Leadership Skills for PMs: Edition 6 – A Risk Mindset

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Leadership Skills for PMs: Edition 6 – A Risk MindsetThe mechanics of risk are as easy as PIE (that is the Probability the project will experience an Impact because of an Event). Throughout a project, project managers need to identify, assess, and prioritize risks; develop risk responses; and then monitor and manage risks as needed. Successful risk management is more than addressing the mechanics. Project managers need a risk mindset where they evaluate everything considering the risks that could result. To strengthen your risk mindset work on the following characteristics:

  • Unwavering diligence. Managing risk is a way of life for a project manager, not a series of tasks to check off and consider done. It means constant focus on the project’s challenges and diligently evaluating options to avoid negative impacts and to amplify opportunities (risks with upsides). As a leader, you will keep risk in the foreground of many project-related conversations (and in the background of all of them).
  • Avid curiosity. To identify potential risks and corresponding responses, project managers need to be curious about all the possibilities. It’s not enough to identify one risk or to propose one response. Done means identifying several risks and responses. To excel, continue to revisit risks and responses to ensure you haven’t missed anything, exploring all avenues of risk possibilities.
  • Keen anticipation. Be vigilant about risks and anticipate them. Of course, you don’t want risks to arise, but you don’t fear them. The reality is that risks will arise, so you need to anticipate them and be prepared to respond quickly and decisively. 
  • Healthy skepticism. Project managers are bombarded with a lot of information: task status, stakeholder perceptions, assumptions, business conditions and management concerns. Often this info comes second-hand. With a risk mindset, you question the information you receive, validating data and distinguishing between facts and what needs more investigation. 
  • Systems thinking. Project control elements can be an intricate network of connections. A new risk might require additional funding to address it, so you have to change the cost plan. The revised cost plan might require more management review, so you have to change the communication plan. Likewise, there are similar interrelationships between the products a project delivers for the business. Systems thinking and understanding these interrelationships enables you to identify and address risks before they impact your project.

Risk mindset checklist: diligent focus, curiosity, anticipation, skepticism, systems thinking!

For more about risk management, check out Bob McGannon’s Project Management Foundations: Risk course.

 

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 99,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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Leadership Skills for PMs: Edition 5 – A Change Mindset

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Leadership Skills for PMs Edition 5 – A Change MindsetManaging change is a fundamental aspect of project management. Project managers must lead assessment efforts to determine whether requested changes are appropriate and beneficial for their projects. A Change Mindset is needed to do this well. Here are ways to embrace a change mindset and improve project success.

  • View change as inevitable. In a churning, competitive world, change is a given. So, project managers must design their initiatives with as much flexibility as possible. Check with stakeholders just before making any procurement decisions or undertaking build-related tasks (that cannot be easily reversed).  That way you can consider including the latest stakeholder views and perceived needs in the project, thereby optimizing outcomes. Note: For these and all other changes, practice change management diligently.
  • Be prepared for significant change triggered by items outside project control. Change may be spurred by the actions of competitors, new demands from customers, or regulatory changes mandated by the government.  These can result in shifting priorities, requirements for different skills, or substantial scope change requests. The need to re-plan, determine a new solution approach, or alter the schedule is likely. It will also require a new round of communication with team members, key stakeholders, and the sponsor. It’s a lot of work, but it’s necessary to maintain project integrity and align with the project’s business case. Note: In instances where more than 20% of the project will be affected, it might be best to create a new business case and revalidate the project before proceeding. 
  • Keep track of technical product capabilities that can trigger change. When dealing with technical components that are susceptible to rapid technological advances (such as AI or robotics), project plans might need to be reassessed to accommodate the latest breakthroughs. For instance, consider a year-long project to develop a specialized manufacturing line that incorporates robotics and high-end workstations. Some capabilities with AI and robotics aren’t available yet but will be soon. So, the project must produce the known parts of the infrastructure up front and the parts using new technology later—without creating cumbersome rework. Capitalizing on the latest advances can make all the difference for your business when it comes to project acceptance. 
  • Understand that internal politics is a strong motivator for change. Project changes might be requested without an apparent business reason. In most cases, “rolling with it” is the best course of action. Evaluate the change for cost or schedule changes, their impact on the business case, and present the results. Also, identify risks the change may trigger and document those concerns. The role of the project manager is to evaluate and report the impacts of a change, rather than trying to override management desires. Go with the decision that key stakeholders and the sponsor agree upon. But keep the change-related documentation close at hand in case any questions arise.
  • Reactionary factors can inspire change requests and a need to push back. Key stakeholders might react to business pressures by requesting a change that is already covered in the scope or is something entirely different from the project’s intent. In this case, consider having a one-on-one conversation with the stakeholder to discuss their concerns. If the stakeholder persists, a discussion with the sponsor is in order. If those conversations don’t result in a retraction of the change request, assess the change and present the results, along with the risks and issues it presents. Include a strong recommendation that the change is not accepted. After that, the proper action is to conform to the desires of the sponsor and stakeholders.

