Christmas season project

Hi Michael, thanks so much for your thoughtful post! It truly is the season for reflection and giving. I'm looking forward to seeing how project management shows up in this aspect of community members' lives!

I love this question... for me, Christmas usually turns into a family project: planning gatherings, coordinating schedules, setting a realistic budget, and making sure everyone feels included. The scope is simple, the stakeholders are very vocal, and success is measured in shared time and low stress rather than perfection.

Additionally, it can be really hard sometimes because everyone wants to gather in December, family activities, friends, work groups, social circles. I often end up with 6 to 8 different gatherings across different groups. Even when I’m not organizing all of them, just being involved in the planning makes it feel like a mini project.

The family side feels more like a mini program, with sub-projects to coordinate: food, location, dress code, timing, and logistics. It’s a good reminder that project management skills show up everywhere, even around the Christmas table

One thing I enjoy about project management is the realization that the principles relate to every aspect of your life, including after clocking-out! While my Christmas plans will hold a variety of small gatherings, outings, and even home improvement projects, the best tool applied across the holiday is usually to plan risk and change management. Weather, illness, family member preferences, and a host of other risks can impact our holiday and I've learned how critical it is to foresee these risks and have change management strategies on the ready to implement. Keeping spirits up and maximizing the use of our time together under our limited schedule defines our success!

Lastly, my in-laws love building ginger bread houses and making it a contest. This is where I can sit down and put my PMP skills to the test! We establish a timeframe for construction, distribute resources, and set our teams. Discussing the requirements with the team, working thru some obvious risks, and then utilizing everyone's skills to their full potential is key to taking home the trophy!