International Women's Day 2018 - Progress through Collaboration and Partnership

During this #IWD2018 and beyond, our business partnership with +Francesca Valli will #challengethenorm and #pressforprogress

Observations from IRM's IBCT Forum, London

March 2017 saw IRM UK hold Europe's only Innovation, Business Change and Technology Forum, or IBCT for short, in London. As this was the inaugural event, it was designed by practitioners for practitioners. Chaired by Chris Potts, the programme was structured so that each session consisted of a 30 minute presentation with short Q and A, followed by 45 minutes of interactive facilitated discussion. 

I had the opportunity to speak at the IBCT Forum 2017 on a topic entitled 'Putting the Business Centre Stage of Change and why that's important to Projects'. Chris Potts facilitated this session and the post-presentation discussion was extremely interactive. The energy in the room was high with everyone sharing ideas, challenges and thinking.

In this post I share what I experienced and key themes I observed repeatedly over the two days of the Forum.

Fa la la la laaaa

Season's Greetings From Deanne and the team at May 2017 bring continued business and project success

New eBook: How to be a Good Project Manager

Last month I published my response to Rogerio Manso's question 'What is your best advice to be a good project manager?' If you haven't read it yet you can do so by clicking here.

The question was prompted by TimeCamp's list of the Top 123 Influencers in the project management industry in 2016, and Rogerio's worked hard to consolidate the advice he received.

He's done a great job and this eBook is a collective of that advice from the 30 influencers who responded.

Published by the team at PMAGP, they say knowledge should not be proprietary. Knowledge should be shared to create more knowledge. I agree with them!

If you do too then download your copy today and continue sharing the knowledge.

Book Review: Leading in a Changing World

In September I attended the Global WIN Conference in Rome. One of the plenary speakers was Keith Coats. A South African, he's now based in London and is a founding partner of TomorrowToday Global, a strategic insights firm. His plenary talk was on-point for the challenges faced by leaders and business today. He focused on something he calls Adaptive Intelligence, making clear that this is a cultural challenge rather than a strategic one.

After listening to Keith, I bought the book he and his TomorrowToday Global partner Graeme Codrington have written together. What follows is my review of the 2015 Edition of their book Leading in a Changing World.

Business Change from IT Projects - Infographic

What Is Your Best Advice To Be A Good Project Manager?

Recently I received an email from Rogerio Manso. He's involved in IT project management and also teaches others on the topic. Rogerio's contacting other subject matter experts around the globe because he's putting together a collection of advice that he'll offer for free to his project management students and anyone seeking to learn from others. In order to do this, he's asked a question. It might seem a fairly straightforward question but when you sit down to think about it, there are many possible responses that make it challenging to fix on just one thing.

The question?

What is your best advice to be a good Project Manager?

What Moving 6 Cubic Meters of Gravel Can Teach Us About Change

We’re doing some landscaping. It’s not a huge amount but it’s enough. Landscaping = change and just like any change, it’s exciting and a little scary all at once. What if we’re being too ambitious? What if we don't know what to do? What if, in the end, it doesn’t meet our expectations?

Regardless, we made a start and had 6 cubic meters of gravel dumped in our driveway. Looking at that gravel and what we had planned got me thinking about how organisations approach change and why they’re often disappointed with the results.

Here then, are 4 lessons that came to mind as I helped shovel, barrow and spread that gravel around…

Musings on Arras People's Project Management Benchmark Report 2016

The Project Management Benchmark Report from Arras People is a must read for all Organisations and anyone directly or indirectly connected to projects. I've read the 2016 report a number of times and find it particularly interesting for 4 main reasons:

• It's the 11th annual report in this series so that plus the number of respondents is a solid base for year-on-year analysis, trends and drawing of conclusions.
• Certification statistics clearly don't support the amount of noise in the market about Agile.
• Regardless of the time and effort expended on methods, process, or training, projects continue to fail.
• 42% of hiring Organisations believe it's getting harder to find "appropriate" talent.

This last point really stuck out. Why can't they find the talent they need?

11 Things for Clarity, Pragmatism and just the right amount of Disruption

Do you know what's happening across the organisation and what it means for your area of the business? Or do you rely on your employees to do the right thing for the business as a whole?

These and a raft of other questions are frequently asked by Executives that are connected with what's going on both in their own business unit and wider organisation. Through clarity, pragmatism and just the right amount of disruption, these Executives are connected in a way that increases the level of business benefit they can achieve through their operational and project activities.

We've identified #11Things we believe only a connected Executive could know...

Having trouble reading this? Click here instead.

A New Year Sanity Check

2016 is underway and it'll be February before we know it. As per normal at this time of year, much is being written about resolutions; who's making them, why they fail, and whether or not we should even bother. Resolutions are great, if you like that kind of thing, and congrats to all those who do actually set, keep and achieve theirs.

