What does joy look like to project managers? Well, we've found that it looks something like predictable outcomes and transparent control over their project. At Menlo, this means that our clients have complete control of their project’s direction and know at any given moment exactly where it stands—how much progress has been made, the estimated cost for each step, and how the budget is holding up. They can change direction quickly and see the end point, as well as what tradeoffs they're making when they make those changes. Meanwhile, for the project team, joy looks like knowing what’s expected of them—what they need to work on each day, what’s a priority and what isn’t. They’re given the tools they need to be successful and communicate often and meaningfully with decision-makers. And they can stop work at 5 PM.

Whether you're a Jira or Microsoft Project expert or have your own advanced Excel spreadsheet system, many project managers struggle to keep the train on the tracks when it comes to the tasks their teams are (or should be) working on daily. This interactive workshop will give you the tools to more effectively collaborate and drive alignment between stakeholders. You will experience working on projects, Menlo style, from beginning to end, including estimating project time with your team, planning for long-term project milestones as well as short-term incremental next steps, building work authorization boards to track status, and communicating a project's status with clients and teams in real time. And of course, this will all be achieved through a series of engaging exercises.

Join us to discover how The Menlo Way™ of project management can help bring clarity, simplicity, and predictability to your organization. Every participant will also be provided takeaway materials to guide them through implementing these practices in their own work environment!

You will come away knowing how to:

Achieve total transparency throughout the entire project lifecycle, eliminating surprises and gotchas
Use visual management to track and plan projects through what we call “planning origami”
Build flexible project teams to mitigate typical project risks and be more equipped to meet project milestones
Quickly change project direction to accommodate changing business needs and goals
Provide project managers with tools that empower them to take the reins and steer a project
Effectively collaborate with other stakeholders to prioritize features and get everyone onto the same page
Manage a budget with realistic estimates at a granular level as well as at a bird’s-eye view

While historically we have found that our tools work best on paper, we have found ways to adapt our visual management processes to work both 100% remote and hybrid while maintaining the integrity, goals, and values achieved with our paper-based system. We're happy to answer questions and discuss what the adapted versions of our tools look like.

This workshop is best for teams and leaders from any kind of organization interested in learning tools for clarifying priorities, aligning stakeholders, and improving project visibility. Completing this workshop satisfies the PMP® requirements for earning 16 Professional Development Units (PDUs).

Public workshops are dependent on a minimum number of attendees to run and are subject to cancellation in the case that this number is not met.

Have a group of 6 or more people? Check out our options for a virtual or in-person private workshop.