Rebles Guide to PM

1. How To Make 2026 A Successful Year for Your Projects

   

   Would you like to make 2026 a successful year for your projects? I'm sure you do -- it's kind of expected for us in project delivery roles.

   But what does it take to be successful? What does success even look like for you? That's the starting point: what does it mean to be successful or to have successful projects?

   For me, it means:

   • A decent work/life balance
   • Fun, manageable projects that don't feel like dramas all the time
   • The support of my PMO and sponsors, and reasonable demands from management
   • Being able to get things done and deliver tasks, hit milestones and demonstrate that I am delivering.

   Is that the same as for you?

   Possibly not, but you'll have your own ideas about what it will look like, when you reflect back in December 2024, that define personal and professional success for you in the preceding 12 months.

   So that's what we define as success. But how do we get there?

   The skill that will make you successful as a project leader

   I think professional judgement is what sets excellent project managers apart from good project managers.

   Business acumen and the ability to navigate office politics help you get work done when your project isn't textbook.

   This year, I think we'll see (and expect) more and more good project managers flexing their professional judgement. You want to do an agile-waterfall blend with a virtual team? If it works for you, just do it.

   You want to get commitment from project sponsors? Put a recommendation forward about how things are going to be different. Be braver. Be bolder.

   Generally, in my experience, if you are acting in the interests of your projects and your organization, no one is likely to fire you over your actions. So assume positive intent from your stakeholders and trust your judgement!

   We have more flexibility to adapt project approaches to our environment than ever before, but we need to have a solid basis for making the right call before we make tailoring decisions. Plus it helps to be a bit brave and to have someone in your corner!

   Mentoring is one way to take control of your own development needs. I think the complexities of your project management environment will encourage more managers to seek out mentors and coaches for themselves and their teams.

   

   But that's just my view. A while back, I asked project management experts what we should be aware of as we go into the new year to achieve their most successful year ever?

   And this article is a summary of what they replied.

   The collected wisdom in their answers is incredibly valuable. I'm sure you take away tips and ideas for making this your best year yet managing projects at work.

   It's a lot to read, so here are some spoilers drawn from common themes I heard time and time again in the interviews:

   • Agile: if you don't know enough about it, you need to start learning.
   • Soft skills, interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence: whatever you call it, these are crucial and stakeholder management and communication come out top time and time again.
   • Leadership: ethical, authentic leadership is what helps get work done and set you apart from your peers.

   And in no particular order we start with:

   Mark Phillips

   

   High performing teams are motivated by an exceptional vision. Work with your stakeholders to craft a clear and powerful vision for your project or your particular phase of the project. The vision becomes a touchstone for difficult discussions with stakeholders, a path to unity for all project participants and a guide post for decision making with your team throughout the project.

   These past few years have seen an incredible evolution in the way software is built. In these next years, we're going to see a new wave of what software can do with the growing capabilities of machine learning, artificial intelligence and data pipelines across enterprises.

   Mark Phillips runs a consultancy focused on high performing projects. He is the author of Reinventing Communication by Routledge, a book on how to design, lead and manage high performing projects.

   You can see Mark's book, and all the other experts' books on Amazon here.

   ---

   Ranjit Sidhu

   

   As we go into next year, you should be aware that self-care and wellbeing are trends worth promoting not only because they feel good, but because they lead to better productivity and happier people.

   The extension of self-care is caring for others, also crucial for project management and change management. Connecting with people, collaborating, partnering, so you can inspire enthusiasm, overcome resistance, and help make change happen.

   Going with the flow seems to go against years of traditional project management thinking, but we have found it easier to do by focusing on our bigger purpose and values, all while remaining agile day-to-day so we can adapt quickly. It's how we can help people and organisations adapt in fast-changing times.

   Ranjit Sidhu, Managing Director of ChangeQuest, is a recognised authority on change management and behavioural skills. Find her on Twitter.

   ---

   Ben Aston

   

   It might seem like we could let our increasingly agile, multi-disciplinary, and highly collaborative teams just get on with it. You'd be forgiven for thinking you'll be fine if you just go along for the ride as a glorified project administrator.

   But we can do better. Successful project managers will be those that embrace the mantle of leadership.

   This starts with a solid understanding of success, beyond  cost, schedule and scope. Think about how you're delivering on the project's strategic goals and how you'll be able to demonstrate the ROI that your stakeholders need to look good. Remember your stakeholders' tacit goals too -- you're in the rockstar-making business. Make them look good, and in turn, they'll make you look good.

   When you know what success looks like you can inspire, motivate and lead the team with a clear unifying vision. Help your team get hold of the vision and understand why they should care and how they can take ownership to be meaningfully involved.

   Throughout the project, leadership is simple: you serve your team. Project leadership is about how far you can advance those on your team to be the best version of themselves. Practically that means asking yourself how are you going to make your team's life better today? A well-documented plan? Proper briefs? Donuts? Be the person that moves mountains for them. And they'll repay you in kind.

   Ben Aston runs the blog The Digital Project Manager, the weekly Digital Project Manager podcast, and is a digital project manager in real life too.

   

   ---

   John Estrella

   

   We can't ignore PMI's direction to incorporate adaptive life cycles such as agile, iterative or incremental life cycles into project and development life cycles.

   External factors around projects are constantly changing at a breakneck speed which makes it challenging to definitively control the outcome without frequent course correction.

   [lasso id="30401" link_id="286620" ref="pmbok-guide-7"]

   PMI's Project Management Professional (PMP)® credential will continue to thrive. It can serve as a baseline, but most project managers ought to layer some sort of agile certification on top of it. Brain Sensei's Complete PMP® Exam Prep course can be taken anytime and anywhere. Its unique storytelling approaching using a Japanese female samurai makes learning project management and preparing for the PMP exam so much fun!

   John A. Estrella, PhD, CMC, PMP, is Co-Founder and President of Agilitek Corporation and Brain Sensei, Inc. John is the co-author of Agile Project Management for Mobile Application Development.

   ---

   Mike Clayton

   

   Focus hard on your communication with stakeholders. Whatever your level of commitment to this vital task, please review how you can do even better. This may be by adopting a new tool or approach, learning some new skills in listening, influence, or negotiation, or maybe simply allocating more time to it.

   DrMike Claytonis one of the most in-demand project management trainers in the UK. He is author of 13 best-selling books, including four about project management. He runs the online training site, OnlinePMCourses.com.

   ---

   Helena Lui

   

   Agile project management is on the rise. Learning the different methodologies in Agile (e.g. XP, scrum, lean, etc.) and how to apply it can be extremely beneficial: that's what I would advise for people wanting to have a year of managing successful projects.

   Helena Liu, PMP, is a project manager and the founder of ExamsPM, an organisation that helps PMP-aspirants get certified.

   ---

   Sarah Parsons

   

   For a successful year my number one piece of advice is to do the basics well. Communicate thoroughly, be consistent and remember that your role is focused on both getting the work done and supporting the team.

   This isn't ground-breaking, but a surprising number of project managers don't do the basics well.

   If someone emails you, email them back. If you owe someone information, or have promised to deliver something, deliver it. If you said you'd have an answer and you don't, communicate that early, clearly and with a solution in mind.

   Consistently do the basics of your job well and you will stand out from the majority of your peers.