 

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 98,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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Leadership Skills for PMs – Edition 4 – Coaching

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Leadership Skills for PMs – Edition 4 – CoachingProject managers lead people who perform project tasks and create project outcomes. So, delegation is fundamental. Experienced PMs go beyond delegating and coach their team members. This enables better outcomes on current and future projects. Here are the keys to coaching as a project manager. 

  • Be present. When you delegate tasks to team members, put distractions aside so you can be fully present with your people. This increases your ability to recognize underlying truths in conversations, leading to a deeper understanding of the team. It also creates opportunities to foster growth and appropriately challenge team members’ skills and abilities. 
  • Be flexible. Try to be the coach your team members need by finding out what they need to do their tasks. Will they respond well if they are pushed to expand their capabilities? Or perhaps they need to discuss how to perform their tasks and have someone listen and provide critique. Do they seek permission to try new things, or are they looking for suggestions to tackle their tasks?  Good coaches understand the people they work with, including their aspirations and emotional makeup. They know how to serve their team with coaching techniques that motivate passion, address circumstances that hinder work, or focus on skills that need development.
  • Ask questions. Use questions to promote intellectual exploration, rather than immediately giving direction or sharing personal experiences. While conversations can’t provide direct experience, they engage the brain, drive visualization, and reveal alternatives. Using questions and exploring possibilities inspires team members to think and act more broadly.  
  • Encourage intuition. Intuition is the result of our experiences and the application of emotions to specific situations. Conversations where intuition is shared supports its use. Many middle managers value intuition over mere process knowledge. Encourage team members to share and act on their intuition. Don’t forget to value your own intuition. When your intuition as a coach is correct, it creates deeper connections and expands team member capabilities. 
  • Understand team member values. They may differ from person to person and might not align with yours. People bring different experiences, upbringings, and values to the table. Be open to discussing and accepting others’ values, which helps build trust, embrace diversity, and enhance project capability. Note: Values discussion does not need to venture into religion or politics. Explore work style preferences, the type of work people most like to produce, and how they prefer to be led. This also helps you delegate tasks that align with the team member’s values and aspirations.

Pick a team member or an approach and give your coaching muscles a warmup today!

For more about coaching, check out Sara Canaday’s Coaching Skills for Leaders and Managers course.

 

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 98,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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Leadership Skills for PMs: Edition 3 – Active Listening

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Leadership Skills for PMs Edition 3 – Active ListeningWant to be respected by your team members and other stakeholders? Make them feel heard. The most effective way to do that is to engage in active listening, which goes way beyond hearing what other people say. It’s understanding their meaning, intent, and the implications for the project. Here are active listening habits to embrace. 

