Hello Reader, When I’m mentoring project managers, one of the key things I hear time and time again is that they want to be given more responsibility and have greater influence over the work. Project managers often struggle from not having budget and resource responsibility. If you don’t control these elements of the project, you don’t really have the option to take many decisions about how the work unfolds. You can’t do anything to address risk either because people don’t take your...
15 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Last week I led a short webinar on the 3 project management trends it's worth knowing about for your work this year. And no, it wasn't about AI (I assume you already know about that - plus, my research shows most project managers are not using AI tools to actually do their jobs, beyond a bit of ChatGPT). You'll learn about the importance of: Sustainability Personalization Speed of access. These topics underpin business resilience, stakeholder engagement and time management. And...
30 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, In just a few days, I’ll be teaching a live paid workshop: The Productivity Blueprint for Project Managers: How to be Productive When You Run Out of Time Every Day. (If you haven’t booked your spot yet, make sure to do it now! It’s on Monday 27 January at 7pm GMT(UK)/2pm EST/6am AEST.) At this time of year, I start feeling overwhelmed with All The Things. So much to get ready for the new year. Work goals, new projects to kick off. All the things the children are supposed to be...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, Do you ever feel like you run out of time every single day? I do. My ‘top priority’ sticky note has 9 things on it. How is that prioritising anything?? I want to get my evenings back! Having said that, this is unusual for me. I used to struggle a lot more with managing my time – but over the last few years I’ve figured something out. Time is finite. I know, that’s not rocket science. It’s how you prioritise and use your time that matters, and that means focusing on the important...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, Let’s be honest; we all have at least one (or ten) tasks on the To-do list that probably should have been finished days ago (weeks, months ago…??). Maybe it’s doing a report when no one is chasing for it. Maybe it’s some kind of ongoing professional development that you never seem to have time for. Or maybe it’s sticking to the habit of capturing actions after meetings or something. It’s silly. We all know this stuff is important. And if we can just get them done, the payoff...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, It's almost the end of the year! Have you prepped for your annual review yet, or started thinking about reviews for members of your team? I want to start 2025 strong, with more focus on balance. I have spent Q4 working bizarre hours on one project and I need to shift that around. What about you? It is a good time to be thinking about what you want to get out of 2025, even if you know that your plans and goals are likely to change. Is it training you're after? Is it a promotion?...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Black Friday (day, week, month?) is here, and I'm happy to report that this is a great time of year for project managers to save on their training. Starting with my own. My past workshops are recorded and turned into virtual, self-paced training. I've gone through the most popular recent ones and bundled them together, and I am offering them at a discount. The training bundle includes: Project Prioritization Lessons Learned Made Easy Managing Money on Projects Confident Meetings...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader While some projects might have an end of year deadline, in my experience, most projects finish when they finish. So there’s every chance that your projects, like mine, will run through the holiday period. We do need to recharge, rest and reset, and so do the people on the team. So how do you balance the pressures of work and leadership’s desire to keep hitting those milestones, over the festive season? Plan your time Time feels more limited over the holiday season in the run up...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Hello Reader, Has your project just ticked over into Red status? I know what that feels like! And I know what the scrutiny is like too – suddenly you’ve got a lot of attention on your project and everyone is demanding a path to Green. I’ve been managing projects for over 20 years and many of my projects and programs have had periods of Red… sometimes for a long time! It is something you can handle, so let me share my top tips for surviving the Red stage and let’s get you tooled up to talk to...
5 months ago • 2 min read
