Practical Managers

Forty-five years of project management, adventure, and wonder out of my neuro-spicy head and into yours

Series

This is where you can find different series topics as they’re written. If you have an idea for what you’d like to see next, drop me a line on the “Contact Me” page

People Skills (for Everyone)

Mastering No: Reclaiming Your Time & Energy

Saying “no” to things you shouldn’t or don’t want to be doing is a learnable skill. Here’s how to do it with grace and kindness while still being heard.

Why It’s So Hard

The Cost of Saying Yes Too Often

Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD)

Scripts for Saying No

When No Doesn’t Work

The Upside of No

Rebuilding Relationships

Best Practices

Downloadable Worksheet

Project Management For Non-Project Managers

Work Breakdowns: PM Backbone

Starting a new project, or trying to fix an old one? Start with defining all the work, then estimate, schedule, assign people, track, forecast, and manage it.

Why Work Breakdowns Matter

Breaking It Down

Getting It Right

Before You Start

WBS Best Practices

WBS Checklist

Scheduling: PM Muscles

Managing work over time and going beyond simple deadlines: when you need to actually manage a project, instead of putting check marks on a task list

Beyond Deadlines

Sequencing

Dependencies

Scheduling

Critical Path

Scheduling Best Practices

Schedule Checklist

Misc Tools and Techniques

Checklists

Sequence Diagrams