Dear Elizabeth: There are people in my team who don’t pull their weight. They don’t deliver what they say they will, and they don’t seem committed to the goals of the project. I need them to step up and do what’s required, but I can’t seem to make that happen. Instead, rather than let them...
Ask a PM: Where to Start after Taking a Career Break
Dear Elizabeth: I start a new job in a week after a couple of years away from work on a career break. From what I know, I am entering a complex project with multiple stakeholders. They are active in leading the work, so at least I don’t have to worry about not having support for...
Five Actions for Inspiring Your Project Team
Every project manager will need to inspire a project team at some point in their career. The reasons may range from having an over-challenging project to being appointed to recover a failing project. Or, the reasons may be less daunting, and things are just business as usual. Whatever the circumstances, as a project manager you’ll...
Why Finding a Mentor Is Hard (and What to Do about It)
Mentoring is known to have positive effects on career paths, both for new entrants to a role and for more experienced personnel. In a study by Gartner, over 5 years at Sun Microsystems, the results were startling. The analysis showed that 25 percent of people in the mentoring scheme had a salary grade change, compared...
Want Great Work from Your Project Team? Get Happy
We’ve often been taught that happiness is the result of success, but what if it’s actually the other way around? That’s what one researcher in the field of positive psychology, Shawn Achor, has set out to prove. In his book, The Happiness Advantage, he examines how the brain functions better when a person is feeling...
PMI Report: The Impact of Disruptive Technologies on Project Management
We dive into the latest report from the Project Management Institute: Next Practices: Maximizing the Benefits of Disruptive Technologies on Projects....
Cloverleaf + LiquidPlanner Webinar: The Power of People
Learn what makes a successful team, along with tools and techniques to improve team performance, from Cloverleaf CEO Darrin Murriner....
How I (Sort of) Stopped Being A Micromanager
How do you get over being a micromanager? The first step is admitting you have a problem, says Maggie Penn. She outlines her three steps to becoming (less) of a micromanager at work....
We Learn More From Failure Than Success: Lessons from the Kobayashi Maru
In the Star Trek universe, the Kobayashi Maru is a test created by Starfleet that is designed to be unwinnable, thereby teaching the cadets important leadership lessons in the face of certain failure....
The Real Impact of Emotional Intelligence in Project Management
In the right hands, emotional intelligence is key to moving a project from idea to completion. But, is there a dark side to possessing emotional smarts? Reporter Alison Coleman explores the role of EQ in the PM world....
Signs You’re a Micromanager (and What to Do About It)
Help! I think I’m a micromanager. My team is frustrated and demoralized, and I think I’m the cause. We’re a busy software team and we juggle multiple projects. How do I get past this?...
5 Governance Steps for Distributed Project Team Management
When it comes to governance for distributed teams, keep it simple. The more complex anything is with distributed teams, the greater the likelihood that it will fail. Christian Knutson shares his best practices for implementing good governance on projects with distributed teams....