News from Peak Performance

Darren Jaundrill from Network Rail, Dr Julie Mills, Principal of MK College, Dr Peter Parkes, MD of Peak Performance, and Nat Morosoli from APM — Launch of Higher Apprenticeships for Project Management

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

Peter has done a great job outlining 1) Project Management, 2) NLP, and 3) How NLP can enable a step change improvement when managing projects. However I think the book deserves a wider readership. Much of business today is about managing projects, and with it change. I’d recommend the book to any manager or director involved in change. Which I suspect is most of us.

Michael Beale NLP trainer and Coach

Goleman persuaded 5 million readers that EI was more important than IQ to success, but stopped short of telling us what to do about it. Peter shows us how. A must-read set of life and business skills for all professional interim executives

David Harries

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.

Russel Jamieson FAPMChair, APM Branch Steering Group BT Innovate and Design

We can now buy almost any car and expect it to work perfectly from the start – very different from a few decades ago. So why not aspire for a world in which every project succeeds? That involves organisational change and improved processes and systems, but primarily it is about people – their attitudes, behaviours and relationships. Project management professionals are already driving this cultural shift. This book, by an eminent practitioner of both Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Project Management, makes a valuable contribution by marrying the two fields to reinforce our understanding of how people can maximise their effectiveness in managing and responding to change. It provides interesting and useful insights for those at all stages in their career development. I am pleased to recommend it.

Mike Nichols

Project Managers need a range of hard and soft skills to drive project management processes to deliver successfully. I am clear that using associated PPM tools and applying learning is not enough on its own. Peter’s book brings analysis, insight and valuable pointers to improving those very important soft skills such as building rapport with stakeholders, handling difficult situations and being assertive. I recommend Peter’s book, read it and help improve both your personal performance and your team’s performance.

Paul HirstHead of PPM capability, HMRC

Effective Programme and Project management is about more than methodology. This book helps you to reflect on the skills and behaviours you use day to day and offers helpful routes for improved results and development as a PPM professional.

Diane RichardsHead of Programme Support ServicesCompliance and Enforcement, HMRC

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.

Alistair Godbold

International Project Management constitutes a complex world within which there are uncertainties and diverse stakeholder challenges. Peter’s book is not only informative but, through consideration of NLP tools and techniques, provides us with a deeper insight and much needed guidance in developing flexible solutions to complexities found in managing international projects effectively. I look forward to him talking to our students about it’

Amerjit Walia FAPM FCIPD

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!)

Andy Murray CDirLead author PRINCE2 (2009 Refresh)Director, Outperform

Important contextualised contribution to the development of competence in the so-called soft skills, hard to master, but an indispensable component of effective practice in a profession whose time has come.

Andrew Bragg