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𝗙𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿'𝘀 11-𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗸𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗼𝘂𝗿 Operating multiple businesses and investing in others has taught us invaluable lessons on driving operating rigour. Here's a 11-point toolkit for leaders to ensure execution excellence: 1. 𝑫𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝑲𝑷𝑰𝒔 𝑫𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅: Automated D-1 report and intra-day metrics for high-velocity businesses published daily and hourly, respectively. 2. 𝑾𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒍𝒚 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑴𝑰𝑺: Maintain updated monthly trending P&L to track plan vs actual. 3. 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑴𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔: Weekly 1-hour sessions to align on P&L trends for the month and solve gaps vs. plan. 4. 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒍𝒚 𝑫𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝑫𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔: 2-3 hours review of function-wise progress with <3 slides per team + last month’s P&L. 5. 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘𝒔: 15-30 min weekly team stand-ups for critical projects (max 3). 6. 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓 1:1𝒔: Weekly (15 min) 1:1s with leaders working on multiple tactical projects with you; monthly (30 min) 1:1s with leaders working on long-term ones. 7. 𝑴𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒍𝒚 𝑻𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔: Share wins, plans, and challenges transparently while celebrating top performers. 8. 𝑨𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: Use WhatsApp/Slack for project updates to keep teams aligned and energised. 9. 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒔: Prioritise responsiveness over brilliance as an attribute in people you work with—it keeps everyone moving. 10. 𝑯𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝑯𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑩𝒂𝒓: Never settle. Use recruiters, insist on detailed business case presentations, and personally vet references. 11. 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔: Keep your <10 priorities handy and impose discipline on yourself—add one priority only if you are willing to drop one. These practices help minimise distractions, maintain quality execution, and ensure teamwork. Hope it helps!

“Execution is 95%.” - Daniel Ek, founder of Spotify That makes execution 20x more important than product ideas or vision. Yet, it’s far less talked about. These are the elements of great product execution: 1. Being code-ready Many stretched PMs pass on specs to engineering that aren’t code-ready. They miss a corner case, having bug-free design, or key technical understanding. You have to write a great PRD and have worked through user & technical details to be “code ready.” 2. Defining incremental releases Product execution is about translating vision and strategy to releases. Although the product vision is always grand, it’s a mistake to get there in one step. You have to build-ship-learn fast. Driving that cycle is the essence of execution. 3. Building things that match the team’s skills The magic of execution done right is it “fits.” It’s about working through the “little” details. When defining incremental releases, customize to the team. It’s best to reframe work that might throw off the team’s rhythm. 4. Pre-covering measurement Getting into executional details means working with analytics in advance to define the target metrics, how to set up the experiment, and whether eng understand the events & telemetry to put in place. Shallow PMs tend to miss one of these. 5. Volunteering to unblock the engineering team When building product in modern companies, numerous questions and dependencies arise. Great product execution is about recognizing & then volunteering to unblock these issues. It’s about being in the trenches of building. 6. Increasing the well-being of designers & engineers Great product execution is about thinking far enough ahead to minimize crunch. The worst mistake is burning out the team. The best, like Daniel, go further and motivate the team to see possibility when roadblocks arise. 7. Involving legal & compliance at the right times Sloppy execution treats compliance & legal as afterthoughts. Great execution builds in enough time for them to feedback & review designs. Poor execution experiences delays because this is missed. 8. Building the necessary cross-functional support Products almost always have implications for other teams: sales, marketing, support, other product teams. Execution is about making sure all those impacted teams are okay - ideally, happy - with the feature. 9. Keeping a close eye on the metrics Great execution means owning the outcome. You become the one people go to explain your team’s metrics. You should know the drivers of the big changes first. 10. Juggling all of these balls in the air at once Great execution is all about great prioritization. You have to do these 10 tasks and more. The key is to understand what can fall under the table, can be “just okay,” and must be done really well. As Daniel says, “If you keep executing, the right person will figure out how to sell umbrellas in the Sahara.”

