Blog

The job of a project manager can be described in many ways. One of those ways is “problem solver,” as we are constantly solving problems on multiple levels. In the course of monitoring the progress of our projects, we solve problems to keep them moving. In the course of developing...

Do you encounter naysayers who resist the idea of taking time to develop a plan before starting a project?

One challenge is that often resistance to planning isn’t direct. It tends to come in the form of people just trying to get project work started, either ignoring our requests as project...

Recently, a project manager on my team and I both received phone calls from an upset team member.

We both run our projects in such a way that minimizes how often this type of interaction happens, but even the best project manager can’t prevent all conflict or all situations that might make...

Ah, deadlines.

In one sense, a great project manager rises above deadlines and keeps everyone focused on what meets project goals under current circumstances, even if that means original deadlines shift or fall by the wayside.

But in another sense, project schedules DO matter, and meeting a...

A lot of project management is getting other people to make decisions.

As project managers, some decisions lie with us, especially when it comes to choosing the right tools to use to move a project forward. The decisions that lie with the project manager can vary depending on how this role is...

This blog was inspired by this post on Reddit, and is an expansion on the comment I wrote in response.

How clearly do you understand the status of each of your projects?

The real status—not just the status your software is telling you.

There are plenty of robust project management...

This blog was inspired by this post on Reddit, and is an expansion on the comment I wrote in response.

So you’re a project manager. Do you also think of yourself as an educator?

In my nearly 8 years as a project manager, I’ve had mounting experiences that show me I will be a more...

I was talking to a peer mentor the other day, and she was giving me some great food for thought on simple ways to add data to project reports. As I complimented her approaches, she told me that out of all the parts of her job, manipulating project data comes easily to her—but project team...

I was chatting with an email subscriber the other day, and he was telling me that when he’s assigned a project, it’s on him as the project leader to convince other company employees to complete the tasks his project needs done on top of their regular work. Nobody is directly expected...

Does your role as a project manager require regular communication with clients or vendors? Or are you newly finding yourself working with professionals external to your organization? 

I worked directly with outside clients for the first year and a half of my career, and with many types of...