   Sarah Parsons, MBA and founder of StrategySarah.com, helps busy professionals make it easier to get life and business done.

   ---

   Bill Dow

   

   With the likes of PowerBI and Tableau taking off around dashboard and reporting, I think our executives and leadership are going to want to see more project data real time.

   Bill Dow, PMP, is a recognised expert in developing and managing Project Management Offices (PMOs.) He is co-author several comprehensive books, and runs regular webinars which you can find out about on his Facebook page.

   ---

   Jonathan Norman

   

   I suspect that we may be faced with increasing political turbulence, which may have a significant impact on your organization or the projects that you are running.

   The lesson I need to remember is that, whilst experimenting is an integral part of innovation, the most successful programs are those that recognize the ongoing needs of business-as-usual and balance the tried and tested with the new.

   Jonathan Norman was the Knowledge Manager for the Major Projects Knowledge Hubin the UK and is now a freelance contractor.

   ---

   Monica Borrell

   

   I am noticing two trends. First, virtual teams are becoming the norm. Second, the use of lean and agile tools and methodologies beyond IT, software and manufacturing. For example, Cardsmith has customers using Kanban to manage bookkeeping and accounting work.

   These two trends taken together mean that visual, collaborative tools are becoming more important to teams. Visual, lean tools that truly engage all team members are going to become essential.

   Collaboration with context is my current mantra. The context is the visual board in whatever configuration best suits the particular project and team.

   Monica Borrell, PMP, is the CEO and co-founder of Cardsmith, a visual planning, communication, and project management tool.

   ---

   Colin Ellis

   

   The secret to continual project success lies in the ability to build great teams. Teams that understand what it means to be the best versions of themselves, how to hold each other to account, how to behave and communicate.

   Teams that know how to challenge each other, to work autonomously to deliver great products and that take responsibility when others are struggling.

   Teams that take the time to celebrate success, to socialize and that put effort into  relentlessly developing themselves and the way that they do things.

   Empathy lies at the heart of great teams and project managers should be role models for this, putting time and effort into demonstrating the behaviors expected of others and building relationships so that bonds can be built and maintained.

   Project managers, and scrum masters for that matter, that wish to stay
   relevant for years to come need to develop their emotional intelligence and team building skills.

   Colin Ellisis an award-winning international project management speaker and trainer. He is the author of two project management books:The Conscious Project Leader and The Project Rots from the Head. Find out more about Colin's work at colindellis.com
   

   ---

   Soma Bhattacharya

   

   Agile has been the trendiest thing for a while now and recently we have  seen Agile considerably embedded in the project management domain, globally.

   I think the goal for every project manager should be to upgrade their certification to an Agile Project Management Certification or simply ensure that you understand how Agile works, the terminologies and the different frameworks in it.

   Soma Bhattacharya is an Agile consultant.

   ---

   Vasil Klimko

   

   As collaboration software evolves, project managers will be able to further expand their scope for talent. Highly talented freelancers no longer need to travel into a major metropolis to find work in their industry.

   What I think we'll see next year is that tools will be developed that will allow these freelancers to take their credibility with them across projects, allowing potential employers to judge work and merit based on data and results, not just word of mouth.

   I see a future where Project Managers will be able to reference a talent hub to see how freelancers have delivered work in the past as well as view client feedback.

   Vasil Klimko is a sales and operations management specialist.

   ---

   Brett Harned

   

   The best way to make next year your most successful year yet is to plan for it! It sounds like such a PM thing to say, but it's true. As PMs, we so often are focused on other people's (team members, stakeholders) goals that we often fail to think of ourselves.

   We love lists, so get to it: you know you'll feel great if you have a roadmap for the year and you can meet milestones regularly. That, in and of itself, will make the year a success.

   Brett Harned is a Partner at Same Team Partners, author of Project Management for Humans, and the founder of the Digital PM Summit.

   

   ---

   Nicole Nader

   

   I believe that the fastest and most effective way to make my team the best team is for me to be my best self.

   People respond instinctively to body language, words, tone and enthusiasm: if my verbal and physical cues indicate that I am uninspired and unmotivated, then why would I expect my team to have pep in their step and a passion for what they are doing?

   For me, my best self starts by prioritizing the routines that bring about my best performance. This means putting my health (physical and mental), fitness and family first, even when everyone else is throwing their own problems in my direction. It's only when I have this in hand that I can really start to relate to my team on a personal level, find out what makes them tick, and truly lead by example.

   Nicole Nader was a Board member of the Australian Institute of Project Management in 2018.

   

   ---

   Andy Kaufman

   

   To be more successful in the coming year, the most important thing you can do is to learn how to calculate critical path by hand.

   Hah! That's not even remotely true! For most project managers, your success in the new year has less to do with your technical project management skills. Rather, as with most years, your ability to thrive has much more to do with your ability to lead and influence.

   As I work with project managers around the world, increasingly there's one success trait that I find could use a tune-up. In a word, it's assertiveness.

   Here's what I wish for you as you start a new year. Dial up your assertiveness, even if just a little. Speak up a little more often. Lean in a little more to the opportunities before you. Try some new things you may have checked out on.

   Andy Kaufman, PMP, is an international speaker, author, and executive coach at the Institute for Leadership Excellence & Development Inc. He is the author of Navigating the Winds of Change: Staying on Course in Business and Life and Shining the Light on the Secret. He is also the host ofThe People and Projects Podcast.

   ---

   Louise Worsley

   

   As a project coach, I get many opportunities to ask the question, "What did you learn from most over the last few years?" So far no one has ever answered; "There was this great course..."

   Most adult learning comes from relevant experience: challenges faced on a project, interactions with peers, or opportunities which force reflection upon and make sense of our experience.

   Creating your personal learning environment is more than just responding to immediate needs in the workplace. It's a way of life, a way of becoming a modern professional learner to meet today's ever changing challenges.

   Louise Worsley is a PPPM consultant and a visiting lecturer in project management at The University of Cape Town. She is also the author of Stakeholder-led Project Management: Changing the way we manage projects.

   ---

   Robin Burk

   

   The effective project manager has a way to deal with unexpected change and uncertainty. She builds resilience into her team, her approach and her response to unanticipated events.

   Resilience means being able to absorb unexpected events and changes while still reaching your goals. The effective project manager can do even more: she can build a team that is so resilient they are antifragile and thrive on change. And that will be increasingly important.

   Dr. Robin Burk has extensive project, program and executive management experience in rapidly changing tech markets. She is the managing director of Analytic Decisions2 LLC and author of Check Your Connections: How to Thrive in an Uncertain World.

   ---

   Ray McKenzie

   

   There's an increase in distributed teams, personnel, and abilities within organizations. The ability to capitalize on the strengths of distributed teams is in project management.

   As distributed teams continue to evolve in the workplace and for companies, it is extremely important to select the right tools to ensure a project is completed successfully. Project managers should utilize tools that provide visibility for the entire team, provide clear structure for projects, embrace an agile or waterfall methodology, and those that encourage collaboration.

   This can be through one suite of tools or two tools that provide project management and collaboration. I recommend the use of newer SaaS tools allowing all project team members to participate, provide feedback, and work towards successful projects.

   Ray McKenzie, CSM, is Founder and Principal of Red Beach Advisors, a management and business consultant group.

