Work Management

Shopify's product team has a neat framework for clarifying responsibilities on projects. It's called the AAA framework. Each team member is assigned one of three roles: 1. Aiming: responsible for strategy and direction of what we are building 2. Assembling: responsible for bringing the right people together and keeping them on track 3. Achieving: responsible for the day-to-day work of getting shit done (GSD) like design, code, etc. As Glen Coates shared with me, "Most companies think of hierarchy and jobs basically as this sort of single line of leadership downward, based on how senior you are. But a few years ago we introduced the AAA framework. The idea is you don’t want to take on a leadership job and suddenly be responsible for aiming when you’re really passionate about assembly, or the other way around. It’s helped us put people in the right roles and not just have one dimension of leadership that everyone has to conform to. On projects, it’s really good to be able to know who’s the aimer, responsible for the strategy. It may not be the most senior person in the room; it may be the staff designer or the staff engineer. It’s sometimes good to know that the team’s manager actually isn’t the aimer, which is by design. Then there’s usually dedicated product ops and program management people who are responsible for the assembly. And of course, the achievers, who actually do the work." Read more about Shopify's product development process → https://lnkd.in/gSdgu5me

Resource planning separates successful firms from those constantly scrambling to meet deadlines 📊 Most finance teams operate in reactive mode, putting out fires instead of preventing them. I've worked with dozens of clients who struggle with this exact problem. They're always stressed, always behind, and wondering why profitability suffers despite working harder than ever. ➡️ CAPACITY PLANNING FOUNDATION You know what I've learned after years of helping firms optimize their resources? It all starts with forecasting your hours correctly. See, when you can predict workload based on historical data and upcoming client needs, you avoid that feast or famine cycle that absolutely crushes profitability. Monthly recurring revenue clients need consistent attention too. Don't make the mistake I see so many firms make by forgetting about them during busy season. Client volume scaling requires a completely different approach. Growing your client base means different staffing patterns and retention strategies. Plan resources based on both current clients and realistic growth projections. ➡️ BUDGET VS ACTUALS Track your planned versus actual resource utilization religiously. Variance patterns tell you exactly where your assumptions are off. Sometimes it's scope creep eating up resources. Sometimes it's inefficient processes slowing everyone down. Sometimes it's just unrealistic estimates from the start. Your resource planning gets better when you learn from what actually happened versus what you expected. Create accountability across your team so everyone understands how their work impacts overall capacity. ➡️ TIME TRACKING Without accurate time data, resource planning becomes pure guesswork. Monitor your billable versus non-billable ratios to understand true capacity. That administrative time still consumes resources and needs planning. Track project profitability in real-time so you can course-correct before it's too late. Waiting until project completion to assess profitability costs money. Use time data to identify productivity bottlenecks. Maybe certain work takes longer than expected, or specific team members need additional training. ➡️ STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES Document your repeatable processes and workflows. This dramatically reduces training time for new team members. Consistent processes mean more predictable resource requirements. When everyone follows the same approach, you can actually forecast capacity accurately. ➡️ CLIENT SCOPE DEFINITION Clearly define project boundaries upfront. Scope creep destroys resource planning faster than anything else I've seen. Set realistic client expectations from the start and stick to them. When clients want additional work, have a system to price and resource it properly. === Resource planning isn't glamorous work, but it's what separates profitable firms from those working harder for less money. What's your biggest resource planning challenge?

