people spread across 66 countries, building a suite of interconnected software solutions for 30 million users.As all-remote teams have become more popular, it is useful to examine organizations using this format effectively for some time. GitLab is one such organization I have written about before. It was deliberately all-remote, with no offices, long before the pandemic. Yet, it successfully manages over 1,250 people spread across 66 countries, building a suite of interconnected software solutions for 30 million users. For a modern software company building agile and DevOps tools, it uses many documentation-heavy processes. It has extensive onboarding documentation, and its employee handbook would fill over 8,000 pages if printed. It also relies heavily on documentation for coordination and communication. Click here to read more.One of the greatest things you can bring to a project is your ability to manage and deal with the expectations of your team and stakeholders. How many times have you struggled with people making assumptions about how something should be done or when they should receive the final deliverable? All of this can be managed with effective expectation management.One of the greatest things you can bring to a project is your ability to manage and deal with the expectations of your team and stakeholders. How many times have you struggled with people making assumptions about how something should be done or when they should receive the final deliverable? All of this can be managed with effective expectation management. When I’m coaching junior project managers, I encourage them to look at expectation management as setting the ground rules for a successful project and engagement. Having clear expectations ensures everyone is aware of what’s going to happen, what’s expected of them in the project and, more importantly, what they can expect from you as a leader. In the project kickoff meeting, spend time working through this topic as a team so each person can spell out preferred working styles and communication methods as well as establish the factors for achieving success as a team. Click here to read more.Interview with Linky Van Der Merwe, PMP and PMP-ACP, founder of Virtual Project Consulting, and Senior IT Project Manager at Santam, a major Insurance Company in South Africa. Interview with Linky Van Der Merwe, PMP and PMP-ACP, founder of Virtual Project Consulting, and Senior IT Project Manager at Santam, a major Insurance Company in South Africa. The Project Management profession gives you the opportunity to move around and work in different industries. Click here to watch more interviews.     Change management is how we move people from where they are to where we need them to be in order to achieve a project’s benefit. It’s the activity that makes sure people are ready, willing and able to accept what changes we are laying on them.Change management is how we move people from where they are to where we need them to be in order to achieve a project’s benefit. It’s the activity that makes sure people are ready, willing and able to accept what changes we are laying on them. As a project manager, I’ve had to lead the change management activity on most of my projects because having someone dedicated to change delivery is a luxury that simply didn’t exist. In my experience, many project managers have a hybrid project/change role because no one else is available to spend time on change management. That makes it all the more important that we know what works and how to get the most out of the limited time we have to invest in change activities. If you are going to do any kind of change management, you also need to think about how you will know if it has been successful. Click here to read more.If your goal is optimal performance, cultivate the mindful awareness that enables clarity and responsiveness. Accept and work with paradoxes to embrace both-and thinking. If your goal is optimal performance, cultivate the mindful awareness that enables clarity and responsiveness. Accept and work with paradoxes to embrace both-and thinking. A well-respected mindfulness meditation master, advised that "A mind which thinks, expects, and plans, blocks off wisdom." Following this advice would leave most of our projects at sea without a rudder. That is the problem with a great deal of the mindfulness teachings that have become common in the project management and general business communities - oversimplification. The wise embrace both-and thinking. The full quote is: "Notice every time the mind is eager for results and remind yourself of the right attitude. You need to practice patience. Only when the mind is simple, can wisdom develop. A mind which thinks expects, and plans, blocks off wisdom." Tejaniya. Click here to read more.   Partnership delivers solutions and services to drive successful digital transformation.KeyedIn, which earlier this year launched a new version of KeyedIn Projects, today announced a partnership with Changefirst, a leading Change Management provider, to support the successful delivery of business and digital transformation initiatives. As a leader in Agile Portfolio Management, KeyedIn provides the management tools and processes to support those initiatives, while Changefirst offers technology and a proven, research-based approach to ensure an organization’s people adopt and embrace the change inherent in any major transformation effort. KeyedIn’s partnership enables it to offer Roadmap Pro, Changefirst’s SaaS based platform for planning, delivering and tracking the people aspects of change. The combined KeyedIn/Changefirst solution supports business transformation by both identifying and resourcing the company’s most strategic projects, and then following established best practices to help employees and other stakeholders embrace and implement the resulting organizational changes. Click here to read more.We’re using more and more tools now – companies that didn’t previously have online collaboration tools are now signed up to an annual subscription, so even if you can now get into your workplace, a lot of project management teams are still working virtually. We’re using more and more tools now – companies that didn’t previously have online collaboration tools are now signed up to an annual subscription, so even if you can now get into your workplace, a lot of project management teams are still working virtually. There are