   ---

   Cristian Rennella

   

   Focus on decreasing interruptions for your team. Also, aim to have fewer goals. Because when you define your goals, remember that the difference is not in quantity but in quality.

   Instead of 5 goals define only 3, the most important. Work on them with dedication and excellence.

   The difference in your work is in the depth that you can give to each topic. That way you will achieve perfection in your profession and success in the long term.

   Eng. Cristian Rennella is the CEO of GOcuotas.

   ---

   Scott Perry

   

   Most of my early career, my main approach to managing my projects could be described as being mostly "administrative" or "coordinating" in nature. My focus was probably too much on things like reporting, data, status meetings, and reaching schedule dates no matter what - sometimes at the expense of quality!

   These things are important, yes. But what I'm finding now - and am more convinced of - is that a key ingredient in being an effective project manager is being an effective leader.

   A good project manager is at his or her core a good leader! They know how to influence, motivate, create and communicate a vision. They have soft skills, can lead up and down, and can adequately manage organizational politics so that their project can advance as planned.

   Scott Perry, PMP, is a project manager based in North Carolina, USA.

   ---

   Joe Pusz

   

   Project managers should be aware of how important soft skills are to ensure a successful career. Often times PMs get caught up in the Agile vs Waterfall debate, or is the schedule perfect, or are all the words spelled correctly in a requirements document.

   All of those are important, but not as much as learning to be an effective communicator, team builder, negotiator, and motivator. To make next year a successful year I'd recommend project managers focus on these soft skills to become better leaders.

   Joe Pusz is President of The PMO Squad, a project management consulting firm. He has 20+ years as a project manager and PMO leader. Find out more or participate in his Veterans mentoring scheme on the website.

   ---

   Leigh Espy

   

   Agile practices are increasing in popularity. Even if your team is not adopting full Agile methodology, there are beneficial Agile practices teams can use.

   The retrospective is an easy one to use to help the team continuously improve. Do this by getting team feedback at various stages on what the team could do better. You can then incorporate any suggested improvements during the project rather than waiting for the information from a "lessons learned" activity at the very end.

   Leigh Espy, PMP, SPC, CSM, is an experienced IT project manager and coach. She is the author of Bad Meetings Happen to Good People: How to Run Meetings That Are Effective, Focused, and Produce Results.

   ---

   Susanne Madsen

   

   More and more project managers are waking up to the fact that projects aren't just about tasks and schedules, but also very much about people. But we still have a long way to go.

   Everyone would like to be part of a high performing team, but too few managers and leaders put in the effort to create one.

   I would encourage all project managers to be more mindful when they form a new project team, to properly engage people in the definition and planning stages and to take the time to explore what they expect of each other in terms of behaviors.

   I would also encourage project managers to be more innovative. The world is developing at an unprecedented speed and to keep up we have to continuously look at how we can improve the products and services we deliver along with the tools and processes we use to deliver them.

   To get better at improving and innovating it is imperative that project managers create a safe environment for the team to express their ideas and that they set time aside for unstructured thinking. If all they value is compliance and control they will kill innovation.

   Susanne Madsen is an internationally recognized project leadership coach, trainer and consultant. She is the author of The Power of Project Leadership and The Project Management Coaching Workbook.

   ---

   Amy Hamilton

   

   Next year will be a year for ethical and authentic leadership for project managers. Recent events in both the United States and the world have shown that scandals and sensationalism doesn't work.

   Project managers will need to not only have expert technical knowledge to include how to build a work breakdown structure or how to calculate earned value management, but soft skills on how to communicate. In IT project management, especially cybersecurity, technical team members are in demand and they know that they don't have to work for an unethical or draconian project manager.

   Emotional intelligence and understanding the needs of team members will be important to keep top quality team members on board. The newest edition of the PMI standards captures the increasing need for communication management for project success.

   Amy Hamilton, PMP, CISM, is the author of The Project Manager: Life is a Project, TEDx speaker and IT project management expert.

   ---

   Sarah Coleman

   

   I would like to see PMs across industry sectors and geographies balancing their technical skills set with the behavioral and social skills set. There is an increasing awareness of the impact and importance of behavioral sciences as part of the design, planning and delivery of projects, programs, portfolios and change.

   I am particularly passionate about the need for project managers to comfortably influence without authority, moving easily around the organization between the C-suite and operational levels as well as across client and supplier organizations. This is a skill and part of the toolkit which every project professional needs in order to be that much more effective.

   Sarah Coleman is founder of Business Evolution and is author of Organizational Change Explained and Project Leadership. She is a Visiting Fellow at Cranfield University.

   ---

   Traci Duez

   

   Project management used to be about DOING. In today's global economy, resources have more options when it comes to employment. These resources want to work for people who are more than task masters. So, then the shift was on to LEADERSHIP.

   Before someone can become a good leader, they must be a good SELF-LEADER. This is more about BEING than DOING. You see, you can't BE a project manager. You can only be a human being who manages projects. The role you play is not the same as the person you are. You can always BE even if you don't always DO the role.

   Traci Duez is a leadership development specialist, author, speaker and the founder of Break Free Consulting. She has over 20 years of experience spanning medical technologist to project manager and executive consultant. She's also the author of Breaking Free: Leading the Way.
   

   ---

   Jonathan Clay

   

   Next year why not make sure you step outside of your comfort zone and do something that scares you every month? If you are scared then it means you are testing yourself.

   You gain new skills and knowledge that will help you to excel in both your professional and personal life. I've been doing this for years and I never fail to be surprised at what I learn.

   Jonathan Clay, PMP, MSP, is a past President of PMI UK Chapter and a project manager in the financial services industry.

   ---

   Linky van der Merwe

   

   For project managers to remain relevant in the world of project complexity, remote teams and continuous change, we would want to be strategic, flexible all-rounders with an ability to do creative thinking. This will come with support from PMO's who can read the current business landscape and who will provide the necessary training to develop all project support personnel to support all types of projects.

   The need for Lean thinking and developing an Agile mindset supporting the Agile values and principles in the way we work, has increased. With the demand for successful project delivery bigger than ever before, the emphasis has moved to the speed with which value (benefits) can be delivered to Business.

   Although existing technical, leadership and other soft skills will remain relevant, the need for higher emotional intelligence will grow, not only for project leaders, but also for team members to become high performing teams.

   Linky van der Merwe (PMP, PMI-ACP) is a project management consultant with experience in IT projects in various industries for 20 years. As the Founder of Virtual Project Consulting, she collects and shares project success stories from experienced project practitioners and she recommends comprehensive PM resources to help develop aspiring and existing project professionals.

   ---

   Todd Williams

   

   I am continually amazed at how many people refuse to be accountable.

   To be sure, I am not simply talking to project managers. This is an issue with executives as much as with people in the immediate project team. Being accountable is not synonymous with a target for blame. Accountability entails making and delegate decisions. Accountability cannot be delegated; that is called scapegoating.

   We teach our teams to be accountable by being accountable ourselves and holding our team members to being accountable to themselves. Breeding accountability in our superiors requires the same, but also takes the fortitude to hold superiors accountable through their peers and your relentless accounting of decisions. Regardless, it starts with you.

   Todd C. Williams, PMP, is the author of Filling Execution Gaps and Rescue the Problem Project. He is an executive consultant with three decades of experience helping organizations connect strategy to successful projects.