People often ask how we manage complex projects as a team of 100 people in 35 countries, and since I'm currently revamping our documentation on this subject, that info is top of mind. Here's 29 pages of content condensed into 1 LI post for a sneak peek into our DO (Doist Objectives) System 👀 It starts with our annual roadmap, which the leadership team builds in Q4 of the prior year. To execute that plan, we organize our work into four areas of priority (Strategic Priorities, aka SPs), each running multiple initiatives simultaneously in quarterly "cycles", and overseen by a Directly Responsible Doister (DRD): • Brand (DRD: CMO): Marketing campaigns, brand evolution, growth initiatives • Product (DRD: Head of Product): New features, user experience improvements, product strategy • Engineering (DRD: CTO): Platform stability, performance optimization, technical infrastructure • Doist (DRD: 🙋🏻♂️): Internal tools, company operations, team effectiveness Planning kicks off four weeks before each quarter when the CXOs provide the DRDs with general guidance and goals. We respond by proposing general plans for DOs (Doist Objectives; projects/initiatives) in line with our annual roadmap. Two weeks before the new quarter begins, the DOs are agreed upon and the team Heads assign team members to cross-functional "Squads" as "Squad Leaders" and "Squad Members". **See photos below to illustrate the squad infrastructure. Each SP typically runs 2-5 major DOs per quarter, meaning we're executing 12-16 significant projects at any time. The quarter begins with a two-week "Foundation Phase", where squads: • Deep dive into the challenges and opportunities their squad faces • Conduct user research • Create comprehensive specs detailing their proposed solutions • Align on execution approach • This phase ensures we have the space to avoid diving too deep into the upcoming cycle while working on the current cycle From there, squads maintain momentum for the following 10 weeks in the "Execution Phase" through established rituals: • Weekly "snippets" in Twist for progress updates and transparency (our version of an async standup meeting) • Bi-weekly recorded demos to showcase work in-depth • Monthly retrospectives on squad health for continuous improvement • Monthly companywide updates on each strategic priority's DOs • Monthly strategic reviews/adjustments by the leadership team • Expectation = each squad should "ship" something weekly Of course, we manage most of this using Twist for communication and Todoist for project management, but more so than the tools, this system works for us because we emphasize clear ownership/autonomy, transparent communication, and just enough processes to stay coordinated without slowing the team down. That was a lot to digest, but I hope it's helpful. Let me know if I can expand on anything or answer any other questions 👇

most ceos obsess over strategy, product, and capital—yet ignore the one lever that makes every move stick: strategic communication. i’ve seen brilliant founders pour millions into innovation only to stall because employees, investors, and even customers couldn’t articulate the mission. when communication is treated as a tactical afterthought, momentum leaks out of the system. here’s the simple math i walk leaders through: clarity cuts the noise ↳ if your team can’t repeat your top three priorities on demand, the message hasn’t landed. connection builds capacity ↳ information flows freely when silos are bridged, turning scattered talent into a single powerhouse. momentum fuels drive ↳ stories that make people feel part of something bigger spark energy you can’t buy with perks. alignment reduces friction ↳ psychological safety plus clear decision frameworks keep teams moving in the same direction. invest in the “transmission,” not just the engine. strategic comms turns vision into traction.

As the saying goes, the best defense is a strong offense. That's especially true when preparing major business decisions, M&A, investments, layoffs and the like. For example, if the company's growth strategy is dependent on acquiring one or more direct competitors, your team needs a strategy, messaging and tactics to help regulators understand why consolidation is needed and who will benefit. (Psst: It can't just be shareholders.) If the business seeks to reduce its real estate footprint and consolidate jobs in fewer places, your team needs a strategy, messaging and tactics that highlight benefits for the business, employees, R&D and more. Starting these programs ahead of time helps seed the ground for the news possibly coming later, allowing the ideas to take root before any announcements spin up dust. That's why Communications and Marketing leaders need to be involved in these discussions at the start. We do our best work when we're avoiding the mess, not cleaning it up. Now your business and team may well need offense AND defense when the announcement/issue/situation becomes public. Defense is going to have a much easier time if you've spent prior months shaping perceptions, understanding and expectations. Proof Point Communications LLC #Communications #Marketing #CCOs #crisiscommunications #PR

