Workshop: Overcoming and Managing Project Challenges with Brett Harned

Leading projects can be tough, particularly in the face of change. But, no matter what you do, you’ll likely encounter some kind of change on any given project. And whether that change is related to people, process, scope, timeline, or budget, you have to sort through it quickly and gracefully to keep your project moving in the right direction.

In this workshop with Brett Harned, we’ll explore typical project red flags and discuss the facets of project change, as well as solutions to make it easier to adapt and lead projects to success.

Who is this workshop for?

This workshop is relatable to anyone looking to pick up skills on being a better team leader, team member, employee, and human. Whether you're a designer, developer, PM, or manager, Brett will help you discover new ways to address project issues before they become problems.

Agenda

8:15-9am // Breakfast and Networking (Breakfast is included in registration fee)

9:00-9:30 // Intro and Ice Breaker

9:30-10:30 // How to find and handle red flags in project docs 
Contracts or project briefs are necessary to understand what your team will do on a project, but they can often be confusing and leave room for questions—or worse—issues. So, let’s work through ways to ensure your documentation is airtight, or at least make sure you’re looking for the right things. Attendees will review sample contract clauses and call out what could serve as questions, issues, or risks. When finished, attendees will discuss in groups and then with the larger group. After that, Brett will present best practices on catching and addressing those red flags.

10:30-12:00 // Ch-ch-changes!
No matter where you work, you know projects change. And it’s your job to stay on top of that change, whether it requires a deadline change or a budget increase. But sometimes it’s difficult to know whether or not you should issue a change request. Possible scenarios might be: additional design feedback, a change in goals or site functionality, changing stakeholders, and more. In this exercise, project changes (or roadblocks) will be presented, and teams will discuss the merits of a change request—and they’ll estimate them. The larger group will discuss the change, related estimates, and talk about the best way to address them. Upon completion, Brett will present best practices on catching changes in advance of them becoming issues, and addressing them.

12:00-1:00 Lunch (Lunch is included in registration fee)

1:00-2:00 // Facing project challenges
Part of leading projects is facing—and fixing—project challenges. Whether you’re wrangling team members, adjusting process, dealing with fussy stakeholders, or trying to find the right tool to help you, getting a new perspective on how to handle tricky issues can be beneficial. Brett will present situations, moderate discussion, and present his ideas on how to best address them.

2:00-3:00 // Wrap up exercise and Q&A
Let’s take time to reflect on what was discussed, and make a plan for how you’ll approach a new change in your day to day. And then, take some time to discuss topics that were not presented in the workshop. 

About Brett

Brett Harned is a digital project management consultant, coach, and community advocate from Philadelphia, PA. His work focuses on solving issues that are important to organizations who want to produce quality digital projects in harmony. He loves to build processes and communication tactics that work not only for projects, but for the people involved in them. Most recently, he has worked with Simple, Navy Federal Credit Union, YNPN, and a number of digital agencies.

Brett began blogging about his adventures in project management at brettharned.com when he realized that there was a void in the industry for people in the digital PM role. Since, he has had the privilege to speak at various events internationally and has written for widely-read industry websites and publications. He also founded and curates the Digital PM Summit, which is now in its fifth year. His first book, Project Management for Humans, was published by Rosenfeld Media in 2017.

Location

Red Hat Annex
190 E Davie St
Raleigh, NC 27601

Note: This is NOT the main Red Hat entrance (next to Buku). This is a separate entrance that is between Calavera and Oak City Meatball. We will provide additional sign-in details closer to the event.