The PPM Newsletter

How do you track the progress of your project? We often set ourselves up for unrealistic metrics to track and reports to create. At the start of the project, when you have plenty of time, you often overcommit to what you can actually do. Too often, project reporting is overcomplicated and inconsistent.

Starting a project can be a really overwhelming time as a project manager. So many conversations, planning meetings, how do you approach it, how do you understand what's needed? The list goes on.

Always feel like you don’t have enough time whether that’s to deliver what’s needed for your project or just to do your role as a Project Manager? I used to feel like I was always fighting against time. I’d often work later to try and catch up, but those “things” I was chasing just kept appearing and never seemed to reduce.

Even when a project hits the deadlines or is on budget, it can still leave you and the team asking, was it worth it? That’s because a good plan isn’t about tracking every task. It’s about creating something that guides your team, adapts when things change, and keeps everyone focused on value and ideally enjoying the work they do!

A Microsoft study found that the average worker spends 250% more time in meetings each week than they did before the pandemic. Wow!

A recent PMI study found that 93% of project professionals see stakeholder management and engagement as critical when projects hit scope, schedule or budget issues, in other words, the skill you need most when things get bumpy. Plus, this is a common theme when I speak to PMs who attend any of my training.

A 2018 study found that when people decide which tasks to work on, they consistently prioritise urgent tasks over important tasks, even when the urgent task offers much less of a reward. Why do you think this is?

A 2018 study found that when people decide which tasks to work on, they consistently prioritise urgent tasks over important tasks, even when the urgent task offers much less of a reward.Why do you think this is?

A study by the Project Management Institute (PMI) study indicates that ineffective communication is a primary contributor to project failure, cited in 56% of failed projects.Ouch, 56%, because of ineffective communication.

When not properly managed, scope creep leads to an average 20–35% increase in project costs.You need to treat scope creep like you would out-of-scope because, if not managed correctly, it can significantly impact on your time, budget, and the happiness of your team.

50% of employees admit to not speaking up in meetings because they feel their input won’t be valued. Can you imagine what that means when it comes to lost knowledge or help shared?

Did you know, 60–80% of project managers report changing stakeholder expectations as one of their top three challenges. You're not alone. If I'm honest, I don't think I've ever worked with a PM who hasn't had challenges and problems related to stakeholder management. I know I've had many over the years.

Project plans are fundamental to running a project, but what do you do if your clients aren’t reviewing them? In this month’s Project Management Tip, I’ll share an approach to creating more client-friendly project plans, which I call visual plans. 1 minute, 40 seconds reading time. Are email notifications regularly distracting you, the badge count increasing, and spending far too long in your inbox? In this month’s Productivity Tip, I’ll take you through an approach to batch up time to manage and review emails so you can get more time back to focus on what matters. 1 minute, 50 seconds reading time.

How can you have fewer problems on your projects? In this month's Project Management Tip, I’ll share an approach for how you prevent many of your project problems before they happen, improve team relationships, and put you in a leadership position as Project Manager. 2 minutes, 48 seconds reading time. Too often, we work on low-level tasks that don't push us or move us closer to where we want to be. In this month's Productivity Tip, I'll tell you about a simple tool called The Power List to help you work on what matters most and win the day. 1 minute, 38 seconds reading time.

Meeting agendas, if you have them at work, often follow the same format, are formal and are usually created without much thought. The result is that they get ignored, and your participants don’t come prepared, meaning you’re less likely to get the results needed. In this month's Project Management Tip, I’ll share an approach to making your agendas more impactful. 2 minutes, 25 seconds reading time. Throughout the day, we continuously make micro decisions. If we could catch ourselves, we could make a different decision, whether at work, our health, fitness, or relationships. In this month's Productivity Tip, I'll take you through a simple approach to catch yourself in those moments so you can make more of the right decisions that better serve you. 1 minute, 14 seconds reading time.

Sometimes, standing out as a Project Manager or any role can be challenging if you’re part of a big company. In this month's Project Management Tip, I’ll share a simple approach to help you stand out from your peers and improve your team and client relationships. 45 seconds reading time. Our days are filled with distractions, and quite often, we don't even realise we're distracted as we work on a task and, at the same time, wonder why it's taking so long. In this month's Productivity Tip, I'll explain the power of timers and suggestions on which tools to use. 1 minute, 8 seconds reading time.

Creating a project team charter can help align remote, hybrid, or office-based teams and foster a supportive and collaborative environment. Check out this month’s Project Management Tip for more information. 1 minute, 27 seconds reading time. Goal setting doesn’t have to be a big yearly thing, like around New Year’s. This month’s Productivity Tip introduces the 1-4-1 goal-setting approach, which provides direction for each month, week, and day, so you can always focus on high-value work. 1 minute 9 seconds reading time.

