Posts Tagged ‘project management’

The Road to Managing Corporate Innovation I started out at an ad agency in southern Indiana in 2002. Our clients were interested in technology and our agency helped them find their way. At the same time, I was building the web development and digital strategy team within the agency. We began doing things intentionally with […]

I like to look at projects as if they are puzzles. All the pieces are established, but as a project manager, you must figure out the most appropriate and logical sequence to complete the bigger picture. An Iteration Plan is a helpful tool that can help to organize and visualize the sequence of work. In […]

 Time management is a crucial part of success as a project manager. When your role requires you to wear many hats, as project management does, it’s important to be deliberate with you how spend your time. Often it can take months (or years) of experimentation to develop the perfect time management system for your work […]

Most are familiar with the Five Ws for information gathering: Who, What, When, Where, and Why – adding in How for good measure (making it the Six Ws). Fewer are aware of the Five Whys which is a simplistic method of root cause analysis (RCA). This article explains the Five Whys, also known as a […]

Software delivery projects are most often organized into “Sprints” of work where the team is executing in what can feel like a never-ending loop of plan, execute, demo, repeat. This non-stop, fast-paced cycle leaves little breathing room for reflecting on or implementing unplanned improvements or technical debt which the team is bound to accumulate through […]

Goal Setting Options Abound There are many ways that businesses set goals, choose priorities, and ensure that their teams are rowing in the same direction. You’ve probably created SMART goals, been asked to use OKRs, watched KPIs, laid out Vision Boards, or updated Kanban Boards. These are all great tools to help keep team alignment. […]

Imagine you’re running a marathon – you’ve trained hard, your pace is great, and you’re feeling good. Finally, after many miles, you spot the finish line. Is that when you pump the brakes and lose focus? Of course not! You’d keep pushing through to the very end – you’ve come this far, you’re way too […]

Have you ever said, “We should do this,” …and then you don’t? That is a lack of intentionality. Being Intentional Comes Easy to Some, Hard for Others The differences in people are beautiful – life would be boring otherwise. If you’ve read results from a personality test, you know each personality has its benefits (things […]

So, you’re not the creative type? I have good news! In 4 Harmful Innovation Myths, I explain that creativity isn’t what most people think it is. In this post, I’ll show you how to use simple lateral thinking tools to break your mental block and get fresh ideas flowing again. Intentionality can force important things […]

In 1987, Mary Lippitt released a change management model that beautifully illustrated five key areas for organizational change. In 2000, Tommy Knoster extended Lippitt’s concept and included a sixth area of importance: consensus. It is now referred to as the Lippitt-Knoster Model for Managing Complex Change.

As a project manager (PM), one of my top concerns in engaging on a new project is understanding the scope of work. Next, what are the skills needed to support and deliver the scope of work at hand? Many considerations go into this discovery, but one of the very first resources I prefer to have […]

Creating a culture of innovation is a fragile effort. It needs to be nurtured and encouraged. If your work culture doesn’t allow for creativity, your organization’s big ideas might pop like a broken lightbulb!