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August 31, 2025 19 mins

“At the core of it, is the people, a lot of people want to talk about processes and tools, and that's great, but your project probably didn't fail because you used PMI version or Prince two's version, if you had weekly meetings or stand-up meetings. That's probably not why it failed. It's probably because the people were not set up for success from the beginning the whole way through to the end, and that's what my book is all about.”

 

Dawn Mahan Top Five Tips For Successful Projects

1.  Assume Nothing: Embrace Failure Stats to Challenge Your Blind Spots

2. Welcome to Projectland: It's DIFFERENT Here

3. Assemble the Power Players: The Leadership Roles That Make or Break your Project 

4. Field your Dream Team: Recruit the Right Players in the Right Roles

5. 3 Surprising Kinds of Stakeholders & How to Spot Them 

 

TIME STAMP SUMMARY

02:48  People as the core reason for project failure; importance of skill sets and clear goals.

08:31  Benefits of separating project and operations teams for focus.

14:28  Recruiting for skills and work styles; managing with the team you have.

17:36  Managing external influences and communications.

 

Where to find Dawn?

Website                               https://www.projectguruacademy.com/  

LinkedIn                              https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnmahan

 

Dawn Mahan

Dawn Mahan, PMP is Founder of PMOtraining.com, a C-suite advisor, award-winning consultant, international speaker, inventor of ProjectFlo®, author of the bestselling book “Meet the Players in Projectland: Decide the Right Project Roles & Get People On Board” and has trained thousands of professionals around the world.

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