Project Management Archives - Page 6 of 11 - Project Management Academy

Project and Strategy Alignment Are Good For Business

Project and Strategy Alignment is Good Business

Megan Bell / February 10, 2021

One of the most important questions a project manager can ask, regardless of the methodology practiced or size of the business is: “What is the business reason for this work?”. And if the answer is, “because the CEO (or any high-ranking leader) said so,” the project manager most likely is facing endless challenges trying to […]

Lead With Influence

Megan Bell / January 27, 2021

Those with Project Manager responsibilities in their work may be responsible for hundreds of thousands of dollars of company budget, be overseeing the work efforts of dozens of people or multiple teams yet have no formal authority within the organization. This is one of the challenges of project management, that you cannot depend on your

Professional Development, Project Management

Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers

Megan Bell / January 13, 2021

Critical skills are those that apply across industries, across roles, and in any size organization; emotional intelligence (“EQ”) is a critical skill. Project Management, a skill that fits within any industry, most roles, and any size organization, has wide professional applications. As such, emotional intelligence as a skill has great significance for any Project Manager

Project Management

Speaking Project Management for Non-Project Managers

Megan Bell / January 6, 2021

What all professionals need, those with formal Project Management (PM) titles and those without, is a keen understanding of what makes a business function and how that business fits into the relevant industry. That understanding is known as “business acumen.” Consider this scenario:

Project Management, Training and Development

Creating Future Leaders: Psychological Safety

Kiron Bondale / December 30, 2020

A study by HBR.org has indirectly found that companies with high levels of Psychological Safety have more successful leaders in the pipeline, suggesting to some experts a causal relationship between these two phenomena and leaving us wondering when we will see this change enacted on all levels within organizations as it is an important factor

Project Management

Leading Virtual Stand Up Meetings

Megan Bell / December 16, 2020

The Daily Stand-Up or Stand-Up is baked into Agile, with the team gathering every day for a focused review of tasks. The daily team meeting is by no means limited to those formally practicing an Agile methodology, project teams across industries hold them. A time to connect with each other, to refocus on the immediate

Project Management

How Are You Planning for Psychological Safety Within Your Team?

Kiron Bondale / December 9, 2020

I’ve delivered a number of presentations this year on the importance of building psychological safety within project teams and the role which project managers play. During these presentations I’m frequently asked the question “How do I go about creating it?“. While there are existing models such as Timothy R. Clark’s progressive four stage model, a

Project Management

Project Manager in a Matrix World

Megan Bell / December 2, 2020

How a business is structured can impact efficiencies, and Project Managers need a deep understanding of the organizational structure to successfully realize the best project outcomes. A common model is the “matrixed” organization, in which employees have both departmental and functional managers. In a matrixed organizational structure, an employee has a primary manager plus one

Agile, Project Management

It Is Harder to Sell Stakeholders When Times Get Tough!

Kiron Bondale / November 25, 2020

While there are many cases where we might have to use our powers of influence and persuasion to sell stakeholders on supporting what we feel is the right thing, I thought I’d share three specific examples which might be a much harder sell than usual.

Professional Development, Project Management

Project Manager for 2021: Manager and Leader

Megan Bell / November 18, 2020

Regardless of your company or industry, 2020 changed lives and careers. For Project Managers, the challenges of guiding a team through work processes are now heavily impacted by changes in team member’s personal environment in addition to changes in the business. To navigate 2021, Project Managers must balance management and leadership skills, and know when