Guerrilla Project Management

The Project Management Institute’s PMO of the Year Award honors a PMO that has demonstrated superior organizational project management abilities by adding value to its organization through its support of successful strategic initiatives. I had the pleasure to interview Sarina Arcari, VP of Business Solutions at Wellpoint, whose PMO has taken the top honor. The...

When you need to hire a project management consulting firm, knowing in advance exactly what services you are getting and how much they will cost you gives control and peace of mind. Innovative firms are thinking differently about how they charge for their consulting services and they are offering creative ways to package Project Management...

From tech entrepreneur to business owner, from accomplished academic to widely published writer, Vivek Wadhwa is an agent of innovation and disruption. His research, which has been supported by several grants from the Kauffman Foundation and by the Sloan Foundation, has been cited in thousands of national and international media outlets since 2007 and has...

Researching different software solutions and comparing them side-by-side on multiple criteria can be a daunting task. I came across a great website that makes it easier for project managers and their teams to research different solutions, compare apples-to-apples, and present finding in an easy to evaluate format. Diego Guadarrama, Senior Product Associate at FindTheBest.com, shows...

Naomi shares her insights on why assertiveness is vital for women project managers for delivering successful projects, getting what they want, and commanding respect. Handling high-stakes project situations without seeming either shy or pushy is a critical skill that every project manager must develop. I had the pleasure of talking to Naomi Caietti, a leadership...

If you believe the latest statistics, most projects that organizations undertake fail. Dr. Harvey Maylor challenges the prevailing wisdom on project success and failure and argues that while for most businesses some projects do fail, most at least substantially deliver. In this interview, he explains how most studies fail to consider the complex nature of...

Dan Pink shares the big ideas in his books A Whole New Mind, Drive, and To Sell is Human on the surprising truth about how to move and motivate others. Dan Pink has written three books that have changed the way I think about motivation and influence. First, in A Whole New Mind, Dan shifts...

Vicki James, Peter Taylor, and Ron Rosenhead share their insights on the secrets to effective project sponsorship from their new book “Strategies for Project Sponsorship” Research into the causes of project failure clearly shows there is a real problem around the Project Sponsor role.  The Project sponsor is critical to project success, yet it is...

Cornelius Fichtner has helped nearly 25,000 students prepare for the PMP exam with The Project Management PrepCast and offers one of the best PMP exam simulators on the market. He recently developed The Agile PrepCast – a study tool that helps those who plan to take the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner Certification exam. In this...

Jennifer McNulty and Rafa Ballesteros, two topnotch experts on localization, share their insights on how to manage localization projects. Localization is the process of modifying a product in order to adapt it to a specific cultural environment. Localization projects require managing teams spread across the world, which can include developers, testers, linguistics, legal, marketing, customer-support,...

Geoff Trickey, Managing Director of Psychological Consultancy Ltd, shares a framework for understanding Risk Personality Types and their impact on project decisions. Conventional risk management in projects has focused primarily on the nature of the risk itself and the methods to quantify and manage risks. The critical importance of the human nature of risk has...

Author Lina Echeverría shares leadership insights from her new book “Idea Agent”, based on her vast experience assembling and nurturing cutting-edge innovation teams at Corning Incorporated. How do you lead highly creative professionals on your project without stifling them? How do you strike the right balance between creative freedom and management rigor that leads teams...

Dr. Aaron Shenhar on how the next generation of project management will transform project management practitioners into strategic leaders focused on business results. Dr. Aaron Shenhar says that the Project Management profession is ready for the next generation in its evolution. Projects today are more complex, more uncertain, and faster changing than ever. Just meeting...

Ricardo Vargas, director of the Project Management Practice Group at the United Nations, on project management at the U.N and the challenges of development and sustainable social change projects. Ricardo Vargas is the director of the Project Management Practice Group at the United Nations (U.N). His work at the U.N is focused on improving the...

Author Dennis Perkins shares insights from his book “Into the Storm” on how Project Managers can sustain team success through the storms of adversity, uncertainty, and change. Known as the “Everest of ocean racing,” the Sydney to Hobart Race is a test of skill and endurance under the best of conditions. Competing in the 1998...

Doug Walton, PhD., shares insights on how Organizational Change Management helps Cisco chart a course for continuous change in the fast-paced, competitive, and global high tech industry. How does an organization maintain its market leadership when its processes, technologies, and entire business model are changing at all levels, constantly, and continuously? Drawing upon years of...

Astrophysicist, Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, shares insights on understanding and leading teams of highly creative professionals such as scientists, artists, and technology experts. Innovation today is becoming more technologically complex, multidisciplinary, and occurring at an increasingly fast pace. The quest for innovation requires project leaders to bring together teams of highly creative individuals with diverse...