   ---

   Gary Lloyd

   

   When projects get tough, it's relationships not processes that make the difference between success and failure. Processes can break down under pressure and you need to be able to have honest conversations with stakeholders and team members.

   I have two pieces of simple advice that can help you build great relationships and have those difficult conversations.

   The first piece of advice is to remember that: it's not what you say, it's what people hear.

   What people hear depends on their story about you and way the world works. They have a different mental model of the world and a bundle of beliefs about you and your intention. So pause before you speak or write. Consider what the other person will hear or read, given their assumptions and beliefs.

   That leads me on to the second, related piece of advice. Before you speak or write, ask yourself: will it help? Think like a gardener, not a mechanic.
   

   Project managers tend to be an analytical bunch. We have a touching belief that the facts will speak for themselves. This can make it tempting set others straight, to point out a mistake, or lay blame.

   Gary Lloyd has been leading IT enabled change for over 20 years, in banking and financial markets. He is also on the executive coaching panel for Warwick Business School, a steering committee member of the School's mentoring program.

   ---

   Phew! What an amazing range of perspectives! (And thank you, for making it to the end!)

   

   A version of this article first appeared in 2020.

   This article first appeared on Rebel's Guide to Project Management and can be read here: How To Make 2026 A Successful Year for Your Projects

2. How to use an action log (& free template)

   

   My To Do list is massive. So I have developed an action log to control my tasks, and those of the project team.

   You can do the same, and honestly, it’s a game changer. The action register template I use is so simple (and you can grab it below from my project management resource library, which is full of editable templates).

   Let’s learn about how to make the most of this amazing – and oh so simple – project management tool.

   

   What is an action log?

   A project action log is simply a single place for your team’s To Do list. It consolidates all the actions from meeting minutes, phone calls, conversations and more.

   An action log saves you having to flick between different meeting minutes, emails and your notebook to remember all the tasks you have to do – and your team members and suppliers have promised to do as part of the project.

   It is different to your project schedule, because that covers the meatier, deliverable-based work. The action log is your single location for all the other small tasks and To Dos that come up every day on the project.

   The action log I use is a simple spreadsheet.

   

   Why listen to me?

   I'm a senior project manager with over 20 years of experience doing the job. I've been using and adapting my tools and techniques to fit the modern workplace for years. I've written several best-selling project management books and I'm an APM Fellow. In other words, I've probably faced all the same challenges as you!

   Alternatives to spreadsheets for action logs

   I know people who keep their action logs in project management software, in a Teams list, in OneNote, or in a notebook.

   To be fair, I used to keep mine in a notebook but I can't do that anymore. I'm responsible for leading multiple projects and I just have too much in my brain to take the risk of having it on paper.

   I either use a notebook in meetings (learn how I keep my notebook organized), or take notes directly in OneNote, and then I copy out the actions into the log so they are all in one place.

   I like a spreadsheet as it's easy to filter, and everyone can access it and refer to it. It doesn't matter what tech you use (or none) as long as it is a single repository for all your project's To Dos, and preferably sortable so you can see owners and due dates.

   On one project we use an MS Teams list. I have added extra fields like 'Topic' so we can filter based on the theme. That is useful for sub-meetings that are just about tech, for example, or just about finance.

   • For that list, we have these fields:
   • Title
   • Description
   • Date raised (auto populated by Teams)
   • Due date
   • Status (a field picker with In progress, Not started, Cancelled, On hold and Complete)
   • Owner (colleague name from a Teams list)
   • Update (long text field for status updates and progress notes)
   • Exec (check box - ticked means we have to report this one to Steering)
   • For discussion (Yes, No - this is my working column so I can highlight the actions I want to discuss in a meeting and see them easily)
   • Theme (topic picker based on the key areas of the project)

   There is also a field for attachments but I think Microsoft Teams might add that in automatically.

   We have several views and my default is Tasks with status of In Progress or Not Started so I can quickly see what is outstanding.

   It is surprisingly intuitive to create an action log in Teams, so give it a go! Your PMO might even have customizable templates you can start from. We have added it as a tab to the main project General Channel.

   

   How I use the action log to track project tasks

   I copy and paste actions from conference calls, team meetings and those chance conversations you have in the corridor into this. I can filter it by task owner or workstream lead when I am talking to someone and want to chase them up.

   I can filter out the closed tasks without having to delete them - it's simple, but it works for me. It’s the best way I have found to stay on top of all the things I’m supposed to be doing and what others are supposed to be doing as well.

   Here's what one reader had to say about this action register template:

   Your action log has changed my life. As I've used it for a few weeks now it's also starting to become a source of reassurance as I look at items now closed and think, "Phew I have done stuff".

   ~ Caroline

   And I'm giving it to you. If you want it. This free action log template is the one I use on all my projects.

   It's an Excel spreadsheet template will help you stay on top of your tasks. Feel free to recreate it in Google Sheets (which will take you all of 3 minutes) if you prefer Google Suite.

   Sign up to access the Resource Library: I'll message you back a link to the resource library where you can download this comms plan template

   How to use the action log template

   Think of this as your amazing To Do list.

   You record the task, who is responsible for  it and what the latest updates are. You can add more updates as and when you need to, so that you keep the whole history of what is being done on that piece of work.

   I like to record tasks that other people are responsible for as well. As a project manager, I'm responsible for checking in with others and making sure that they are doing the work that needs to be done.

   In fact, making tasks transparent is one of the ways to get other people to take responsibility for their work.

   Writing it down and sharing the list before each meeting makes it difficult for others to say that they didn't know they had taken away an action from the previous meeting.

   I talk about how to use an action log for your meeting action tracking and project management in the video below.

   What makes a good action log?

   A good action log is the one you use. It should be easy to access, available to everyone on the team and a file or view that serves your purposes.

   It's an action item list to help with task management. It tells you the responsible party for each task. It's for tracking progress. It doesn't have to be pretty!

   An action log should help you hold people accountable, remind people what they said they would do and follow up after meetings.

   As long as you have it open on the screen for real-time visibility and it's useful for you, whatever that looks like, it's good enough. You'll build your own columns and variants, and bring in conditional formatting over time as you find out what you need to help you keep the project on track.

   How to write an action item

   As you can see from the examples below, the best practice is to start your action item with a verb.

   • Create a slide deck
   • Review the proposal from Finance
   • Circulate vendor agreement
   • Call Claire about the testing.

   That helps focus the mind and keeps you on track with what actually needs to be done.

   This is the title of your action. In the Description filed, you can add more context. For example, who is going to speak to who, what the criteria are for the proposal/slides/vendor agreement etc.

   

   What's in the action log template

   This task tracking template is a really simple spreadsheet. You could probably come up with it yourself, but why bother when I've done it for you?

   The spreadsheet includes columns to help you track:

   • Action/task number - this makes it possible for you to easily refer to an action on the list instead of having to describe the work
   • The task description
   • Where the task originated from (did it arise from a meeting, an email, a corridor conversation? Categorize the tasks if it helps)
   • The action owner who is responsible for doing the task
   • The date the action was first raised (you can also include target completion date if you find that helpful to manage action priorities)
   • Updates, so you can track each little step that is taken towards completing the action
   • Action status: open, closed, on hold, complete etc, so you can easily filter out things that you don't need to be paying attention to right now.