changes that come when you add more tech tools into the estate. You have to invest in keeping your collaboration tools relevant and up-to-date. You should also keep an eye on the future so that if you need to switch systems or link them together, you can. This is interoperability—the ability to use different tools together to provide a single, streamlined technology platform for your company that does not rely on manual rekeying of data. Click here to read more “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence – it is to act with yesterday’s logic. – Peter Drucker “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence – it is to act with yesterday’s logic. – Peter Drucker I expect most of us are viewing the COVID-19 second wave with some trepidation. When and how will this damn pandemic cease its ravaging ways? When will we be able to return to a somewhat normal life? What will it look like, even if it is a different new normal? We’ve seen countries around the world try a multitude of approaches to contain the spread of the virus with varying degrees of success. Through those efforts we have acquired some vital lessons learned: Click here to read more. How well your Project Management Office (PMO) or Enterprise PMO (EPMO) functions is contingent on two things: the mindset of each of your employees and establishing a strategic top-down project portfolio culture. How well your Project Management Office (PMO) or Enterprise PMO (EPMO) functions is contingent on two things: the mindset of each of your employees and establishing a strategic top-down project portfolio culture.  In my career, I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to play a key role in helping a Global 500 company make a positive shift toward a culture focused on portfolios of projects that align with company-wide strategies. My 25-year adventure with the company spanned roles from Project Manager to Sr. Director of IT overseeing strategy and our EPMO. While the specific challenges we faced were unique to the context of our business, the concepts of transformation and reinvention are universal in business these days. I was fortunate to learn many things that are applicable to any business leader or team aiming to improve company performance and drive better business outcomes, which I have laid out in this article and plan to cover in future articles as well.  Click here to read more.What is there that is possibly left to say about leadership, you might reasonably wonder. And it’s a fair question. It’s been a topic of fascination for literally millennia. A quick search on Amazon will tell you that there are more than 60,000 titles available on the topic.What is there that is possibly left to say about leadership, you might reasonably wonder. And it’s a fair question. It’s been a topic of fascination for literally millennia. A quick search on Amazon will tell you that there are more than 60,000 titles available on the topic. Dig a little further, and you’ll discover that more than 30,000 of those have been published since January. There are also more than 4.4 million scholarly articles, including a frightening 91,700 that have been published so far this year (and that number will have grown by a few thousand more by the time you read this). We shan’t even get into the number of hits on Google, which stretch into multiple billions (three, to be precise). Apparently, people still believe that there is something to be said on the topic. Clearly, I do as well in that I’m writing this column. Of course, our definition of leadership has evolved some. It started off with the presumption that leadership was about the unique qualities of certain men (because yes, there were numerous gendered biases on the subject, and sadly there arguably still are). Click here to read more.After six-plus months of working from home, many remote workers are starting to feel like there’s no delineation between the office and what used to be the solitude of their comfy home. After six plus months of working from home, many remote workers are starting to feel like there’s no delineation between the office and what used to be the solitude of their comfy home. Dining rooms, dens and otherwise open home spaces have been filled with desks, chairs, filing cabinets, monitors and sundry office accoutrement. The “work” side of the scale has tipped heavily, in some cases catapulting the contents of the “Life” scale off the other side. This imbalance is largely contributed to: Click here to read more The world that we are facing today is so rapidly changing that leaders need a whole new range of skill sets, mindset, and heart set in order to survive in this ‘Age of Flux’.The world that we are facing today is so rapidly changing that leaders need a whole new range of skill sets, mindset, and heart set in order to survive in this ‘Age of Flux’. It is not only required to change rapidly and adapt to the situations at hand but also change for the better by being forward-looking rather than resting on past laurels or basing decisions on what worked earlier. There exists an incessant need to – Change fast, Change FORWARD!  So how is this possible? Let's look at some strategies. Click here to learn more.As we get ready to celebrate Halloween I am reminded about the scary moments on projects and starting my project management career.  Thinking back to my younger days I enjoyed dressing up in my Halloween costumes and “trick or treating” through the neighborhood to collect candy.  As we get ready to celebrate Halloween I am reminded about the scary moments on projects and starting my project management career.  Thinking back to my younger days I enjoyed dressing up in my Halloween costumes and “trick or treating” through the neighborhood to collect candy.  I wasn’t so fond of scary movies and haunted houses!  I recall the anxiety before entering the haunted house, the uneasy feeling in my stomach, and the fear of being scared.  I also remember the feeling of calm after exiting the haunted house and thinking, “well that wasn’t too bad.”  Then after a few visits, it actually became fun to be scared and the anxiety waned as I knew that all would be ok.  I didn’t have anything to fear from the scary gremlins and monsters in the haunted house. I remember being a new project manager and feeling the same fears of the unknown on my first few projects.  I wasn’t sure what gremlins were going to trip me up and derail our projects.  