A team lead and a manager are different jobs, even though plenty of org charts blur the two. In a typical org structure, the team lead sits in the frontline layer, working inside the team and usually without hiring, firing,…
Developing a team is a tentative, complicated process, but building a virtual team is even more tricky. More often than not, management is suddenly called to put a team together that can work remotely. They are asked to change everything…
Team management is a tricky balance between motivation, control, and support. But when you add dispersion to the mix, things get a lot more complicated. Managing virtual teams that rarely meet in person and can span across the globe is…
As with most things, your efforts will be scrambled when you work without intention. Without direction, you can easily get stuck moving in circles. Team management is no different. When handled without direction, intention, goals, and care, a team transforms…
Every single day, we communicate. Unless you are out on the fringes of society, you exchange some kind of a message with someone every day of your life. Even for those on the edge, you’ve probably scared off a bird…
Agile project management has a weird reputation. Some see it as a “magic” solution that suddenly makes all their problems disappear. Some see it as the work of satan that can’t be trusted and will lead to the immediate demise…
Risk management in a project protects one job’s scope, schedule, and budget until closeout. Risk management in business protects the whole company over the long haul, and owners feel the gap when a project risk turns into a business problem…
Effective stakeholder management has no one face. For each project, a handful of stakeholder groups have all kinds of requirements at all times. You’ll have those with high levels of power and interest who want to know everything. You’ll have…
Managing stakeholder commitments means getting the people who said yes at kickoff to still act like it when budget or schedule pressure shows up. Most of that work happens early. A commitment nobody revisits slides back into bare compliance, and…
There is nothing that will make your project function better than accountability. Read that again because it’s true. Without it, you risk everything falling apart. In some settings, it can seem like a rare feature. Everyone is just worried about…