So you’ve kicked off your project, and things are well underway. You followed all the best practices; you did everything you learned in the project management manuals. Everyone knows their roles, responsibilities, and how they’re expected to interact with one another. There’s just one small problem.
Someone on your project team has a habit of [...]
Read more and share your opinion →Requirements. It’s a word familiar to project managers everywhere. It should also be a word familiar to producers.
A good corporate video hits the viewer on an emotional level…but it’s very important the emotions the video plucks are those the sponsor wants to reach. Have a watch of [...]
Read more and share your opinion →Dear Mr. Harper:
I’m not your number one fan. Okay, I’m not really a fan at all. Okay, let’s dispense with the niceties…I think you’re an ass.
However, I must acknowledge that your office is faced with difficult decisions. Decisions like, where to hold the G20 summit, for example.
One possibility would be to select [...]
Read more and share your opinion →
The project manager needs to be able to look into the future. It’s an incredibly valuable skill to look beyond a seemingly small, inconsequential decision, through the chain reaction of events that decision will trigger, to the results.
But the project manager can’t stop there. Whatever the PM sees, it’s imperative he or she be able to effectively communicate that vision to the project team. If they can’t or don’t, there will be nothing to stem the tide of events, and the consequences will come to pass. It’s unfortunate, but only the person with sight is in a position to take action.
Read more and share your opinion →
The poor Terrier really means well. Always searching, they are full of purpose. And when they recognize a problem, they will latch on to it tooth and nail, dissecting it and re-dissecting it until you wouldn’t think there was another way you could possibly look at it. The trouble with Terriers is, they have a lot of trouble letting go. Even bigger trouble for Terriers is, while they’re fixated, they can’t see anything else that’s going on.
Read more and share your opinion →
Premature Solutioners make others crazy. It’s not just the clients who suffer. Everyone on the project team who has done any work on a solution that is inappropriate has to claw everything back and try to build a new solution based on whatever Frankenstein parts are left. The work has already been paid for, and now must be paid again. It doesn’t matter what type of contract exists… somebody, somewhere is paying for the rework.
Read more and share your opinion →
Welcome to part four of my series on destructive project management behaviours. Since this series began, I’ve tried to effectively cover project managers who can’t delegate properly (Sacks), project managers with extremely limited attention spans (Magpies), and project managers who can’t make decisions (Deer).
Using the “Destruct-O-Meter” scale, I’ve rated each one with a subjective scale that I think represents the amount of damage these behaviours do to a project under the control of the perpetrator.
Read more and share your opinion →Today I want to talk a little bit about communication.
I came across a piece in the news recently that gave me pause enough to want to check multiple sources. Mine is not a political blog, so I will refrain from injecting my own opinions. However, I thought this would be a fabulous opportunity [...]
Read more and share your opinion →
I'm Geoff Crane. After 22 years in the trenches of a lot of tough projects, I decided to change direction a little bit and focus on sparking ideas in the vibrant field of project management.
If you're a project manager, or even if you're one voice in the project choir, you are in a position to be truly remarkable. Without exaggerating, you have within you the capacity to change the world, just because of who and where you are!
How do you access that part of yourself? Please get my free project leadership advice and free ebook "Nine Destructive Behaviours" and join my rapidly growing community!