It seemed like around every corner someone or something was waiting to shout Boo at me!  I wasn’t sure who was a good guy to help out the project team or who was a monster lurking in the shadows looking to scare us or do us harm.  Do you remember those days when you were afraid of the project gremlins?   Click here to read more. I usually advise my students to encourage their team members to not provide padded work estimates, but rather to make schedule contingencies visible and tie these contingencies to milestones rather than to individual activities.I usually advise my students to encourage their team members to not provide padded work estimates, but rather to make schedule contingencies visible and tie these contingencies to milestones rather than to individual activities. This is intended to counter the potential confluence of Parkinson's Law (work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion), Student Syndrome (let's wait till the very last possible moment to start an undesired activity) and Murphy's Law (anything that can go wrong will go wrong). While this behavior might be true in some circumstances, it is based on a rather Theory X view of the world. Student Syndrome hurts no one other than the student procrastinating on starting their homework assignments or preparing for an exam. With projects, the impact of delays from one team member ripple downstream to others so with the exception of that small minority of Homer Simpson-like workers most of us want to do a good day's work. So if the fault doesn't lie with the individual contributors, where else could we look for answers? Click here to read more.Learn how to develop your workforce with government funding.Targeted hiring and training programs can help Canadian companies scale operations and reduce talent gaps. But despite the clear benefits of workforce development, few companies allocate enough capital to attracting and nurturing world-class talent. Employers should consider tapping into government funding programs to boost hiring and training budgets. During the Hiring & Training Grants for Workforce Development webinar, attendees will learn about the top government funding programs that can offset a portion of hiring and training costs by up to 50-83%. Click here to know more about the webinar.My earliest experience with remote work came in around 2010. At the time, I believed it would enable me to connect with project teams from around the globe.  My earliest experience with remote work came in around 2010. At the time, I believed it would enable me to connect with project teams from around the globe. What I considered a novelty has now become a new normal for myself and project professionals everywhere. With this shift comes the necessity to rethink leadership, collaboration, and teams. A high-performing team can be defined as a group of people with clearly defined roles and complementary talents and skills, aligned with and committed to a common goal to innovate and deliver results. The importance of teams is not about to diminish as digital transformation reshapes the notion of the workplace and how work gets done. On the contrary, the (digital) leadership role becomes increasingly demanding as a diverse workforce, including freelancers and partners, works from home. It’s time that we adapt the essential characteristics of high-performing teams in the digital age: Click here to read more. The trend of remote working has been steadily growing across the globe for the last decade or so. Statistically speaking, remote working has increased by nearly 8% in the US itself between 2016-2017.Remote working has always been widely accepted by people seeking a better work-life balance. But in the middle of global pandemics like COVID-19, remote working is an absolute necessity. As a result, even people with no prior remote working experience also have to do so. The lack of familiar office spaces, physical presence, and personal touch can be a daunting prospect for many. As a result, teamwork, join efforts, and productivity can get hampered. Businesses of today must leverage the advantage of the digital world and put protocols in place that improve collaboration within a team during periods of extended remote working. So what are some of these tactics? Let’s find out: Click here to read more.  Conflicts arise on any team. It’s inevitable. What’s important is making sure they’re resolved before they grow into something bigger. Conflicts arise on any team. It’s inevitable. What’s important is making sure they’re resolved before they grow into something bigger. It often feels like an unfamiliar territory to some, but resolver of conflicts is one of the many hats a scrum master must wear. And while there’s no singular right way to resolve conflict, I’ve found success with the following steps: Click here to read more about the steps. When you need to present your project in a strategic context, one of the most useful documents you can create is a project roadmap. When you need to present your project in a strategic context, one of the most useful documents you can create is a project roadmap. Unlike most other project artifacts, a project roadmap shows not only what’s happening within your project, but also how your project fits within the big picture. It is the sizzle reel for the overarching program, the origin story of your project, and the trailer for the sequels to come – all wrapped into one! But the exact purpose and definition of a project roadmap is somewhat contentious. Is it a sales tool or is it a reporting tool? Should it be created before the project starts or should it evolve as the project unfolds? Is it just a roll-up of your Gantt chart? Or is it the ace up your sleeve that makes it all click for your executive stakeholders? Click here to read more. “We miss the way you managed the project!” After leaving my role as a project manager of a software development team, these words were the best gift I could’ve received. “We miss the way you managed the project!” After leaving my role as a project manager of a software development team, these words were the best gift I could’ve received. It was a new team, a new innovative product development, and a new experience for me. I was not a developer, I did not have any agile training and I did not know how to contribute to the project efficiently. But I observed and kept note of what worked and what