Time Limit

“If there's an accountability problem in an organization, there's also an internal relationship problem between the people working together in that organization.” You’ve heard it 1,000 times: Team accountability makes projects run smoother. It’s true, it does. But why? Accountability is a personal issue. We are accountable to others, and it’s up to us and only us as individuals to hold ourselves accountable. To others. To our organizations. To our work. To ourselves. There’s a lot more to it, and this interview with accountability and leadership expert, author, and speaker Sam Silverstein covers a lot of ground. It may even make you rethink the way you think and talk about accountability.  What is accountability? The values that define an organizational culture How leaders can be accountable, and help people be accountable Team accountability and what it takes to get there Inspiring greatness in others   Resources mentioned in this episode: No More Excuses and

“Design Operations is tactical, it’s strategic design thinking, it's project management, but it's really this lens on combining business and design thinking to one role.” A new role has been emerging in the tech and product space, and it’s one that looks a whole lot like project or program management but focuses on design. It’s called Design Operations, and it’s picking up a lot of steam, so you may have seen it rolled out in your organization or others. We wanted to dig in on the topic to explore what is design operations, what does someone in design operations do, and how does design operation help projects and teams? That’s a lot of questions! Thankfully, Philip Rowe, a UX Program Manager at Google, joined us on the show to explain it all. With a experience working as a project manager and a UX designer, Philip is perfectly positioned to discuss the topic. He and Brett cover a lot of ground in the interview, including: What is design operations? How design operati

“The answer to When should you create a plan? is Always.” There will be times in your career as a project manager when your team or stakeholders want to forego a plan in favor of “just getting work done.” It happens all the time. Some times it works, but let's face it: most times it doesn’t. That's why you always need a plan. In this episode of Time Limit, founder and CEO of project management consultancy 120VC and author of The Irreverent Guide to Project Management, J. Scott, joins the show to talk about planning and estimating, and following a solid method presented in the book for delivering projects on time and under budget every time. If you ever find yourself defending the need for a plan, this episode is for you. If you think you don’t need a plan, this episode is also for you. The conversation covers: How to blend processes successfully The necessity for solid project management training materials When to create a project plan The values of planning in both t

“The nice thing about people being away from you is that you cannot micromanage them. That actually frees you up as a manager to go and do the stuff you need to do.”   There’s no doubt that where you work will impact how you work. In an age where remote work has become more and more popular, you’ve probably explored how you can manage projects and people from afar. In this episode of Time Limit, management consultant and author Johanna Rothman joins us to talk all about remote work. The conversation ranges from theoretical to tactical, and offers a ton of takeaways on: How to categorize your work environment, whether you’re in the same building as your team or not The benefits of managing distributed teams The importance of team and project facilitation The value of distributed teams in an Agile environment How to get team buy-in when you’re distributed The value of team-based learning The best ways to communicate as a remote or distributed team How to collaborate wit

How are you feeling today? If you’re a busy project manager, there’s a really good chance that you’re feeling stress--or you have recently. And as the end of the year approaches, the pressure to wrap things up, deliver on year-end goals, and make everyone happy are probably building up. But you can’t let that stress get to you, because that leads to burnout. That’s why we brought Lynn Winter on the show to talk about how you can deal with burnout--and how you can help others to do the same. No matter the time of year, you’ll want to check this episode, which covers: How to define burnout--figure out you are burn out and how you can look inside and fix it Are PMs more prone to stress? Valuing the project management role Signs of burnout at work Things that we can do in order to beat burnout Facts about how employees deal with stress and burnout How to set boundaries

“PMs have a tendency of being lone wolves and I think going out into the community to understand what other challenges people are facing is a really great way to level set about where you are in the context of the field itself.” It’s true: project management isn’t an easy job. And, depending on where you work, you can end up feeling like you’re on an island. So where do you turn when you need to vent, learn different perspectives, and grow your professional network? In this episode of Time Limit, Brett talks about project management community with the organizers of an Austin, TX-based digital project management meetup. In the conversation, they discuss: The value of community for project managers Events and topics that resonate for project managers Meetups and larger events that PMs find useful Advice for starting your own meetup in your city How to make time for community, and yourself Resources discussed in this episode: Kickass PM Meetup Project Management Institute Ev

