Impactful Project Management Blog

Hi there,   Boards and Exec teams make decisions based on Return on Investment, now you can too! Over the last few weeks, we’ve built prioritisation step by step.   We started with the “Crawl” version:A single ordered list. No equals.   Then the “Walk” version:Adding estimates and matching what we are promising to do with real team capacity.   Then the “Run” version:Introducing business value so every item can justify its place.   Now we get to the “Fly” version. The Fly vers

Hi there,   Over the last two weeks, we’ve built prioritisation step by step.   First, the “Crawl” version: Create a single ordered list. No equals.   Then the “Walk” version:Add estimates and compare them with the time and effort your team actually has.   Now we come to the “Run” version. This is where prioritisation becomes a real decision-making tool rather than just a planning exercise.   The Run version adds one simple but crucial question to every item on your list:   W

Hi there,   Last week, we looked at the “Crawl” version of prioritisation:Just make a single, ordered list. No equals. Most important at the top.   That alone is powerful.   But once you’ve done that, the next step is the “Walk” version. And this is where things start to feel like a real project plan rather than just a to-do list. The Walk version is simple: Keep your prioritised list. Estimate how long each item will take. Compare that with the time and effort your team actu

Hi there, Many people and teams are clear on what’s in scope and what’s out of scope—but most stop there. They never talk about what’s most important versus what’s less important. The result is what I call a “Bucket of Must”: everything is “equally” important because everything is a “must-have”. True prioritisation—focusing on the most valuable and easiest outcomes—is crucial to your career (and project) success. A client recently asked me to help them introduce prioritisatio

Hi there, Many people end up managing their first projects in an area where they are the  Subject Matter Expert . You know the area.  You understand the process.  You’ve been working in the role for a while. So when a project comes along, it makes sense that you are asked to take a lead on it. You are now an SME Project Manager. You’re doing two things at once. You’re responsible for: doing the project work, and managing the project. Dangerous! Project management and doing th

One of the most common questions I hear from new project managers is: “I know we need to start this project… but how do I actually figure out what my team should do?” The classic advice is often, “Write a Project Initiation Document” or “Create a plan”. But if you start with a blank document or a blank Gantt chart, your brain freezes, the team talks in circles, and you end up making it up at 7pm on a Tuesday night. There’s a better place to begin. When you’re starting a proje

One finishes calm and in control. The other ends up on 2 AM calls, arguing with stakeholders, exhausted, just about holding it all together. The difference isn’t talent or resources. It’s how they work, the environment they operate in, and how they shape it. John operates in a high-pressure “Just F*****g Do It” environment. He keeps everything in his head. He pushes harder, demands late nights from his team because that’s what his stakeholders demand from him. He builds “sla

“Busy” is one of the most common answers you hear when you ask teams how things are going. Teams are busy. In fact, many teams are too busy. But here’s the real problem: they’re not always busy doing the right things. Over the summer, while working with clients, I started thinking about how to address this pattern. Again and again, the issue wasn’t effort or capability. It was where time and attention were actually going. That led me to a simple way of categorising work into

Hi there, Mid-term break is here. I’ve had a couple of half-days this week and generally the pressure is off for me as people don’t tend to plan training for mid-term. Some of that time is with the kids, but yesterday I went for a walk and I remembered a great contact that I haven’t thought about in a while who can help me with a problem I have. Taking a moment away from meetings, calls, and general busyness is important. It leaves time for something most of us rarely do: dee

Hi there, I see it all the time: managers not being fully honest with their stakeholders about the real status of their projects. The reasons vary — but none of them are good, and it’s rare that they are in bad faith. Project status is often categorised as: Red = Bad – We need to make decisions and re-plan (more money, more time, or less scope). Amber = At Risk – We need help from governance to get back on track (decisions, resources, support). Green = Good – Everything is

Hi there,When I ask people to estimate a simple task on my training course, I get a huge range of answers. Some people think laying a concrete slab will take 2 hours, others think it will take 50. Who is right? The answer is (of course!) it depends! Without a good understanding of the task itself, the capabilities of the team, the constraints of the organisation and the tools that are available, either person could be right (and in fact, they are both wrong). When we spend 10

I often get asked how Impactful Project Management stacks up to the other PM certifications out there. Of course, I’m biased because I...

Last week's Ireland Chapter of PMI National Project Awards brought to light not only the brilliance of projects and teams but also the...

In today's fast-paced world, effective communication is the key to success. Whether you're a senior executive or a team player, honing...

Unlock the art of prioritization by Baloo in The Jungle Book. Discover how to focus on high-value, low-effort tasks for optimal productivity

In today's fast-paced work environment, it's crucial to make the most of every meeting. However, finding the right meeting agenda that...

This technique allows you to acknowledge and address these ideas while keeping the meeting focused.

Time blocking is a popular productivity technique that involves breaking your day down into chunks of time, and assigning specific tasks.

If you're a project manager dealing with a boss who has unreasonable expectations, you're not alone. Here's how to solve that problem.

😶 #silentwriting is an extremely powerful way of getting lots of ideas from everyone in the room very quickly. I've used this technique...