  • Stop multitasking during conversations. We’re all guilty of trying to multitask, but in most cases, we are trading perceived productivity for effectiveness. In no area is this more true than when someone else is talking. Multitasking introduces risk that the message may not be fully received or understood, and it can make the speaker feel disrespected. Even worse, it kills trust. Close the laptop, put the phone away, and pay full attention. You’ll catch issues earlier and build stronger relationships. Plus, it offers an opportunity to read between the lines of what’s being said, allowing for deeper understanding. 
  • Dig deeper. An effective way to convey your project ownership is to have detailed knowledge of what’s happening with the project. Active listening doesn’t always mean remaining quiet. It can mean asking questions, probing for more relevant information, and gaining a deeper understanding of stakeholders’ perspectives and status. For example, if a task owner says they are “almost done” with their work, find out what “almost done” means to them. Ask if the task is hours or days from being completed. Also, understand what needs to happen for the task to be declared complete. Questions like these provide a realistic status and allow for action to be taken before issues arise. 
  • Paraphrase what you hear. The project manager doesn’t have to know all the project’s technical details. When a stakeholder explains a complex issue, summarize it: “Let me confirm my understanding. You have a couple of bugs to fix, but when they are resolved, the task will be complete. Is that correct?” This does two things – it shows you were listening, and it catches miscommunication before it creates an issue.
  • Pay attention to what’s unspoken. A lot of information can come from body language, facial expressions, tone, or long pauses. For example, if a typically chatty stakeholder is quiet, follow up with them. Maybe they’re struggling with something, but don’t want to seem incompetent. Be sensitive but strive to understand what’s happening. Ask open-ended questions like “How are you feeling about the process we are following?” or “Do you have a concern you haven’t shared?”
  • Create psychological safety. Your team needs to feel safe telling you about problems. If you react defensively or lash out at the messenger, people will stop sharing. When someone delivers bad news, thank them first. Then go into solution-finding mode. Make it clear that you’d rather know about issues early, when you can still respond. This maximizes learning and supports the stakeholder who is likely stressed by being the bearer of bad news.

For my brave readers, share an anecdote with an active listening win or a multi-tasking horror story.

 

For more about effective listening, check out Tatiana Kolovou and Brenda Bailey Hughes’ course, Effective Listening.

 

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 98,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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Leadership Skills for PMs – Edition 2 – Communication

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Leadership Ed 2 CommunicationLeadership skills play a significant role in being an effective project manager.  Based on poll results, this is the second in a series of articles on leadership skills that help project managers succeed. To get and maintain stakeholders’ support and be effective leaders, project managers have to communicate accurately and diligently.

    • Make communication central to the PM role. The greatest expectation placed on project managers is to communicate. Project status information, what team members need to deliver, project outcomes, and the presence of risk are some of the topics that stakeholders must understand. Communication from the project manager is the source of this understanding. Successful project managers are almost obsessive about communicating to ensure all stakeholders know the project’s status and how they can contribute to its success.
    • Provide access to details. Many project artifacts, such as status reports, are designed to be high-level summaries. That doesn’t mean details aren’t communicated. Many people advise against sharing details, as they may trigger time-consuming questions from senior managers who don’t understand the project’s intricacies. Don’t believe it. Making details available and responding to questions appropriately increases confidence in the project and the project manager. So, keep widely distributed artifacts at a high level, but include links to the details that stakeholders can review.
    • Manage communication project-wide. Effective communication management is needed to ensure that perceptions of the project are accurate and up to date. This involves coordinating who communicates with whom and ensuring that the sources of data are consistent and diligently controlled. Beyond that, experienced project managers focus on pairing the best project team members to suit key stakeholders. For example, if a stakeholder is very detail-oriented, they should be paired with a similarly detail-focused project team member. If a stakeholder has a specific business focus, such as sales or finance, the project team member designated to communicate with them should possess similar business capabilities.
    • Document everything! We’ve all made this mistake at some point: not having written documentation from a meeting, the logic for a project decision, or a stakeholder’s viewpoint. People don’t always remember the opinions they share because business circumstances can change rapidly, and their thinking follows suit. With the AI tools readily available in today’s world, capturing, editing, and sharing documentation from meetings, phone calls, and other discussions is easy and efficient.  Utilize these tools and create a filing system for project documentation that enables easy retrieval of documentation when needed. It can save time and frustration as the project progresses.
    • Be an active listener. Communication is a two-way street. Successful project managers focus on accurately receiving information with the same intensity they distribute it. Pay attention. When stakeholders talk, don’t try to multitask. Give full attention whenever people are talking. Make notes when discussions are finished so their opinions and viewpoints are not forgotten. (In a future edition, we will discuss active listening.)

