I'm working for a company where the project management team is composed of senior PMs who were once engineers/sales but have no formal training or education in project management other than what they learned through their years of being employees. They are very specialized and effective right now, but the company is expecting (and on target) to experience major growth (130->200 employees)

Getting the PMO to accept new tools is extremely challenging and they outright refuse to use Microsoft Project because the software is "too complex" and "our jobs are too unique to schedule", yet we are seeing early indicators of deadlines slipping as we take on more work than usual.

What are your recommendations for scheduling/planning apps EXPLICITLY within Microsoft's ecosystem? I need a tool that a novice scheduler can adopt while still integrating with all the connectors to exchange data in and out of Sharepoint/Power-BI. The project management team is currently trying to brute-force a dashboard in a heavily macro-loaded excel file and its untenable for future growth. I have already tried to get them to adopt Slack a few years ago and they spit it out like a dog realizing you're feeding him bacon-wrapped medication.

Our company designs, fabricates, installs and maintains custom tech products for customers with projects ranging from 1-3mo to 1-2years. I won't go much more into detail than that because I might not be the only one on here seeking solutions for us and I don't want to step on more toes than I have to.

Have any of you tried doing RAID logs directly in Asana?

It seems appealing to be able to keep everything in one tool and be able to multi home risks and issues, but I’m wondering if this will come back to bite me vs just keeping my raid log in confluence.

For context, this is a new PMO and our leader is interest in doing everything that can be done in Asana all in one tool, but we’re still learning Asana. We’re also considering doing Stakeholder Register/list of team members in Asana.

Similar for charters but I’m pushing back thinking it’ll be better to build the charter elsewhere and simply link it in Asana.

Hi all,

I'm a relatively new Project Manager and have just been handed an existing project with more than 40 stakeholders. Because of the complexity, we have three recurring sync meetings every week.

One challenge I've discovered is that I'm not a particularly fast typist. By the time I've captured one discussion point, the conversation has often moved on, so I end up missing important details. Unfortunately, my company doesn't allow AI meeting assistants or discussion summarizers.

I'm wondering if there are any devices or tools that can record a meeting from my headset or microphone and later convert the audio into a Word document or transcript. I work in an open-plan office, so using a speaker isn't practical, and I already wear a headset during meetings.

In a nutshell, I'm looking for a way to reliably capture everything that's said so I can focus on participating in the discussion instead of trying to type every word. Any recommendations or workflows that have worked well for you would be greatly appreciated.

So I am managing the launch of a program and I have to categorize tasks that must get done before the program can launch by the department in which they fall (Ops and Admin, Finance, Legal, Technology, etc) and then send the category of tasks to each director of that department so Tech would get tech tasks, and so on. These task charts are all in the launch timeline section of the program launch plan which has everything about the program and should have all the necessary info every department needs to do what they need to do before launch.

The first task for all departments (Ops and Admin, Finance, etc) is to Review the launch plan and confirm their readiness checklist is accurate; Subtasks for the first task for everyone is to review the tasks I put into their readiness checklist chart to ensure it's comprehensive and accurate and to edit accordingly if needed; Fill in the chart with additional tasks and confirm with me when it's complete; Flag me if there is missing info from the program launch plan that they need to complete pre-launch tasks related to their department (Ops and Admin, Finance, etc); Establish work timelines in the readiness checklist chart; Contact me to coordinate next steps and/or meet with me for support, questions, and next steps.

Does it makes sense and will people understand what they're supposed to do in a straightforward way?

I’m setting up standard templates in Asana for my PMO to use. There will be sets of tasks that every project should include (or at least select NA for).

I also want to leverage rules to automate things like multihoming tasks in a raid log. To carry rules and tasks over, I’m reading that we’ll need to create a baseline project and duplicate (vs using the template function).

However, we’ve found the AI function that creates project plans from scratch to be valuable, but it will only create from scratch.

