CATEGORY | Weaknesses

Writing Skills For Project Managers - These 6 Are Essential For Success
Project Management

Writing Skills For Project Managers: These 6 Are Essential For Success

When one imagines a Project Manager, they may picture a person meeting with team mates, reviewing reports or giving presentations. While Project Managers do all of these things, there’s one task that nearly every P.M. spends quite a bit of time on, especially these days: writing. Whether it be writing letters or responding to endless emails, a significant portion of a Project Managers’ performance is underpinned by their ability to write. For many Project Managers (myself included), it takes years of time and experience to finely hone their writing skills. While the best way to get better at writing is to simply spend time doing it, there are many easy ways to improve writing abilities too; many of them are more about what not to do than anything else! Let’s talk about 6 essential writing skills for Project Managers that I’ve picked up over the years. Note that some of these tips aren’t necessarily about writing per se, but rather the intent and strategy behind why you should sometimes write a certain way. Let’s go!

CONTINUE READING»
5 Things I Wish I Knew As A Young Project Manager
Project Management

5 Things I Wish I Knew As A Young Project Manager

In the world of project management, some things can only be learned through experience. Despite my best efforts in my early years, I made plenty of mistakes managing projects. There’ve been times when I’ve felt confident in my strategy, only to walk right into an issue thereafter. “What was I thinking?”, I say to myself. “How did I not see that coming?”. I can also think back to times where I didn’t necessarily make a mistake, but would approach certain situations in a completely different way nowadays. It happens to all of us: every project manager makes mistakes, learns through experience and evolves over time. With that in mind, this article is meant to convey a few overarching lessons I’ve learned over time so young project managers out there can learn what I’ve learned the hard way. Here are five things I wish I knew as a young project manager.

CONTINUE READING»
How Project Managers Waste Their Time - Avoid Doing These 13 Things
Project Management

How Project Managers Waste Their Time: Avoid Doing These 13 Things!

Time is money, they say, but it’s not entirely true. While I understand the intent behind this expression, there is a gaping hole in the theory. Time is worth MUCH more than money for the majority of us. Time is the only resource we can’t buy any more of. We all get the same amount of hours in each day, but none of us can ever get time back. The positive response to all of this? Make the best use of your time as you possibly can! This goes for work and personal life alike. As far as work is concerned, let’s talk about how Project Managers waste their time. If you’re looking to make the most of your time at work, avoid doing these 13 things!

CONTINUE READING»
10 Email Sins At Work To Avoid At All Costs! Do These Sound Familiar?
Project Manager Soft Skills

Email Etiquette In The Workplace: 10 Email Sins To Avoid At All Costs!

Emails are thoroughly engrained in the work culture of our modern society. On average, Americans spend several hours of their day on work-related email activities! That’s an incredible amount of time when you consider that email barely existed at work 25 years ago. Make no mistake – email is incredibly useful. The rate at which information is exchanged is unreal. With this great power comes great responsibility, though. Many people wield the power of email with reckless abandon, wreaking havoc in its’ path. In all seriousness, we’re talking about 10 email sins at work to avoid at all costs! Do any of these sound familiar?

CONTINUE READING»
How To Not Be Annoying At Work - A Few Things To Keep In Mind
Workplace Experiences

How To Not Be Annoying At Work: A Few Things To Keep In Mind

The hustle, the deadlines, the frustrations…work is difficult enough as it is. When we add an annoying coworker to the mix, though, our work lives can become too much to bear. Nobody likes an annoying coworker, and they have the ability to bring down the entire operation if left to their own devices. Let’s not be hypocrites – judgement of others is easy, but introspection is not. If we expect peace and serenity while working, we must also make sure that we don’t become that annoying coworker ourselves! In this article, we’re talking about how to not be annoying at work, along with a few tips to keep in mind.

CONTINUE READING»
Project Management

Project Management Humor: Four Of My Own Personal Work Stories

Sometimes we just need to laugh. We’ve been producing a lot of longer-form content lately that’s either technical or instructional in nature. While project management is both of these things most of the time, there’s plenty of chaos mixed in for good measure. From this chaos emerges some pretty funny stuff, even if it doesn’t seem too funny at the time. This article will be focused on project management humor, as seen through four of my own personal work stories. While these are pretty silly, there’s definitely a few nuggets in each story of what not to do in the future! Enjoy.

CONTINUE READING»
Common Weaknesses Of Project Managers
Project Management

Common Weaknesses Of Project Managers: Overcoming My 6 Main Flaws

Are Project Managers born, or made? Most likely, it’s a combination of both. Whether our specific discipline is in Engineering, Software Development, Architecture, Construction Management, Business Management or none of the above, we decided to pursue our fields in part because of our natural passion and inclination for the craft. In this way at a minimum, Project Managers can be born. In the vast majority of cases, though, people within these fields need to get several years of experience on the job before being promoted to ‘Project Manager‘. These several years include valuable work experience, training and continual development. In

CONTINUE READING»
How To Not Get Bullied At Work: 10 Essential Tactics
Workplace Experiences

How To Not Get Bullied At Work: 10 Essential Tactics

Are you getting bullied at work? Do you feel like people take advantage of your good nature or friendliness? Do you find yourself doing extra work or being treated differently than your coworkers? You may be experiencing a form of workplace bullying. Luckily, there are tactics you can start using today to stop being bullied at work, and prevent workplace bullying in the future! Let’s dive in.

CONTINUE READING»