   As it's an Excel spreadsheet template, you can add or remove columns to make it work for you. You can add RAG color coding for things that are overdue (i.e. have passed the expected finish date) with conditional formatting if you want to bring in some extra flair!

   Other things you might want to track include:

   • Action type: If you have different types of actions you could include those.
   • Related risks: If this action is the result of a risk, you can reference the risk ID number here
   • Related issues: As above, if the action is something you are working on as a result of an open issue, you can refer to the issue ID in the table
   • Notes: Any extra notes or links to documents.

   Personally, I would keep your columns to the minimum. The fewer columns, the less work it takes to fill them in and keep them updated! Don’t make extra work for yourself.

   

   How to keep track of meeting actions

   List your meeting actions in an action log. After each meeting, copy and paste actions from the minutes into the log.

   You could create an action log for meetings and one for other types of actions, but frankly I prefer to have everything in one place so there are fewer documents to look up.

   I designed the template with project managers (me) in mind but actually it works well for anyone who needs to keep track of multiple actions. That makes it great for people who attend a lot of meetings and want to consolidate the actions in a single place.

   Pro tip:

   Use the category/theme column to track which type of meeting generated which action. Then, before your next meeting, filter the column on that meeting and review the outstanding actions.

   When you get to the meeting, things will go more smoothly and you should be registering more progress, because people reviewed and completed their tasks before you met.

   At least, that's the theory!

   In practice, most people need to be reminded of what they said they would do (especially on a large projects, or where they are managing multiple projects), so your task review needs to also include getting in touch with action owners and reminding them of the particular action they said they would complete.

   You can adapt it as you see fit to make it work for you, add color coding or whatever you like.

   Action log process: how to actually capture actions

   Identify the action

   Listen out for actions in meetings or spot them in your communication with the team.

   For example, people might say, "I'll do that," or "I'll ask Fred to do that." Or you might see on Teams that someone needs to do something.

   Record the action

   Add the action details, date and owner to the action log. If you like, you can let the owner know that it's been captured but most people will be OK with it being recorded if they've already said they would do it.

   If the action is for someone who is not in the room, you can't give them the action -- that's meeting etiquette. Give an action to someone who is there to go and talk to the person who needs to do the thing.

   

   Monitor progress

   Regularly check in with the action owner to ensure work is happening.

   Update the action

   On the log, update the action to record the latest progress. Write down what has happened and what is still outstanding. This is to help you remember -- and it's also useful for tasks that are taking ages so you can see how many times you chased and why it still isn't done.

   Close the action if the work is complete. If new actions are identified as a result of doing the work, log those separately.

   For example, if your action is 'complete slide deck' then another action that follows on might be 'get approval for slide deck' or 'share slides with vendor'.

   What’s the difference between tasks on the action log and tasks on the schedule?

   How do you decide whether a task is worthy of going on the project schedule, or whether it’s ‘just’ an action that can go in the log?

   My rule of thumb is this:

   If it’s an action that could have come from meeting minutes, then it goes in the action log.

   All the small daily things that come up as you go about the work of managing the project can be included. For example, here are some tasks that you would not put in the schedule:

   • Circulate a presentation following a meeting
   • Follow up with another department about their input to the project
   • Write an article for the staff magazine
   • Organize team building or social events
   • Phone someone to get their expert input on something
   • Find out when something e.g. an approval meeting is happening and feed that back to the group
   • Set up a meeting or organize follow up conversations
   • Process purchase orders, quotes and invoices
   • Prepare an ad hoc report as requested by the project sponsor

   And so on.

   Some of these are project admin activities. Some are small tasks that will take less than an hour.

   I would just do them, email myself a reminder about them, create a calendar appointment to block out the time to do them or add them to a sticky note or to my notebook.

   You shouldn’t fill up your schedule with those or you’ll constantly be updating it and that’s more work than recording things in a spreadsheet – and you project schedule will very soon be hundreds of lines.

   Anything that represents a work package or deliverable needs to go on the project schedule.

   Download the free action log template

   Sign up to access the Resource Library hereand I'll message you back a link where you can download all of my free checklists, guides, and templates including the project action log.

   The only thing I ask is that you don't sell it on. As if you would!

   FAQ

   What are the benefits of an action log?

   The benefits of an action log are: keeping all actions together in one consolidated location, making it easy to see who is doing what, making it easy to see the status of open actions, and improving communication in the team.

   What's the purpose of an action log?

   The purpose of an action log is to consolidate actions into one place to save time when you’re tracking and monitoring progress.

   What is a project action?

   A project action is something that needs to be done. It’s normally a smaller task than one that would be on the project schedule, like something agreed between the team in a meeting or an administrative or organizational activity.

   This article first appeared on Rebel's Guide to Project Management and can be read here: How to use an action log (& free template)

3. Project management models: A quick guide

   

   A model in project management is a way of looking at the world. It’s a simplified version of how things work, used to give you a general overview and a direction to follow for your own work.

   Think of models as shortcuts: approaches that present a way of thinking that’s tried-and-tested and is 99% likely to be applicable to your organization. They give you a framework for how to respond to a situation or deal with a project scenario.

   Project management models in the PMBOK® Guide

   The PMBOK® Guide Seventh Edition talked about models as a way of helping project managers understand what is already out there that they can use in their own work.

   The Eighth Edition no longer references models as a particular 'thing'. Instead, they are broadly covered by the Tools and Techniques section, and some models, like Tuckman for team development, are dotted throughout the book in the place where you would most likely use them.

   Some models mentioned in the PMBOK® Guide are specific to project management, others are more generally relevant to the world of work.

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   The models mentioned in the PMBOK Guide are not supposed to represent an exhaustive list of every model in the world that might be relevant to your project, nor are they framed as recommendations.

   Instead, like so much in project management, they are part of your toolbox and you’re supposed to be able to pick and choose what is going to be the most useful depending on the specifics of your situation.

   Good project management comes down to tailoring, and this is another example of where you are expected to be able to make the right choice.

   

   What are management models?

   It can get quite confusing talking about methods, models and artifacts. PM models sit alongside methods and artifacts as part of the framework for managing a project. Let's think of them like this:

   • Model:A way of thinking about a particular management situation.
   • Method:A way of working that achieves some kind of result, or delivers something.
   • Artifact:A document, template or other thing produced by the project.

   And while we're on the subject of definitions, let's talk about methodologies too.

   • Methodology:A collection of ideas, processes, procedures and best practices.

   So, methodology vs model: A methodology is a specific way of doing something (in project management, this would be your in-house way of managing projects) whereas a model is an industry-recognized way of thinking about a problem.

   Models help you frame your thinking and benefit from best practice wisdom.

   During your project, you’ll have to select the right artifacts to create, the right methods to use as part of your methodology and pick the most appropriate models to shape your actions.

   Models help you tailor your project management approach to best fit your project's needs.

   Sound difficult? Getting the combination right is probably easier than you think, especially if you’ve had a bit of project management experience already.

   

   How useful are models?

   Management models reflect a pretty simplistic view of the world.

   They are designed to explain how something works in theory, and you'll have to decide how to best adapt the approach to make it work in practice.

   Models don't care whether you are using agile methodologies or what project phase you are in. They don't care what your product owner says or what your task dependencies are.

   A model is more of a core principle; something that helps you shape behavior and address a need at a single point in time or across your entire project.

