Project Hero Blog - Weekly Best Practices and Tips

What is the difference between a project manager and a product manager? As far as jobs go, in some small organizations they may be fulfilled by one person.  In reality, however, they are two distinct roles.

A product manager is responsible for a product life cycle.  The product life cycle may go on for years as products gain new features, are sold in more variations, and are ultimately retired.  ...

While the global pandemic meant many started working remotely as early as 2019, the idea of remote teams is not new.  In fact, I've been working with remote teams since the 1970s and found these next 5 tips to be helpful:

Respect differences. The diversity of teams becomes more apparent in remote work situations and you need to respect them.  Whether the remote team is simply in a different time ...

I noticed that my most recent project management classes have had an unexpected number of women.  In fact, one class is 2/3 women and 1/3 men, which is exactly the opposite of what recent surveys have shown exists in most workplaces. It is good to see this diversity gap may be closing.

Last month, October, was Global Diversity Awareness Month, and last Thursday was International Project Managemen...

Are you an aspiring, new, or accidental project manager?  The tips in this blog are generally focused on you, however some are more important than others for those just starting out. These 5 tips are things that I learned early as a new project manager and hope they will benefit your careers as well!

• Get in GEAR - be an active listener:  Active listening is especially important for a new projec
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To be successful, project managers need many different and diverse skills, ranging from expertise in their industry to business, and of course, project management technical skills.  Someone recently asked my what major skills project managers need.

To respond to this question, I grouped the most important into three major categories.  Without developing these skills, it is unlikely a project mana...

Short answer?  Absolutely! Being a professional project manager can provide great job satisfaction and excellent compensation and be a stepping stone to something more.  Take it from someone who has been managing various projects in various roles for over 30 years.

Here are just a few of the features that make project management a great career:

High Demand: There has been a nearly perpetual shor...

Ethics is about doing the right things. When you have integrity, you will continue to do them, even when no one is watching.

What if your manager is forcing you to do something unethical?  The best advice is to stand your ground and find a new job (or manager) if necessary.

Projects can be full of ethical dilemmas – the hard choices we must make.  Ethical dilemmas occur when all choices lead to ...

The best project managers learn to say “no” without actually using the word “no.”  “No” has an air of finality and dis-empowers the team.  It is also a good idea to avoid phrases like “Yes, but …”  There are some better ways to express negativity.

Try some of these alternative phrases instead:

• Yes, and in exchange, I will need “x.” Will that work? (say yes and get something in return)
• I’m wor
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As a project manager, you need to manage your team by influence and motivate them to complete the project.  How can you do this?  First and foremost, get to know your team very well. Find out more about their interests and aspirations and use this information to make better assignments and seek rewards or promotional opportunities for those that exceed performance expectations.

In addition to tea...

Predictability helps organizations more effectively and efficiently manage people, cash, and other resources.  And predictable projects usually finish sooner than others as well.

I often hear talk about how unpredictable projects are because <insert any excuse here>. By following some good and best practices and continuously improving, you will find that over time, your projects become more predi...