didn’t—which helped me develop my skills as a servant leader. Servant leaders are a different breed—they flip the traditional leadership model on its head. Their main goal is to be of service to their teams instead of simply focusing on the organization. Click here to read more. Trying to create a product without a vision for what it should be and what it can provide to people is a confusing and difficult process. Trying to create a product without a vision for what it should be and what it can provide to people is a confusing and difficult process. A product vision is a long-term goal you are aiming for — The reason(s) for creating a product, the consumer end, and the overall purpose. It is more or less the essence of your product described from an overarching perspective. Moreover, specifically within Scrum Teams, vision statements play an important role throughout the development process. That is why we have curated this guide on product vision statements so that you can benefit from this document. But before we get into the details, it is important to understand what constitutes a vision statement. Click here to read more. As companies are increasingly expected to deliver projects of all kinds more frequently and quickly, agile project management is emerging as an increasingly important process (and skillset) across an array of industries. As companies are increasingly expected to deliver projects of all kinds more frequently and quickly, agile project management is emerging as an increasingly important process (and skillset) across an array of industries. I learned this lesson after having spent five years as an executive assistant in a corporate setting for a pet-care company. My boss would give me projects to organize and a team to manage to deliver results. This gave me initial exposure to project management and I quickly recognized how invaluable those fundamental skills became in my job. It made me want to explore project management further to understand how else it could benefit and propel my career. I decided to enrol in an online Master of Science in Project Management programme, which allowed me to work and study at the same time. Not too long after I began the programme, my manager noticed that not only had my skills improved, but my confidence as well. This led him to recommend me for a promotion – and a challenging career change – to the corporate affairs department. As a new communications manager, there was a lot more to learn. However, I also realized there were plenty of transferable and applicable skills I was bringing to my position as a result of my previous experience in project management, as well as everything I was learning in my online programme. Click here to read more So what are the key things I’ve learnt through applying a project-management mindset to a communications role? What happens when you can’t track project cost?This happens when other people are spending your project budget and not letting you know where it is going. The first you hear about resources being acquired or a deal being signed is when the invoice gets passed to you from Finance with a big question mark written on it. When this happens you can’t accurately keep track of what is being spent, and whether it is being spent on the right things. How to fix it: Sort out the process for spending money. Make it clear to the project team (even those people who are more senior than you) that purchase orders have to go through you for tracking, even if you don’t have the authority to actually sign them. Let the Finance team know as well so that they can be copying you in on requests and making sure that the process is adhered to. They have no interest in receiving invoices that can’t be paid or getting the company into debt with inappropriate suppliers so they will be on your side! Read more here: Click here to read more.  Digital transformation brings with it many possibilities, but arguably one of the most important is transforming the customer experience. Digital transformation brings with it many possibilities, but arguably one of the most important is transforming the customer experience. Yet digital transformation does not always deliver this. One research study demonstrated that only 19% of customers felt they had a significant improvement in their experiences with companies, following $4.7 trillion of investment in digital transformation. A large number of companies (47%) have not even begun with digital transformation. These organizations are fast getting left behind and are missing a trick, when reports show that companies that have transformed digitally are 26% more profitable than those that have not. Given that companies that have undertaken digital transformation report the process taking between two and eight years, it is time to get underway. Click here to read more. Project managers enjoy a reputation for their dedication to meeting deadlines and delivering complex projects. However, there are some project management problems we still need to solve.Project managers enjoy a reputation for their dedication to meeting deadlines and delivering complex projects. However, there are some project management problems we still need to solve. According to a 2017 report from the Project Management Institute: “Organisations are wasting an average of $97 million for every $1 billion invested, due to poor project performance—that’s a 20% decline from one year ago.” That is an unacceptably high rate of failure. There are many causes to consider here. You might point to unrealistic expectations from stakeholders. Or unanticipated challenges (like a multi-month global pandemic!). All of these problems are real, and we might not be able to do much about them right now. Despite these challenges, the way we run projects also plays a role. If we stubbornly insist on running projects “by the book,” we are going to miss opportunities. In that spirit, I would like to share a few ways to develop your hybrid approach to project management. Click here to read more. A lot of professional wisdom tells a project manager to try to avoid requirements changes, new requests and other additions to an ongoing project—all common occurrences commonly known as “scope creep.” A lot of professional wisdom tells a project manager to try to avoid requirements changes, new requests, and other additions to an ongoing project—all common occurrences commonly known as “scope