I help project professionals get more done with less stress. Having been a project manager for over 20 years, I share tried-and-tested tips that work in the real world, every Tuesday. Join our community of over 15,000 project professionals (and accidental project managers too!).
Running a meeting when you’ve no clue what’s going on
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Hello Reader, One of the things that comes up often with new members of Project Management Rebels is how to facilitate a project meeting without knowing anything about what anyone else is talking about. Especially at the beginning, you’re not an expert. So you have very little to contribute in terms of content or helpful insights. What you can do is own the job you actually have and facilitate the process. Think about how you can add value with your comments without simply agreeing. You can add value through facilitating the process of the meeting: “To summarise your point, if I’ve understood it correctly…” “That’s a great idea. Is there anyone else we need to tell about that?” “Who else would benefit from being involved?” “I agree. Sounds like it would be something we’d need to involve X with/put on the Y list/talk about in next month’s Z meeting. Who can do that?” “That sounds like an action/risk for the minutes/risk log. How do you want me to record it?” “We’ve only got 10 minutes left and we haven’t had a chance to talk about X yet.” “It looked like X had something to say. Do you want to come in at this point?” You can also volunteer for actions, if they are relevant and would be coming to you anyway. Speak up about them before someone assigns them to you. It makes you look proactive and helpful! If you’re picking up new projects outside your comfort zone, keep this list until you need it 😊 Have a lovely week! Elizabeth Check these out: |
Calling all Rebel Project Managers!
I help project professionals get more done with less stress. Having been a project manager for over 20 years, I share tried-and-tested tips that work in the real world, every Tuesday. Join our community of over 15,000 project professionals (and accidental project managers too!).
Hello Reader, Last week I co-hosted a webinar with Office Timeline, sharing tips about how to speed up making Gantt charts, roadmaps, schedules and timelines in PowerPoint. You can watch the replay here: At the beginning, I talk about the challenges of having to create slides with timelines on, which I'm sure you are well aware of, so feel free to skip my part and go straight to the PowerPoint demo for the tips on importing data, consistent formatting, using brand colours, changing...
Hello Reader, If you’ve ever had to wing it as the business analyst on a project, I’ve got a book recommendation for you. It’s called The Value-Driven Business Analyst by Laura Brandenburg, and while it’s written for BAs, I think it’s one of the most practical books out there for project managers. Laura’s 8-Step Business Analysis Process is basically a cheat sheet for getting to the real value behind any project. It's perfect for PMs who: Want to work effectively with the BA on the team Don’t...
Hello Reader, There’s been so much noise about AI in the last couple of years, but lately the conversation has shifted. It’s not just about getting clever answers from chatbots anymore – it’s about AI agents. These aren’t just tools you query. They’re AI “teammates” that can learn your way of working, adapt to your project context, and collaborate with you to get things done. If you’re wondering what that looks like in the real world – and what it means for how we manage work – there’s a free...