Marc van der Heijden,  Vice President of Global IT at Adidas, shares his insights on how Adidas, the global leader in the sporting goods industry, manages its IT project portfolio. Marc van der Heijden, Vice President of Global IT at Adidas, shares his insights on the challenges that organizations like Adidas face in managing their...

New York Times bestselling author and renowned leadership consultant Chester Elton shares insights from his book “The Orange Revolution” on how to build high-performance teams. In his book “the Orange Revolution”, New York Times bestselling author and renowned leadership consultant Chester Elton, and his co-author Adrian Gostick, provide a groundbreaking research that reveals that true...

Vicki James, PMP, CBAP shares insights on how Project Managers can build stronger relationship with their business Analysts to more effectively leverage their talent and expertise for project success. Business Analysts play a critical role in the success of projects, especially in Information Technology. However, the stress of timelines and budget constraints coupled with a...

  Dr. Sian Beilock, one of the foremost experts on the brain science behind performance under stress, explains why highly skilled people fail to perform their best when the stakes are high and everything is riding on their next move, in other words, choke under pressure. This is an extremely relevant topic for us project...

Ann Herrmann-Nehdi shares insights about Herrmann’s Whole Brain® Thinking methodology, a model that enables project managers to better understand and leverage their preferred thinking styles. Ann Herrmann-Nehdi, CEO of world renowned Herrmann International, believes that projects often fail not because of lack of effective project management processes, tools, and techniques but rather because of the...

Award-winning and pioneering neuroscientist Dr. Richard J. Davidson shares insights from his latest book “The Emotional Life of Your Brain” about a new model for understanding emotional styles. Competing priorities, goals, and mandates can put tremendous pressure on the project team and can often trigger strong emotional responses. Award-winning and pioneering neuroscientist Dr. Richard J....

Margaret Meloni shares insights on why understanding and managing conflict is a critical skill for project managers and offers practical strategies for resolving conflict in projects. The work of leadership often requires that project managers confront people to deal with problems that they would rather ignore. This can often lead to difficult and emotional conversations....

Benoit Hardy-Vallee, Ph.D., PMP, shares his insights on the case for behavior-based project management and how we can apply its principles to deliver successful projects Benoit Hardy-Vallée says that projects often fail because organizations put more emphasis on rational factors than on employees’ psychological engagement — and the cost to organizations is enormous. Benoit suggests...

Kate Nelson on the importance of Change Readiness Assessment as an effective tool to pinpoint enablers and barriers to change and guide our change management work plan Kate Nelson believes that, just like a GPS, a Change Readiness Assessment can help the project manager and team define the starting point for a change initiative, chart...

Walter McFarland shares insights on the latest neuroscience research findings that inform how we lead organizational change Walter McFarland believes that the emerging field of neuroscience may be a source of new insight into the theory and practice of organizational change. As neuroscience research increases our knowledge of the brain, information relevant to organizational change...

Shawn Kent Hayashi shares insights from her book on the 12 fundamental conversations every project leader should master to be truly effective. Listen to the audio or download the full transcripts below. Whether we are trying to gain commitment from a team member, set expectations for a project stakeholder, or negotiate a contract with a...

Dr. Tobias Kiefer, Director of Global Learning and Development at Booz & Company, on how to create brain-friendly change programs that stick. What’s the latest research telling us about how the brain wants to learn and process change? When Dr. Tobias Kiefer, Director of Global Learning and Development at Booz & Company, needed to create...

Todd Williams says that as a project manager, your reputation, your job, your career, and your entire organization could be at risk if a major project fails. Todd should know – he is an internationally known leading authority, consultant, speaker, and educator on project auditing and recovery. In this interview, Todd shares the big ideas...

Dr. Srini Pillay shares insights from his book “Life Unlocked” on the neurobiology of fear and how leaders can understand and overcome it to unlock their full potential In his book Life Unlocked, Harvard Medical School Assistant Clinical Professor Dr. Srini Pillay draws from the latest brain research to show how the biggest roadblock to...

Bernardo Tirado, an Industrial Psychologist, shares insights on how Industrial Psychology helps project managers maximize team performance. Bernardo Tirado, an industrial psychologist and project management executive, helps project managers understand how Industrial Psychology can help them maximize team performance and develop a working knowledge of how to profile teams to obtain optimal productivity results. In...

Elizabeth Harrin shares insights on how social media can support and supplement existing project management techniques. There’s a change happening in project management: social media tools are finding their way from branding and marketing to talent management and to the hub of companies and project teams. Elizabeth Harrin says that Project management methodologies are being...

Kirk Weisler shares strategies, behaviors, and, most importantly, the mindset that should guide effective team building. Team building is the process of transforming a collection of individuals into a high performance team. My guest today says that team building is not a one time event. It is more than team exercises and icebreakers. Kirk Weisler,...

