Eleventh hour risks in project management can be some of the hardest challenges you’ll face—especially when you’re racing toward the finish line. You’ve steered the ship through scope changes, resource constraints, conflicting stakeholder demands, and countless stand-ups. You’re almost there. The finish line is in sight. Then someone raises a red flag. It’s late—maybe too […]
When Eleventh Hour Risks Threaten the Finish Line Read More »
Finding balance in operational management can be challenging. In complex organizations, where teams juggle priorities across multiple departments and stakeholders, conflict is not just inevitable—it’s routine. A request from one unit might directly contradict another’s. A stakeholder may second-guess a decision after it’s been executed. Tensions rise. Emails fly. Meetings multiply. And often, the response
Reaction vs. Overreaction: A Manager’s Balancing Act Read More »
In many digital projects—whether you’re building a new website, integrating APIs or deploying a software platform—there’s an all-too-common bottleneck that slows everything down: the account or project manager who insists on acting as the sole conduit between teams. While this often comes from a well-meaning desire to protect timelines or manage expectations, it can ultimately
Let the Developers Talk Read More »
Redesigning a website for a university, hospital system, nonprofit or government agency isn’t just a project—it’s a journey. One full of approvals, passionate opinions, complex governance and competing priorities. For project managers, the hardest part is often not the technical implementation, but the people. Stakeholder management in these environments takes diplomacy, clarity and a lot
From Opinions to Outcomes Read More »
You’ve just kicked off a new web design project at a university, nonprofit or government agency. The mission is clear—but getting from kickoff to launch? That’s a different story. Multiple stakeholders. Strict accessibility and compliance standards. Approval chains that can take weeks. As a project manager, you’re not just coordinating tasks—you’re navigating a complex ecosystem
What Happens When AI Joins Your Web Project Team? Read More »
In the dynamic world of website design, a critical decision stands before you: to embrace gradual refinement through iterative design or to succumb to the allure of periodic grand redesigns. This discussion navigates the intricacies of these two distinct approaches, unveiling their merits and pitfalls. Our goal is to equip you with insights to make
Strategic Choices in Website Design: Iteration vs. Periodic Redesign Read More »
“Be curious, not judgmental” is a quote you may be familiar with thanks to Ted Lasso, the American fish out of water in Apple TV’s smash hit show. Project managers will do well to live by these words. As the workplace becomes more diverse and inclusive, it is important for managers to understand how to
Working With Neurodivergent Team Members Read More »
Lest you think that UX is the only discipline with a set of laws that exemplify best practices, I present to you the ten laws of project management. This article is based on a presentation I gave to the digital staff at Click Here Labs several years ago when I was leading their project management
The Ten Laws of Project Management Read More »
Project management is the art and science of planning, executing, and controlling projects from conception to completion. In the context of web design and development, it involves coordinating teams of designers, developers, and stakeholders to deliver web projects that meet their objectives. The success of a web project is typically measured in terms of how
Project Management and the Laws of UX Read More »
ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language model developed by OpenAI. It is based on the transformer architecture, which was introduced in a 2017 paper by Google researchers (Vaswani et al., 2017). The transformer architecture allows ChatGPT to understand and generate natural language with unprecedented accuracy. Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash The research that went into
The first blog article I ever wrote on the topic of project management addressed the concept that project management, at its core, is people management. A lot of project managers are drawn to our discipline for the organizational skills and process management, for procurement procedures and risk or quality management. These are all incredibly important
Building High-Performing, Highly Autonomous Teams Read More »
Project management is often more of an art than a science. While I do believe that statement is true, the particular turn of phrase can be very misleading. Many times, people use it to excuse general disorganization or a lack of discipline. But every good artist knows that without preparation, honed skill, and hard work,
It’s the Documentation, Stupid Read More »
It seems like a simple question, but you would be surprised how many project managers can’t answer it when someone asks. A well reasoned and thought out business case is often neglected by even the savviest of organizations. As project managers, it is our responsibility to ask these questions and make sure that we understand
What is the Point of Your Project? Read More »
A favorite quote of mine from the great Mark Twain is: “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” One of the hardest things about managing projects is dealing with stakeholders that do not understand what, often times, is a complex and
The Stubborn Stakeholder Read More »
Project Initiation Early in 2015, I made up my mind to attempt a solo thru-hike of the Lone Star Hiking Trail (LSHT). At 128 miles (with loops), the LSHT is the longest wilderness footpath in Texas. It runs through the 163,037-acre Sam Houston National Forest about 50 miles north of Houston. Considering it would be
The Project Wilderness Read More »