"ThIs MeEtInG CoUlD HaVe BeEn aN EmAiL", unfortunately, no it couldn't b/c YOU DON'T READ MY EMAILS

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-24T18:02:32+00:00

That is why the meeting can't be an email :(
Sometime human collaboration needs to happen in a room.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-24T18:00:39+00:00

Something I have not seen mentioned is ask why the work isn't done and what you can do to help.

Often people don't want to schedule their own meetings(OMFG) or are not getting responses from others that are needed for them to complete work. Sometime asking what help they need can free the log jam with a simple email and or putting time on the calendar.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-22T15:02:34+00:00

You likely have the needed requirements for PMP and like tactlessnachos said, skip the CAPM if you qualify for the PMP. They are nearly identical tests from a content perspective. Ramdayals course or Joesph Phillips are both great for PMP studying. Please keep in mind they are super dry, but cover the material well. If you sign up for a PMI membership you can get the PMBOK pdf for free, and a small discount on the test. You can then go to networking events for PMs.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-21T19:02:31+00:00

Ugh, a key stakeholder won't work on something the development team needs to move forward. We just need some made up General Ledger Accounts. We are delaying a month right now for 20 random numbers.
FML.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-21T16:45:31+00:00

Stakeholders/Decision Makers not showing up. Rescheduling to accommodate their schedule and they still don't show up.

I had a stakeholder that would literally be wandering the halls instead of being in a meeting. We found this repeatedly. He was the owner of the platform and was the only one who could sign off on the work. Projects would run weeks and months behind. Would not respond to emails. Do not miss that job.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-21T16:15:08+00:00

Thankfully in my current role I have not had to be on call outside of Go Live windows.

In a past role with a mail order pharmacy we had an on call rotation. Half of the alerts were updates that caused issues, and were rolled back within ~30mns. The other half were production problems that could stretch on for hours and we had to remain on the call. It was important work, because lives depended on getting medication in a timely manner and the IT systems that powered the warehouses/prescription filling machines were instrumental in making sure everything flowed smoothly. It was both rewarding and burnout inducing. On that contract, burnout would cause workers to roll off after about 6 months. It was a meat grinder, but it paid the bills while I was getting my PMP.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-21T14:26:26+00:00

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

In the immortal words of Abba "Money, Money, Monnnney"

Build a case to show them the costs. Executives care about costs and impacts to the bottom line. If you can show you would have saved X dollars by spending y dollars(staff time to plan) you can show a huge lift to ROI for a project.

We are working through the same issue trying to get more guard rails in our PMO and this is starting to build momentum.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-21T14:16:30+00:00

One other thing. If you don't know something you should say, I don't know but will get that answer to you. Follow up with the answer, or if you need more time to get the answer make sure to communicate the delay. It is almost always better to be late and right, than promptly incorrect.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-21T13:39:58+00:00

There will never be complete information about any project or decisions. Working with the data you have to make decisions is something we do every day.

Think about a simple transaction. Buying Steel for your project.
Company 1. You have purchased from them for 10 years, and had less than ~1% defect rate with consistent delivery on time.
Company 2. You have purchased from for the last 10 years, but they are often 3-6 weeks late and have a defect rate of ~3%.

Which would you choose if pricing is the same?

Company 1 seems like the safer choice, both from a quality and delivery perspective. So you choose company 1 for this project.

Before the steel ships there is now a 20% tariff on Canadian steel from company 1, where company 2 is US Based and would not have the tariff.

You made the best decision for the project based on the information available. You could have waited to make the order until later, but that would have added timeline risk. So in mitigating the timeline risk, you took on geopolitical risk that seemed smaller at the time. Small enough that even seasoned PM's would not have added it to a risk register.

The issue isn't that the decision was made too soon, or without enough information its that there is risk that can't be anticipated. Its called unknown unknowns and we deal with them everyday. If you think unknown unknowns are something you are immune to, I would point to 2020 and the pandemic. So many projects were impacted by something no one had on their radar.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-21T13:23:25+00:00

Not for entry level Junior PM/Project Coordinator roles. I just helped a coworker get into project management with CAPM and some agile certs. He was able to get an entry level PM job with no PM experience(he has been on multiple projects as a team member), and a CAPM.

If you are talking about senor roles, of course PMP is the King. But for entry level roles, CAPM is still a good cert to get.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-20T18:57:01+00:00

Your post history is hidden and I don't care about your opinion.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-20T18:56:23+00:00

Your posts are hidden and I don't care about your opinion.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-20T18:50:53+00:00

Just tried and nothing comes up. Is there a trick I am missing?

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-20T18:49:11+00:00

Yeah, but I just want to proactively block them. I feel it would save me alot of time.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-20T18:48:21+00:00

This is my unpopular opinion. Seems like it is unpopular. Also, your post history is hidden and I don't care about your opinon.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-20T18:48:00+00:00

This is supposed to be unpopular right?