 

For more about effective communication of all types, check out Communication Foundations with Tatiana Kolovou and Brenda Bailey Hughes.

 

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 97,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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Leadership Skills for PMs: Edition 1 – Business Focus

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Leadership Ed 1 Focusing on the businessA project manager’s job is more than just implementing project management tools and artifacts. Leadership skills play a significant role in being an effective project manager.  Based on poll results, this is the first in a series of articles on leadership skills that help project managers succeed. Because organizations launch projects to deliver value to the business, project managers need to focus on the business’s goals and strategies to lead effectively.

  • Understand the business environment and the desired business value. Job #1 is supporting the project’s intention and confirming it will deliver the desired value. While that might seem straightforward, many projects don’t deliver the intended value, even when meeting the triple constraints of scope, time, and cost. For example, a project was designed to deliver a new system to increase the efficiency of product delivery. The project team accepted the scope without questioning whether it would satisfy the business need to deliver products to customers more rapidly. The new system was delivered within the triple constraints, but product delivery times were still longer than expected. What was the problem? Contracts with their shipping companies did not align with the delivery times desired by the business. Do your homework to understand the business environment and processes in place. That way, you can validate the project scope, budget, and timeframe.
  • Address the project’s positive and negative business impacts. Not all projects benefit all areas of the business. I worked on a project that implemented new tools and business processes, increasing the efficiency of finance staff members. However, the payroll changes that came with the new systems and processes increased the HR staff workload. Business-savvy project managers collaborate with all stakeholders to understand how to maximize positive impacts and minimize negative ones. 
  • Use business terms accurately. Using the language that stakeholders use helps confirm a common understanding of business processes and what the project will deliver. But you have to use that vocabulary accurately. A project manager who throws around business buzzwords incorrectly quickly loses the confidence of stakeholders and will struggle to engage stakeholders. Make sure the entire project team understands the terms commonly used by stakeholders so they use them accurately and effectively. Note: A future article in this series will address communications. 
  • Navigate differing business expectations. Not all stakeholders’ expectations will be aligned. Addressing this situation requires recognizing potential sources of conflict that exist or could arise between different business areas. Effective communication skills are essential to facilitate discussions between stakeholders with diverse project objectives. However, reaching agreement between conflicting stakeholders requires a business mindset and, once again, doing your homework to understand the processes, strengths, and weaknesses that the project can address.
  • Be politically aware. Politics exists in every organization, large or small. While good project managers don’t necessarily have to be “political animals” (scrutinizing every word for its political ramifications and choosing actions and alliances purely from a political point of view), it’s helpful to be aware of when a political hornet’s nest could be stirred up. Understanding political relationships between stakeholders also helps avoid inadvertently triggering arguments that could harm project objectives. Take time to investigate and understand what’s behind the politics in your environment.

 

Coming Up

Whether you’re a manager aiming to lead more effectively or a team member feeling stifled by excessive oversight, this conversation is for you. Join Julie Robinson and I for Office Hours on Tuesday, September 23, 2025 3pm MT, 5 PM ET where we will talk about how to improve performance by reducing or eliminating micro-management.  We’ll discuss how to recognize signs of micro-management, whether you’re dishing it out or receiving it. If you’re a manager, you’ll gain insight into the why of this behavior and what you can do to become a more empowering leader. Team members will discover strategies for regaining autonomy. You’ll come away with a handout from Julie with tools and resources to support lasting change. Click here to join!

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 97,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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KPIs for Measuring Hybrid Project Performance

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Hybrid Project KPIsHybrid projects, combining elements of traditional waterfall and agile methods, are becoming the norm. As a result, you need some changes to Key Process Indicators (KPIs) to manage the success of this type of project. Here’s a set of KPIs that help measure performance in a hybrid project environment.

