Project Hero Blog - Weekly Best Practices and Tips

Deadlines: A Double-Edged Sword

Every project manager has missed one or more deadlines. Despite meticulous plans, Gantt charts, and milestone check-ins, the project somehow slips behind schedule. According to multiple industry surveys, more than half of all projects finish late. It’s a systemic problem rooted in how we think, plan, and execute our activities.

Deadlines are meant to keep us focus...

Your time is your most valuable resource—and often your most misused one. Between back-to-back meetings, endless email threads, and stakeholders popping in with “just a quick question,” it can feel like you spend more time reacting than leading.

Time-blocking is a simple but powerful productivity technique that can help project managers take control of their time, focus intensely on high-priority...

The success or failure of initiatives often hinges not on strategy or tools but on the teams executing them. While many teams struggle with missed deadlines, unclear roles, and communication breakdowns, others operate in sync, delivering high-impact results with consistency and cohesion.

What separates these high-performing teams isn't just talent or luck. It's a deliberate combination of leaders...

Delegation is one of the most powerful tools available to a project manager. Yet, many managers struggle with it, often feeling like they need to do everything themselves to ensure quality and efficiency. While this instinct is understandable, failing to delegate can lead to burnout, bottlenecks, and an underdeveloped team. Effective delegation frees time for higher-level strategic tasks, strength...

Imagine arriving at work on a Monday morning, only to find that your key software engineer, who designed more than 60% of your project’s system, didn’t show up. After some digging, you learn he was arrested over the weekend for eight-year tax evasion. As the week progresses, you hold onto hope that he’ll make bail and return, allowing your project to continue.

He does make bail, but after a week ...

Effective meeting management is crucial for the success of any project. Meetings are where critical decisions are made, progress is reviewed, and new ideas are generated. However, meetings can quickly become unproductive and frustrating for participants without proper management. Time is wasted, goals are unclear, and discussions can go off track, leaving team members disengaged and demotivated.

In project management, resource efficiency is a critical factor in determining project success. Efficient allocation and utilization of resources can significantly impact project timelines, budgets, and overall outcomes. Effective project scheduling is at the heart of achieving resource efficiency, which involves the systematic allocation of resources to tasks and activities throughout a project.

While not new (I’ve been working on and leading remote teams since the 1970s!), virtual project management has become increasingly prevalent in today's remote work era, where more teams collaborate from different locations using digital tools and communication platforms. This shift to remote work has introduced new challenges for project managers, requiring them to effectively adapt their strategi...

Project scheduling is a critical aspect of project management, serving as the roadmap that guides the execution of tasks, allocation of resources, and achievement of project objectives. However, despite its importance, scheduling is often filled with challenges and pitfalls that can derail even the most well-planned projects. Today, let’s explore some common scheduling pitfalls encountered in proj...

Creativity is not just about generating new ideas; it's about approaching challenges with fresh perspectives and finding inventive solutions. In project management, where constraints and limitations are typical, creativity becomes essential for overcoming obstacles and delivering value to stakeholders. By embracing delivering creative solutions, project managers embrace innovation, which can unloc...