Project management coaching and career development tips
Project managers tend to spend lots of time preparing reports and presentations. Then they spend more time finessing them. If the focus is on data, insights, and recommended action, that is time well spent and the expected value is good decisions. If, however, the focus is on fonts, icons, and margins, spending hours on these … Read more
MBA students learn that “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” a famous quote from management guru Peter Drucker. Here’s a pop quiz: Does your culture have rigid vertical reporting structures a.k.a. silos? Yes(0), No(1) Does your culture have cross functional teams working on projects? Yes(1), No (0) Does your culture have decision making frameworks spanning departments? … Read more
According to Peter Drucker, “Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed.” He didn’t say that time is easier to manage than budget or scope. Depending on the project, the most complex thing to manage could be the budget, the scope, the quality, or the people. However, you … Read more
When can you deliver this project? Before you answer that question, ask a few questions yourself: is there a sponsor? has the budget been approved? solution designed? vendor selected? What you’re trying to communicate by asking a few questions is: A project sponsor is critical to success; Without a budget, you can’t start, and that … Read more
Often, a project is awarded to the cheapest provider who underestimates and underbids to win the job. They stretch their means, usually their people, to deliver the ends. When the sponsor negotiates for a lower price, they should also be asking if they are also getting discounted scope? They probably are. If re-work is required or the … Read more
There is never a bad time to take a stock of your career and envision your future goals. The end and the start of the year are natural times to do so. Here, I share two exercises to tap into your feelings, creative and imaginative faculties to reflect and shape your future. Once you have … Read more
The future has already arrived–not uniformly throughout the world but unevenly, in small pockets, arriving at different speeds.
If you have projects that run on a calendar year, plan as though December does not exist. Plan to deliver your project by November 30, not December 31… unless you want to work between Christmas and New Year. Things start to slow down in mid-December. Key stakeholders and executive sponsors may start taking their year … Read more
We are in the final two months of the year and it’s peak time for your team to deliver their projects. At this point in time, it’s not only their technical skills and experience that matters, but also their resilience. How can you give your team a boost in resilience? Get them together (virtually perhaps) … Read more
As someone who learnt how to code in high school and spent years coding for work, from programming EEPROMS to developing web applications, I am hesitant to “dumb-down” and explore low-code and no-code platforms. Not surprisingly, it’s a non-coder who introduced me to this movement. I haven’t yet done a deep dive into any one … Read more