Posts Tagged ‘project management’

It’s a tale as old as time, or at least as old as Star Wars. I have “gone to the dark side” of project management platforms by dipping my toes in the Azure DevOps pool (spoiler alert, come on in! The water is fine). And while these two platforms can even be integrated with one […]

When you hear the word “constraints,” what creative images and stories does your mind conjure up? The word often leads people toward negative thoughts of confinement, limitations, obstacles, or not getting what you want. With this article, though, I want to talk about useful constraints and how they can encourage creativity and innovation. Common Views […]

The psychology of innovation is like any other area of life where our brains and emotions simply get in the way of our progress. We love to lie to ourselves. Even when we are aware of the pitfalls, they are unavoidable. Our brains are wired to fall into these traps. I recently wrote a blog […]

It was 2002 when I landed what I considered to be my first real professional job. I was hired by a small advertising agency as a graphic designer, though I mainly got the offer because I also knew how to build websites. At the time, I had not created any principles and would still often […]

We often hear the business analyst role described as a “Jack of all trades, master of none.” This is especially true in the consulting realm where this role spans all phases of a project from discovery to development to training and all the crevices in between. So when your project’s Scrum Master has to step […]

“We Should” is Said a Lot I’ve worked at a handful of companies throughout my career. If you split the years out, half of my time has been working within an agency and the other half has been in-house. The agency work has allowed me to see dozens of other companies as well. I’ve been […]

Welcome to Part 2 of my blog about preparing for the PMP exam! In case you missed it, here is a link to Part 1, focused on preparation. Part 2 is focused on the days leading up to the exam and the exam itself.  Test Center or At Home? I chose to take the exam […]

Create Template: Click the Solution Center icon (plus sign) in the left navigation. Then, on the top left of the screen, you’ll see the different options. ex. Create and Import options. Click on Create option, and there you’ll see the eight options that are Grid, Project, Cards, Task List, Form, Report, and Dashboard/Portal. Select the […]

I’ve been using the Eisenhower Quadrants of Productivity with my teams for many years now. You may also hear it called the “Eisenhower Decision Matrix” or the “Eisenhower Box”. It is a method that helps people understand the differences between “urgent” and “important” tasks. You can use it to create principles on how to best […]

Retrospectives, when run effectively, are an invaluable tool for an agile team. However, these meetings can get stale and tiring if you have one every ten days or if you’re on the same project for multiple years. Keeping your team engaged is key for gathering feedback that you can use to improve moving forward. Here […]

It’s always exciting to open a pack of Starburst and see a few pinks and reds in a row. Pinks and reds are so renowned they can be purchased in stand-alone bags! But what about the yellows? There have been statistical studies done to prove yellow ranks last among the classic flavors, which may cause […]

More and more with tech Project Managers, we’re seeing a multi-discipline approach to the role, ditching the “old ways” of project management in favor of agility and adding extra value to the team. One of these approaches is to be an analytical Project Manager, incorporating tactics from the typical Business Analyst role into day-to-day facilitation […]