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I’ve supported a couple projects focused on promoting programmatic and physical accessibility and have learned a tremendous amount in a short time about the unique needs of this population. I admittedly need to get smarter on this topic, but I have picked up a few tips that I try to incorporate on the projects that I manage. I often find myself sharing these tips with junior project managers and other colleagues, so I’ve summarized them here in case others might benefit.Consider that someone may be consuming your content via a screen reader. A screen reader is a software program that reads text displayed on the computer screen with a speech synthesizer or braille display. To make it easier for the speech synthesizer to process the information, use alternative (alt) text to caption images, capitalize each word of multi-word hashtags, and refrain from using open circle bullets (the default second tier of bullet points in Microsoft Word.) The screen reader reads them as “oh’s”, not as bullet points.Use contrasting colors. Someone with low vision or who is colorblind may have difficulty distinguishing colors that do not have a sufficient degree of contrast from one another. WebAIM has a free contrast checker that you can use to validate your chosen color scheme. Enter the hexadecimal codes of the background and foreground colors that you intend to use. The site assesses the degree of contrast between the colors and lets you know whether the selected color scheme passes the contrast test.If you’re using Microsoft Office products, run the built-in accessibility checker. Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint include a built-in accessibility checker that checks for basic accessibility concerns, such as missing alt text or missing column headers in tables. Failure to include these items makes it harder for someone using a screen reader to consume your content. While the accessibility checker won’t find everything, it can help correct some of the more common issues.Identify whether your deliverable would benefit from a Section 508 compliance review. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 governs IT accessibility laws and policies. Ensuring compliance with Section 508 requires specialized training. If you have the time, the budget, and the staff to conduct this review, consider incorporating it as part of your deliverable development process.Use inclusive language. If you’re using Microsoft Word, you can adjust your proofing options to check for bias, such as gendered language. A simple change you can make is to swap out “he” or “she” for “they.” “They” is increasingly being used as a singular pronoun, so no need to worry about subject-verb agreement.Hope you found these tips helpful. Please let me know in the comments if you have other insights you’d like to offer!

The “P” in “PM” could stand for people—that’s how important people management is to the discipline of project management. I devote many of the posts in this blog to working with and learning from people. But, process is important to project management as well. Sometimes, process can even be more fun because—let’s face it—processes are easier to deal with than people. By popular request, I’ve written this post to describe some of the products that I use to manage my personal projects. I could happily exist on a desert island as long as I had Internet and the following apps (in order of when I adopted them):Toodledo. The OG to do list. A lot of people will sing the praises of Wunderlist, Evernote, or todoist, but those platforms are far too complicated for my tastes. I heard about Toodledo from an unlikely source—my mom—and I’ve been using it for what feels like forever. I’ve been using it forever because it works. You create folders by category, add tasks for that category, and assign deadlines. When you finish a task, you check it off the list. Simple as that. I use Toodledo to keep track of recurring chores, financial tasks, and health obligations (like meal prep and scheduling weekly workouts.) I’d be lost without it. Feedly. Why check websites for content you’re interested in reading? Use an RSS feed reader, like Feedly, to aggregate news sources you find compelling, and read them when you have time to do so. You can create different categories of topics to follow—mine include news, health, project management, and productivity (among others). This is a great way for me to catch up on content when I’m on the go. If I have a few minutes free during the day, I’ll scan the app for pertinent articles and bookmark the ones I’d like to read later. During my weekly review, I’ll go back through the list and post any thought-provoking content on LinkedIn or Twitter. Google Calendar. People always ask me with wonder how I manage to remember important dates without facebook to remind me. My secret is not having a great memory. It’s having a calendar. I maintain a list of Google Contacts, including birthdays and anniversaries, and Google auto tracks them as part of a “Birthdays” calendar. I text or call the person on their special day. Couldn’t be simpler. I also use Google Calendar to track personal appointments, like workout classes, haircuts, travel, and speaking engagements. I experimented with using my calendar to time block activities, but it never worked for me, so I gave up.Spotify. I’m not necessarily tied to Spotify, but in the modern age, I’ve finally accepted that my iPod is no longer the best way of listening to music. I need music like I need to write, so this app is essential to my continued productivity—even if I vehemently disagree that listening to pop music is counterproductive.Google Keep, Google Drive, and Goodreads. I have two lists that I maintain in Google Keep—one is my shopping list, where I record items that I wish to buy in preparation for a Sunday grocery store or Target run. The other is a list of library books that I wish to borrow. To source the shopping list, I use Google Drive. I maintain a standard shopping list in Google Sheets that includes the universe of items that I buy on a recurring basis, and I review this list and add pertinent items to Keep once a week. To source the library books list, I use Goodreads. If you’re a reader and you don’t use this app, get on it. You can use it to track books you’ve read and want to read, get recommendations from friends, and find inspiration for new titles to peruse.Trello. I added this product to the rotation two years ago, and I absolutely love it. Whereas Toodleo helps me track my short-term to do’s, Trello is for longer term projects. I have lists for each of my goal areas—right now, those are health, career, writing, and finances—and I create cards for each of the tasks that I’d like to complete in these areas. I also subscribe to David Allen’s Getting Things Done methodology and have lists for Someday/Maybe (current year) and Someday/Maybe (long term). Finally, I have an ideas inbox list. I use this list to log ideas that I’d like to revisit in greater depth as part of my weekly review. Logging these types of items in Toodledo would stress me out, because it can be difficult to work on them in a single sitting. I’d wind up pushing them out to the next day over and over. Trello is a trusted capture system that helps me maintain momentum on what Stephen Covey refers to as our “Quadrant II”—or highest ROI—activities.Let me know of any essential PM products you use in the comments!

