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...

According to the PMBOK® Guide, communications is 75-90% of the work of a project manager.  However, it's important to note that it is not just about talking. The work of a project manager includes writing reports, giving presentations, engaging with stakeholders, conducting meetings,...

Studies have shown that roughly 56% of projects failing projects have poor communications as a factor. Whether you are presenting or just having a meeting, having strong communication skills is critical for project managers. Here are 5 essential practices to work on:

1. Develop and rehearse an...

There are four important tools a project manager can use to improve communications. These four critical tools are the elevator pitch, status report, project deck, and communication plan.  Let's take a detailed look at each of these one at a time.

Elevator Pitch: Your elevator pitch is a...

It's been said that project managers spend 90% of their time communicating.  This isn't just talking.  It's about communicating in many different forms, such as reports, presentations, meetings with groups and individuals, emails, social media posts, and more.

So to start, let's look at...

A question I sometimes need to field is “what are the top 5 critical communication skills a Project Manager must possess to be successful?”.  There are more than 5 skills that revolve around communications, so the choice is a difficult one.

Then the proverbial light bulb went...

Before the era of PowerPoint, presentations were given with flip charts. A vice president of a prominent fortune 100 company was providing a quarterly sales update presentation to the CEO, the senior executives, and the Board.  Unfortunately, this VP was simply reading the flip charts. ...

Julia couldn't be more frustrated! There were less than three months to finish the project, and yet everything was going wrong. And to top it all, the budget to complete the work was nearly exhausted.

Julia's problem boils down to ineffective project management. She may have failed to complete...

Project managers need to be able to calmly and professionally deliver bad news, when it happens, ranging from missed budgets and deadlines to team layoffs. Here are five tips for improving the delivery of bad news.

1. Don't surprise, delay, or hide it. Deliver the news promptly. Make an appointment...

When issues escalate into crises, these five leadership competencies are essential for project leaders to both weather the immediate storm and confidently move toward the future. It is difficult to recover when both being blamed for the crisis and taking the wrong management steps.

1. Build an...

Studies have shown that roughly 20% of projects fail due to poor communications. Whether you are discussing risk management or just having a meeting, having strong communication skills is critical for project managers. Here are 5 tips for improving those skills:

1. Know your audience. Do a thorough...

They say that 90% of project work is about communications in some form. Others have estimated that meetings can take up around 50% of project communications time. So, make a commitment to follow these five steps to take your meetings from good to GREAT:

Goals: Pre-plan the meeting and determine...