“Diversity without inclusion is exclusion. So to ignore and to believe that there is no culture is excluding the opportunity to bring someone into a new culture or a living, breathing culture.” As a project manager, you’re in a unique position to shape company culture. So how can you use that influence to build a diverse and inclusive workplace? It starts with the way you show up for and lead your team. In this episode of Time Limit, Brett talks with Yvette Pegues—a DE&I executive and keynote speaker and the cofounder and CEO of Your Invisible Disability Group—about how to create an organi ..read more

“Be more of the coach and less of the time-tracker.” Creative project management isn’t always easy—especially if there’s friction between project managers and design teams. So how do you give creativity room to thrive while ensuring design projects deliver on time and budget? In this episode of Time Limit, Brett talks with Greg Storey about how project managers and designers can leverage their unique skills to build strong partnerships with each other. Prior to his role as COO at LexBlog, Greg worked in design leadership at IBM and InVision and ran his own design agency.  Whether you’re a ..read more

“I want every one of our PMs, and our directors actually, to have the ability to jump on something—to give that extra 20% that’s needed for a given week without having to let other balls fall.” Agency operations is all about the numbers and processes that drive success. But it’s hard to run a profitable business if your team’s overworked or your clients are unhappy. That’s where project management comes in. In this episode of Time Limit, Brett talks with Sparkbox VP Rob Harr—who heads up operations—about what it takes to make a digital agency profitable and how operations and project managemen ..read more

“I didn’t go to business school. I didn’t have a mentor guiding me. I had to kind of fall on my face a little bit. EOS introduced me to a simpler way to run a business.” Starting your own business is a big step for any entrepreneur. But how do you know you’re ready to grow beyond a one-person operation and lead an actual team? In this episode of Time Limit, Brett talks with Chris Dreyer, CEO of Rankings.io, about how he started a successful SEO agency and why the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) has been an important tool in his leadership belt.  Listen to this episode to discover ..read more

“I invite my team to listen in—to be part of those reactions when people look at our games—because it’s so important to have a shared understanding.” When most folks think about project management, game design probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. But every video game that’s developed needs a project manager at the helm to ensure the final experience is both functional and fun.  In this episode of Time Limit, Brett chats with Tim Leinert of Mindforce Game Lab about his journey from traditional project manager to managing video game projects for a digital healthcare startup. L ..read more

“There’s a very big difference between being busy—getting little meaningless things done—versus making real progress toward your goals.” How do you motivate your team and increase productivity?  It starts with stepping back from the to-do list and looking at what you want to accomplish as an organization, as a team, and—yes—even as individuals with lives outside the office.  In this episode of Time Limit, Brett and TeamGantt cofounder Nathan Gilmore talk about how to take a big-picture approach to productivity so you and your team can thrive in every aspect of life. Listen to their c ..read more

“Empathy as a verb is a choice—and how you choose to engage in empathy is going to change from person to person based on each individual’s desires and needs." Empathy isn’t just critical to good communication. It’s the heart of effective leadership. Yet empathy often gets pushed aside in the attempt to project a “perfect” professional image.  With many people working from home in a year that’s been anything but normal, it’s time to break down the walls. No matter where you work or what kind of projects you manage, being empathetic can help you build deeper trust and connection with custom ..read more

“In order to be a remote project manager, you really have to boost your project management skills.” Whether you’ve been managing projects remotely for a long time, or you were flung into it when Covid-19 forced you into it, you know that keeping details, tasks, people, and projects on track from afar can be a challenge. There are, of course, some tactics you can employ to make the job easier, but what it comes down to is that remote project management requires you to lean on your PM skills and intuition. In this episode of Time Limit, Brett welcomes Ben Aston from thedigitalprojectmanager.com ..read more

“You need an innovation process so that once the individual has really vetted their idea and believes there's a market for it...you need to be able to transfer that to the organization at large, where they can execute on it.” “Innovation” is an exciting idea for many, but often a tad scary for project managers who are tasked with keeping project on time and under budget. But innovation doesn’t have to break all of your project plans if you have a well-structured innovation process and solid governance in your organization. In this episode of Time Limit, Brett sat down with John Carter, who inv ..read more

“We tend to think we can do things a lot faster than we really can. We also tend to think that the risks won't really be as bad and that the benefits will be really good." Anyone who has ever estimated a project, or even a single task, knows that it’s tough work. Not only are you making guesses about time spent or pricing, you’re probably also making guesses about the scope of the project itself. One question uncovers another question, and a detail you needed to know. But are you on the right path to get what you need to create a truly realistic estimate?  You might think you are, but the ..read more