Hello Reader, PM Master Quest is a free 30-day project management challenge, and it's back this September! I've been corresponding with the founder, Olivia Pekny, for a few years now, and it's great to see how much this has grown from a quick quiz to a real community event. A new story-driven project situation opens every day in September. Answer the question and track your progress. Last year I didn't manage to do it every day, but I still enjoyed the days I did do. This year, there's the...
8 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, You might know that I've been doing this job over 20 years - now my job title is Senior PM but I started out as a Business Change Analyst. Over the years I've tried a lot of different approaches to managing a heavy project workload, lists, systems, tools, frameworks other people swore by, and the truth is that most of them only solved part of the problem, because most of them were designed for a single project rather than the reality of having several running at the same time....
15 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, One way I see people involved in projects in any capacity elevate their careers is by really honing their business analysis skills. As a project manager, I’ve often been in situations where I’ve had to do some business analysis to help get the project through scoping and requirements, even though that’s not my “real” job. I did some BA training earlier in my career, and it’s been hugely useful. Knowing the tools and techniques can help you scope a project and ask the correct...
29 days ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Is your day working for you, or running you? In this video I talk through how I structure my day when I've got multiple projects that all need to keep moving forward. And I talk about how to cope when two projects seem to have fires to put out at the same time. You'll learn my technique for making sure my mornings (and the rest of the day) stay focused on the big goals, while juggling everything else! Have a great week! Elizabeth, If you're heading into summer with a view to...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Today's the day I'm speaking at a BrightWork webinar about how we can make the best use of AI. AI maturity is accelerating but PM maturity is not. There are rising expectations from AI like portfolio transparency, faster cycles and predictive insights. So why are so many organisations still stuck? The answer isn’t technology, it’s the foundations underneath it. AI doesn’t fix broken processes; it amplifies them. In this session we’ll challenge the assumption that the answer to...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Quick one: I'm speaking at a BrightWork webinar next Tuesday and wanted to invite you along. It's called Stop Automating Project Management Chaos: Why AI rewards organisations that already have their house in order, and it's about something I keep seeing play out: businesses put money into AI tools expecting better visibility and decision-making, but if the underlying project data is fragmented, reporting is inconsistent and governance is weak, AI doesn't fix that... it just...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, You might have heard that the PMP exam is changing later this week. And if you've already got your PMP certification or have zero plans to do it, you might wonder why that is news. Honestly, it's not really, because unless you are mid-way through your exam prep this change won't affect you in any day-to-day way. However, it is interesting to see how PMI thinks the work that project managers do is changing. Questions across the PMP certification domains will be split like this...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, Everyone in our world is talking about AI productivity gains. The numbers being thrown around are bold: 10x faster, 10x more output, 10x the capacity. The research I’ve seen suggests real-world productivity gains from AI are often more modest than the headline numbers. So when Creatio named their major platform release the “10x Release”, I wanted to see what they actually mean by it. That’s one of the reasons I’m tuning in to Creatio’s 10x Release event on July 15. Creatio is...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Hello Reader, I get messages fairly regularly from people who are part-way through the Google Project Management Certificate and have started wondering whether it's actually going to lead anywhere. Which is a very reasonable thing to wonder, and I'd rather give you an honest answer than a cheerful one. The short version is that it can genuinely open doors, particularly if you're moving into project management from another field or you're in the early stages of your career and need something...
2 months ago • 1 min read