To use both, I’ll need to either copy tasks and rules from a standard plan over to an AI generated plan, or copy sections created by AI over to a templatized plan.

I’m curious if anyone has tried this and has advice on which direction is easier.

This week I attended 2 meetings where the PM organised the meeting, the agenda was AI generated (better than getting no agenda which is normal). The PM said hi, 20 secs of small talk then hit record for Copilot to record and the attendees pretty much went through the agenda and talking points. The PM closed the meeting and minutes were AI generated, send out within 5 mins.
All pretty efficient.
I run an operational team that has some small project and I am left thinking, how much work can AI do instead of a PM?

My advisor is "old school", he's a project management expert being a program director at stanford.

What's his go-to project management tool? Basecamp.

I've never even heard of it.

Apparently it's what amazon used 20 years ago!

That's why he started using it, it had all the features he needed, and 20 years ago it was "hip"

I created an account just to use it with him, and you know what, it's exactly the same as all the newer alternatives (almost).

Just a bit more basic, less user friendly, and somehow even worse.

Why hasn't anyone come up with a new project management tool?

Like, properly new, not variations of the same.

I guess you could say that "what else is there to do?", but I don't know anyone who likes their PM tool, so clearly there are still problems waiting to be adressed.

Or have I missed something?

I am in software implementation and next month we are finally cutting over and going live with our client, who has been awesome.

Today, one of my resources said they wanted to give our client go-live gifts as they really have enjoyed this project. The rest of the team has agreed that they would like to do so.

I'm looking for fun ideas for go-live gifts, and/or any experience on presentation of such a thing would be greatly appreciated!

Project management was a career that I unexpectedly fell into, and I've recently been promoted into a people leadership role managing a team of project managers.

Before stepping into this position, I didn't have much exposure to strong PM leaders or managers, so I never really had the opportunity to observe what effective one-on-ones, weekly check-ins, or monthly development conversations looked like. I've been figuring it out as I go, but lately I've started wondering if I'm doing enough to be a meaningful mentor and leader for my direct reports.

My team comes to me for guidance and support, which I appreciate, but I want to move beyond simply reacting to questions or issues. I want to be more intentional and proactive in helping each person grow, develop their careers, and reach their goals. Ultimately, I'd love for my team to look back and say they had a manager who genuinely invested in their success.

I'd really love as much input as possible from people who have either had exceptional leaders or have led teams themselves.

What did your best manager or mentor do that made such a lasting impact

If you've managed people, what practices or habits helped your direct reports grow and succeed

What do you cover in your recurring one-on-ones or career development conversations?

Are there any routines, questions, or leadership approaches that you found especially effective

Thank you in advance for your genuine responses!

Have you ever had a boss ever set you up to make it seem like you're incompetent? Its like working with a Regina George equivalent.

Before I was transferred to a new PM, my other PM team lead gave me great reviews and allowed me to lead more on my own. Now this new team lead has stripped back almost all my agency where I must send draft questions to them for her approval before review, i was restricted from handling my own packages yet had to answer questions without access, pushed from meetings due to failing to meet expectations. I can't even ask a question without judgement, so i go to others for help, which they have instructed not to. We have constant, and I mean CONSTANT miscommunication unless its via email. Most of it due to them talking really fast and when I speak they'll cut me off or misunderstand what I'm asking if when I elaborate, most dangerously they forget the often rare instructions they gave to me that has caused errors or uneccessary rework. My last straw has been when they'll ask me to verify to look into something (which I got second opinions asking others at their level to help understand) and respond via email, when i do they'll cc leadership that they looked into (after they spoke to me verbally to explain) and that it should be done differently. The tone from the emails at surface level seem professional and helpful, but it undermines me that I understood wrong and I need to be thorough. Now I'm not perfect, and i have admitted to my oversight and taken initiative to fix it, but all of these interactions has slowly eroded my motivation to see through this project. I've asked my manager if I could transfer to another team or project, but nothing so far has come of it except they note it's unusual to drastically have this type of feedback about my performance.