Doug Moran, author of the bestselling book “If You Will Lead”, offers practical ideas and guidance on what it takes to excel as a leader. LeadershipNow.com named Doug Moran’s latest book If You Will Lead: Enduring Wisdom for 21st-Century Leaders, as one of its “Best Leadership Books of 2011.”  In this book, Doug explores the...

Paulette Scheffer, Senior Director of IT Infrastructure & Service Management at Adobe Systems, on how her team Delivers new business value 12-week sprints. I am joined today by Paulette Scheffer, Senior Director of IT Infrastructure & Service Management, to talk about how her team at Adobe Systems delivers business value in 12-week sprints. Paula shares...

Dr. Victoria Grady shares insights about the Organizational Loss of Effectiveness Index: a quantitative Tool for measuring individual response to organizational change. I am joined today by Dr. Victoria Grady to talk about her Organizational Loss of Effectiveness Index, a quantitative Tool for measuring the individual response to organizational change. The LOE Index is used...

Dr. Joanne Cantor shares insights from her latest book Conquer CyberOverload: Get More Done, Boost Your Creativity, and Reduce Stress. Do we own our electronic gadgets or do they own us? Dr. Joanne Cantor challenges how we think about our relationship to our smartphones, ipods, ipads, and other digital devices. Although these are great tools,...

While it is now a common knowledge that meditation, even in small doses, can be an effective stress management technique, we project managers can find it challenging to incorporate it in our busy schedules. Simple Meditation for Busy People is an Audio Book in which Josephine Thomson introduces the concept of a simple meditation that...

Steve Bell shares insights from his latest book Lean IT: Enabling and Sustaining Your Lean Transformation on the application of Lean in IT and recommendations for organizations wishing to start their own Lean journey. As more organizations turn to Lean to drive operational efficiencies, they are increasingly demanding speed and agility from their IT departments....

Jeff Richardson on how understanding the latest brain research can help Project Managers build and lead high performance teams. Jeff Richardson, of Empowered Alliances, believes that every team has the capability to achieve extraordinary performance results but so few ever realize this potential. Jeff is doing his part to change this. Continuing this series on...

Author Mike Clayton talks about his new book Brilliant Project Leader: What the best project leaders know, do, and say to get results, every time. I recently read Mike Clayton’s new book Brilliant Project Leader: What the best project leaders know, do, and say to get results, every time. I found this book to be...

Dr. Jeffrey M. Schwartz, M.D. shares insights from his latest book “You Are Not Your Brain” on how to understand, identify, and free ourselves from deceptive brain messages. When we are faced with the constant stress of the day to day challenges of our projects, we can get overwhelmed and easily slip into self-doubt, indecision,...

We like to think that our decisions are based on logic and rational thinking but my guest today says that “everything we do is rooted in emotion”. Latest Neuroscience research is showing that our emotional brain plays a very important role in determining our thoughts and behaviors. It is also important that we understand how...

Leading major change initiatives means facing key challenges that range from securing senior management buy-in and sponsorship for change right through to overcoming resistance from the people on the frontline who are impacted most heavily by the change. In his book Successful Change, David shares his insights from the experiences that he and his colleagues...

Change is pain. Responses to change can range from frustration, anxiety, to fear and anywhere in between. Understanding how the brain responds to change and how to create the right conditions for a more productive response to change enables us to be more effective as project managers and change leaders. Continuing this series on leading...

Jonathan Jordan reveals the “7 Habits of Highly Effective Brains”, based on his recent presentation to the United States Senate staff. Joining me today is Jonathan Jordan who shares insights from his presentation on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective Brains that he gave to the United States Senate staff earlier this year. Jonathan says...

Donna Fitzgerald, Research VP with Gartner, shares insights from the Gartner 2011 PPM and IT Governance Summit.  I had the great pleasure to talk to one the thought leaders that I count on for advice on Program and Portfolio Management. Donna Fitzgerald, Research VP with Gartner, shares with us insights from her four presentations at...

A conversation with Cindy Margules, a Director of Project Management Office, on how to handle stubborn resistance to change.  Cindy Margules, Director of the Project Management Office at Convio, Inc, shares with us insights on how to overcome the challenges of leading change. Cindy discusses:   The key components in change management and how attitudes...

Matt Karlyn, a partner with the law firm of Foley & Lardner LLP and is a member of the firm’s Information Technology & Outsourcing Practice, shares his insights on writing vendor Statements of Work that keep IT projects on Track and protect them from vendors who don’t deliver. At the beginning of a project that...

Dr. David Rock on the neuroscience of leadership and the SCARF Model: a brain-based framework for increasing effectiveness in collaborating with and influencing others. Brought to you by: PMTeleseminars.com I have been following the work of Dr. David Rock for quite some time now. For many years, he has been exploring the field of neuroscience...