Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT It’s only March 3rd and the fruit tree’s are in full bloom all around me here in the Pacific Northwest.  The rain clouds have cleared for a moment and the sun is peaking through.  It’s days like today that fill me with vim and vigor to start planning my […]

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT I first heard the term “mojo” about ten years ago.  I was doing a live radio show and the interviewer asked me about the “mojo of accelerated learning.”   I managed to contrive a suitable answer, as I had never heard the term “mojo” before.  When the interview was

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT Working together over a period of time, a group of people will create a collective identity of who they are as a team.   At Cheetah Learning – we call our team – Team Cheetah.  This means something very specific to us.  Team identities foster a sense of “we”

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT I’m a big fan of using the Japanese technique of the 5 S’s to improve productivity with my project teams. The 5 S’s are a way to get your workspace organized.  Do these tasks in the following order: 1. Sort – this means go through and get rid of

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT I recently met a young engineer with an exciting job where he gets to travel to remote villages all over Alaska.  He was telling me about the challenge of being in the office – meetings.  I shared with him my standards for meetings – and thought it might be

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT In Cheetah’s course “Effective Project Management,” we have students look at how they behave on projects and understand if that behavior is an asset or a liability to their project team.  It’s been my experience most people’s intentions are positive even if others see their behavior as negative. People generally

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT “Trust me” may be the most manipulative phrase used on a project team.  Now before you think me a hardened curmudgeon, let me explain myself.  It’s been my experience, people who are worthy of my  trust, do not say this.  Furthermore,  they would not even consider saying this.  Integrity

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT No one remembers what you start; they remember what you finish (and how well you finish it).   What I’ve seen on various project teams, some people have a different definition of what “complete” means.   Done means done in my book.  It means the task for which you

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT In the early 90’s I was working with an organizational psychologist developing curriculum for improving team performance.  She said something that stuck with me – “the principal source of conflicts is differing expectations.”   While I never verified or validated if this was true, when I dissect it, it

Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM, PMP, PMI-ACP, RYT Creating great results with a project team involves using our inherent human nature for our best advantage rather than to become diminished. To better understand human nature I look to the sun and the ocean. With the sun, the same sun shines on all of us. But for some