Glen Palmer, PSP, CFCC, FAACE and I are honored by AACE publishing another of our Top Ten series of papers in the Cost Engineering Journal. Resource management sits at the heart of project success—and, too often, at the root of costly construction claims. Why Focus on Resources? Most construction schedules are built on assumptions about production rates, durations, and quantities. But when resource planning falls short—whether due to unrealistic manpower peaks, lack of skilled labor, or poor coordination—projects risk delays, cost overruns, and disputes. Rather than waiting for claims to arise, Palmer and Carson argue for a proactive approach: plan, validate, and monitor your resources from day one. Key Takeaways from the Top Ten Approaches: 1. Validate Resources by Discipline: Go beyond surface-level schedule checks. Detailed resource validation—using field-experienced personnel—can identify unrealistic resource peaks and prevent unachievable schedules. 2. Formalize Punch and Warranty List Management: Avoid never-ending completion and warranty periods by developing comprehensive, early punch lists and using structured warranty management systems. 3. Check Resource Earning Curves: Ensure planned progress is actually achievable by comparing planned manpower curves and production rates to real-world constraints. 4. Manage Schedule Compression: When compressing schedules, understand the risks and costs of acceleration and recovery. Use structured analysis and documentation to avoid disputes. 5. Review General Conditions Labor: Monitor and budget field overhead costs carefully, and avoid relying on variable, hard-to-track level-of-effort activities. 6. Use Constructability Reviews: Always have experienced field experts review “fast-tracked” project schedules to spot resource and constructability problems early. 7. Address Trade Stacking and Overcrowding: Analyze crew concurrency and area usage to prevent inefficiencies from too many workers or trades in the same space. 8. Specify Resource Requirements in Schedules: Include resource histograms and percent curves in scheduling specifications to enable thorough schedule reviews. 9. Plan for Resource Availability: Evaluate the availability of skilled labor and specialty resources, especially on large or geographically constrained projects. 10. Minimize Inefficiencies from Disrupted Trade Work: Align procurement, sequencing, and trade starts to reduce disruption, and use targeted planning to ensure work is completed efficiently on the first attempt. Conclusion: Resource-related claims are often avoidable with disciplined planning, honest schedule validation, and ongoing monitoring. By following these ten approaches, project teams can dramatically reduce the risk of disputes, keep projects on track, and protect both profit and reputation.

Great leadership means embracing multiple perspectives: Especially perspectives that aren't like you. But how? Learn better mental models for team management that are inclusive and diverse. More precisely, embrace cognitive diversity. The more you understand people that don't think, act, or process like you, the more you can appreciate and respect what they bring to the table. Otherwise, you create an echo chamber, you preach to the choir, you become the emperor without clothes, and you can't lead effectively because you are always operating without a full picture view and lack a balanced perspective to make better decisions. One team management model is the PAEI model by Dr. Ichak Adizes. It identifies four crucial roles that need to be fulfilled for a team to be successful: 1. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗿 (𝗣): The person focused on getting things done and achieving results. They're driven and task-oriented. 2. 𝗔𝗱𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 (𝗔): The person who ensures procedures are followed and that there's order and structure. They're detail-oriented and make sure things run smoothly. 3. 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿 (𝗘): The visionary, always looking for new ideas and opportunities. They're creative and think strategically about the future. 4. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 (𝗜): The person who builds relationships, fosters collaboration, and resolves conflicts. They're diplomatic and focus on team harmony. The core idea is that no single manager can embody all these roles effectively. By having a team with individuals who naturally gravitate towards these different styles, you can achieve a more well-rounded approach to leadership. The PAEI model is a versatile tool for leadership and team development. Here are some key situations where it can be applied: 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺: • 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀: Use the team charter and goals to understand the specific strengths required for success. • 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺: Look for individuals with strengths that complement each other across the PAEI styles. 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺: • 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Encourage team members to identify their natural PAEI tendencies to understand their own strengths and weaknesses. • 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: Evaluate the current team dynamic and identify any missing PAEI styles that could be hurting performance. • 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀: Reshape responsibilities or consider incorporating new members to fill crucial PAEI gaps. 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: • 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀: Help leaders understand their dominant PAEI style and how it impacts their decision-making and team interactions. • 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: Utilize the PAEI framework to consider different perspectives during planning and problem-solving. Better teams, better results!

