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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.

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.

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.

In the world of project assurance we look at two things to gain confidence that projects will be successful: processes and people. There is ample guidance for the processes bit but until recently precious little about the people. This book is a significant contribution to a limited genre of literature that aims to help people develop their knowledge, skills and behaviours to increase the chances of project success’

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.

In this book Peter Parkes focuses on an increasingly valued aspect of project management. Soft skills have always underlain excellent project management performance, but the underlying concepts and techniques have not been clearly expressed. Peter has now demonstrated how NLP can help many of us, in a most helpful and engaging way. The benefits of applying, rather than just reading, his approach will become apparent to those concerned with supporting individual projects as to those governing major portfolios of programmes and projects. Knowing the depth of knowledge and experience on which this book is based I have no hesitation in recommending it.

(Project) Management is a combination of toolset and mindset. Currently the PM toolset box is overflowing and cluttered. It needs a good cleanout. On the other hand the PM mindset box is alarmingly empty except for some snake oil. The way ahead is a combination of mindset and toolset and we’ve done toolset to death. The articulation of an idea which works elsewhere and needed explaining in our language is therefore to be welcomed with open arms (and minds).

Soft skills are the difference that makes the difference in leadership of change. Getting change to work well is really all about people. Peter tirelessly promotes this in project management, both through Alchemy, and more specifically in this book, which is a major contribution to the discipline.