"You manage tasks but you lead people." As a project manager, you lead projects and teams. Or do you manage them? What is the difference, actually? And will knowing the difference help you to be a better project manager? In this episode, Brett speaks with internationally recognized project leadership coach, trainer and consultant Susanne Madsen. Their conversation focuses in on a topic that many PMs and managers tend to focus in on: How to be a great leader. They also discuss Susanne's book The Power of Project Leadership, which is now in its second edition and is up for a PMI award, and the themes within, including: Leadership vs. management The path to leadership The mistakes project managers make: Encouraging leadership Finding time to level-up Resources discussed in this episode: The Power of Project Leadership Susanne Madsen's website

“What you have to do (when presenting design) is find out what stakeholders already care about, and frame what you want to convince them of within that context.” Managing a design project often means managing people and their opinions. You need to lead those sometimes disparate opinions to a final decision and move on in order to keep your project on track. It can be tough, but UX expert Paul Boag has some helpful, proactive approaches to help your design projects run smoothly. In this wide-ranging conversation, Brett and Paul zero in on tactics to manage design projects, but they also talk discuss: The difference between PM and DPM The basis for how digital projects operate How to conduct project discoveries The PM's role in digital projects, and how they extend their roles Getting to know stakeholders Managing parts if the design process Managing stakeholder feedback Resources mentioned: Paul Boag’s Digital PM Master Class Why I can’t convince executives to invest in UX (and neith

“Focus some attention on your people and knowing those people, and understanding what their core strengths are because those are their drivers. Those are the things that really motivate them to show up and get stuff done.” If you lead projects, you’ve likely had battles with motivation in project management—whether it’s to find motivation to complete your own work, or to mobilize an entire team to meet a goal successfully. You may have won a battle here and there, but sometimes it can feel like the topic of motivation can become an all-out war. But by instilling some basic values and using some helpful tools to help you figure out what motivates people, you can win that war before it even starts. On this episode, Brett interviews Ruth Pearce, who is an accomplished project manager and coach, and the author of Be a Project Motivator: Unlock the Secrets of Strengths-Based Project Management. In conversation, they cover: Strengths-based project management The strengths that PMs pos

“Very basically a PMO normally stands for a project management office. And they're there to basically help organizations get better at delivering the projects that they have.” If you’ve ever wondered what a PMO is, that quote from this episode of Time Limit is your answer. But take heed, because there’s a lot of complexity to PMOs. That’s why we invited PMO expert and Director of PMO Learning, Lindsay Scott, to join us to fill us in on: The benefits of a PMO and why you might need a PMO The types of PMOs that exist When to set up a PMO PMO roles and responsibilities The career path to get from PM to PMO Typical PMO structures Education and certifications for PMO Resources mentioned in this episode: PMO Learning PMO Flashmob The Art & Science of Leading Projects TeamGantt’s Live Classes

"Trying to implement things from a framework, you've got to have expectations that you will need to adapt things, try things out." Sometimes your process is rock solid and it just works. Other times, you find room for improvement. Whether you’re adapting formalized practices like Scrum or Waterfall, or crafting your own process based on what you know what works (or what doesn’t work) for you, your team, stakeholders, and project. But there will always be challenges and things to consider. In this episode, consultant digital delivery lead Suze Haworth shares her thoughts on crafting process, including: What leads teams to transform process What adapting Agile means What embracing Agile practices means to project management role The challenges you might encounter when adapting process Practical tactics to help you employ a new process

“Ironically, a lot of these planning meetings are about planning a very well directed project, but often not a lot of time or preparation goes into planning for the meetings.” If you’re a Time Limit listener, you’re likely stretched for time. And that means everything can feel rushed. But if there’s anything you can learn from this episode, it’s that taking the time to plan your work and your meetings will save you time--and anxiety--in the long-run of your projects. In this episode, we interviewed Rich Maltzman and Jim Stewart, co-authors of the new book How To Facilitate Productive Prioject Planning Meetings.  In this focused conversation with two very experienced project managers and educators, a vriety of topics around managing meetings is covered: Common barriers PMs face when creating plans The need for empathy, and its new inclusion in the PMBOK Helpful meeting facilitation tactics How to handle meeting “goblins” Tips to facilitate remote meetings H

Creating estimates and plans can be tough, especially if you don’t have the time to do them well. But, if you’re working on a team, you should leverage them. In this episode of Time Limit, Brett interviews best selling author, international speaker and CEO of Priceless Planning, Dr. Sidjae Price, about ways to get to well-rounded estimates and plans with teams. But it’s more than that. In fact, this conversation covers: Dealing with generational gaps while managing projects Taking human factors and cultural norms into consideration when estimating and planning Tips on creating a solid planning process Handling change Resources mentioned in this episode: Priceless Planning The Art & Science of Leading Projects

