People and Projects Podcast: Project Management Podcast

I can easily recall the days before I became a manager . I started my career as a software developer, which by nature of how software gets created, usually meant work being done in teams. When my team leader or manager would mess up in some way, I would occasionally think, when I finally get to lead a team, I'm going to do things differently! How hard can this be? Then I became a manager! It was t...

It's so easy to get into a rut . Whether it's on a personal basis, a project team, or even an organization, it's easy to keep doing things the way we've always done them. Actually, the brain kind of likes it when we go on auto-pilot . This allows the brain to focus on the more important matters before us, like the stare your boss is giving you when you're trying to reply to a message on your Black...

I'm in Las Vegas this week, speaking to leaders from hundreds of companies from around the world. Las Vegas is certainly an intriguing place on many levels. It's an economy that thrives on tourism and in order to keep those tourists happy and coming back, organizations out here need reliable, skilled, engaged workers. The truth is, the need for engaged, motivated employees isn't just a Las Vegas i...

What comes to mind when you think of empathy? Do you think of someone who is highly sensitive and compassionate--maybe even too much? Or does that description sound more like sympathy, where empathy isn't quite as emotional? Empathy remains a hot topic in leadership . It's difficult to lead people without some measure of empathy in your approach. Yet I've observed from plenty of executive coaching...

So when it comes right down to it... what can you do to better ensure that you successfully deliver the projects you're managing? It's a question I love working with our clients on, and it's a question that is directly addressed in Clint Padgett's book The Project Success Method: A Proven Approach for Achieving Superior Project Performance in as Little as 5 Days . I had the opportunity to talk wit...

It's one thing to know there's a model for influencing without authority. But how do we implement that model, as leaders and project managers? That's what we tackle in this second part of my interview with Dr. Allan Cohen, author of Influence Without Authority . {loadposition content_amazonInfluenceWithoutAuthority} I recommend you check out the accompanying website for Dr. Cohen's book , which yo...

One of my leadership heroes is Ken Blanchard, who is on record of saying, " The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. " I wholeheartedly agree with Ken , that developing your influence skills is critical to success in today's business environment, especially when a growing number of project managers and other leaders have an increasing amount of responsibility but not nec...

In our last episode I started an interview with Dr. Ed Schein, Sloan Fellows Professor of Management Emeritus at MIT and author of fourteen business books, including The Corporate Culture Survival Guide . Make sure to listen to that episode if you happened to miss it. {loadposition content_amazonHelping} In this second part of the interview, we turn our attention to Ed's seminal yet highly practic...

It happens regularly... my phone rings, I pick it up, and on the other end I'm talking with someone who's inquiring about bringing us in to deliver a keynote for a company event or training for their organization.{loadposition content_amazonCorpCulture} My first response is not whether I'm available on the dates they're looking for . My first questions are designed to help me understand the proble...

Here's the situation... you're responsible for delivering a project . Your boss comes in today and announces that senior management has decided that you must deliver your project 4 weeks earlier than originally planned. You know that the project is already carrying a lot of risk, and cutting 4 more weeks seems completely unrealistic, at least from your perspective. Yet it also appears, from your p...

Download the episode I got a call this morning from a former coaching client. Two years ago when I was working with Jerry he expressed interest in writing a book, which I enthusiastically encouraged he pursue. Two years later hes made significant progress and now had questions about the publishing process. In roughly 20 minutes I happily downloaded lessons that were learned since I published my fi...

Download the episode As you start this new year, let me ask you a personal question: How satisfied are you with your financial situation? Though it doesn't seem like a question for a podcast on leadership and project management, here's what I've found: there are seemingly endless resources available on the internet to learn more about managing your finances. Yet I find that many of my coaching cli...

Accountability . It's an easy word to say, but when it comes to practicing it, whether on a personal level or across an organization, it's often not practiced (or practiced well). A recurring theme I hear from project managers and leaders is that their organization struggles with accountability. John G. Miller is my "go to" person when it comes to the topic of personal accountability . John's book...

Download the episode Happy New Year! Thank you for joining us for this special New Year's episode of The People and Projects Podcast ! Quick note: You can now receive notices of new podcast episodes via e-mail , allowing you to listen to them more conveniently and in a timely manner. Sign up here! How many times have you set a new years resolution only to have it hit head-on into the wall of reali...

I have the real privilege of helping organizations around the world improve their ability to deliver projects and lead teams. In 2008 we added a PMP Exam Prep offering to our mix to help project managers who want to get their Project Management Professional certification from the Project Management Institute. I have to say this while I can because it's only a matter of time before I won't be able...

I have the real privilege of helping organizations around the world improve their ability to deliver projects and lead teams. In 2008 we added a PMP Exam Prep offering to our mix to help project managers who want to get their Project Management Professional certification from the Project Management Institute. I have to say this while I can because it's only a matter of time before I won't be able...

My middle son Zachary celebrates his 13th birthday later this month. Just this last week I was talking to a friend of his about the upcoming milestone. This friend, who is a couple years younger than Z, remarked, "Man, it seems like we just celebrated his birthday! Has another year gone by so quickly?" Ever get that feeling, especially as we get close to the end of another year? How did this year...

Download the episode Thanksgiving is, indeed, one of my favorite holidays . Though celebrated this week in the States, many other countries have a similar holiday with essentially the same purpose: give us a chance to reflect on what we're thankful for. The People and Projects Podcast is all about helping you to deliver projects and lead teams. So, it's worth asking: how important is being thankfu...

Ralph Heath is the author of Celebrating Failure: The Power of Taking Risks, Making Mistakes and Thinking Big . Just the name of the book made me want to interview Ralph! How often do you hear Celebrate and Failure in the same sentence? When things go wrong--even in a big way--what's a leader to do? Can we really celebrate failure without creating a culture of complacence? Could the way we react--...

Download the episode I hear it all the time when people describe themselves in a work setting: "I'm a good problem-solver!" Are you a good problem-solver? I'm guessing you would say "Yes!" Well, guess what? According to Michael Roberto, author of Know What You Don't Know , maybe we're all focusing on the wrong thing. According to Michael, it's not about becoming better problem-solvers . We need to...

Download the episode Hello! Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast . I'm over in Europe this week facilitating a project management workshop for a great international company. Though I'm thousands of miles from home in a culture and language that is notably different from my own, I find a couple things remain the same: if you want to deliver projects and lead...

Download the episode Chances are as a leader you'll be faced with having to give someone constructive feedback this week. Yet have you noticed how people often aren't quite as open to the feedback as you'd like them to be? Chris Hogan, who talks about a process called Courageous Conversations , says the key when you're receiving feedback is to avoid blaming, complaining, and explaining . That's co...

Being an effective leader of people and projects can often come down to having a good nose... Being able to sense that something just doesn't smell quite right! Learning to develop your ability to "sniff out problems" or "spot the tells"--those indications there are issues needing attention--is a key leadership skill developed through years of experience. It's also a theme of Susan Scott's new boo...

Download the episode You've heard the terms Generation X and Generation Y . There are plenty of stereotypes associated with each term. Yet when you're responsible for leading a team that spans generations, it's easy to struggle with challenges that vary from attention spans to how to best motivate and recognize accomplishment. Or maybe you are working for a younger boss . He or she is the age of o...

Download the episode Think about the last really big project you were involved with.... How would you describe how it went? Smooth? Flawless? Exactly as planned? That's not what I usually hear from customers and colleagues! Rather, I'm more apt to hear responses such as "Challenged", "Stressed", or "Lots of changes!" We continue to learn so much about how to run projects and yet new projects--ofte...