creep.” Indeed, scope creep is often considered a major risk to a project and appears in widely circulated reports of reasons why projects don’t succeed. If a project manager isn’t cautious, requirements can multiply, causing delay after delay in delivery, sometimes to the point where the project or product winds up vastly over schedule, over budget, or even being cancelled. Yes, scope creep can be a killer of projects where timelines are established at the beginning, or budgets or resources are fixed. However, it should not be a problem for projects operating with agile principles. In agile circles, scope creep is sometimes called “sprint creep”—new tasks are inserted into an already planned sprint, or existing tasks are given expanded requirements. Project leaders who are committed to protecting their teams and projects against scope creep are often resistant to these kinds of changes. They set up a change control process or simply don’t allow alterations to stories or tasks that have been committed or accepted. Click here to read more. Self-organizing teams are at the heart of Agile methodology but building one has never been an easy task.  Wikipedia defines self-organization as “the process where a structure or pattern appears in a system without a central authority or external element imposing it through planning”. Easier said than done for sure.We all know that giving a team the authority of becoming self-organized is a lot different than the traditional working method of assigning tasks where most people are used to. It takes significant effort and time for transitioning from a traditional team model to a self-organized one— and this process usually doesn’t get accomplished in one session but requires constant communication and training of team members which facilitates this transition process. However, this organizational change is absolutely worth the initial investment and it will pay off at the end. The result will be surprisingly high-quality products made by extremely happy team members. And as you know, everybody wants to see this. Click here to read more.PMI is committed to providing fair and equitable access to the support and resources needed by those working in the profession, regardless of (and not limited to) race, age, gender, or nationality.PMI is committed to providing fair and equitable access to the support and resources needed by those working in the profession, regardless of (and not limited to) race, age, gender, or nationality. Recently, PMI’s President and CEO, Sunil Prashara, issued a statement to the PMI community driving home our pledge to honoring diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) within the project management profession. You can read Sunil’s CEO pledge here. Click here to read moreI’ve been familiar with remote work and virtual teams since 2010. I’ve also witnessed how digital transformation has enabled the adoption of new business models, flatter organizational structures and hybrid project management approaches since then.I’ve been familiar with remote work and virtual teams since 2010. I’ve also witnessed how digital transformation has enabled the adoption of new business models, flatter organizational structures and hybrid project management approaches since then. In the wake of the global pandemic, I’ve received many questions about building high-performing virtual teams, and how to improve collaboration and productivity as a whole in the workforce. Before I share some lessons learned with you, I’d like to remind you that we live in uncommon times. Predictions and models aren’t capable of guiding us as they were before the crisis. As quickly as teams have adapted to going virtual, there remains a great deal of uncertainty and a number of challenges that have yet to be overcome. Click here to read moreAs we know from the last few months, change can happen in an instant. All of us are being called to step into the new vision that is being asked of us. As we know from the last few months, change can happen in an instant. All of us are being called to step into the new vision that is being asked of us. Those of us fortunate enough to be working, also find we have to ramp up our communication virtually and there’s no single correct way to engage people. You might find this troubling! Fortunately, there are several approaches you can take to remedy the situation, whether the unique challenges you face are the results of corporate, legislative, mandated, or politically-driven changes. Here are five key principles to effective change communication that will keep your team and colleagues positive, motivated, and on-board during the process. Click here to read more “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” —Milton Berle Experts say that the world will never be as we once knew it. I personally think that it will take us several years to return to some sense of normalcy. We’ll have to accept it: Adaptation is inevitable. Experts say that the world will never be as we once knew it. I personally think that it will take us several years to return to some sense of normalcy. We’ll have to accept it: Adaptation is inevitable. As I prepared to write this blog, I was looking for a personal story to illustrate my resilience skills. The truth is that many came to mind. I believe that this ability, along with creativity, is something we all have as project managers. Working from home for the past 15 or 16 weeks (I’m one of the lucky ones who can work remotely during the pandemic) is perhaps the closest example of resilience. In my case, it has required less effort, but the overwhelming response we have had to our Managing Remote Teams program has helped me realize that, although the technology exists, there is still a lag in the ability of many to adapt to this new way of working. Click here to read more Rebuilding a poor relationship with your clients takes time, effort, and sincerity. You need to be able to convince those involved that you’re the right person for the job—that you can be the change they need to see on the project. I often take on the role of escalation manager. I’m brought into projects when things are going wrong. It’s my goal to bring the project back on track and repair the working relationship with the teams and the end-customers to ensure we can have a lasting, productive partnership. Rebuilding a poor relationship with your clients takes time, effort, and sincerity. You need