Patrick Mayfield
I remember when I had a role in a large corporate, years ago. I described a particular director to a colleague as difficult. They were surprised. “Really? I know he is a bit gruff, but he really means well. Catch him in the right moment and he will listen to you.” And so it was. […]
I was talking with a friend the other day, about when we are under stress how we begin to express ourselves. During high levels of stress, adrenaline drives us to be task-focused and focused inward on our emotions. It’s harder for us to engage with others with empathy. And so it is harder for us […]
The project manager can often thinking of relationships with their stakeholders as for a season, and then done. This is probably a mistake.
You are leading a new project, a new initiative, a new change, and you are explaining that to someone whom you need to help you. You expect them to welcome your new future with open arms.
Instead, their reaction surprises you, and maybe even hurts a little.
You are leading a new project, a new initiative, a new change, and you are explaining that to someone whom you need to help you. You expect them to welcome your new future with open arms.
Instead, their reaction surprises you, and maybe even hurts a little.
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to interview a couple of my clients from the British Antarctic Survey: Linda Capper, who is the Head of Communications, and Andy Jeffries, the Programme Manager for the new polar research vessel, the RRS Sir David Attenborough. I was honoured to be invited to the launch of the […]
Some years ago we conducted some research into high performers in project management, and one of the outstanding differences between them and the control group was a significant behaviour we called Leaning to People. The high performers seemed to get their results because they gave time to the critical relationships around themselves. This behaviour was an […]
Yesterday, I dropped by one of pearcemayfield’s courses to see Richard Rose, the CEO, and trainer on this event. The course was on AgilePM©. And I saw the diagram above drawn on a flipchart. I’ve seen this before and I’ve noted the way Richard does it. He tells a story as he draws what is a […]
“The customer community is very unreasonable,” my client told me. “They won’t listen to my ideas, and seem to reject them before I have finished explaining.” I’ve heard similar such statements from different clients more than once. There is pain in this. And also a little pride. Maybe it has a subtext of, “My customer […]
One of my projects right now is helping the opening of a new local school for 5 to 11-year-olds. Since the government likes the idea, much of this will be publicly-funded, which means we need to evidence demand for the school by getting parents to sign up before it opens. So, I was with another […]