The construction industry's dirtiest secret: Most disasters are caused by what happens BEFORE the project begins. Here's how to avoid the trap that costs 70% of property owners millions: Remember that time everyone blamed the contractor for your project disaster? Plot twist: The problem started in those boring pre-construction meetings everyone skipped or scrolled through emails during. Construction disputes average $30M per case and take 16.7 months to resolve. That's longer than some marriages last these days. For Texas hospitals, schools, and municipalities, it's even worse – you're basically planning your grand opening and your legal defense simultaneously. Fun times! But most of these disasters are completely preventable. The secret? Treat pre-construction planning like it's the season finale, not the boring pilot episode. 4 drama-preventing moves every institutional owner needs: 1. The "Who's Actually In Charge Here?" Chart Create a decision matrix that prevents those classic "I thought YOU approved this?!" moments that happen at 4:55pm on Fridays. (Nothing says "happy weekend" like discovering nobody authorized that $2M change order!) 2. The Process Police Designate "process guardians" with actual authority who can call out violations without fear of becoming the office pariah. They're not the heroes we want, but they're the heroes we need. 3. The "This Is Taking Forever" Escalation Ladder Any decision pending >5 days gets kicked upstairs automatically. Because "we're waiting for approval" is the construction equivalent of "the check's in the mail." 4. Document Everything Like Your Career Depends On It (Because It Does) In construction disputes, undocumented work is like that tree falling in the forest – if it's not documented, it simply didn't happen. "I sent an email about that!" won't save your $400M project. Use platforms like Procore that create a single source of truth. Projects using these report 50% fewer RFIs – that's like having 50% fewer awkward holiday dinner conversations. The ROI stories are better than fiction: A Houston hospital prevented $7M in rework on their $400M expansion. Dallas ISD strengthened its construction management by implementing process improvements, helping deliver major school projects efficiently, with ZERO claims. Their planning investment? Less than 1% of budget. Their return? 8-10x that amount. The choice feels a lot like deciding whether to get insurance before or after the accident: Invest in planning now, or involuntarily invest much more later while explaining to the board why everything's on fire. The most successful Texas institutions have already made this shift. Will you join them, or continue starring in Construction Disaster: Season 12?

I Was on the Brink of Burnout (Here’s How I Turned It Around.) Last year, I hit a wall. It was late 2024, and I was juggling three clients at once. Here’s how my plate looked: For two clients, I was responsible for documenting workpapers. For another, I was handling more than 30 IT application controls and managing budgets and actuals for their entire engagement. September came, and everything spiraled out of control. Three clients. Three managers. Three teams. Multiple deadlines. 45-hour weeks. I started working on ad hoc tasks just to survive. But the cracks were showing. I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and ready to give up. Then, a thought struck me; a lesson I had heard from Ankur Warikoo, someone I admire deeply. He once said, “Your brain’s job isn’t to remember things; it’s to understand and execute them.” That changed everything for me. I realized my problem wasn’t just the workload. It was how I managed it. Here’s what I did. I stopped relying on my brain to track everything. Instead, I used OneNote to manage tasks for each client. Step 1: I created three pages—one for each client. Step 2: Each day, I added a new heading with the date and listed every task as a checkbox. Step 3: For each task, I estimated how long it would take and noted it in brackets. Step 4: At the start of the day, I planned my available hours. If I had 9 hours and 6 were already allocated, I knew I could only take on 3 more hours of work. This simple system changed everything. I met my deadlines. I stopped feeling overwhelmed. I didn’t need to remember tasks anymore. Everything was written down. By the end of the day, I knew exactly what was done and what needed to be carried forward. The biggest lesson? Your brain is for thinking, not for remembering. Let tools handle the memory part. You’ll save your energy for what really matters—getting the work done. #itaudit #risk #internalaudit #riskmanagement #timemanagement #job #career #success #productivity