to be able to convince those involved that you’re the right person for the job—that you can be the change they need to see on the project. You also need to be clear with your own management about whether it’s worth the time and effort required. What’s Happening? The first thing I do when I come onto projects is to talk to the key members of the team and the customer so I’m aware of the conflicts, issues, and expectations. This step is the most important—you have to look at the current situation before you start investigating the history Next, it’s time to look at the wider impact. What’s happening in the organization? Where did the issues arise from? This is where demanding honesty from all parties comes in because you need to understand the environment in which the project has been operating and look at the influences that have affected the project up to this point. Click here to read more   When mergers and acquisitions happen, integrating and adapting into one company culture can seem immense. The changes are sure to be constant, but with these changes comes new opportunities allowing us to add value to our new organization.When mergers and acquisitions happen, integrating and adapting into one company culture can seem immense. The changes are sure to be constant, but with these changes comes new opportunities allowing us to add value to our new organization. Times of change are critical for us to remember how we succeeded in the past—and how we can be an integral component for overcoming the challenges we will soon face in the future. One of the most important pieces in achieving this is by successfully integrating into a new culture that we can all thrive in. Learning how to not only cope with a new culture but use it as a springboard for your success—and the success of your team—can become a strength that will define you as a leader. Here are three tips to help with that transition: Click here to read moreNever send another email that ends up unread. With a few personalization techniques in your toolkit, your project communications will be so much more effective. Ready to learn how?Never send another email that ends up unread. With a few personalization techniques in your toolkit, your project communications will be so much more effective. Ready to learn how? Have you ever received an email from a vendor or recruitment agency that starts, “Hey there!” and goes on to offer you a whitepaper or something? My default response is, “No thanks, company that doesn’t even know my name.” Into the trash, you go. You are at risk of evoking the same response with your project communications. “All hands” messages or “Dear team” emails (argh, I sent one of those this morning) lack personalization. And they just might end up in the trash. Click here to read more “People reported to me that they had difficulties working with you.” These were the words a manager spoke to me early in my career—and I haven’t forgotten them. I was very shocked to hear the feedback, as no one approached me about any grievances they had with me.  “People reported to me that they had difficulties working with you.” These were the words a manager spoke to me early in my career—and I haven’t forgotten them. I was very shocked to hear the feedback, as no one approached me about any grievances they had with me. Naturally, I wanted to know who said it and in what context. But the manager refused to give me many details. Was the feedback constructive? Not really. Was it useful? Absolutely not. Giving better feedback helps you and your teams improve their collaboration and deliver better project outcomes. But all feedback is not created equally. You need to set the conditions for success. First, feedback shouldn’t feel like top-down decision-making. There has to buy-in. So it’s important to talk through expectations with team members: How often will you gather feedback? How will you communicate it? The conditions in which the message is conveyed also matters, especially for negative feedback. If it’s a face-to-face meeting, book a room to create a confidential and comfortable environment to engage in a conversation. The feedback must also be recent. Regular feedback lets team members apply lessons learned on the fly. And there must be follow-up: If action items are outlined but no action is taken, credibility in the feedback process is lost and motivation decreases. As a leader, your role is to ensure constructive feedback is turned into reality. Click here to read more In a matter of months, COVID-19 has impacted pretty much every aspect of our normal daily lives. It’s changed the way we educate our children to the way we socialize and how we get our entertainment.In a matter of months, COVID-19 has impacted pretty much every aspect of our normal daily lives. It’s changed the way we educate our children to the way we socialize and how we get our entertainment. Even more, it’s changed the way we work. Those of us fortunate enough to be employed in fields that accommodate telecommuting are at least spared from the worst of the economic ravages that this pandemic has incited. Still, we’re not scot-free. Transitioning to remote work has been exactly that: a transition. And, as we’ve learned, this change in the way we work is lasting longer than we first expected. It appears many companies will be working remotely for a while. And it’s important to help your team be as successful as possible in this new normal. Click here to read more Excellent communication skills are critical for project success. In this blog, I’ll share six ways to improve your communication skills and become a better project manager in the process. During project retrospectives, one of the biggest issues I often hear is inadequate communication. Perhaps the project manager did not communicate correctly, at the right time, in the right manner—or simply did not communicate at all! Excellent communication skills are critical for project success. In this blog, I’ll share six ways to improve your communication skills and become a better project manager in the process. 