Project Management

Home / Blogs / The Money Files /

The Money Files

A blog that looks at all aspects of project and program finances from budgets, estimating and accounting to getting a pay rise and managing contracts. Written by Elizabeth Harrin from RebelsGuideToPM.com.

About this Blog

RSS

Categories

accounting, agile, ai, appraisals, Artificial Intelligence, audit, Backlog, Benchmarking, benefits, Benefits Management, Benefits Realization, Bias, books, budget, Business Case, business case, business case, Career Development, Career Development, carnival, case study, Change Management, checklist, collaboration tools, communication, Communications Management, competition, complex projects, Conferences, config management, consultancy, contingency, contracts, corporate finance, corporate finance, cost, Cost Management, cost management, credit crunch, CRM, data, data security, debate, Decision Making, delegating, digite, earned value, Education, Energy and Utilities, Estimating, events, FAQ, financial management, financial management, forecasting, future, GDPR, general, Goals, Governance, green, Information Technology, Innovation, insurance, interviews, it, Knowledge Management, Leadership, Lessons Learned, measuring performance, Mentoring, merger, methods, metrics, multiple projects, negotiating, Networking, news, Olympics, organization, Organizational Culture, outsourcing, personal finance, Planning, pmi, PMO, PMO, Portfolio Management, portfolio management, presentations, privacy policy, process, procurement, product management, productivity, Program Management, project closure, project data, project delivery, Project Success, project testing, prototyping, qualifications, Quality, quality, Quarterly Review, records, recruitment, reports, requirements, research, resilience, Resource Management, resources, risk, Risk Management, ROI, salaries, Schedule Management, Scheduling, scope, Scope Management, security, small projects, Social Impact, social impact, social media, software, software, software, Stakeholder Management, stakeholders, Strategy, success factors, supplier management, team, Teams, testing, testing, timesheets, tips, training, transparency, trends, value management, vendors, video, virtual teams, workflow

Date

How real PM mentoring actually works

Categories: Mentoring

Does your organisation have a mentoring scheme? Some companies have schemes where they match individuals to mentors. Others publish mentoring ‘packs’ or training information so individuals can work it out between themselves, but within the guidance and expectations of the Learning & Development Team.

The trouble with formal schemes – in my view – is that they make it hard to sustain meaningful mentoring relationships, and it’s not because of motivation, it’s part of the design.

Formal mentoring can stall

If your company has a structured scheme, you might find it takes ages to be matched with someone, because normally there are more people wanting a mentor than there are mentors to go round. The mentor matching process is structured and that puts a big burden on the HR team to do the matching.

Plus, you might end up with someone with whom you don’t ‘click’.

In a formal scheme, it feels like there is pressure to ‘add value’ and show that to be the case.

Mentoring in practice

What mentoring looks like in practice is short, focused conversations. It’s those calls when a colleague rings you and asks for a second opinion. It’s context-specific advice, often between peers. It’s you sharing some insight with your manager (reverse mentoring) and informal check ins when you know a colleague has had a hard day.

As project managers, we mentor all the time, probably without thinking much about it. Any time you’ve said, “I know where that policy is, let me show you,” or, “Here’s how to raise that request, I know because I did it last week,” that’s mentoring.

Mentoring without burning out

If you have a formal mentoring scheme in your organisation, great, sign up for it, take the training and be part of the programme, if that’s what you want. It will probably be a very positive and meaningful experience.

But if you don’t have that structure, you can still support colleagues with micro-mentoring moments. You can sharing experiences, not solutions, you can help people set boundaries.

Being mentored

Again, if you have a formal scheme to take part in, go for it, as it will most likely be valuable if you match with someone you can build a good relationship with. But if you don’t, you can still access mentoring, without having to ask someone for a formal relationship or a mentoring contract.

Ask for feedback on what you are doing. Get more experienced project managers to share their stories. And share yours too. As an entry-level or less experienced project manager you also have knowledge and life experience to share.

Mentoring as a project manager – whether you do it formally or through simply being open about what you know with colleagues, is a great way to learn more about the organisation and it can be part of everyone’s roles. It can become a habit, a way of working, rather than time you put in your calendar. Those small conversations compound over time. Tell me in the comments, do you have a mentor? Do you share your knowledge freely within the wider organisation and how has that paid off for your colleagues and yourself? I’d love to know!

Posted on: May 11, 2026 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Career development tips for 2025

Categories: Networking, Conferences, Career Development, Mentoring

You’ve done your objective setting for the year, you’ve met direct reports and your line manager to discuss your corporate objectives. But did you include a personal development plan in your discussions? If not, now is a good time to be thinking about what you want to achieve professionally over the next 12 or so months – beyond those objectives you have to hit for work.

networking event

There is growing demand for project management skills, and staying current is more important than ever, especially if you’ve been around projects and delivery for a while. For example, I used to go to networking events and conferences a lot, and that was a great way to meet people, share ideas and learn new topics. Then I had kids and moved out of London and now it’s not so easy to get into the city for networking breakfasts or evening seminars.

I went to a conference last year and it was really interesting, and good to find time to do things for myself. It was a learning opportunity but also a way to re-energise myself about the profession and make a renewed commitment to professional development.

So, if you’re in the same position and want to look at what you could do to build your career and develop professionally, here are some ideas.

Take a certificate

Even if you don’t technically need one, it’s always good to expose yourself to different teaching methods and different tips. I took a RAID certificate this year and I got a couple of comments like, “what did you need to do a course on that for?” but I did learn new things and it was interesting to see how other people use their RAID logs.

Take a course

You don’t need to commit to a certificate (i.e. an exam) if you don’t want to. Even a short course would be a good start. PMI has a range of free training courses covering AI in project management and it’s worth seeing what is out there.

Get a mentor

I mentor project managers and I know from what they’ve said to me that it’s a great way to learn new skills and have a safe space to try out ideas. If you are an early career professional, look into what mentoring schemes are on offer from your company, or find an independent mentor, or use the mentoring programmes from your local PMI Chapter. There really are plenty of people out there who will be prepared to help you.

Go to a networking event

Don’t feel like committing to learning or an ongoing professional mentoring relationship? Then how about just taking the small step of going to a networking event in your local area? Show up, listen to the talk, say hello and make small talk to the people next to you and leave it at that. You’ll feel more confident for having tried something new and you might learn something at the same time!

There are so many choices. Whether you are extrovert or introvert, prefer webinars or meeting in person, want to commit to a 6-month programme or get your training done in a lunch time, there is the option for you. Block half an hour in your diary now to identify some development opportunities that would work for you and help you get closer to your overall career goals. And then go for it!

Posted on: February 06, 2025 05:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)