Heads up!! The last Thursday in June is National Work From Home Day!!
As Stoneseed’s IT Project Management as a Service (PMaaS) resources are available onsite, hybrid, or fully remote, here’s to everyone whose work-life no longer revolves around a fixed office desk. Whether our people are working from Stoneseed offices, client sites, or the comfort of their home office — we’re raising a mug of coffee to the flexible, modern way of delivering project success.
During a conversation about “taking work home” it occurred to us that, as Project Management professionals, we had been doing this years before it was even a thing, but with a twist!! We’d been taking our work skills home and using them in our “real” lives:
Whether it’s me effectively “Sprint Planning” DIY Projects (like the ‘simple’ IKEA wardrobe for which I created a “mental backlog” and set up a weekend sprint, even held a “virtual” retrospective – that door is only slightly crooked!!!) …
… or one of my colleagues who uses Issue Tracking for household arguments “When my other half and I disagree, I log the ‘issue’ and effectively assign an action owner (yes – usually me). We track resolution progress over wine and snacks. An extra glass if we close it without escalation”) …
… using your PM Super-Powers at home is more common than you think!
Now that’s work-life balance!!!
For fun, I asked other PMs about the PM skills that they sneak out of the office – I challenge you not to identify with at least one!! And, of course, feel free to share some of your own! ( The names have been changed to protect the innocent😉)
15 WORK SKILLS PM’S TAKE HOME
1 – Sophie – Manchester
“I run my household like a project timeline. With two kids, a husband, and a Labrador, I live and die by the family Trello board. Meal planning, school events, holidays – everything has a due date and dependencies. Even the dog’s vet appointments have a card, color-coded for priority.”
2 – Gareth – Cardiff
My wife jokes that I turned our kitchen renovation into an Agile sprint. We had daily stand-ups, a Kanban board on the fridge, and retrospectives over tea. It finished early and under budget – rare for any home project. Now she insists we ‘sprint’ through every home upgrade.”
3 – Amina – Birmingham
“Risk management is second nature to me now. Whether it’s avoiding toddler meltdowns or prepping for a family trip abroad, I’m always thinking three steps ahead and asking: ‘What’s our mitigation plan if this goes wrong?’ Packing extra snacks and power banks is now standard protocol.”
4 – James – London
“It dawned on me that I was applying stakeholder management skills to negotiate chores with my teenage kids. I mapped out their motivations, interests, and pain points. Let’s just say we now have fewer arguments and a cleaner kitchen. I even gave them ‘incentives’ based on their KPIs – aka pocket money.”
5 – Fiona – Edinburgh
“Timeboxing changed my weekends. Instead of running around trying to do everything, like a headless chicken, I allocate focused blocks for cleaning, relaxing, and family time. It’s oddly freeing – and no more guilt over ‘not doing enough.’ Now chores feel like sprints, not marathons, if you’ll pardon my pun!”
6 – Daniel – Bristol
“During lockdown, I used Gantt charts to manage home schooling for three kids. Teachers were impressed. My partner was sceptical – until she saw how smooth it all ran. My 7-year-old never enjoyed the daily briefings though (Who does, really?).
7 – Priya – Leicester
“At work and at home, communication is everything. I’ve trained myself to actively listen and clarify expectations with my family just like I would in a status meeting. It’s helped reduce misunderstandings with my partner significantly. Now we even ‘sync up’ on Sunday evenings, like it’s second nature.”
8 – Ollie – Leeds
“I created a family dashboard in Notion. It has finances, maintenance tasks, birthdays, and even a shared decision log. My wife says I’ve ‘gamified’ marriage, but in a good way, I think. We even track whose turn is to brew up!”
9 – Laura – Brighton
“Being calm under pressure really helps when things go sideways – like when our boiler broke on Christmas Eve. I just opened my mental incident response plan and got to work. I triaged, escalated, and delivered hot water by Boxing Day.”
10 – Tom – Dublin
“I use stakeholder analysis when planning visits with extended family. Knowing who to prioritise and how to balance everyone’s expectations makes holidays way less stressful. Don’t tell Uncle Jerry but his emotional volatility is now logged under ‘known risks.’ LOL”
11 – Maya – Loughborough
“As a PM, I’ve learned the value of a solid morning scrum – even at home. My kids and I check in over breakfast, review the day, and adjust plans based on priorities. They roll their eyes, but they never miss a deadline!”
12 – Lukas – Doncaster
“Planning family road trips is like managing a cross-functional deployment. I handle logistics, align stakeholders, and monitor scope creep – mostly comfort-breaks . Even the playlist is pre-approved in the kick-off meeting.”
13 – Giulia – Milton Keynes
“My project timelines taught me patience. When coordinating family dinners with 12 relatives and two opinionated grandmas, I treat it like managing conflicting legacy systems. You document everything, make peace with delays, and serve tiramisu (my MVP)”
14 – Isla-Rose – Edinburgh
“Scope creep at home is real – we once started painting a wall and ended up with a full loft conversion. My change management skills now keep us (mostly) grounded. The family gets it – no changes without a formal review.”
15 – Ben – London
“Being a PM taught me to delegate better. At home, it means trusting others to take ownership, even if they fold the towels ‘wrong’ or hang the loo roll back to front. I’ve learned that done is better than perfect – and everyone’s happier. Mind you I do always switch the toilet paper the right way round.”
Just a bit of fun, but how many of these had you nodding in agreement?
Remember, Stoneseed’s team of IT Project Management and Technical Professionals are available onsite or remote, delivering services through a flexible, on-demand resourcing model. From strategy to programme and project execution, our cost-effective approach (with pay-as-you-use pricing and resources, you can scale up or down as needed) – full-time, part-time, or on an ad-hoc basis, we flex to support your project needs. All supported by Stoneseed’s PMO, proven methodology, and advanced toolset.
On June 26th, let’s celebrate National Work From Home Day.
Not long ago, working from home was a rare treat or reserved for a lucky few, while the rest of us braved traffic jams and packed trains and trams. This is our chance to high-five the tech and culture shifts that now let us crush deadlines from the home office or kitchen table just as well as from inside a cubicle!
So, here’s to progress, productivity … and the unassailable joy of taking meetings in your PJs (at least from the waist down).
More about Project Management as a Service from Stoneseed