1. Understand your team and stakeholders. Whenever I enter a new project or organization, I like to use a notepad to write down any relevant or important information about the team members with whom I’ll be working. This includes information about the location of the team, where the team members come from, if they have taken any personality tests, what type of resource they are, etc. I normally complete this by the first stage of team development, but I make sure that I add updates as needed or when new people join the team. This also includes stakeholder analysis. I make a note about where stakeholders are from, the best way of communicating with them, and which language is the most appropriate. Click here to read more Making effective decisions relies on the ability to manage conflicts among the decision-makers and to weave together objective facts (truth) with opinions, analysis, risk assessment, and feelings. Making effective decisions relies on the ability to manage conflicts among the decision-makers and to weave together objective facts (truth) with opinions, analysis, risk assessment, and feelings. There is nothing new about lying, manipulating the truth, and/or using rhetoric to influence decisions while ignoring objectivity and analysis. There is also nothing new about people buying into a "truth" because it reflects what they want the truth to be. Many people seeking profits, safety, certainty, and security will get behind anyone who promises to deliver these, even when they know deep down that they are being lied to. For these, truth is confused with wishful thinking rather than an objective assessment of facts and other factors. Click here to read more  Project skills are life skills that can be applied both professionally and personally, the comedian and author said in the second installment of PMI’s Virtual Experience Series, “Together We Rise.” Full disclosure: I’m a big fan of Trevor Noah. But even I was a bit surprised at his eloquence in speaking about managing projects—and what it takes to deliver them. Project skills are life skills that can be applied both professionally and personally, the comedian and author said in the second installment of PMI’s Virtual Experience Series, “Together We Rise.” And those skills are coming in handy in these strange times. Noah said he felt “inspired” by the opportunity to rethink how he does everything. “It’s not often you get an opportunity to completely revamp what you do,” he said. “We cannot ignore the situation we’re in. It would be a disservice to not emerge from this without thinking about better ways of working—of living.” Click here to read more How does work from home impact our use of agile approaches? If co-location is no longer possible, can we still be agile? How does work from home impact our use of agile approaches? If co-location is no longer possible, can we still be agile? Yes, of course, we can, and in many ways, now we need to be more agile than ever as we try new approaches, learn and adapt how we work. However, let's address the co-location question and look at agile practices in remote work situations. The Agile Manifesto and Agile Principles do not mention co-location. They do not say teams have to work together to be agile or effective. Instead, they say, "The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation" and "Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project." Click here to read more. Leaders have always dealt with the critical challenge of delivering CAPEX projects on time and to budget.However, the COVID-19 crisis has radically changed the landscape and presented several new challenges for the future, demanding new strategies, investments, and tools. Before the Coronavirus pandemic, the average budget of a capital project typically overran by 65 percent. A further 50 percent of projects reported completion delays. Budget blowouts and schedule overruns can negatively impact the overall financial performance of a company and ultimately affect the share price. This was before a global pandemic - imagine how high the stakes are now.  Leaders have always dealt with the critical challenge of delivering CAPEX projects on time and to budget. However, the COVID-19 crisis has radically changed the landscape and presented several new challenges for the future, demanding new strategies, investments, and tools. Before the Coronavirus pandemic, the average budget of a capital project typically overran by 65 percent. A further 50 percent of projects reported completion delays. Budget blowouts and schedule overruns can negatively impact the overall financial performance of a company and ultimately affect the share price. This was before a global pandemic - imagine how high the stakes are now.  Click here to read moreIt would be an understatement to say that project managers have had to deal with a lot of change this year. It would be an understatement to say that project managers have had to deal with a lot of change this year. Projects have had their budgets vastly reduced or been canceled outright, and remote work has become the norm rather than the exception. We are still far from the end of the pandemic, but in those areas where they have successfully flattened their first waves, some companies are starting to encourage their staff to return to the office.  For PMs who now have to adjust to being in the office with their team members, things are not as simple as winding the clock back a half-year or so.  Click here to read more Project managers face the daunting task of making the complex simple. They are constantly communicating to various teams involved in a project. https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/storytelling-brain-science-11967 To reduce failure rates and successfully deliver strategies in 2020 and beyond, organizations must overcome disruptive forces and flip posing challenges to opportunities and advantages.   