   Categories of models

   There are a selection of commonly used models that feature as part of the life of a project manager. The project management models most likely to come up in your Project Management Professional (PMP®) studies and in your work as a project manager are:

   • Situational leadership (Blanchard)
   • Communication models like the Gulf of Execution and the Gulf of Evaluation
   • Motivation (Herzberg's work on hygiene and motivational factors and the hierarchy of needs, and Pink's work on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation)
   • Change management (there are many: Satir, ADKAR, Bridges's Transition Model, Kotter's 8 steps)
   • Complexity (Cynefin and the Stacey Matrix)
   • Conflict (notably the Thomas-Kilmann model)
   • Project team development models (like Tuckman and Drexler/Sibbet)
   • Negotiating (like Covey's Think Win-Win)
   • Planning (Boehm)
   • Stakeholder salience (Mitchell, Agle and Wood - this is a good one for stakeholder engagement)

   Some of these are proprietary models like ADKAR (from Prosci) and Situational Leadership (which I learned as a graduate trainee and has shaped how I manage my interactions with people at various levels in the organization – also extremely useful for delegating).

   How to use the project management models

   Some models have several ways that you can use them. For example, models of project complexity might be useful at portfolio, program and project level, as well as for explaining to individual sponsors why you need extra resources or budget to deal with complexity factors.

   Some categories of model might have several options inside them. For example, there are several models for team development, but the one you and your team decide on using is the ever-popular Tuckman (he of Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, Adjourning fame).

   Some models are going to be most appropriate for different project performance domains. For example, you’d use conflict models (like Thomas-Kilmann) in the team performance domain.

   Example: Using ADKAR

   Let’s say you are delivering a project that has an element of process change and that means 10 users are going to have to do their work differently.

   You could use the ADKAR model of change management to help you think through the implications of your project and plan out what you could do to make the change more palatable and accepted by those people impacted.

   ADKAR is the Prosci model for delivering change based on best practice. It stands for:

   • Awareness of the need for change
   • Desire to support the change
   • Knowledge of how to change
   • Ability to demonstrate skills and behaviors
   • Reinforcement to make the change stick.

   You can see how that broad model doesn’t tell you what to do or how to do it, but it gives you a starting point for thinking about the change that your project is delivering and how you could help people through the change to improve the project’s outcomes.

   Your role as the project manager is to take the ADKAR model for change management and adapt it to your environment.

   For example, for the Awareness step, you’d think about whether people knew that the change was coming, why it was coming and how much they understood about the new process and why the project was being delivered at all.

   When you know the answer to those questions, you can plan specific change management interactions and engagement activities to help increase awareness of what the change is and why it’s important. Then you can move on to the next step, and so on.

   

   Your next steps

   The project management principlesapply regardless of what model you use (or none, if you are making things up totally from scratch, which is your right).

   I'd suggest checking those out next to round out how you want to manage your project or to continue your study prep.

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   Frequently Asked Questions

   What is a model?

   A model is a simplified view of reality that helps explain how something works. Models are designed to give you an understanding of the big concepts that underpin certain actions, behaviors or approaches.

   When do you use project management models?

   Use project management models at appropriate points in the project to inform your actions and give you a direction. Different models will be useful at different steps in the project. There’s a model for nearly everything in business, so consider what problem you are trying to solve and then pick the most appropriate management model to look at.

   This article first appeared on Rebel's Guide to Project Management and can be read here: Project management models: A quick guide

4. Meeting management techniques every project manager should know

   

   I’ve been booking meetings for the next couple of months because I know my team gets very busy, and if we don’t schedule the time we won’t meet to talk about the big stuff.

   We meet weekly anyway, but for Phase 2 planning and other parts of our program that have a longer-term goal, we need to lift up out of the weekly task list and get some space.

   If it’s not booked, it won’t happen.

   Knowing how to manage a meeting is one of the core skills for project managers. Whether they are big strategic visioning type meetings for your programs or the daily stand up or somewhere in between, we spend a lot of time meeting with other people.

   Looking for more resources to make your meetings run more smoothly? Scroll to the bottom for more info on templates, checklists, and a guide for meetings.

   What are meeting management techniques?

   Meeting management techniques are what you do during and around the meeting to facilitate the conversation and get action.

   

   What does PMBOK 8 say about meeting management?

   PMI defines meeting management in the PMBOK Guide -- Eighth Edition as:

   [A]n interpersonal and team skill used to ensure meetings meet their intended objectives effectively and efficiently.

   It talks about using the following steps for meeting planning:

   • Prepare and distribute an agenda (including objectives)
   • Start and finish on time
   • Invite the right people (and make sure they show up)
   • Stay on topic
   • Manage expectations, issues and conflict as they arise
   • Record the actions and action owners.

   However, there is a lot more to running a good meeting than that. Read on for more tips!

   Even if you aren’t studying to become a PMP® it never hurts to remind yourself what good meeting best practices look like.

   Basic meeting best practices (Skip this if you chair meetings once a week)

   There are loads of different types of project meetings, and we spend enough time in them to feel comfortable... at least, we should feel comfortable.

   I’m pretty sure that you don’t need much reminding about Meeting Management 101 but in case you want a refresh:

   • Have an agenda (and write it properly: read my 10 tips for meeting agendas)
   • Get the right people there
   • Start and finish on time
   • Record what happened
   • Follow up afterwards.

   There. You’re all caught up.

   Bad meetings: What not to do

   Given that we go to meetings all the time, and the above list isn’t exactly rocket science, why are some meetings so awful?

   You know the ones: already this week I’ve been to one that didn’t have an agenda and another where I have no expectation of nothing being minuted.

   I went to a seminar recently which was poorly organized. The AV equipment didn’t work. The video kept stopping, and as they’d made a little video to introduce each of the topics, providing background information for those people who hadn’t got a lot of personal experience about the subject, that was inconvenient.

   The chair found it hard to give different people the floor as several people were due to give short presentations but he couldn’t make the laptop show their slides.

   There was lots of downtime. Lots of disengagement from us in the room. And no clear objectives.

   I came out of it wondering why I had been there and I certainly didn’t get anything out if it.

   I’m sure you’ve had similar experiences.

   Why don’t we run better meetings?

   People don’t spend time preparing for meetings because they don’t have much time in the day and it doesn’t feel important.

   It’s also easy to assume that other people give our project the same level of importance as we do, so we assume that they are coming to the meeting knowing all about it and having done their prep.

   People don’t follow up after meetings because doing minutes is boring! (You can get around that with automated meeting transcription tools).

   Or, because they feel like they don’t have time to document properly. Or because they assume other people will remember their tasks and actually follow up on them, as that is what they would do.

   Unfortunately, when you get real people with real jobs in a room, there’s a lot less preparation and follow through and a lot more frustration than you hoped for, and we’re constantly surprised by it when we haven’t set the team up to succeed.

   Here are 7 management meeting techniquesto boost your team’s success and help you get through your meetings without so much frustration.

   1: Have a purpose

   Your meeting should have an objective, even if that is simply to get everyone to the same level of understanding.

   If you don’t know why you are having the meeting and you aren’t clear what you are going to get out of it, then cancel it.

   Tip: If someone asks, “Why are we meeting?” you should be able to answer with one sentence, without hesitating. Anything else probably means you aren’t clear yourself.

   2: Deal with people in cars and trains

   People join conference calls while they are traveling. We are all busy, I get it. But you can’t let it distract you unduly.

