25 Resources That Will Make You a Better Project Manager
Ultimately, it is the project manager's job to guide their team successfully across the finish line.
That’s a lot of responsibility…and to do it, you need more than just technical prowess. You need leadership skills. And you need to draw on those skills and as many resources as possible to help in what can be a very demanding and complex role.
To provide you with some inspiration and help guide your project team to success, we’ve put together a list of 25 of our favourite project management resources, broken down into five main categories.
Top 5 books for project managers
Brush up on your leadership skills…
Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action - Simon Sinek
To get your team working towards a shared vision and mission...
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion - Robert B. Cialdini, PH.D
When it’s time for you (and your team) be more effective…
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey
When all you need is THE book on Project Management…
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge - Project Management Institute
If you need to realign technology projects with business objectives...
The Art of Business Value - Mark Schwartz
5 team tools for project managers
ProofHub - www.proofhub.com
ProofHub provides a set of tools to help project managers and teams better plan, collaborate, organise, and deliver their projects on time.
Trello - www.trello.com
Trello features tools such as collaborative boards and lists that help team members organise and prioritise their projects in a more flexible and fun way.
Epicflow - www.epicflow.com
EpicFlow is web-based resource management software that can be integrated with existing commonly used project management systems such as MS Project, Jira, CA Clarity, and Primavera.
Asana - www.asana.com
Asana is a project management platform that helps teams prioritise the goals and daily tasks that need to be completed to meet project deadlines. Its features include the ability to track how all tasks are progressing in real time so team members can proactively address risks and provide updates to stakeholders.
Teamwork - www.teamwork.com
Teamwork includes a range of tools including project management, helpdesk, chat, and CRM software to help teams improve their performance and efficiency.
Top 5 blogs for project managers
3 Reasons to Choose a Career in Project Management
There’s more to project management than high salaries and opportunities across various industries…
Whether you’re just starting out in your project management career or you want to revisit the fundamentals for some inspiration. The blog explores, “How to keep IT projects firmly on track instead of out of control” and provides some essential tips that will help you save time, money and yourself from going grey ten years early.
The IT Professional’s Guide: Managing Stakeholder Expectations
Good stakeholder management is essential because it forms the backbone of solid project relationships. This means not only identifying stakeholders but also understanding their particular interests and communication needs at various points in the project.
IT budgeting can range from a painful annual process to the actualisation of a carefully crafted IT strategy and roadmap. It can be a difficult exercise and the temptation can be to simply tweak last year's budget, or succumb to arbitrary cuts. This strategic tool helps IT project managers drive their priorities through better budgeting.
5 Ways Project Management Can Help You Hack Digital Transformation
Only 25% of digital transformation projects yield real benefits, according to the Project Management Institute. This blog provides insights on how your organisation can make genuine improvements.
Top 5 podcasts for project managers
HBR IdeaCast
A weekly podcast featuring the leading thinkers in business and management. Great for any project manager who wants a deeper understanding of how businesses function, why certain management strategies work, and how different disciplines interact in the business world.
Lead to Win
Michael Hyatt delves into how you can bring about sustained achievement using executable tactics and tools. Combining research and wisdom, the Lead to Win podcast dives into everything from personal productivity to team leadership.
The Project Management Podcast
The Project Management Podcast is ideal for project managers at any stage of their career. It includes advice from successful project managers from around the globe to help you effectively manage your projects with similar outcomes.
5′ PM Podcast
We love the 5’PM podcast because its episodes are short but insightful. Hosted by project management and strategy implementation expert Ricardo Vargas, these short episodes give you everything you need to know in concise five minute episodes.
People and Projects Podcast: Project Management Podcast
The people and projects podcast is all about delivering projects and leading teams. We love this podcast because it not only delivers quality podcasts but also provides a series of workshops to further you and your team in their roles.
Top 5 Ted Talks for project managers
Stop Managing, Start Leading | Hamza Khan
“Organisations that are growing require management, but people don’t like being managed. So... should millennials be managed?"
The Power of Vulnerability | Brene Brown
Brene Brown describes how those living with a deep sense of worthiness show high levels of, and embrace, vulnerability.
10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation | Celeste Headlee
“Is there any 21st Century skill more important than being able to sustain coherent confident conversation?”
Here’s a quick summary of Celeste’s top tips for great communication and conversations:
- Don’t multitask
- Don’t pontificate
- Use open-ended questions (who, what, when, where, why, how?)
- Go with the flow (let thoughts come and go without being said)
- If you don’t know, say that you don’t know
- Don’t equate your experience with theirs (all experiences are individual, and it’s not about you)
- Try not to repeat yourself
- Stay out of the details (people don’t care about the things that you can’t remember anyway)
- Listen (listen with the intent to understand, not to reply)
- Be brief
A sixth sense for project management | Tres Roeders
Mr. Roeder discusses his experience with change management and the main insights from his best-seller, A Sixth Sense for Project Management.
Scrum: How to do twice as much in half the time | Jeff Sutherland
Jeff Sutherland is a leading expert in organisational management and co-created the SCRUM process. In this talk, he explains how agile concepts can be applied not just in software development to disrupt entire fields.
Are you looking for your next project management challenge? Join the team at FinXL - get in contact today.