“The more you think about how things look to other people and how might they see the world, the better you're going to work together as a team.” There’s a lot that goes into making a team work well together. Of course there are those magical instances where you get a group of talented people together and it just works. But more often than not, you have to take a measured approach to make the magic happen. In this episode, Brett interviews Neil Vass, an agile delivery manager for Co-op Digital, about the complexities of leading teams. The conversation is productive and full of tactics and resources, and covers: Practices for staffing teams How to identify a teams’ strengths and weaknesses How to get teams aligned around organizational and project goals Ways to motivate team members, even when you are not a line manager Exercises to help with team building Low-effort, high-impact practices to help you keep the team feeling positive and productive Links and resources mentioned in this e

Whether you’re a seasoned PMP or a brand new project leader with no formal training, you’ve likely thought about ways to level up your skillset to make you a better PM and your career. But where do you go to learn? Sure, TeamGantt is a great starting point for classes, resources, and templates, but there’s more. In this episode, Brett talked to PM trainer Rachel Gertz about PM education, and a few related topics: Focusing on the right things as a PM, not just your plans or process How to continue to learn and grow as an experienced PM The value of certifications Where project management is headed Managing risk, and not trying to control everything The advantages of being in command of facts, which allows you to be relaxed The conversation went in a few different directions, but always came back to the value of being open and ready to learn. Resources mentioned in this interview include: The Digital PM Summit Deliver Conference Interactive Project Management: Pixels, People, and Process by

It seems like the natural project management career would lead to people management. But why? Managing projects is a far cry from managing people. And doing both at the same time? That sounds like madness. But people do it every day. In fact, this week’s guest is one of those people. Tera Simon works at Globant where she leads projects and project managers, among other things. In this episode of Time Limit, Tera and Brett discuss: Why people want to be managers The challenges of managing people Resources for new managers What it’s like to manage project managers Resources mentioned in this episode: LeAP training: https://www.sarclearningcentral.ca/programs/LEAP

”This is a part of our work lives, quite frankly. What I like Putting a label on is that it helps you to understand a framework and how you can navigate through it.” You’ve been there: leadership doesn’t tell you things, rumors happen, ...Social politics are a part of our work lives, whether we like it or not. And did you know that there’s a positive aspect to them as well? In this episode, Brett talks to trainer, facilitator, and project manager Crystal Richards all about navigating the sometimes rough waters of social politics at work, including: How to detect good vs. bad social politics How to observe and navigate social politics as a new team member How to untangle messes created by social politics Ways to build relationships at work Using social politics to do good

If you think running projects can be difficult, you should try running a business! On this episode of Time Limit, Shawn Van Dyke digs in to the many highs and lows of running a construction business. It’s a wide-ranging conversation that touches on a lot of points that will resonate for you, no matter your industry or whether you’re a business owner or a project leader. Topics discussed include: Challenges you might face on projects, particularly in construction Changing the way you act, work, and think when running a business How to use the Paperwork Punch List: 28 Days to Streamline Your Construction Business Achieving work-life integration Finding the time to keep up with project work and administrative work

Ever wonder what it would be like to go out on your own? Imagine that: the free wheelin’ life of a freelance project manager. In this episode of Time Limit, you’ll get an insider’s take on what it’s like to run your own freelance project management business. This week’s guest, Patrice Embry, shares her path into her successful freelance career, as well as several other topics, including: How to quickly adapt to new teams as a freelancer How to motivate team members and make them accountable for their work when you have zero responsibility over them Challenges to look out for if you’re taking a freelance gig or hiring a freelance PM How to stay current How to keep yourself organized with several projects and clients

It’s a fact: many project managers fell into their roles. Some more quickly than others, but the fact is: there are qualities that make a great PM and even better managers. In this episode, Sam Barnes, engineering manager at Marks and Spencer, shares his own winding path into PM and talks about where his experience led him. It’s a personal tale with unexpected twists and turns--one that you may relate to whether you’re an accidental PM, trained PM, or part-time PM. Along with his story, Sam also shares: Qualities to embrace in your career as a PM Growing out of PM, and what other areas you might explore How PM skills are transferable to other roles Advice for carving out your own career path