Schedule management

  • For project areas using waterfall, track on-time task completion rates against the baseline schedule. Calculate this by dividing the number of tasks completed on time by the total number of tasks completed.
    • Formula: completed on-time tasks / total tasks completed
  • For agile project areas, calculate on-time feature completion rates. Calculate this by dividing the number of features completed as planned within the sprint plan by the total number of features completed.
    • Formula: features completed as planned within the sprint plan / total features completed
  • To determine the overall schedule management KPI, combine the results from the task and feature completion rates.  Here’s an example:
    • 8 on-time tasks with 10 total waterfall tasks completed
    • 29 on-time features with 30 total features completed 
    • Hybrid Task/Feature KPI
      • (On-time task completions + On-time feature completions)/(Total task and feature completions)
      • KPI result: (8+29)/40= 92.5%
      • Note: Basic hybrid projects should target 90% or more as a task/feature timeliness KPI; complex projects should target 80-85% or more.

Budget Management

  • For waterfall project areas, track costs per task. 
  • For agile areas, track the actual cost to build the tasks delivered to the client. (That’s because quickly delivering usable functions to the business is a standard characteristic of agile projects.) This cost typically consists of agile team staffing costs, plus any equipment required to make functions usable. Compare this cost to the business value generated using the delivered functions, that is the cost savings from using those functions). Use these values to calculate the return on investment (as defined in the PMBOK7 test guide).
  • Here’s an example:
    • Return on investment KPI formula: Value added to the business / Cost of producing delivered functions
      • Cost to produce functions: $20,000
      • Cost savings using those functions: $30,000
      • Ratio = 30000/20000 = 1.5, indicating a 150% return on investment
    • Hybrid budget KPI formula: return on investment for the total business value created / actual cost for tasks or features delivered to the client
  • Note: Calculating the business value created by deliverables can sometimes take several months to realize. In those cases, this KPI is a demonstration of project effectiveness. When business value can be quickly realized (or projected, based on early results), then this KPI can show trends in the project’s effectiveness as it progresses. As an alternative, for business value that takes time to be realized, you can calculate return on investment, which accounts for the time value of money. Here’s a video that explains how to calculate financial ROI: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/supply-chain-and-operations-management-tips/calculate-return-on-investment

Scope Management

  • Calculate a hybrid scope stability KPI. This KPI measures scope changes for controlled and approved changes in waterfall area, and new features added to agile areas. Note: Re-prioritization of agile features is NOT considered a scope change and does not appear in this calculation.
    • Formula: (Current number of waterfall requirements + current number of agile features) / (Initial number of waterfall requirements + initial number of agile features)
    • Note: Initial requirements and features are the number of each at the start of the project. The current number is the original number plus additions since the start of the project: approved requirement additions in waterfall areas and new features added to the backlog. 
    • Projects that add a significant number of requirements or features increase risk. The target for hybrid scope stability is 1.2 or less (no greater than 20% additional requirements/features added to the project).

Quality Management

  • A Hybrid Quality KPI is straightforward. Calculate the errors per deliverable.
  • Formula: (number of defects discovered by the end user community) / total completed tasks and features delivered to stakeholders
  • Example: 
    • 28 tasks completed and delivered to stakeholders
    • 45 features completed and delivered 
    • 17 errors identified by end users
    • Result: 17/(28+45) = .23 errors per deliverable
    • Note: Set a target for errors per deliverable based on history for the organization

If you have the data for these calculations, run them through these calcs to see how your project is doing! Do you have other recommendations for hybrid metrics? Share them with us in the comments!

 

 

Coming Up

Whether you’re a manager aiming to lead more effectively or a team member feeling stifled by excessive oversight, this conversation is for you. Join Julie Robinson and I for Office Hours on Tuesday, September 23, 2025 3pm MT, 5 PM ET where we will talk about how to improve performance by reducing or eliminating micro-management.  We’ll discuss how to recognize signs of micro-management, whether you’re dishing it out or receiving it. If you’re a manager, you’ll gain insight into the why of this behavior and what you can do to become a more empowering leader. Team members will discover strategies for regaining autonomy. You’ll come away with a handout from Julie with tools and resources to support lasting change. Click here to join!

