Papercut Edge, is a relative newcomer to the project management blogging scene but has made a great impact for its focus on the soft skills side of PM and a blogger with a great sense of humour. Geoff Crane started the blog in November 2009 primarily to promote his coaching business but quickly found a following amongst the PPM community.

Geoff is a project coach for companies in the Greater Toronto Area and his specialty is helping project managers leverage soft skills to achieve specific and predictable results. “I believe these results create a heightened sense of ownership among team members, faster buy-in from stakeholders, and an accelerated pace to project execution,” he says.

The Papercut Edge is regularly updated, at least once a week and in Geoff’s words:

“It’s meant to be a fun way to communicate difficult sensitive topics that are associated with project management. I’m still learning about blogging, and refining my message, but think of Papercut Edge as a source of Emotional Intelligence for PMs. That’s what I’d like it to be, anyway.”

Geoff has 20 years experience managing large and complex projects and portfolios as a former executive of two global banks. As his career grew, so did the complexity of his projects.

“I seemed to get all the ‘ugly’ projects that nobody else wanted to go near because they were so hairy,” he recalls. “Through those experiences, I learned about the necessity of soft skills in successful delivery. When I hired PMs, however, the vast majority seemed to lean on project theory and couldn’t understand why their projects would run into trouble. I spent so much time coaching them, and loving it, that I decided to do it full time.”

The Papercut Edge is for all project managers; especially new or “accidental” project managers who are struggling to learn and especially those looking for a focus on the softer skills of good project management.

The most read blog piece on the Papercut Edge demonstrates brilliantly the softer skills side of project management:

• The (Ironically) Hateful Cycle of Apathy

Geoff’s three personal favourites from the Papercut Edge include;

• The Difference Between Portfolios, Programs and Projects (with Buffy)
• Why I’d Rather You Go Play in the Traffic. 3 Levels of Trust in a Project Environment
• The Leader’s Barber Pole

You can reach the Papercut Edge blogger on Twitter at: PaperCutPM

URL: http://edge.papercutpm.com

RSS Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/PapercutEdge

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