   It is better to not let people join from their car. It's dangerous and the quality is normally a bit on and off. If possible, ask them to decline the meeting and/or delegate their attendance to someone else.

   If you know someone is joining your meeting from their journey:

   • Ask them to go on mute.
   • Expect them to drop in and out. This isn’t great, so it is better if they can stop somewhere and do the call from a single location.
   • Remember that they won’t have their notes or be able to take notes, so bear that in mind – they’ll need reminding of any actions they agreed to.
   • Be wary of their safety. Don’t expect them to lead a discussion or use their brain too much when their focus should be on their travel.

   3: Know how decisions will be made

   One of the fastest ways to derail a meeting is confusion about whether a decision is actually meant to be made, and if so, who is allowed to make it.

   Before the meeting, be clear about what kind of outcome you are aiming for:

   • Is this meeting for discussion only?
   • Are you expecting a recommendation?
   • Is a decision required today?
   • And crucially: who has the authority to decide?

   Too many meetings end with “That was a good discussion” followed by no action because no one was empowered to decide, or people assumed someone else would.

   If a decision is required, state that explicitly in the agenda. For example:

   • Decision required: approve scope change
   • Decision required: select preferred supplier
   • Decision required: agree next phase approach

   It also helps to clarify the decision model upfront. Is it:

   • A sponsor decision after hearing views?
   • A majority decision?
   • A consensus decision?
   • A recommendation that will be escalated?

   When people know how the decision will be made, they contribute more constructively and are less likely to re-open the same debate in the next meeting.

   Tip!

   If you leave a meeting without being able to clearly say what was decided, by whom, and what happens next, then the meeting hasn’t done its job.

   4: Don’t default to mute

   I have conflicting views about going on mute. If you are on mute you can do other things, type up the call notes as you go, add items to your bullet journal, and so on.

   But if you stay off mute you are more inclined to participate fully and not multi-task, especially as you know that other people will hear the keyboard strikes in the background.

   You’ll have to make your own judgment on that. To be honest I am more often off mute because my home office is quiet, but when I work from the office-office I will be on mute as there is background noise.

   5: Manage dominant voices

   Every project manager has been in a meeting where one or two people do most of the talking -- and not always the most useful talking.

   Dominant voices can unintentionally shut others down, derail the agenda, or push the meeting toward a conclusion that hasn’t been properly tested. Left unchecked, this leads to poor decisions and disengaged attendees. Yawn.

   As the meeting chair, it’s your job to create space for balanced contribution. That doesn’t mean silencing confident speakers, but it does mean actively managing airtime.

   Here are a few practical techniques that work:

   • Interrupt politely and redirect: “I’m going to pause you there so we can hear from others.”
   • Invite quieter voices in: “We haven’t heard from X yet -- what’s your view?”
   • Park off-topic contributions: Acknowledge the point, then suggest taking it offline if it isn’t relevant to the objective.
   • Use structured turns: Go round the room or call on people by name for input on key questions.
   • Summarize and move on: Restate what’s been said and deliberately progress the discussion.

   Be especially alert when senior stakeholders dominate the conversation. Others may hesitate to disagree openly, so you may need to draw out alternative views or challenge assumptions diplomatically.

   Let everyone get heard

   If the same person speaks first every time, try deliberately asking someone else to start the discussion. It changes the dynamic immediately.
   A well-managed meeting isn’t one where everyone speaks equally. It’s one where the right voices are heard at the right time.

   6: Contact attendees in advance

   It never hurts to set the scene and expectations.

   I catch up with people before the meeting, talking about what we are going to talk about and asking their views on the key topics. The point of doing this is to minimize surprises during the meeting itself. In turn, that can cut the conflict and I can also make sure they get a chance to raise their points at the right time.

   If you want your meeting to end up with a decision, don’t underestimate the amount of influence you have in getting there by doing some pre-work informally with your attendees.

   I don’t mean influence about which way the decision goes, but being able to influence that your decision gets made. You can check that everyone has the data that would make them feel comfortable about deciding and you can steer them away from a “We can’t decide today, let’s meet next week,” outcome.

   7: Do the work

   The people coming to the meeting aren’t project managers (most of the time) and they all have other things to do in a day that are competing for their time. So if you want the meeting to have a positive outcome, do the work I’ve talked about here.

   Get that agenda prepared and issued, follow up.

   Aside from the cost of software to facilitate virtual meetings, the cost of a good meeting is just your time. It’s worth it. If you don’t have good meetings management techniques then you’ll find people won’t engage seriously with your project.

   They won’t complete their actions and they won’t turn up on time.

   Set the standard and expectations and help them be successful in their actions by giving them the framework.

   My personal pre-meeting routine

   I use standard agendas as much as possible, and standard minutes template so I don’t have to create from scratch every time.

   Before the meeting I will make sure I have a copy of the agenda and the minutes from last time. I create a version of the minutes template on my laptop so I can type straight into the right document. That might be a OneNote page or a specific Word document.

   If I’m connecting my laptop to show a presentation or something then I’ll do that before other people arrive.

   I’ll also make sure that I have my list of informal questions – the things that I want to follow up with the attendees that fall outside the standard agenda but that I can get away with asking during the breaks or at the beginning and end. In this way I can catch up on progress with lots of small actions and make the most of seeing people.

   Also, if I have made or brought cake then I’ll open the tin and lay out napkins, forks, and plates, and probably cut a slice for myself. Otherwise, people tend to hold back and not eat it!

   

   Make your meetings super-organized, super-structured, and super-productive! Mymeetings template kit contains everything you need for effective meetings every time.Click to find out more.

   This article first appeared on Rebel's Guide to Project Management and can be read here: Meeting management techniques every project manager should know

5. What is ROM and how to calculate it (with example)

   

   What is a ROM estimate?

   A rough order of magnitude estimate is used to give you a very high level view of potential project costs.

   Ideally, you’d be able to provide a definitive estimate, carefully created from loads of input from subject matter experts and plenty of research on past projects and their budgets.

   But in reality, we rarely have the time or luxury of being able to provide that level of estimate at the earliest stage of project.

   What is ROM used for?

   Think of the ROM estimate as used for informational purposes at the beginning of the project. It’s not really something you should use for too long – it’s important to get to a more accurate view of project costs as soon as you can.

   Often, execs simply want an overview of how much the work might cost. And we haven’t yet received the mandate to do a deep dive into requirements and scope that would enable more accurate results from the budget forecasting.

   The PMI Practice Standard for Project Estimating mentions ROM as an option for adaptive project life cycles. It says:

   During initial planning, the project team determines the number of initial iterations and their durations by approximating the effort needed.

   The ROM variances are replaced reasonably quickly with more detailed estimates, after the initial planning gives you more information.

   How do you represent a ROM estimate?

   I always encourage managers to present budgets as a range, because single-point estimates often trap you into a certain mindset where there is no scope for change, whatever the reason.

   ROM estimates are no different, except the range is big. The budget figures are represented in line with the level of accuracy you have at the time. So they are shared as a + / - % figure.

   The range is a way of representing the degree of confidence or accuracy level in the number.

   When do you use a ROM estimate?

   Use the rough order of magnitude as an estimation technique for when you don’t have a lot of clarity about the project budget.