 

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 97,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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Supporting Sponsor Decision Making

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Supporting sponsor decisionsSponsors have to make critical decisions that can affect both the project and the overall business. But not all project sponsors are ready for this responsibility. As a proactive project manager, you can help. Here’s how: 

  • Anticipate when decisions are needed. The more time you give a sponsor to ponder the decisions they need to make, the better. That way, they can tell you the data and help that they need to make a confident decision. And you can develop data collection processes and schedule time to review data to ensure it accurately reflects the project situation. 
  • Sort through facts, intuition, and conjecture. Major decisions often require significant input. To help the sponsor sort through the information they receive: confirm facts, identify when a viewpoint comes from intuition, and when the info shared is someone’s conjecture or assumption. This effort can sometimes help the sponsor confirm assumptions.
  • Identify the sponsor’s preferred data sources. Project sponsors usually have favorite data sources, for example, internal trusted advisors or external entities like consulting companies. It’s good practice to proactively ensure the input from these sources is incorporated into the decision-making process.  
  • Inform the sponsor of the decision pros/cons, including affected stakeholders and business processes. Sponsors might make decisions without fully understanding the impact on all business areas and stakeholders. To address this, it’s best to proactively summarize detailed pros and cons when you present options. That way, your sponsor can use them to make informed decisions.
  • Anticipate decision timing impacts. Tell the sponsor about potential timing factors to consider. For example, delaying a product purchase decision until shortly before accounting year-end might mean a lower price. Conversely, purchasing a product earlier, though more expensive, might allow project staff to spend more time learning how to best deploy the product.
  • Maintain psychological safety.  Project managers should consider what constitutes psychological safety for themselves and then provide the same to their sponsor. That way, the sponsor will probably feel less stress about their decisions. For example, if you disagree with the sponsor, share that information calmly without being judgmental. Share the risks, saying that this information comes from your experience. Unless it is an extreme situation, reassure the sponsor that you will support their decision regardless of the one they make, given they understand the risks.

Do you have an example of how you’ve supported a sponsor’s decision-making? Share with us in the comments.

For more about working with sponsors, check out this Office Hours with Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez.

 

Coming Up

Whether you’re a manager aiming to lead more effectively or a team member feeling stifled by excessive oversight, this conversation is for you. Join Julie Robinson and I for Office Hours on Tuesday, September 23, 2025 3pm MT, 5 PM ET where we will talk about how to improve performance by reducing or eliminating micro-management.  We’ll discuss how to recognize signs of micro-management, whether you’re dishing it out or receiving it. If you’re a manager, you’ll gain insight into the why of this behavior and what you can do to become a more empowering leader. Team members will discover strategies for regaining autonomy. You’ll come away with a handout from Julie with tools and resources to support lasting change. Click here to join!

_______________________________________

This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 97,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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Helpful Info to Get from a Project Data Repository

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helpful info from a repositoryA project repository is only as good as the guidance you can pull from it. Beyond the always useful lessons learned, here are examples of helpful information you can extract from a well-designed project data repository.

  • Issue frequency and trends. A list of the most common project issues along with trends of when they occur during the project is helpful for building a proactive and sound project risk plan. Also, the trending data shows where your project methodology might need shoring up.
  • Staffing trends. The history of availability of operational staff for project work and the timeframes for onboarding contracted staff is useful for creating a staffing plan.  Seasonality trends is also helpful. For example, finance staff might not be available the first week of each accounting month, or staff shortages might occur during holiday periods.
  • Vendor performance. When choosing a vendor to augment resources, information on their performance in your environment supports informed strategic staffing decisions. Key metrics include the time from request until resources arrive on site, the consistency of staff staying on site without being replaced with different resources, successful delivery against objectives, and cost.
  • External entity response times. The turnaround from request to response from external entities helps establish reasonable schedules. Examples include licensing or certification confirmation from government entities and the fabrication of custom parts from vendors.
  • Cumulative impacts of change requests. Other helpful data is baseline project duration and cost along with the average effects of change requests on those values. You can judge the business’s volatility and the quality and completeness of the provided requirements, which helps forecast total project cost and timeframe. For example, if change requests historically add 10% to the cost and three months to the duration, you might consider applying those trends to future project budgets.

