Project management coaching and career development tips
The value add of a project manager tends to be missed if you do a good job and everything goes smoothly. If a project was a one-year international road trip, the project manager: Maps out the entire journey Foresees problems along the way e.g. forest fires resulting in road closures, bad weather necessitating slower speeds, … Read more
I recently became upset at someone because I observed certain behaviours and told myself a narrative about why this person did what they did. That started a spiral of negative emotion fueling an imagined narrative, that in turn amplified the negative emotion, and boosted the story with even more negative charge–over and over again. When … Read more
In many project management offices, the term “smart failure” is shunned. It’s not smart to be associated with any project or initiative with even a hint of failure. Thomas Edison begs to differ: On progressive elaboration, iterative development, and lessons learnt:• Results! Why, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things … Read more
I was walking in a beautiful nature park when I came across this plaque with a photo. I have encountered many plaques before but this is the first time I saw one with a photo so I stopped to read it. Melda reached beyond the grave to inspire me; she caused me to reflect on … Read more
Ideas come from everywhere and everyone. And yes, we tend to think that anyone can come up with bad ideas. We expect good ideas to come from people whom we think of as creative: thought leaders, speakers, authors; product managers, leaders, executives; those higher up who move in influential circles. However, great ideas do come … Read more
Like every other Olympic event, Tokyo 2020 is a mega project, likely a portfolio of projects involving sectors as diverse as construction, sports, event management, marketing, transportation, and in 2021, healthcare. Cities who host the Olympics benefit from an injection of funds for infrastructure projects for public transportation and sports arenas. Within the triple constraint … Read more
Failure acts like a compass to your success. To recognize what you’re great at, acknowledge and accept what you’re bad at. The ego thinks it can be good at everything but in reality we all have strengths and weaknesses. To build a great team, each player needs an area of specialization. Surround yourself with people … Read more
Your project organization chart is like movie credits. Make sure you include the name of every single person who contributes to your project. But unlike movie credits, do this at the start of your project during the kickoff meeting. This is paying it forward and ensures that every single project team member will be ready … Read more
It’s okay for your backlog to be disorganized. After all, you pile every new requirement, user story, and request into it when you say, “I’ll add it to my backlog.” If you fully organize your backlog and assign every item into a future sprint, you are approaching it with the traditional project management mindset i.e. … Read more
My favourite Warren Buffett quote “The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.“ Learn a lot, every day; apply a little, every day I was going to write about Warren Buffett’s 25/5 rule. The story goes: “Warren Buffett’s personal pilot asked him for some … Read more