Category: Management

How to Push Back on Unrealistic Requests

Posted Andrew SoloveyLeave a commentPosted in Communication, Management, Stakeholder Management
Quite often project managers have to deal with difficult situations on their projects. A good example of such a tough situation is when the client comes up with an unrealistic request. In this situation, the project manager faces a dilemma: on the one hand, he doesn’t want to upset the client, but on the other hand, he understands that it is impossible to achieve what the client requests.… [ Read the rest...]

The Art of Juggling or How to Manage Multiple Projects at a Time

Posted Andrew SoloveyLeave a commentPosted in Management, Time Management
If one asks me about an ideal project, I will probably imagine a single team of 10-20 people. Unfortunately, this rarely happens. It is more common when a project manager is forced to lead a few smaller projects within his organization. Such a situation adds more complexity to the manager’s work because he has to balance his time and efforts between several projects and make sure that all of them are on track.… [ Read the rest...]

7 Email Management Tips That Will Make Your Life Easier

Posted Andrew SoloveyLeave a commentPosted in Management, Time Management
If you ask me where modern management begins, I would respond that it starts with your email box management. Indeed, email has become one of the main communication channels over the last twenty years, and most managers spend a great deal of time processing emails and responding to them.  Recently, I have realized that, despite my vast experience with email technology, I never thought if I’ve been using it effectively.… [ Read the rest...]

Task Prioritization Techniques: Get Trough Your Workday Like a Boss

Posted Andrew SoloveyLeave a commentPosted in Management, Time Management
When you work as a project manager, you’re often so overwhelmed by different tasks that you don’t know where to start. Moreover, usually, your to-do-list is much longer than a regular working day can accommodate. Unfortunately, you can’t extend a day length for a few more hours, but what you can do in this case is prioritizing your tasks and moving some of them to another day.  … [ Read the rest...]

Story Points vs. Man-Hours For Project Estimation

Posted Andrew SoloveyLeave a commentPosted in Estimation, Management, Scrum
When a new project is about to start, the project sponsors definitely want to know how much time it will take to complete it. If, on the contrary, you’re already involved in an ongoing project, project stakeholders probably are eager to know what amount of work you as a team will be able to complete during each subsequent iteration. We usually use different estimation techniques to provide the mentioned information to the project sponsor or stakeholders in both cases.… [ Read the rest...]

Delegation 101 for Project Managers

Posted Andrew SoloveyLeave a commentPosted in Leadership, Management
If you work as a manager on the project, you probably have so much work on your plate every day that your to-do list is never empty. The tasks keep coming, your to-do lists inflates, and usually, your working hours do the same. At some point, the amount of work to be done becomes so big that you physically can`t complete everything on time.… [ Read the rest...]

How To Encourage People To Work Overtime

Posted Andrew SoloveyLeave a commentPosted in Communication, Leadership, Management
I believe that every project manager, sooner or later, faces the need to request project team members work overtime. This part of my job really embarrasses me. I hate to be trapped in such a situation when I have to take people’s personal time, the precious moments of their lives which they could otherwise spend with their families or friends, or just for themselves.… [ Read the rest...]

How to Overcome Procrastination at Work and in Everyday Life

Posted Andrew SoloveyLeave a commentPosted in Leadership, Management, Time Management
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you were supposed to accomplish a task but couldn’t start doing it and eventually put it off till the deadline comes? I bet you have. Time to time, all of us fall prey to a behavior called procrastination. So what is procrastination? According to Wikipedia’s definition, procrastination is the avoidance of doing a task that needs to be accomplished by a certain deadline.… [ Read the rest...]

How to Work From Home and Stay Productive During Coronavirus COVID-19 Outbreak

Posted Andrew SoloveyLeave a commentPosted in Management
Novel coronavirus outbreak and subsequent quarantine measures taken by many countries forced companies and organizations to turn their people to work from their homes. And if for those companies (and people) who have an experience of remote work this doesn’t become an issue, for those who never supported work from home this sudden transition may be painful and problematic.  In general, remote work has been showing constant growth over the last years supported by active popularization in media.… [ Read the rest...]

How To Deal With Difficult People On Your Projects

Posted Andrew SoloveyLeave a commentPosted in Communication, Leadership, Management
I can only guess what type of projects you work on and what challenges you have, but there is one thing I know for sure: you have definitely encountered difficult people on your projects. The truth is that throughout your entire life and career you keep meeting people who put you down.  However, when you come across an unpleasant stranger in your daily life, it’s not a big deal.… [ Read the rest...]