Project Management Operating Room

Loss of Privileges, Boundary Violation, and Failure to Chart

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 00:54:42 GMT

In Episode 2 of the Project Management Operating Room, we look at a case where a project manager has lost their privileges for scheduling meetings due to a series of mistakes that were made. Next, we look at a case where a project manager is potentially stepping over a boundary with the team when it comes to the use of AI. Lastly, we look at a case where a failure to document decisions is hurting the project.

Template Amnesia, PM in Quarantine, and Self-Induced Coma

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:23:06 GMT

In Episode 1 of The PM Operating Room, we examine three real project management problems sourced from the project management community and diagnose what's actually going wrong and what to do about it.

Case 01: Template Amnesia The same types of projects are executed over and over, but the team starts from scratch every time. No templates, no shared repository, no reuse of previous work. We diagnose why a seemingly simple problem is not that simple and where responsibility lies.

Case 02: PM in Quarantine A veteran PM with 15 years of experience gets a new CIO who bars them from planning and estimation sessions. The tactical quarantine creates a context gap and leaves the PM questioning what the role even means going forward. We break down what's really driving this dynamic and what the PM should actually do about it.

Case 03: Self-Induced Coma A PM secures a verbal commitment from a team member to own critical testing work. Six months later that person claims they never committed to anything. The project is in chaos, deadlines are at risk, and everyone is pointing fingers. We diagnose how this really happened and how to start fixing it.

No textbook answers, no buzzword mumbo-jumbo. Just practical solutions from someone who has been there.

Project Manager's Error Sends Project Into Chaos

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 21:31:44 GMT

In this Project Management Operating Room Case Files episode, we do a deeper dive on a project where a project manager relied solely upon a verbal agreement to complete project work only for the team to come back 6 months later and say they never made that commitment. Project chaos ensues.