   It’s used in the early stages of work, to establish the estimate cost with the information you have. It builds in a lot of variance, so if you can’t create an accurate estimate because you don’t have all the detail (which is… always before you’ve done the planning), the ROM figure will give you a ballpark estimate based on best guesses and with plenty of hedging built in.

   Not sure if ROM is right for your project? You can learn everything you need about estimating in our Project Estimating Guide.

   

   Why would you use an estimate that’s so vague?

   Because some information is better than none! Whether you use T-shirt sizing (XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL) or a rough guess, the human brain is used to dealing with vague values.

   A rough estimate provides a relative view of how large a project is (or how small) in relation to others in the portfolio. A cost of £1m might be small for some firms, but substantive for others, so an early overview of what costs could help people make a decision about next steps.

   It can also inform your work breakdown structure. You can identify which chunks of work will fall into which cost ranges.

   What types of projects can use a ROM estimate?

   Any type of project can use a ROM estimate. They are useful for:

   • Larger projects, where you need to provide management information and an initial estimate before you have all the detail for a more definitive estimate.
   • International projects, where you may have to include costs from various countries and take currency conversion into account.
   • Innovative projects, where cost drivers for the deliverable or new product are unique and pioneering, and the exact project scope is being progressively elaborated or managed through agile techniques.
   • Projects with larger value budgets, as generally you can estimate small figures more easily than you can large amounts.
   • Projects where you’ve got historical information; NASA’s cost estimating handbook version 4.0 talks about analogy cost estimating being an application for a ROM estimate.

   They are less helpful for project managers where you’re doing the same implementation time after time and have a pretty good idea of exactly how much each part of the work costs.

   For example, simple software implementations or an installation for clients where it’s basically the same effort and resources required every time.

   If you’ve got the historical data, you may as well go straight to a detailed, more accurate project cost figure (especially if you are presenting those numbers to a client).

   

   How do you come up with a ROM estimate?

   Erm… to come up with a ballpark figure, basically, you guess.

   This estimating technique is top-down, meaning you don’t need to know the exact details of what’s going to be done on the project. Just take the parts you do know and apply some professional judgment.

   Break the project work into chunks. Apply some sensible categorization to each chunk. Is it a high, medium or low effortpiece of work?

   Your PMO might have definitions for each of those to help you define and refine your estimates at the early stages of the project. For example:

   High effort:

   • More than 6 weeks of work
   • More than 10 people required to do the task
   • More than £x required

   Medium effort:

   • Between 2 weeks and 6 weeks of work
   • Between 3 and 10 people required to do the task
   • Between £x and £y required

   Low effort:

   • Less than 2 weeks of work
   • Only 1 or 2 people required to do the task
   • Less than £x required.

   If your PMO does not have standard categories like this, you can make them up. This gives you some assumptions to work to and a way of explaining how you came up with the estimate.

   Estimate each chunk based on your effort estimation and then add the chunks up and apply the ROM variance range to the final figure.

   Tip: Don’t forget to include your time! Apply a percentage of the overall time estimate as representative of the project management effort involved. I tend to use 20% for this, so if a project task is going to take a week, I’ll assume I need a day of PM effort for my part in keeping everything going.

   What’s a typical Rough Order of Magnitude for project estimating?

   ‘Orders of magnitude’ has a specific meaning in scientific notation and mathematics, but in project management, it typically refers to broad-brush categorization for sizes. A ROM is often considered the broadest, least accurate way of representing the budget.

   There is no perfect ‘bucket’ for what boundaries you should put on your ROM. The Project Management Institute used to provide guidance in the PMBOK Guide Sixth Edition that said a ROM estimate is within the range of -25% to +75%. However, ROM cost estimates are no longer mentioned in the current version of the Guide.

   Talk to your Finance department to see if there are internal cost management and forecasting standards to apply to, or just get the range as accurate as you can based on your professional judgment.

   Let’s look at an example to see how it would work in a project budget.

   ROM example

   Let’s say that we’re in the Project Initiation phase. We don’t know the total cost of the project – at least, not an accurate cost. The business case has been approved already with a budget that’s very high level, and now the exec sponsor is asking for more information about what the work might realistically cost.

   We just need a first estimate.

   We review the different estimation techniques available to us and decide that we don’t have enough information about the work packages and tasks to give anything more than a budget estimate in a range that puts it in a very rough ballpark.

   We take a quick look at previous projects -- lessons learned are a good starting point. We consult subject matter experts (who are unwilling to commit themselves to a ‘real’ number because they haven’t seen the detailed requirements yet) and talk to them about what their effort cost last time. After much cajoling and negotiation, we get an idea of how much this project is going to cost.

   However, it’s based on so many ‘what ifs?’ and assumptions that we can’t possibly have confidence putting that number in front of the steering group.

   So, we present it as what it is: our best estimate based on all the knowledge, information, and professional judgment available to us. We share it as a range so everyone can see straight away that it’s not a single figure.

   The accuracy of the ROM estimate is represented in the range. We share the budget, based on our research and understanding of what the project will deliver, as £1.2m with an accuracy range of -25% to +75%.

   This means that our total project budget, based on today’s estimates, could be as low as £0.9m or as high as £2.1m (gasp!). That’s quite a variance.

   With that information, the steering group can start to prepare themselves mentally for the outcome of the detailed project planning and what that might mean for a more accurate version of the project budget.

   When to revise the ROM estimate

   The rough cost estimate is not designed to last for the whole project life cycle. In fact, you should be refining and improving your budget estimates all the time, especially through the planning stage.

   Make sure your keep your RAID log updated with any changes to your budgeting assumptions.

   Project cost management is something you do throughout the whole project, and your budget is under constant review.

   ROM estimate vs Definitive estimate

   A definitive estimate is what you should end up with once your budgeting analysis is fully complete. It’s a very realistic view of what the overall project expense will be – and you create it by refining your higher-level figures and moving from general information to detailed information.

   As you move through the project, you should be able to produce more accurate estimates with smaller ranges relating to accuracy. As the level of detail increases, the range that represents the accuracy of the ROM estimate decreases until it’s not really a ROM any longer – it’s a definitive estimate.

   I’d still recommend that you present definitive estimates as a range because there could still be extra cost – or you could come in under budget. This could also be included as project contingency.

   PMI no longer provides specific guidance on what a definitive estimate range should be in their latest guidance. The PMBOK® Guide used to suggest it could be from -5% to +10%, but again, use your common sense for what works for you and what your Finance team or PMO advises in their internal guidance.

   Want to know more about analysis and estimating? Check out the post 4 Categories of Project Management Methods.

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   FAQ

   How does PMI define ROM estimates?

   The latest guidance no longer includes a definition. The old Sixth Edition PMBOK® Guide said that a ROM estimate is within the range of -25% to +75%. Today, PMI recognizes that teams have to create their own guidance based on what is relevant for their organization.

   How do you define ROM?

   The NASA Cost Estimating Handbook v4.0 defines ROM as: An estimate based on an approximation without benefit of details or detailed analysis.

   What’s the purpose of a ROM estimate in project management?

   A rough order of magnitude estimate represents the level of effort required to deliver a project, based on the best available information on timescales and cost. It provides decision-makers with the information they need to see if it is worth continuing with the project.

   

   This article first appeared on Rebel's Guide to Project Management and can be read here: What is ROM and how to calculate it (with example)