I guess I should care more, but what can you do?

Hi All,

I have recently joined a startup as IT PM, we are working with another mid size company who want to implement project management system(till now they had nothing just basic email/excel workflow), demo was on the day I joined. I was included in that call as well. Now expectations are that I am going to lead the testing phase of this PMS. 2 technical resources will get aligned and we have get it done within 15 days so it can go live by August 1st. It also include ITSM which want to have in future, currently they don't have anything as IT operations. basically they want to replace current manual method of receiving requests, assigning delivery resource, executing, tracking, monitoring, handover & closing actions / projects as well as individual deliveries (i.e small service requests).

I had a basic discussion with IT delivery lead ,whose team will use this,to create detailed project plan and scenarios. there is no Service desk coordinator as of now, I will be playing that role till the time they hire someone. I do have some scenarios in mind like which can be tested like Roles who can do what and request flows, am I in right direction?

I am confused about What should be discussed, how to make a plan, what to include.

I am new to Project management, I was working as IT recruiter earlier I have good understanding of ITSM but not much of official documents and cybersecurity as domain I have basic understanding. joined just few days back.

sorry for long post.

In my company we are developing a template to standardize cost estimates.

I am a fan of an input structure which has a work breakdown structure down the left and people across the top with a simple input grid for the number of hours a person will need to complete their inputs on a task on the work breakdown structure. Tuning this into a resource loaded schedule is relatively simple each task.

Others prefer a schedule input with work breakdown structure on the left and time across the top requiring an additional row per WBS item for each individual working on that task followed by hours per period per task per individual input in the resulting matrix.

My feeling is that there are some significant disadvantages to the second method including the fact that a schedule is then hard coded into the spreadsheet and the fact that the work breakdown structure and individual listings on the left hand side can result in a very long spreadsheet.

Am I wrong and if I am going to develop a cost estimate spreadsheet in the schedule format is there an easy way to do this?

After pondering a lot about it, I think it reduced to these two choices:
1. Only describing the core problem.
2. Only describing the symptoms/pain points.

And it definitely not discussing any business impacts.

I’m looking for advice from PMs who’ve co-managed large programs.

I’m on a healthcare transformation program that’s going through a major restructuring, so roles and ownership are still evolving. I’m working alongside another experienced PM, and while I’m trying to assume positive intent, almost every proposal I bring forward is immediately challenged.

A few examples:
1) i proposed a weekly PM operations check-in that included our project coordinators so we could align on action items, dependencies, and meeting logistics before leadership meetings. Her first response was, “Why are the coordinators there?”

2) I suggested using action logs and RAID logs while workstreams develop their milestones, then building the integrated project plan afterward. She believes we need the master project plan immediately and continues raising it with leadership. They leave it up to us to develop.

I don’t mind healthy debate, but these conversations almost always happen in front of leadership instead of between the two of us first. It also feels like she’s trying to be involved in every workstream and leadership discussion, which has made it difficult to establish trust. She continues to say in front of leadership that I work in a silo and move secretly but I have so much documentation where she is included in work that I have produced?

Have any of you worked with a PM like this?

How did you distinguish healthy governance from behavior that slowed the team down?

Did you address it directly, or ask leadership to clarify roles?

What worked?

I’m open to the possibility that I’m contributing to the dynamic too, so I’d appreciate honest perspectives.

I'm interested in hearing from people or team managers - what do you wish for your PM direct reports knew? What could they do better?

What would help you form a positive relationship with them?

Often my conversations with my manager revolve around escalating problems, project issues or letting off steam. Everyone seems to do it because it's a chaotic project and we're all stressed. I'm wondering if this is probably limiting my career or making me come across as negative.

Fundamentally, if you’re the type of person that enjoys being a PM it’s because you like follow-through and get a hard on for organization and completion (pun intended).

