Alex Brown's Articles and Speeches

Communication is widely recognized as a critical skill for project managers. Our work depends on accurate, clear communication.

Project managers tend to be practical, fact-oriented people. When we speak, write, read, and listen, we focus on facts.

Every communication has an emotional context, though. Are you aware of that context? Are you intentionally using that context to create an emotional response in your audience?

The story of the first project management spam campaign.

It is hard to get an independent consultant to be frank and forthcoming about their business. During this one-hour recording, you will get an insider’s view of what it is like to go from being an employee to an independent consultant. The audience had hard-hitting, personal questions, and they got full, open answers.

Introducing project management to an organization is hard work. By appealing to the strategists and the senior executives in your organization, it is possible to make project management grow and flourish.

Hear one of my first speeches to put together strategic planning and project management. Hear the story of how a real company was able to implement its strategy through projects, and the unexpected benefits the company gained.

A two-minute joke about a project manager and his team. The classic joke is not very nice to project managers, so this joke has a different ending.

This speech was delivered and recorded live for the PMI North America Congress on September 12, 2005. The entire 54-minute speech will play below, with slides synchronized to the audio, and it is also available as an audio or video podcast from this site.

Available as a four-contact hour, four PDU [...]

Learn how project charters successfully bridged cultural gaps when making decisions among a community of Japanese and U.S. executives. Establishing a clear chartering process was the key to project management’s success at the company. The presentation will include templates and overviews of the processes established.
This speech was delivered and recorded live for the PMI New [...]

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Animated strategic plan overview (GIF)

Introduction
Project management and organizational strategy should be natural partners in any business. Project managers can and should play a strong role in executing organizational strategy. They also should provide critical information to the executives who set organizational strategy. Unfortunately, many project managers still do not [...]

Risk management is a truly universal tool. It protects individuals, corporations, and investments from harm every day. Managing projects to meet strategic, organizational goals requires a broader view of risk management. Looking at project risk is not enough. Inventing new “project portfolio risk management” methods is not enough. Strategic views of risk require integrating risk [...]