People don’t sit with uncertainty. They fill it with assumptions. And those assumptions can lead to disconnection, rework, and frustration. Before you blame performance... Ask yourself: "Where can I provide more clarity?" Here are 4 silent Clarity Killers I see in teams: ❌ Unspoken Expectations ↳ People can't meet standards they can't see ↳ Assumptions take the place of alignment ❌ Undefined Ownership ↳ Everyone assumes someone else is responsible ↳ Which means no one truly commits ❌ Vague Commitments ↳ "Maybe" and "soon" become the new normal ↳ Deadlines blur and work drifts ❌ Unclear Feedback ↳ Growth feels random instead of intentional ↳ Problems go unasked, unresolved And the data backs it up: - Employees with role clarity are 53% more engaged - They’re 27% less likely to leave (Gallup) - Teams with clear roles are up to 25% more efficient (McKinsey) If Your Team’s Stuck, Consider this Clarity Check: ✅ Purpose → Does my team know team know why this work matters? → Have I linked it to our goals and priorities? → Does the team know what success unlocks for us? ✅ Clarity of Role → Does everyone know what they own? → Do they know what they’re not responsible for? → Can they see how their role supports others? ✅ Clarity of Expectations → Have I defined what “great” looks like? → Have I clarified how we’ll track progress? → Do they know how we’ll give and use feedback? If it’s not clear, it gets misinterpreted. Alignment starts with clarity. And clarity isn't just communication it's leadership responsibility. What needs redefining in your team? ——————— ♻️ Repost if you've seen these clarity gaps. 🔔 Follow Justin Hills for practical leadership insights.

I've managed $500M+ in projects over the years. The successful ones were all built around the same 10 principles: Give me 3 min, and I'll show you how you can lead your next project with confidence. 1️⃣ Start with Why Most project managers think they’re paid to produce deliverables. That’s bogus. Every project exists to create value. What’s the driving reason behind yours? Dig deeper than the first answer. Your project's purpose becomes a compass for decisions—and a powerful narrative to align and motivate your team. 2️⃣ Define “Conditions of Satisfaction” If your client, architect, and field team aren’t aligned on the definition of done, you’ll never truly finish. Before diving into details, clarify what you’re building and how success will be measured. Get expectations on paper. Show sketches. Build mockups. Whatever it takes. Your goal: never have the “Wait—I thought we were doing XYZ” conversation. 3️⃣ Know the Constraints Every project is defined by five levers: • Time • Scope • Budget • Quality • Value Only one (maybe two) truly matter to the client. Know what you’re optimizing for so you can make smart tradeoffs. 4️⃣ Get the Right People Your project will never be better than the people on it. You don’t need warm bodies. You need the right people in the right roles. Build your team around functions, not names. Set expectations early. Give feedback often. 5️⃣ Big Goals, Small Steps Break your project into major deliverables—then smaller chunks. Boulders -> Rocks -> Pebbles -> Sand Use tools like product breakdowns, sketches, and process flows. 6️⃣ Build a Real Timeline Every construction job has key milestones. Use pull planning, Takt, & LPS to lay out each step with realistic durations. Validate your plan with your team. Then—and only then—negotiate. 7️⃣ Risk Management Something WILL go wrong. Build a Risk Register early. Review it weekly. Rank risks by impact × likelihood. Use the TAME framework: - Transfer - Accept - Mitigate - Eliminate Antifragile projects absorb shocks. Fragile ones shatter. 8️⃣ Dealing With Change A single change won't hurt you. 100 will. Standardize how changes are submitted, evaluated, approved, and communicated. Track every change in a central log and communicate it widely. 9️⃣ Tools & Processes Your tools exist to do 3 things: - Communicate - Coordinate - Document Don’t chase shiny features. Choose tools your team will actually use. Then build repeatable processes around approvals, onboarding, access, etc. 🔟 Stakeholder Communication Most projects fall apart because of miscommunication. Map your key stakeholders. Spend 80% of your time on the 20% who can make or break your job. Tailor how and when you communicate to meet their needs. - - - - - 📌 P.S. Interested in project leadership? Join 7,500+ construction pros who read The Influential Project Manager—a free weekly newsletter with 1 idea to lead people and predict outcomes. Every Tuesday.

