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!).
The ideation technique every project team should know
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Hello Reader, Stuck for ideas? Try this technique for generating a lot of ideas, in a structured way. Lotus Blossom brainstorming works whether you are planning requirements, risk responses, solutions to a problem, and in the video below you can see me work through an example where a team needs to plan out their project communications strategy. A Lotus Blossom template works well for project management because it forces you to expand an idea systematically instead of stopping at the obvious. You start with one central concept, generate eight related themes, then expand each of those into another eight ideas. Have you used this before? Let me know! And if you haven't, it's really easy so no special facilitation skills required -- give it a go! Have a great week! best, Elizabeth P.S. Got 5 minutes? I'd love your thoughts on this please! (I'll tell you more next week.) The template in the video is available to the PM Rebels community, along with lots of other downloads, templates and slide decks. |
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, Project communication can look perfectly healthy on the surface. The status reports go out. Meetings happen. Stakeholders get updates. The comms plan exists somewhere. But are people actually getting the information they need, at the right time, in a way that helps them understand, decide and act? I’ve created a Project Communications Health Check to help you find out, and I've tested it on one of my projects! Which made me realise I should write down that comms plan that's in...
Hello Reader, Do you ever find yourself stuck between a rock and hard place, unable to decide what the best course of action is? I have. Whether it’s what desk to put in our new conservatory space, or who to invite to meetings, or managing to order everyone else’s food and then getting so overwhelmed with having made decisions all day for all the people that I couldn’t choose anything for myself. I left the café with nothing for me and ended up with a couple of slices of peanut butter toast...
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...