One of the most frustrating things for a manager is working with employees who can’t quite seem to live up to their potential. When staff are not performing as you expect, it usually has to do with confidence. Here are some guidelines for how to get your staff to open up to you, themselves, and others.

You can’t go a week these days without finding an article extolling the benefits of meditation. You know it’s supposed to be good for you, but that 21-day meditation challenge appeared to leave zero impact on your daily mindfulness. What gives? Here are some other ways to unlock the benefits of meditation.

At some point, you’ll be asked not only to manage your own staff—but also staff that will be managers themselves. How do you ensure that you set up new managers for success? Here are some things to consider when onboarding new project managers.

Delegation is a critical skill to cultivate no matter where you are in your career. Once you start to delegate, how do you continue to delegate in a way that is effective? Here are five steps to take to delegate effectively.

While we know caring about our jobs is a positive sign, it can be hard to remember this in the moment when a teammate’s behavior makes us want to pull out our hair. Here are some strategies to help you manage your emotions as a project manager.

I traveled to another office this week to meet with colleagues on their project management best practices. We had several “a-ha” moments as we brainstormed how to improve inefficient processes, better prepare for upcoming projects, and enhance team collaboration. How can project managers channel the power of a project management outsider to improve their existing practices?

How can teams work together effectively if they don’t understand what each of their colleagues is trying to do? Here are some of the reasons that teams should adopt community goal setting.

I decided to write a post on how to network effectively as a project manager. I thought about why I find networking relatively straightforward, whereas others have described it as awkward, scary, or ambiguous. Here are some common complaints about networking and how to solve them.

Operating on schedule and under budget are hallmarks of successful project management. If you’re doing your job well, no news is good news—but not if you’re trying to shine a spotlight on your fabulous team, cause, and/or yourself. Here are some ideas for how to brand your projects within and outside of your organization:

It’s common knowledge that being able to communicate effectively is a critical skill in today’s job market, particularly for project managers. The more you advance in your career, the more important it becomes to be able to communicate effectively with a particular audience: executives. Here are ten tips for project managers to communicate effectively with executives.

Even if your organization isn’t ready to be 100% agile, it doesn’t mean that you can’t (stealthily) introduce your clients to agile project management. Here are some ways to introduce agile concepts to your stakeholders without them knowing it.

I previously wrote about how to maintain momentum on your projects to ensure that you continue to make progress against your goals. If you are not where you want to be, the warming weather may offer the inspiration you need for a bout of project spring cleaning. How can project managers spruce up their projects for spring?

In a previous post, I published my failure resume showcasing professional setbacks. One of the items listed was sticking too long with a gig I knew too well. When I made the decision to try something different, a colleague asked me to write a post about what project managers should consider when undertaking a new role.

Meeting facilitation is an integral part of a project manager’s job. What does it mean to facilitate a meeting? How do you facilitate a meeting well? And, how can you improve your facilitation skills?

In the next several months, I’m scheduled to speak on ways that project managers can improve efficiency and boost productivity. Past reactions to this talk are usually something like, “Wow, that’s great! But I’ll never be that organized.” My presentation was not resonating with my audience because I had failed to explain why I have adopted these productivity-boosting techniques. Developing a failure resume could be a great tool to demonstrate this point.

I’ve gotten a few requests for a post on how to set goals based on your personality type. It’s all well and good to read about how I set goals as a Type A extrovert—but what strategies can introverted and/or more laidback people pursue to help them accomplish their objectives?

When you’re operating in any environment larger than a startup, the company will inevitably have some processes in place that ensure things don’t run amok. The question becomes: how do you successfully navigate such an environment to get results? How do you innovate in a bureaucracy?

Starting the new year and realizing that you are woefully behind on your PDUs? Here is a list of project management blogs that I read regularly and recommend you check out.