Peak Performance announced our tie-up with Milton Keynes College to deliver Higher Apprentices for Project Management at a launch event organised by the Institute of Directors – see write-up here. (Download a flier for the HA4PM course here).
Our latest newsletter on ‘Developing behavioural competences for PMs‘ is out now
We have a new webinar taking bookings in the USA 11th April 2013 – ‘NLP for Project Managers’ for ITMPI (book here)
Over 700 booked to hear us speak at APM’s first national webinar and the drop off rate was less than 2%! View the recording on the APM’s website here.
On the 25th April we will be delivering a public talk on ‘Building resilience and management stress’ at the Police firearms training centre in Stockton for the APM – book here.
Testimonials and Endorsements
Even in IT projects, soft skills are very important and Peter, a well respected author and speaker, has shared his insight on this resulting in an extremely useful guide on behavioural competences.
Change is the only constant’ is a well known phrase and clearly evident within progressive organisations today. NLP should be an integral accessory to the overall project, programme and portfolio managers toolkit and this book, authored by a respected practitioner, provides useful and clearly articulated comparisons between the various methodologies assisting the reader to be better prepared and able to use the right tool at the right time for their given role.
People, not process and tools, are the key ingredient in making change happen. Peter has vast experience in project leadership and has used it to create a useful read that can help project managers get the best out of their interactions with those they work with.
There is still lots of room for improvement in project delivery performance in all sectors. In most cases vast improvement can easily come from all project players really understanding each other better and having higher quality relationships and interactions. NLP is a perfect technique to help all project players to improve in this area – enabling misunderstandings to be avoided or spotted and difficult issues confronted which will lead to better project outcomes. I recommend that all project players spend time to learn from this topic and improve their own capability and performance.
Projects are delivered by people, success is getting teams of people to work together for a common goal. Project processes, tools and techniques help in delivery, but they are used by people. There are many texts on the process used in project management and they are relatively straightforward to understand and learn, people are more complex. This book on the people side of project management provides structure to help you as a project manager, and the teams around you, deliver successful projects. Peter has made this subject an enjoyable read bought to life with practical illustrations from his own extensive project management career. I have no hesitation in recommending this book to project professionals whether starting out on their career, or those with more experience seeking to constantly improve their performance.
Consistent feedback when we released early drafts of PRINCE2 was the need to describe those vital behavioural competences (or soft skills) that project managers require for successful project delivery. But it is not the remit of PRINCE2 to describe such skills as PRINCE2 is just a method, so we took the approach of sign-posting the additional competences that those involved in projects require. At last there is now a book that describes those skills, and more importantly in a way that puts them in context of project management. This book provides practical and easy to follow guidance on how to apply NLP techniques to a Project Manager’s every day work. I recommend every Project Manager reads this book (in addition to PRINCE2!)
For me, the book on it’s own would not be enough, but having now completed 5 days of NLP4PM training with Peter Parkes, the book content has been taken to a different level. The techniques have come alive and their application is very clear, all I need to do now is practice. 5 days training based on the book has enabled me to significantly change my limiting beliefs but has also enabled me to understand how best to build rapport with people in a way that I would never have thought possible. I understand how the application of NLP techniques will change my approach to delivering very successful projects. I would recommend the book and the course to everyone. A very enlightening experience and one that I will never forget.
‘I would struggle to recommend another book that covers the tricky subject of how we become better at the people aspects of project management. I think the mark of any good book is that you find yourself recommending it when in conversation with others, which is what happened just the other day. A friend, who is currently working in a change management environment, was talking about interesting times in her organisation. It was the age-old problem of a few “trouble makers” who are showing resistance to change. I piped up that there are loads of examples and approaches you could take with NLP, and there’s this book I’m reading…’

The scope of the project management profession is very broad and often the softer skills are neglected, yet it is the people and teams that make the difference. We have heard the adage ‘What are the top three areas of project management?’ – 1 Communication, 2 Communication and 3 Communication! Whilst this is intended to be light hearted there is some logic here. Peter has linked NLP to project management which will certainly support the communication topic and Peter’s background, experience of a number of sectors, cultures and organisations provides the credibility to deliver.
For me, the book on it’s own would not be enough, but having now completed 5 days of NLP4PM training with Peter Parkes, the book content has been taken to a different level. The techniques have come alive and their application is very clear, all I need to do now is practice. 5 days training based on the book has enabled me to significantly change my limiting beliefs but has also enabled me to understand how best to build rapport with people in a way that I would never have thought possible. I understand how the application of NLP techniques will change my approach to delivering very successful projects. I would recommend the book and the course to everyone. A very enlightening experience and one that I will never forget.