Category: Project Management
Do your project controls miss the pivotal moments?
Have you considered the possibility your project controls miss pivotal moments? Ask a project leader what they find most demanding in project delivery and they’re likely to tell you it’s the people rather than technical issues. The authors of Gorilla in the Cockpit, Vip Vyas & Thomas Zweifel, put numbers on it people, capability, and…
Read More →
The secret ingredient for power skills – a pinch of neuroscience
Why describe neuroscience as the secret for power skills? Some figures make you sit up, others stop you in your tracks. At a current investment of $20 trillion per year on major projects, we are ‘flushing $13 trillion down the drain. Practitioners find people problems more challenging to resolve than technical problems – by a…
Read More →Neuroscience for Project Success: why people behave as they do
Neuroscience for Project Success: why people behave as they do, the latest book from Carole Osterweil and the Association for Project Management is available to order here. Imagine understanding how the brain works. What if you knew what drives emotions, behaviours and decision making – in you and others? If all actions were informed by…
Read More →
When High Performance Turns Toxic
We asked about building high performance project teams and found a recurring theme of brutal cultures and mental health issues Whilst this CEO was interested in leadership on major projects, (big budget infrastructure, engineering and IT projects for example), we see a similar pattern in many sectors. The lessons are universal. They apply outside…
Read More →
Stop speaking about human factors in project management
Speaking about ‘the human factor’ and ‘the human element’ in projects is no longer helpful. The term is far too amorphous. It’s been a useful fig leaf and it’s coming off in the wash. I’m not blaming anyone. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Stop for a moment. Can you imagine asking an engineer to…
Read More →
Ways to encourage positive thinking in your team
Ways to encourage positive thinking in your team. As we grapple with the fallout from the corona virus pandemic one question comes up again and again ‘How can I encourage positive thinking in my team when everyone is so stretched?’ There are no easy answers. Plenty of people have written about learning to manage…
Read More →Neuroscience for Better Projects – advice for IT professionals
Neuroscience for better projects. Carole Osterweil writing in ITNow offers this advice to IT professionals. Take time to understand how the human brain works and you can enjoy higher productivity and better project outcomes with less complexity and less stress. How does neuroscience lead to better projects? Harnessing the power to deliver …
Read More →
It’s a Stressful Time – Here’s What You Can Do For You and Your Team
It’s a stressful time – here’s what you can do for you and your team. Carole Osterweil speaks with Andy Kaufman in episode 291 of the People and Projects Podcast Carole and Andy explore how leaders and project managers can draw on ideas from Project Delivery, Uncertainty and Neuroscience to walk through the fog…
Read More →Change Requests – Your Response to them Matters
Change requests – handle one badly and you can trigger a stress cycle that adds layers of complexity to project delivery. Stakeholders changing their minds can be exasperating – especially when you think you’ve finally tied everything down! Everyone in the project profession recognises the risk of scope creep. Far fewer recognise that their…
Read More →Project Leadership in Uncertain Environments
Project Leadership in Uncertain Environments – Carole Osterweil, is interviewed by Elizabeth Harin FAPM a professional project manager and the award-winning blogger behind a Girl’s Guide to Project Management. Topics covered range from Project Leadership in Uncertain Environments to Carole’s motivation in writing Project Delivery, Uncertainty and Neuroscience Elizabeth sets the scene…
Read More →