Key takeaways
- Planning meetings deserve as much preparation as the projects they plan.
- Empathy has become part of the PM body of knowledge, not just a soft skill.
- Facilitation tactics and handling difficult attendees keep meetings productive.
- Remote meetings need their own facilitation approach.
- A plan can still be assembled when there is no time for a full planning meeting.
About this episode
“Ironically, a lot of these planning meetings are about planning a very well directed project, but often not a lot of time or preparation goes into planning for the meetings.”
If you’re a Time Limit listener, you’re likely stretched for time. And that means everything can feel rushed. But if there’s anything you can learn from this episode, it’s that taking the time to plan your work and your meetings will save you time--and anxiety--in the long-run of your projects. In this episode, we interviewed Rich Maltzman and Jim Stewart, co-authors of the new book How To Facilitate Productive Prioject Planning Meetings. In this focused conversation with two very experienced project managers and educators, a vriety of topics around managing meetings is covered:
- Common barriers PMs face when creating plans
- The need for empathy, and its new inclusion in the PMBOK
- Helpful meeting facilitation tactics
- How to handle meeting “goblins”
- Tips to facilitate remote meetings
- How to pull a plan together even if you don’t have the time for a planning meeting
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- How To Facilitate Productive Prioject Planning Meetings
- The Long Distance Leader by Kevin Eikenbetter and Wayne Turmel
- Debbie Downer