Thanking the GirlsGuideToPM Community (That’s You)
(This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure.)
This year I received two emails that changed the way I think about this blog.
The first was from a lecturer in Africa who teaches project management to female students. He said he uses this site to show that it’s a real job that women can excel at. Some part of what we do here might have inspired a new generation of girls to go into project management.
The second was from a woman with a long-term illness. She said that my emails were part of what was keeping her in touch with work during her treatment. Even if it’s just as a distraction on a difficult day, I’m grateful to have helped in a small way.
I’ve been writing this blog for over 10 years now and it might sound odd to say it, but it’s only been the last couple that I’ve thought about what you might need. This year I’ve tried to offer more resources and practical guides. I’ve taken down obsolete articles. In 2017 I promise to try to be even more helpful in connecting you to the ideas and tools that make it easier to manage projects and teams without sobbing into your wine of an evening.
But that’s next year… Watch this space.
For now, 2016 is coming to a close. We don’t do Thanksgiving over here, but I still believe in taking time out to thank the people who have helped keep my blog running during the year.
And what a year it has been!
GirlsGuideToPM.com has seen a 70% leap in users during 2016, 61% more page views and around 6,300 of you joined our newsletter community since January, meaning we’re now a little online gang of project managers numbering over 14k. (And yes, we do weed out the fake emails and people who don’t ever open the messages once a quarter.)
So my first shout out in the annual show of appreciation has to go to you.
Whether you’re new here today or whether you’ve stuck around for the past 10 years, thanks for all the emails, comments, downloads, Facebook likes, tweets and all that.
And now, on to everyone else.
Companies that let me review their software
Thanks to these companies who gave me free access to their software for review purposes:
I also reviewed Vizzlo because I bought it and I still use it regularly for my work and blogging.
While I enjoy researching new software and bringing you the latest tools to manage your projects, sometimes I wish I wrote a blog about chocolate J.
People I have interviewed
It’s an effort to be interviewed: I’ve done a few, so I know what it takes. Thanks to these people who made space in their calendars to share their ideas with us all:
- Penny Pullan (this was so much fun to record, but we had just opened a bottle of wine…)
- Jerry Ihejirika
- Peter Taylor
- Erica Pepitone
- William W. Davis
- Craig Kilford
- Ellen Maynes (who showed me that project management really can change the world)
- Traci Duez
- Christine Unterhitzenberger
- Sarah Coleman
- Monica Borrell
- Lorraine Chapman
- Caroline Crewe-Read
People who have invited me to speak at their events
I’m grateful to the following groups who invited me along to speak at their events or to their students:
- PMI Congress EMEA: Barcelona
- Digital PM Summit in San Antonio, Texas (watch the roundups Day 1 and Day 2)
- PMI Poland Chapter
- CIMA
- Institute of Contemporary Music Production
- Hogeschool Utrecht
People who have provided guest posts
There have been over 100 articles published this year, but not all of them written by me. The talented community has also contributed some amazing pieces including:
- Elisa Cepale, 5 Tips to Re-energise Your Daily Standup Meetings
- Paul Pelletier, Are You a Workplace Bully? And Profit, Productivity, and Peace: The Business Case for Eliminating Workplace Bullying
- Chris Hammond, The Battle Between Process and Progress
- Patrick Mayfield, A Strategy for Engaging and Dealing with Difficult People
- Edoardo Binda Zane, How to Help Teams Make Group Decisions
- Mike Clayton, What Should a New Project Manager Focus On?
- Leigh Espy, How to Present to the C-Suite (and Everyone Else)
- Kayleigh Töyrä, 6 Ways to Manage Projects Like a Nordic
- Jerry Ihejirika, How I Got a Broken Leg, Thought Deep About My Career and Focused More on My Passion
- Jerry Giltenane, Are You Ready for the Social Tech Revolution?
Publishers and authors who have sent books to review
As an author I love reading, and I’m always open to learning more from books. I’m grateful to the companies and authors who have helped me do that this year including:
- Louise M. Worsley, Stakeholder-led Project Management: Changing the Way We Manage Projects (Business Expert Press)
- Colin D. Ellis, The Conscious Project Leader: How to Create a Culture of Success for Your Projects, Your Team and Yourself
- Penny Pullan, Virtual Leadership (Kogan Page)
- Sean Ammirati, The Science of Growth (St. Martin’s Press)
- Simon Moore, Strategic Project Portfolio Management (Wiley)
- Roger Klev and Morten Levin, Participative Transformation (Gower)
- Jo Bos, Ernst Harting & Marlet Hesslelink, Project Driven Creation
- Grace Killelea, The Confidence Effect (AMACOM)
And a few more I haven’t got round to writing up yet.
Our wonderful sponsors
Maintaining a blog costs money. We all work in organisations where the bottom line matters: you know that while I’d love to be able to pay my bills with Facebook likes, actually there’s a financial and practical element to being able to keep the office lights on. So, thank you to the companies who have chosen to spend their marketing budgets with me this year.
My personal cheerleaders
This year GirlsGuideToPM.com got too much to do as a hobby. If I’m honest, it had been too big for a while and I was struggling to do it all. I needed help and so this year I’ve built a team. We aren’t big. But together we can do more to support you and your projects. (And it means that we have some amazing ideas for next year.)
So… thank you to:
- Shannon
- Kathryn at Singing Through the Rain
- Laura at Pixel Me Designs
- Pauline
- Jon
I hope I haven’t left anyone out.
And I wish you all a wonderful 2017.
Such a gracious post Elizabeth. Thanks so much for continuing to share your wisdom with the world and I’m already looking forward to your insights in 2017.
I very much hope not to disappoint! I look forward to some more of your Pocket Square newsletters next year too.
Six or seven years ago, when I would mention Girl’s Guide to Project Management to the women (and men) I worked with, I’d get a quizzical look. So I’d give them your URL. These days, the project managers I work with already follow your work, so the conversations are about the books and software products you’ve reviewed and the people you’ve interviewed. In short: you’ve changed what we talk about. Not many people can do that.
Peace be with you.
Thanks, Dave, that means a lot! Although I think you have to take some of the credit for sharing my blog with your colleagues. Best wishes.
I found this website 12 months ago when I was quite literally thrown into the world of project management.
I have used this site to check that
1) as a newbie managing my first big project I was doing what I should be and
2) to find guidance on how to manage difficult stakeholders and console myself that it wasn’t just me feeling more bad days than good days sometimes.
This site has genuinely helped me and my first big project was a success. And now that I have just been promoted to an official Project Manager in our PMO office I will continue to visit regularly.
Thank you for the kind words Michelle. Congratulations on the promotion! I have sent you an email.
Thanks, Michelle! Glad to hear that the resources here are of some use. And believe me, it isn’t just you with those difficult stakeholders!