What other insightful data items have you extracted from project data repositories? Share with us in the comments.

 

Coming Up

Whether you’re a manager aiming to lead more effectively or a team member feeling stifled by excessive oversight, this conversation is for you. Join Julie Robinson and I for Office Hours on Tuesday, September 23, 2025 3pm MT, 5 PM ET where we will talk about how to improve performance by reducing or eliminating micro-management.  We’ll discuss how to recognize signs of micro-management, whether you’re dishing it out or receiving it. If you’re a manager, you’ll gain insight into the why of this behavior and what you can do to become a more empowering leader. Team members will discover strategies for regaining autonomy. You’ll come away with a handout from Julie with tools and resources to support lasting change. Click here to join!

 

_______________________________________

This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 96,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

Want to learn more about the topics I talk about in these newsletters? Watch my courses in the LinkedIn Learning Library and tune into my LinkedIn Office Hours live broadcasts.

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Designing an Effective Project Repository

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designing a project data repositoryFiling project documentation in a shared folder named “Repository” doesn’t cut it. An effective project repository is designed to maximize value. It can increase foresight and provide valuable information in project deliverables such as the risk plan. Here are the characteristics of a well-designed project repository.

  • Provides information to solve recurring issues. Designers base how they organize and present information in their project repository on specific challenges the organization faces during project delivery and they ensure that the repository holds project data that helps to improve outcomes in future projects. For example:
    • If estimation is difficult, create common names for frequently used tasks so you can track time and risks for those tasks over many projects and improve performance over time.
    • If risk planning is incomplete, compile risks from reported issues and create an initial risk list with response strategies.
    • If contractors are often used, collect detailed performance and cost information by company and by individual consultant.
  • Includes a powerful search function, indexed with commonly used terms. This makes it easier to find data without reviewing extensive lists. Common terms include terms regularly used in the organization’s project management methodology as well as typical industry terms. For example, “project charter” will be used universally for the document to launch a project. “Pour the foundation” might be a common activity description in construction, while “unit testing” might be used for information technology projects.
  • Organized with clearly defined and consistently applied folder hierarchies (i.e., by project phase, document type, activity, or discipline). While a search function allows for specific data reviews, folder hierarchies enable project managers to review multiple project examples. For example, say a project has a task to prep a roadbed before paving. Various approaches for laying the roadbed, the time taken, and the risks that surfaced could be viewed by looking at histories from several projects. Phases allow project managers to review best practices and standards for closing a project, for example. Cataloguing data by discipline allows for the review of multiple procurement plans to determine the best fit for an upcoming project.
  • Managed by an administrator to maintain status, naming standards, and version control with a focus on continuous improvement. A repository must be clean and easy-to-use or project managers won’t use it. When a repository is used regularly, new ideas for data to extract are generated routinely. Administrators can deploy these ideas to add indexing, massage existing data, or collect additional data to satisfy data requests and improve project delivery.

How do you set up your project repository? Share your tips and tricks with us in the comments.

 

Coming Up

Whether you’re a manager aiming to lead more effectively or a team member feeling stifled by excessive oversight, this conversation is for you. Join Julie Robinson and I for Office Hours on Tuesday, September 23, 2025 3pm MT, 5 PM ET where we will talk about how to improve performance by reducing or eliminating micro-management.  We’ll discuss how to recognize signs of micro-management, whether you’re dishing it out or receiving it. If you’re a manager, you’ll gain insight into the why of this behavior and what you can do to become a more empowering leader. Team members will discover strategies for regaining autonomy. You’ll come away with a handout from Julie with tools and resources to support lasting change. Click here to join!

 

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This article belongs to the Bonnie’s Project Pointers newsletter series, which has more than 96,000 subscribers. This newsletter is 100% written by a human (no aliens or AIs involved). If you like this article, you can subscribe to receive notifications when a new article posts.

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