Blog

Have you made any New Year Resolutions? I’ve been chatting with IT Project Management colleagues, friends, clients and acquaintances over Christmas and it seems that collectively, and yet, independently, we have identified areas for improvement. That’s what this series of five posts is all about. Th...

One recurring business trend of recent years looks set to continue into 2020 – and it’s great news for those of us working in IT Project Management - mergers and acquisitions! As Tara Lachapelle, writing for Bloomberg says, “We’re in an absolutely bonkers five-year run of corporate coupling that sho...

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year from the team at Stoneseed!We will be taking a short break from blogging over the festive period, but we’ll be back in January with more blogs on all things Project Management But in the meantime, if you’re missing our blogs and need a Christmas Hol...

Hohoho!! ‘Tis the season to be a Project Manager! I’m unusually organised this year, my thoughts turned to Christmas preparations back in mid-November … the tree, the present shopping, the turkey and all the trimmings for the big day (pigs in blankets!!!), and of course … the all-important stocking ...

Thanks to VAR, Roberto Firmino's armpit and John Lundstram's big toe have given football fans some of this season’s hottest talking points. Who’d have thought it!!? I’ve been interested in the introduction of VAR (Video Assistant Referee), football's video technology system since it was introduced -...

Fewer than half of new employees (44%) report a positive experience after joining a new company. Ouch!! If you’re a hiring manager – that’s got to hurt! Now, when I started my career, an employer would probably have shrugged at this and suggested that their new hires should toughen up and deal with ...

Have you ever worked on an IT Project, utterly convinced that everything that you are doing will bring success, only to have the project fail to deliver? I mean, we’ve all been there at some point in our careers. In many ways it’s a stupid question because, well, why would you do things that you wer...

As I write this, Annesley, where Stoneseed is based, is in the grip of some really wet weather. Homes evacuated, roads closed, fields turned into lakes and streets into rivers. It prompted me to call a friend who had suffered at the hands of similar rainfall some years ago and as we spoke, an IT Pro...

It’s reassuring that even the planet’s biggest brands mess up! When they do, their mistakes can become global news and great lessons are there for all to see. Now, In IT Project Management, mistakes rarely trouble the headline writers. They can, and do, impact an organisation’s bottom line though. A...

Is there a project professional that you’re struggling to find the perfect gift for?What do you buy for one of the most organised and detail orientated people in your life?We’ve come up with a shortlist of appropriate and affordable gifts, with links – enjoy! Superhero - The gift of a good mug is al...

The first Thursday of every November is IPM Day, this year (2019) it falls on November 7th and it is a great time to show the project managers in your team how much you appreciate them. Private or public sector, commercial or voluntary, no business or organisation ever initiates a project that doesn...

As an IT Project Manager, CIO or Business Analyst, do you have a personal professional brand? The answer is yes, by the way. It’s inevitable. Either by default or by design, you have a brand. ‘By design’ is the option you want, of course, and the key to designing and maintaining a successful persona...

At the time that I’m writing this, the news is full of talk of trade deals. In the UK we are a couple of weeks away from Brexit – but it’s OK this is not about Brexit – you can carry on reading! I’ve just watched a news article about the brokering of trade deals, what they are, why countries need th...

I met a friend recently for lunch and, quite frankly, he is looking amazing! He joined a gym about a year ago and you can tell! His face is slimmer, he seems to have more energy, looks about ten years younger and, he told me, he has had to buy some new trousers because his old ones were starting to ...

“It’s the most pointless meeting, nothing to do with my work but I have to attend. I just zone out for an hour”. A Project Management contractor friend of mine said this as he told me about a monthly meeting that had just appeared again in his diary with the subject “Team Meeting – All Staff To Atte...