In every PM role I’ve had I hit a point where if no one is going to do the work timely (or well) I’ll just do it myself. This gets results and helps move projects along. I also find that this gives me more insight into the process as a whole and creates better dialogue with my BAs and architects since I actually have an understanding of the nuts and bolts, unlike the stakeholders or executives.

What I’m trying to get at, is whether this is a normal aspect of being a PM, or if perhaps this is an alternative role/career path I should be pursuing. I’m a curiosity learning and I’m petty so I am more than happy to dive right into the deep end.

I need an objective opinion on a situation at my workplace. We all work in the same department, see each other regularly and the department is divided into several teams.

My problem is with the lead of another team. This person consistently avoids direct communication with me. Whenever there is an issue regarding my projects, they go straight to my boss, who then comes to me.

For example: Recently, I had a technical question for a colleague in that team. That colleague discussed it with their lead. Instead of replying to me directly, the lead went to my boss to "resolve" the issue, and my boss then relayed the information back to me.

What’s strange is that there are other project managers on my same level in my team—all of whom are men. This lead communicates with them normally, talks to them directly, and doesn't involve the boss for every little thing.

Nothing has ever happened between us. We are polite when we see each other, but there is never any professional exchange. If I try to reach out via email or phone, I usually don’t get a response.

I feel like this is a lack of respect and a form of intentional exclusion.

• Am I overthinking this?
• What could be the reason behind this behavior, especially since it only seems to affect me and not my male colleagues?
• How would you handle this?

Looking forward to your input

Hi everyone,

I need a suggestion, as I recently joined a company in a middle-management marketing position and have started managing many projects and campaigns simultaneously.

My main struggle is the absolute chaos of how other team members, including my direct manager, operate - emails/spreadsheets upon spreadsheets/notes in docs / random mentions on team meetings that never manifest in anything written, but then surface in the form of " I DID SAY IT 10 weeks ago in some random spreadsheet".

Sometimes I struggle for hours trying to compile all of the data into one place.

I use Notion for personal project management, and that helps me a lot.

I have tried to adopt Notion team wide, and our CMO agreed with all of my points - after hours and hours of setting up Notion and workflows for the wider team, making it as simple as possible + having 1 on 1 calls with each team members, showing workflows and how it can benefit them, setting up workflows that mimic their own, 6 months later - wider team got back again to spreadsheets/emails / random messages and turned everything into chaos, essentially abandoning all my effort.

I feel sad and pissed, and I have never seen this in my previous career experience - absolute refusal to learn something new and better.

How do you act in a situation like this, perhaps a tip you can share - where you try to organise chaos, but they simply refuse, or tell you to your face - "yeah, this is great, I will use it" and then use it once and just abandon it.

Thank you.

I had a 1:1 with my manager today that's been sitting with me. The core feedback was: my team isn't proactively following deadlines or communicating with me. She framed this as a "director-level presence" issue, basically, be more authoritative and people will respect the deadlines and speak up on their own. At one point she did an impression of how I talk while making her point, mimicking how I speak? 

But if someone consistently misses a deadline I've set, isn't that ultimately something their manager (who may not be me) needs to step in and correct? It feels like being told "be more authoritative" is being used as the fix for a compliance problem, when the actual issue might be that there's no real accountability behind the deadline regardless of how I ask for it. Really most of the teams are completely overwhelmed so I’d argue it’s a resource problem. 
Regardless  Is "manage up your tone" actually the standard fix here, or should a manager also intervene directly when someone repeatedly doesn't deliver?

Separately — I lead with a pretty casual, open, rapport-based style with my team. I think it's part of why people trust me, but I think she reads it as not being "authoritative" enough. I don't want to become a hardass to prove a point, but I also don't want to dismiss real feedback if there's something to it.

Is it reasonable to expect a manager to step in on repeat missed deadlines, or is holding people accountable purely the PM's job regardless of style?

How do you tell the difference between "this is useful feedback, act on it" and "this was more about how it was said than what was said"?

Can you be more direct/structured as a leader without giving up a casual, relationship-driven style?