We've helped 3,000 different agencies get a crystal-clear view of their team's workload—helping them better utilize their team's time and significantly increase utilization (by more than 29% 😮). Here's our formula for getting a more accurate workload view in your project management system. 1️⃣ Build your processes and save them as templates If you build process templates for everything that you do and leverage time estimates, due dates, and assignees, you'll get much more accurate tasks in your system to actually populate your workload view. 2️⃣ Every task must have a time estimate Workload views are built on time estimates. Every task should have a time estimate on it. 3️⃣ Your task's due dates should be the DO dates When the due date is the DO date (the date it should be worked on and completed), your time estimate will only fall on one date, providing a much more accurate time estimate for a specific task. 4️⃣ Every task should only have ONE assignee Having two assignees on a task can sometimes split the time estimate among assignees or add the time estimate to each assignee's workload, which may not be realistic. Not to mention, having two assignees on a task leads to tasks slipping through the cracks, so just don't do it. 5️⃣ Get rid of start dates Because your due dates are DO dates, you shouldn't need start dates. Your tasks should be broken up into smaller bite-sized pieces. Start dates just split up time estimates evenly across days, which isn't always realistic. 6️⃣ Remap overdue tasks Make sure your team is moving tasks when they fall overdue. If they have a bunch of overdue tasks that still need to be done, these won't reflect accurately on the workload view if their due dates are in the past. 7️⃣ Optimize your process templates monthly Make sure you set up a process for optimizing your process templates. Create dashboards to help you compare time tracked to time estimates. You want to use data to get your time estimates as accurate as possible. 8️⃣ Live by the rule of "if it's not in our PM system, it doesn't exist" Every task needs to be in the PM system to make your workload view accurate. This includes meetings, professional development, etc. 9️⃣ Document OOO time You should be creating tasks in your PM system that fill up someone's workload when they are out of the office and can't take on any work. 🔟 Hire a PM champion to audit your workspace daily Every task needs to have an assignee, due date, and time estimate to populate the workload view. Without these ingredients, tasks won't show up, and your workload view will not be accurate. Hire a champion to QA your workspace regularly. If you use ClickUp, you can create an amazing QA view that helps you audit your workspace and get needed details on all tasks easily. ---- 👉 I've got a full training and PDF guide on this. Want it? Let me know in the comments and I'll send it your way. ---- #projectmanagement #agencylife #operations #workload

Can your team answer these two questions? 1) Once we commit to doing something, how long does it take for us to finish it? 2) Once we start working on something, how long does it take for us to finish it? The first measures your team’s lead time, and the second measures cycle time. They’re very different, even though many think they’re synonymous. If you can’t answer these two questions, it makes it nearly impossible to answer questions like: 🔵 Will we be able to hit promised milestones and releases? 🔵 How long will it take to deliver that new high-priority feature? 🔵 How long until that new art asset is ready for the marketing campaign?  🔵 How long will the customer wait for their support request to be answered? and most important… ⭐️ How can we improve, remove bottlenecks, and deliver faster? To start measuring lead times and cycle times: 1 - Determine and visualize your workflow in a tool like Trello, Asana, or Favro 2 - Be sure to have a clear Commitment point (Selected, Ready, Committed, etc.) and a clear In-progress point (Developing, Doing, Resolving, etc.) 3 - Determine when something is actually Done and delivered to the “customer” in your flow 4 - Measure the time it takes for each item (card) to go from Committed to Done’and Started to Done (a good tool will track this for you) 5 - Visualize your lead and cycle times in a scatter plot, histogram, and/or control chart From there, you can determine averages and probable ranges of how long your team will take to deliver something new. Your team will then be well equipped to: ✅ Better forecast delivery dates for batches of work ✅ Accurately answer: when will this be done? ✅ Begin reducing lead times and cycle times ✅ Start building a more predictable flow Remember, the difference between your lead times and cycle times can be huge, so it’s critical to understand the difference and measure both.