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I posted this in our class discussion, but it occurred to me that it is really a great project management resource for those people who might feel daunted by difficult conversations. It it a resource that will help improve your EQ. In short, the book talks about how to identify when a crucial conversation needs to take place, how to plan for it and how to execute it. There is also a two day course that you can attend or maybe even lobby to bring into your office for PMs. The website for that is here: http://www.vitalsmarts.com/products-solutions/crucial-conversations/ You'll also find that Vital Smarts, the company that produces this training, has a lot of other EQ related resources.

We have a couple of copies of this book lying around my office. I hadn't connected it to project management. I will have to check it out.

Many people I worked with at the Colorado Department of health use this approach. The state has invested in offering the course to employees. While I never had a chance to take this course, I've heard really great things about it. One thing that has made a difference for people I know who have done this, they did with a staff team. That way everyone is using a common approach. That seems to really support implementing what they learned.

I am reading the book written by the founder of this group. It is an enjoyable read and this company also runs a helpful blog. I think it is great for people and organizations that feel challenged by having those difficult conversations.

Looks interesting. Seems like a good communication resource.

Looks like a good support system for project managers!

I'm posting this link to Debra Fine's website. I've read two of her books: "The Fine Art of Small Talk" and "The Fine Art of the Big Talk." While they're not directly about project management, they do relate to the ability to communicate and build relationships both personally and professionally. The content of these two books has helped me build rapport and relationships with teams and stakeholders, open discussions about sensitive topics and project difficulties, and improve my ability to get what I want out of conversations big and small. I would recommend these books to any PM looking to get better at communicating.

Debra, that book sounds very useful to integrate EQ with the PM experience.

Blog posting that has good conversation about why PMs are important to eLearning.

This article is written in a humorous way and does describe the basic necessity of a project manager in eLearning projects. While it doesn't cover all aspects, it is well written and is open ended.

Michael Greer's site that composes a list of questions as the project moves along. It starts with identifying lessons learned from other projects in order for the team to be refreshed for the new project.

I liked the idea of preparing responses in advance of a face-to-face meeting. That gives people the opportunity to reflect and provide quality answers.

These are good suggestions, but I think it would be even better to also instruct team members to jot down issues and solutions as they come up. I find that when we wait for a debrief after one of our huge events, many of us recall some of the problems that came up over the past months, but not all. There have been many times we've sat there looking at each other saying "what was that thing we had to deal with a few months back?" Sometimes we remember, sometimes we don't. Or conversely, we remember the problem, but didn't document exactly how we solved it and have to recreate the solution in the following year's event. So definitely something to be said for documenting feedback in the heart of the matter rather than in a recap, and reviewing the list in the recap meeting rather than trying to reconstruct it then.