https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/great-ideas-failure-prevention-11996Agile project teams interact with users and deliver incrementally. This paper is an introduction to how design thinking, combined with agile, will further reduce the risk of failing. https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/design-thinking-improve-agile-process-11909 https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/the-future-of-project-management.html https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/how-to-stay-on-top-of-multiple-software-projects.html https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/using-work-breakdown-structure-wbs-for-effective-project-estimation.html https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/building-your-product-development-toolbox.html https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/6-common-challenges-in-managing-small-projects-and-how-to-overcome-them.html https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/work-with-people-not-projects.html https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/3-most-common-mistakes-to-avoid-in-managing-multiple-projects.html https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/best-practices-managing-risks-in-lean-or-agile-projects.html https://projectzendo.com/what-project-managers-need-to-know-about-scrum/ https://www.projecttimes.com/drew-davison/from-the-sponsor-s-desk-big-dreams-bigger-excuses.html https://projectzendo.com/kickoff-meetings/ https://projectzendo.com/rfi-rfp-sow-msa-contract-whats-the-difference/ https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/avoiding-the-planning-fallacy-improving-your-project-estimates.html https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/what-the-new-pmbok-guide-means-for-pmp-certification-and-how-to-digest-it-part-2.html https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/the-new-pmbok-guide-what-it-means-for-pmp-certification-and-more-part-1.htmlhttps://www.projecttimes.com/articles/how-to-use-agile-strategies-to-manage-a-remote-team.htmlhttps://www.projecttimes.com/articles/the-step-by-step-guide-to-accurate-project-scoping.htmlhttp://www.pmnetwork-digital.com/pmnetwork/december_2017/MobilePagedReplica.action?pm=2&folio=6#pg8https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/2018-top-4-enterprise-project-management-software.htmlhttps://www.projecttimes.com/george-pitagorsky/managing-project-relationships-second-guessing-and-criticism.htmlhttps://www.projecttimes.com/articles/outside-the-box-forum-to-successfully-manage-any-project-requires-answering-these-6-questions.htmlhttps://www.entrepreneur.com/article/310106 https://www.projecttimes.com/drew-davison/from-the-sponsor-s-desk-want-to-start-a-business-treat-it-like-a-project.htmlhttps://www.projecttimes.com/articles/the-problem-with-red-yellow-green-project-status.htmlhttps://www.projecttimes.com/articles/5-steps-to-replacing-the-project-manager-on-a-failing-project.htmlhttps://www.projectmanagement.com/articles/444693/Micromanagement-vs--Empowerment--A-Leaders-Role-in-People-Managementhttps://www.projectmanagement.com/articles/443526/Ownership--The-Core-for-Next-Gen-PMshttps://www.projecttimes.com/articles/managing-small-projects-the-critical-steps.htmlhttp://learning.pmi.org/events-page.php?eventID=46&utm_source=pmi&utm_medium=email&utm_term=EMC1767&utm_content=reg_rates_earlybird&utm_campaign=SW_Seattle_60days_earlybird&utm_aud=optInMemCert_NA&utm_thm=event&utm_sdte=February&utm_dep=mkt&spMailingID=32980916&spUserID=MzA3Mjc1NzQzMjU5S0&spJobID=1220991450&spReportId=MTIyMDk5MTQ1MAS2#eventDetailshttp://learning.pmi.org/courses.php?utm_source=pmi&utm_medium=website&utm_term=DXP5238&utm_content=PMI_Learning_Ribbon_ad&utm_campaign=OLLmarketing2018&utm_aud=PMIwebsite&utm_thm=learning_OLL_topcourse&utm_sdte=Jan_Dec&utm_dep=mkthttps://www.projecttimes.com/articles/what-to-do-when-project-members-don-t-have-the-skills-you-need.html?utm_source=PTNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=02-07-18http://www.pmnetwork-digital.com/pmnetwork/february_2018/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=1324434&app=false#articleId1324434https://www.projectmanagement.com/articles/433112/4-Traits-to-Look-for-in-a-Career-Mentorhttps://www.projecttimes.com/articles/ai-is-saving-lives-surely-it-can-save-a-project.html?utm_source=PTNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01-24-18https://www.projecttimes.com/project-management-training/training-home.html?utm_source=PTNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01-24-18#WID00631 https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational/business-analysis?utm_source=pmi&utm_medium=website&utm_term=DXP5323&utm_content=HomePage_HeroImage&utm_campaign=BA_Guide_FirstEdition_01_15_18&utm_aud=PMIwebsite&utm_thm=learning&utm_sdte=01_15_18&utm_dep=mkt https://www.projecttimes.com/articles/the-new-pmbok-guide-what-it-means-for-pmp-certification-and-more-part-1.html?utm_source=PTNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01-17-18http://www.pmnetwork-digital.com/pmnetwork/january_2018/MobilePagedReplica.action?pm=2&folio=28#pg30http://learning.pmi.org/events-page.php?eventID=45https://www.pmi.org/emea-congress/registration-options?utm_source=pmi&utm_medium=website&utm_term=&utm_content=HomePage_HeroText&utm_campaign=EMEA_Congress_2018_early_reg_01_12_18&utm_aud=PMIwebsite&utm_thm=Event&utm_sdte=01_12_18&utm_dep=mkthttps://www.pmi.org/certifications/types/certified-associate-capm/exam-prep/changeshttp://www.pmnetwork-digital.com/pmnetwork/december_2017/MobilePagedReplica.action?pm=2&folio=38#pg40https://www.pmi.org/learning/careers/project-management-salary-surveyhttps://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/projectified-with-pmi/id1299131209?mt=2http://www.pmnetwork-digital.com/pmnetwork/november_2017/MobilePagedReplica.action?pm=2&folio=32#pg37https://www.pmi.org/learning/tools-templates/project-managers-book-of-formshttps://www.projectmanagement.com/events/403656/PMI-Business-Analysis-Virtual-Conference-2017https://www.projectmanagement.com/events/403246/PMI-Talent-Management-Conference-2017?utm_source=pm&utm_medium=website&utm_term=DXP4164&utm_content=registerNow_reg_open_topic_announced_banner&utm_campaign=pmitalentmanagement2017&utm_aud=mem_on_pmcom&utm_thm=event&utm_sdte=September&utm_dep=mkthttps://www.projectmanagement.com/events/388360/PMI-Organizational-Agility-Conference-2017 https://www.pmbaconferences.com/vancouver/home.html The October 2017 PMI Today issue has reported that there are 790,148 active certified PMPs in the world, 34,062 CAPMs, and 17,241 PMI-ACPs. The PMI has members in 208 countries and territories. Three days of game-changing, mind-shifting, and difference-making as we celebrate the profession of project management at the 2017 PMI Global Conference.As a result of the release of the PMBOK® Guide – Sixth Edition in September 2017, the PMP exam will change 26 March 2018. These updates will ensure the exam content is consistent with the PMBOK® Guide. https://www.pmi.org/pmbok-guide-standards/foundational/pmbok/coming-soon-pmbok-guide-sixth-edition?utm_source=pmi&utm_medium=website&utm_content=HomePage_HeroImage&utm_campaign=PMBOKGuideFifthEdition&utm_aud=generalVisitor&utm_thm=PMBOK&utm_sdte=08_14_17