Unleashing the Power of Project Management with Val Hinze

Mighty Citizen's Val Hinze joins the podcast to offer a preview of her upcoming 2024 Digital PM Summit Talk "Unleashing the Power of Project Management: A Path to Scalable Growth"

You can watch the video interview here

You can listen to an audio version here

The 2024 Digital PM Summit will take happen in Austin, TX on October 14-15, 2024. To learn more about the Summit and come attend Val's talk go here: https://bureauofdigital.com/event/digital-pm-summit-2024

Are you the hero or the villain in your team? w/ Carl Smith and Jesse Wroblewski

Most of us tend to view ourselves as the hero of the story, but it's a pretty safe bet that Darth Vader also thought he was the good guy.  So how do you know if you're actually the villain? Carl Smith and Jesse Wroblewski join the podcast to share ideas on how to figure out if you're Batman or The Joker on your team.

You can find the podcast here.

Takeaways

• Being a hero or a villain is subjective and depends on the perspective of others.
• Leaders should be aware of their actions and the impact they have on their team.
• Empathy and self-reflection are important in avoiding villainous behavior.
• True communication and understanding can help build stronger relationships within a team. Difficult conversations and honest feedback are crucial for effective leadership.
• Fear and pressure can lead to toxic leadership, and it's important to find healthy ways to manage negative energy.
• Having a coach and seeking unfiltered feedback can help improve self-awareness.
• Decommoditization is a strategy to differentiate oneself in a competitive market.
• The Bureau community is a supportive and inspiring network for professionals.

When Sprint Planning Is Like Hunger Games with Meghan McInerny

“What advice do you have on structuring sprint planning meetings in an agency setting with different product owners and project teams (when each PM is 'competing' for the same development resources)?" 

That is the question I got during the Q&A portion of a webinar I did recently for The Bureau of Digital on how to make Sprint Planning work better.

In this episode of the podcast I am joined by  Meghan McInerny. We talk though the issues, risks, and opportunities that come with a “Hunger Games” approach to Sprint Planning and offer some advice on how to cope with and/or resolve the problem defined in the question above. 

You can find the interview with Meghan here (on the ProjectManagement.com site).

Side Note: The webinar I did for the Bureau of Digital focused on the new version of my Sprint Capacity Calculator and how to get the most out of Sprint Planning. These webinars are normally available in a recorded format only to members of the Bureau, but they are very kind and have made this one public in case you’d like to check it out after listening to the podcast. You'll find it here.

Abby Fretz - Your Clients Are Your Students

You go to conferences… and there are moments when you pick stuff up that can help you do your job. But, once and awhile, there are those special moments when people share things in sessions that permanently change how you look at the work you do. It’s rare… but it’s awesome.

That happened for me this September in Memphis at the 2018 Digital PM Summit. I attended a session led by Abby Fretz called "Sustaining the Project Honeymoon Phase: How to Build Effective Client Education.” In the session, Abby drew a connection between the relationship we have with our clients and the relationships students have with teachers. She reminded everyone that all of our clients are not just emotional humans, but they are also family members, friends, and experts, and that we need to care for them as a teacher would care for a student. Moreover, she reminded everyone that as much as we are the teachers of our clients, they are our teachers as well.

I wish someone had said this to me 20 years ago.

In this podcast, Abby and I discuss her session from the 2018 Digital PM Summit, what led her to her metaphor, and how it has impacted her work. There is some powerful stuff in this interview and I hope it will be as valuable for you as it was for me. I am very indebted to Abby for teaching me something that seems like such common sense— I’m a little ashamed I had not though of clients this way before.


Here are some of the links mentioned in the podcast:
Digital Pm Summit: https://bureauofdigital.com/abby-fretz-1/
DPM Philly Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/DPM-Philly/
Louder Than 10: https://louderthanten.com
Eastern Standard: https://www.easternstandard.com


If you'd like to get in touch with Abby you can reach her at:
Web: http://abbyfretz.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/abbyfretz
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbyfretz/

Suze Haworth at 2018 Digital PM Summit

Suzanna Haworth gave a talk at the 2018 Digital PM Summit called "Adapting Agile: How to Make a Blended Agile Approach Work For You". Agile and Digital can be an odd fit. In her talk Suze focused on how digital agencies can begin introducing agile practices into their workflow in order to realize some of the benefits that agility can provide.

The talk was very popular. So popular in fact, that I wasn't able to get in.
Fortunately Suze was kind enough to let me interview her about her session once she got back home to London. In this interview she shares some of the key points from her session and explains her take on hybrid approaches to bringing agile and a traditional (waterfall) approach together.

If you work at a digital agency and you're trying to figure out how to make agile fit, there are some great tips in here for you.



(Also, apologies for some of the background noise - they were doing construction in the apartment above mine and it could not be helped.)

If you'd like to get in touch with Suze to ask her some follow up questions, here is her contact info:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanna-haworth-55073616/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/suzehaworth
Web: https://suzannahaworth.com

2018 Digital PM Summit - An Interview with Aaron Irizarry on Creating Personas

A few weeks ago the 2018 Digital PM Summit was held in Memphis. This is the 6th year the conference has been held and the Bureau of Digital put together another incredibly inspiring conference. The event focuses on helping PMs in who work in the Digital space amp up their ability to practice their craft. During the conference, Aaron Irizarry gave a presentation called “Laying the Groundwork: Building Foundations for High-Performing Teams”. Aaron is currently working as a Design Director at Capital One.

After Aaron’s session we had the chance to sit down and record a podcast on how to create Personas. During the interview we talk about why personas are so important how to go about creating archetypes, personas, how to conduct proxy interviews and keep your own bias from influencing your results, and how much detail you should include when you are putting them together.

Aaron is also the co-author of Discussing Design: Improving Communication and Collaboration through Critique. 

If you’d like to get in touch with Aaron with additional questions or to hear more about his session at the Summit, you can reach him via Twitter at https://twitter.com/aaroni