Funny thing is resolutions seem to be the exclusive territory of individuals. While some people might set resolutions with a work related component, e.g.: better work / life balance, change jobs, finish a degree, I can honestly say I've not heard any from organisations or that relate to work-place behaviours or activities.

Perhaps this is a missed opportunity...

Merry Christmas

Season's Greetings and Warm Holiday Wishes

from Deanne and all the team at Unlike Before

Book Review: Program Management

There's an awful lot written about program and project management (PPM). Much of it about the function of providing central admin and tools to support the 'how to' of managing PPM, rather than an effective organisational system that delivers the strategy.

Program Management by Michel Thiry (Published by Gower Publishing Ltd, 2010) covers both and it's refreshingly coherent.

Assess for Success

If success means tangible business value then projects must deliver something that actually fits what the business needs. Yet over time these two can and do get out of synch.  By stepping away from the mechanics of a project we can assess and decide if it’s really worth continuing.

Project Delivery - 5 Areas Ripe for Regular Detox

In the lead up to Christmas we’re all a little like headless chickens. We push and rush to close out or tidy up loose ends before everyone disappears on their well-deserved breaks and to give us piece of mind. Why do we do this mad rushing about? And, why is it not limited to the festive season? Perhaps it’s habit. Perhaps we’re reflecting those around us. Perhaps we think it’s the right thing to do. Still, just because it’s something we’ve always done doesn’t mean it’s something we should keep doing. The start of a new year is as good a time as any to change and after many years of seeing the same thing, here are the top five areas I believe are ripe for a regular detox now and throughout the year.

Season's Greetings 2014

As 2014 comes to a close this is the perfect time to thank you for your continued support throughout the year. Season’s Greetings and Warm Holiday Wishes from Deanne and the team at Unlike Before Website Email UK +44 7817 500 593 Whitepaper Resources IT +39 3664 537 897 Copyright Unlike Before Ltd 2014 all rights reserved

Project Management Around the World – A Kiwi’s View from Europe

This post is part of the #PMFlashBlog initiative originally kick started by Shim Marom and taken forward into round two by Mark Phillipy, The Sensible PM. The twist this time is that readers will be taken on a 7 week journey as people involved in projects around the globe blog about project management where they live. 

This topic posed a challenge for a number of reasons... 

#PMFlashBlog Take Two!

Get ready for 7 weeks of FlashBlogging on ‘Project Management Around the World’

The first #PMFlashBlog led by Shim Marom was such a huge global success Mark Phillipy has organised a sequel with a twist. Each Monday for 7 weeks PMFlashBloggers around the world will release their posts about ‘Project Management Around the World’. Those in North America will publish in unison on 3 March followed by Europe on the 10^th, Australia and New Zealand on the 17^th and so on.

This rolling schedule means we can highlight where we are in the world and the influence that has on how we practice, promote and deliver project management. Each week there’s further opportunity to connect with and listen to the bloggers as they share their thoughts and experiences on the Google+ PMHangout expertly hosted by Mark.

With 50+ project management bloggers already involved there’ll be loads of information and some eye-openers about ‘Project Management Around the World’.

My #PMFlashBlog post will be out 10 March so why not subscribe to my feed, follow me on Twitter, and add the #PMFlashBlog tag to your twitter stream now.

Don’t miss #PMFlashBlog Take Two!

Practical Project Governance - 4 Traps to Avoid

Governance of projects and initiatives can be a mixed bag. Many see it as a necessary evil; another process and set of meetings that clogs calendars, adds cost, and delays progress. Yet those who understand good governance know it’s an essential part of delivering business value to an organisation. 

Some will be nodding their heads in agreement but it’s what they do next that matters. If all they do is talk and point out others failings, they’re not making any contribution towards improvement. Without action these questions will remain unanswered - Why is governance so time consuming? Why don’t our initiatives line up with our strategy? Where’s all the money going? Why are we really doing this? When will we realise business value from all this investment?

An organisations culture has a large part to do with this cycle of frustration and making changes takes time and and serious commitment. There are however some areas that with a little effort can deliver big benefits. So if you are interested in steps along the road towards good governance, here are 4 traps worth avoiding:

Festive Greeting's from Unlike Before

The festive season is a time of thanks and giving. Once again we thank you for your support in 2013 by giving to Kiva through loans that change lives. From Armenia to Kenya, Paraguay to Peru, Iraq to Ecuador our contributions help those striving to create opportunity and better lives for themselves and their families. We wish you a very Merry Christmas, happy holiday and a fulfilling and prosperous 2014. Website Email UK +44 7817 500 593 IT +39 3664 537 897