Sprints & Milestones cover image

Sprints & Milestones

The Meeting

Jul 28, 2023
Scott Berkun, bestselling author and popular speaker, discusses his experience as a program manager at Microsoft, including a chaotic meeting and a disastrous project. He shares lessons learned in anticipation and facilitation, and emphasizes the importance of embracing failure and learning from mistakes.
21:23

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Anticipation and facilitation are crucial for successful project management, emphasizing the importance of focusing on relationships, character, and providing clarity.
  • Project managers should proactively step in and manage challenging situations in meetings by regaining focus, assigning questions, and seeking further discussion, while understanding that failure is an inevitable part of the journey and provides valuable learning opportunities.

Deep dives

The Importance of Anticipation and Facilitation in Effective Project Management

The podcast episode discusses the crucial role of anticipation and facilitation in project management. The guest speaker, Scott Bergen, shares his experience at Microsoft where he encountered a meeting that quickly escalated into chaos. Despite feeling devastated and overwhelmed, Scott learned the importance of anticipating potential challenges and facilitating effective communication among team members. He emphasizes the need for project managers to focus on relationships, character, and providing clarity to prevent such failures. The episode highlights the value of visual manifestations, such as lists or low-fidelity sketches, to reduce misunderstandings and facilitate productive discussions.

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