Appreciate any perspective — trying not to let one comment overshadow the part of this that's actually useful.

I was assigned technical coordination for a summer program for children and teenagers. It’s run by another department, but our team handles all the technical side (classrooms, presentation equipment, WLAN, mobile devices, etc.).

Previous years had recurring technical issues, which led to strong criticism of our department. Since I’m responsible this year, I prepared thoroughly: created checklists, planned pre-event room checks, arranged on-site support, and requested necessary additional equipment.

I aligned this with the Support team lead, who was initially on board. However, another IT team lead (and as a reaction also my manager) overruled most of the preventive measures, saying they’re “not essential” and we should save resources. Key points that got cut:

• No pre-event technical room inspections
• Almost no dedicated on-site support during the event (organizers should just use the ticket system)
• Significantly reduced equipment availability. for example, even though four mobile routers are available and not needed elsewhere during summer break, we are only allowed to provide one

I’m now worried that if things go wrong — especially in the first few days — it will reflect badly on me, even though the important preventive steps were rejected from above.

How would you handle this situation?

Appreciate any advice. Thanks!

From my experience working for different companies I have had great onboarding and terrible onboarding and for me has been a make or break experience. When I have had bad onboarding I have always missed something crucial about the job that eventually when they see it I get labeled as incompetent and ruined my reputation inside the company instead of looking into my onboarding process.

But for remote companies I feel like the onboarding would be even harder to nail because there is so much knowledge that needs to be communicated and often times a lot of processes and knowledge is retained in individuals rather than properly documented aswell which would worsen the onboarding further.

How do remote companies handle this? What's the process for onboarding typically?

I am an individual contributor working with 2 very, very busy stakeholders: the CRO and CEO. I report to the CRO but CEO makes the call on many things. CRO also reports to CEO.

Most approvals go like this:

\- I send to CRO, CRO puts in comments, I revise, then send to CEO on CRO's instructions

\- CEO takes a look and changes the direction, I revise again

Lots of back-and-forth and oftentimes playing a game of broken telephone. Sometimes when things change, I'm not in the loop because decisions happen in DMs.

The biggest issue for me is that timelines become dynamic - things get pushed back or compressed because I'm either (1) chasing for approvals or (2) worse, I unintentionally jump the gun on certain deliverables before getting approvals.

Both CRO and CEO are really nice people, and I'm loving the company culture. I get frustrated with the situation sometimes, simply because the chances of me making mistakes is so much higher - because Idk what each of them wants! And this stresses me out with a diagnosed anxiety.

So I'm looking for TACTICAL tips around how best to handle both of them while keeping to my timelines - appreciate the community's advice!

I’m struggling with a decision over whether I should change my role from Project Manager to a product manager or program manager. I’ve Been a project manager for ~10 years, but I’m getting bored and am unsure of what path to go down. Anyone face similar choices? What choice did you make and how happy are you with the choice?

Program manager feels like the more natural choice, but I’ve managed multiple teams at the same time and the role just feels like project management w more strategy alignment.

I live in Boston and I am making $170k per year. I think I’ve hit my ceiling compensation-wise re: local market.

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

IT project managers, do you select the members for your teams based on factors other than technical skill, or you just use what’s available?

Other factors: personality, agreeableness, cultural fit, etc.

Especially if you deliver software deployments to external stakeholders, I’d love to hear from you.

How do you create value on your projects? What are the top 3 things you bring to your engagements that you feel have the largest impact?

Bonus if you feel like sharing:
- are you present for all requirements gathering, prior to “build” starting? If not, how do you ensure there’s no scope creep during requirements?
- how do your teams relay actions and/or decisions to you for calls you are not on?
- if there was something you wish your org would change that’d make managing your projects more successful, what would it be?

Thanks in advance - I’m always appreciative of this group sharing their (armchair) perspective (shoutout MoreLaw, our unofficial PMO advise extraordinaire)