Retrospectives are a powerful tool to improve performance, team morale and the overall quality of your project or product. Unfortunately, they either don’t happen often enough or, in some cases, not at all. In this Project Management tip, I’ll share an alternative way to gather feedback without needing an entire team meeting. 2 minutes, 8 seconds reading time. We all have tasks we don’t want to do every day, and we’ll often put them off to the detriment of our performance. In this edition’s Productivity tip, I’ll share a simple trick to help you reprogram these habits so you can make them positive and do them repeatedly without fail. 1 minute 30 seconds reading time.

Meeting management is a constant struggle as a PM, whether that's ensuring the team's availability, delivering value, or managing too many meetings. In this Project Management tip, I'll share a new approach to meeting scheduling to free up more working time for you and your team. 1 minute, 32 seconds reading time. How often do you put the small things off or even the tougher tasks? In this edition's Productivity tip, I'll share a simple trick to help you make the right decisions at the right time and improve your self-discipline. 1 minute 33 seconds reading time.

Do you want to simplify your daily routine and boost your productivity? In this Project Management tip, I will outline two methods for using a checklist to achieve these goals. Following these tips can streamline your tasks and enhance your performance. 2 minutes, 11 seconds reading time. Multi-tasking may seem efficient, but to get more done, you have to stop. In this edition's Productivity tip, I'll tell why Multitasking is a myth and how to get into a flow state to get more done. 2 minutes reading time.

Being proactive is highly valued by clients, colleagues, and managers, yet finding the time and headspace to be proactive is often a challenge. In this edition’s Project Management tip, I'll tell you how to implement the “share before they care” approach, which is high on value and low on effort. 1 minute, 3 seconds reading time. This edition’s Productivity tip is called the rule of 3 and is a simple but effective way to keep you focused on what’s important to move you closer to the goals and outcomes you want to achieve. 1 minute reading time.

Often, problems can be overwhelming; a frustrated client wants a problem fixed immediately, and not only do they want it resolved, but what they’re asking for isn’t possible or at least not in the time you have. This edition's Project Management tip is how to turn a problem into a solution and, at the same time, keep your client happy. 2 minutes, 23 seconds reading time. Switching off from work can be difficult, especially if you’re working remotely and don’t have the commute to wind down, so this edition’s Productivity tip is a great approach to help you separate work from home so you can enjoy your evenings and get better sleep. 1 minute, 30 seconds reading time.

Managing your inbox is time-consuming, non-productive, and stressful. Day after day, trying to reduce your emails is a battle we can never win. This edition's Project Management tip is how to receive fewer emails. 1 minute, 54 seconds reading time. Then is there anything more distracting or likely to make you procrastinate than your mobile phone? It's certainly in the top 5, so this edition's Productivity tip is five ways to cut your mobile phone use to give you more focus at work. 2 minutes, 39 seconds reading time.

Don’t you hate getting last-minute requests at the end of the day? I know I do. It’s especially frustrating if it then causes you to work late, as quite often if the sender just asked you earlier you could have helped. This edition's Project Management tip is how to avoid those last-minute requests at the end of the day. 1 minute, 40 seconds reading time. Then do you need help to improve how you perform day after day? This editions Productivity tip, is how you can plan to have your perfect day. 4 mins 30 seconds reading time.

This edition's productivity tip is how to be more focused at work with five tips that you can implement straight away. 3 mins 32 seconds reading time. This edition's Project Management tip is how to get a project status update from your team in minutes. 2 mins 14 seconds reading time.

This edition's productivity tip is how to create your own performance algorithms to help you reduce or remove bad habits, deal with negative thoughts, and maximise your own performance. The Project Management tip is a science-based mental strategy that was created to help you fulfil their wishes, set preferences, and change your habits, but is also a great tool for any Project Manager to run better meetings, have more impactful client conversations as well as improve how you plan a project.

Welcome to the + 2 newsletter from The PPM Academy. Each month, I’ll send you two quick and simple approaches to improve your Productivity and Project Management that you can try, test, and adapt to work and everyday life.

Welcome to the first edition of the + 2 newsletter from The PPM Academy. Each month, I’ll send you two quick and simple approaches to improve your Productivity and Project Management that you can try, test, and adapt into work and everyday life. This editions productivity tip is a scientifically proven way to calm your nerves before any big meeting, presentation or event (1 min 30 secs reading time) The Project Management tip is how to improve your performance by using neutral thinking.