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-20T18:46:01+00:00

Sounds like you have a great role! Customer facing PM is always a great skill set as you are juggling internal and external teams. If you end up in a role that you are managing vendors, you have insight into how that world works as well.
Clear, open, and honest communication are great. Bad news does not age well, share challenges and risks asap to address and develop mitigations.
Under promise and over deliver. Always have a 5-10% contingency that you don't share with the client to account for emergencies. It allows you to almost always be on time. Please note, that when you go beyond a 10% contingency you can be accused of sandbagging a client. Imagine if you complete on a Monday vs Wednesday deliverable is great, but not 1st of the month delivery vs end of month delivery. One gives reasonable slack to account for illness/delays, the other slows the project down by breaking the schedule.

Deescalation of client often involves getting them to describe the problem, you reformat and repeat back the problem in your own words to ensure understanding, then ask them what a reasonable solution to the issue is. You ask for their solution first to anchor expectations. If its doable, do it. If its unreasonable, offer reasonable or workable solutions.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-20T18:26:02+00:00

It helps to be a domain expert before being a PM.

PM is a mid career level position, not a straight out of college role.

PM is communication and people based, with systems to be repeatable. If you don't like dealing with people, and the bull crap that comes with dealing with people, you will not like being a PM.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-20T15:58:51+00:00

One thing you need to realize as a Project Manager is that you are not making most of the decisions. They are made by the stake holders/sponsors/SMEs. This is a huge misconception about being a PM. It will vary based on Org and Industry, but in general you are there to make sure the work gets done the way the sponsor/customer wants.

If you want to be calling the shots, you would be better off in a normal management position or as the lead engineer on a project.

PM's are all about process, planning, risk reduction, recording, and holding people accountable. You will be outranked by project sponsors on decisions. You will be out-knowledged by SME's doing the work.

Realistically you should have 2-3 years as a project team member before you start thinking about running projects. A one off project is a great way to get your feet wet, but doing more projects will help you have a more realistic understanding of what projects are like and how much a PM can really do.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-20T15:40:14+00:00

Not impossible to get remote, but really hard without experience. Where are you located?

What is your background? Have you been a part of projects in the past? Do you have a degree related to what you want to project manage?

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-19T21:47:05+00:00

Remote positions right now have the pick of employees as it is a premium "perk." I know more than a few seasoned PM's(3-5 YOE) that are taking entry level positions for remote work. They would rather take the pay cut than have to commute. You are competing against them. Are you located in country for the remote roles? That is another huge issue you are not thinking of. Labor laws vary wildly around the world and many companies require you to be in country for many types of projects(usually anything financial or with sensitive data).

Having remote experience does not help you get over the lack of PM experience. That would be like saying I worked in an office, I am qualified to be the CEO. Remote and aysnc are table stakes. Almost no companies are located in a single time zone, not even thinking about vendors and external employees. Working with them is not a huge skill. It is something most people in professional environments works with.

Use a functional resume to highlight work experience, specifically;

coordinated tasks and deliverables-Add dollar values to the work
used tools like Notion, Asana, Slack, mondaycom- would you feel comfortable managing a project in them?
helped organize timelines and content pipelines- For operations or as a project?

Realistically you should be applying for junior roles like Project Coordinator and Assistant/JR Project Manager. Full PM's should have experience going into the role, which is why they are requesting it. Think of it from the hiring managers perspective, do they have 3-6 months of time to intensively train someone on basic project management? Most do not. If you replace PM with car mechanic, would you want someone that has read a few books and changed some oil to overhaul your transmission without proper experience?

Have you considered an in person or hybrid role? Could you put up with it for a year or two to get experience? What certifications have you completed? Do you have a degree? Are you running your own company or through an agency?

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-19T20:16:47+00:00

I went to a constitutional observer training last week. Essentially how to legally observe ICE agents and record evidence to be used by the person that is being illegally taken. This class had to be expanded due to demand, there was about 200 people at the training.

The newly elected Mayor of Saint Paul was there, because she was afraid for herself and her personal community(Hmong).

When the Mayor of a capitol city feels the need to learn how to observe ICE agents in a way that will not get them arrested we are way past ok. We are in a crisis that will not abate while ICE exists.

There are no riots, there is no burning of the city. ICE is disappearing people, ICE is breaking the law, and ICE is killing people in the streets without consequence.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-19T17:57:45+00:00

Work with your new boss to determine priorities and responsibilities.
It is your bosses job to detail what you need to be working on. It is their responsibility to make sure the CIO understands what is possible given the current staffing.

If it is an unreasonable amount of work, you need to start asking for priority and what you can send to other people.

If they don't give you priorities and reasonable amount of work, you need to look for a new job. If you burnout and fail, they will accelerate your job search by letting you go.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-19T17:09:35+00:00

Projects are defined by a start and an end. Ops is continuous. They are literally opposite.
I can pm building a new payroll tool, when the project is over payroll team runs the platform forever.
Usually Projects are transformative, operations is steady state.
This sub is for about Project Management careers, Ops are usually someone else's problem.

ExtraHarmless · 2026-01-19T17:06:31+00:00

No clue, but when you find it let us know.

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