Silent killers do not wear name tags; one of the deadliest is poor vertical communication, executives talking past teams, and teams whispering problems that never reach decision-makers. Millions are lost not because the strategy was wrong, but because the strategy was never truly heard. Executives, mid-level managers, PMs, and delivery teams often speak different languages. This “vertical miscommunication” is a silent killer that costs organizations millions. The strategy-to-value chain breaks when information only flows one way: executives broadcasting plans without listening, or teams flagging issues that never reach decision-makers. Communication failures are politically taboo, so problems fester silently. The evidence is overwhelming: 📌 McKinsey found that 95% of employees do not understand their company’s strategy, largely due to poor communication and lack of feedback loops. 📌 Harvard Business Review reports that organizations with strong communication practices are 3.5 times more likely to outperform their peers. 📌 Gallup shows that disengaged employees—often a product of unclear direction and ignored feedback—cost companies $8.8 trillion globally in lost productivity. 📌 MIT Sloan School of Management Review highlights that “employees will not provide candid feedback if they fear retaliation.” Without psychological safety, communication breaks down and blind spots multiply. 📌 Project Management Institute’s Pulse of the Profession consistently identifies “poor communication” as one of the top drivers of project failure, eroding billions in strategic value annually. Power moves to kill the “silent killer” and hard-wire strategy ↔ value communication. Add these to your playbook: 1. Strategy Briefs & Huddles 2. Feedback Channels 3. Digital Communication Platforms 4. Structured Communication Mechanisms Leadership Rituals 5. Leadership Office Hours (Skip-Levels) 6. Decision Logs & Ownership Maps 7. Strategy-to-Ops Translation Layers 8. Narrative Memos Over Slide Decks Risk & Escalation 9. Red-Team Reviews & Pre-Mortems 10. Issue Escalation Lanes with SLAs 11. Incident Communication Playbooks Culture & Safety 12. Psychological Safety Rituals 13. Alignment Audits 14. Rumor Trackers & Quick Corrections 15. Change Champion Networks Engagement & Alignment 16. Message Maps & Toolkits 17. Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) Forums 18. Cross-Level Shadow Boards 19. Meeting Operating Systems (MOS) 20. Two-Way OKRs 🔝Share some communication fixes ideas to help others. This is Day 3 of 100 in the Strategic Project Intelligence™ Challenge—helping leaders become the catalyst who accelerates value, builds alignment to get seen, heard, and promoted. #FolaElevates #StrategicProjectIntelligence #7FigurePM #CareerAcceleration #Leadership #SPIChallenge #StrategicAlignment

Every organisation has ambitious strategies. Yet, far too many stumble when it comes to execution. Why? Firstly, the failure often lies in the actual formulation, as a strategy is not really a strategy. Secondly, there is also a misalignment between the strategic vision and actionable steps. Here’s what the most successful teams do differently: ☑ Clear Communication ↳ They translate high-level goals into clear, actionable tasks. Everyone knows not just what to do, but why it matters. ☑ Ownership & Accountability ↳ Team members own their responsibilities and are empowered to make decisions. This eliminates bottlenecks and drives momentum. ☑ Dynamic Feedback Loops ↳ Execution isn't linear—it's iterative. High-performing teams constantly review and adjust based on real-time feedback. ☑ Alignment Across Teams ↳ Silos kill execution. Great teams ensure collaboration across departments, aligning KPIs and priorities with the overall mission. ☑ Culture of Trust & Collaboration ↳ Execution thrives in an environment of trust. When teams feel supported, they innovate and execute fearlessly. Execution is where strategy comes alive. It's not just about planning—it's about empowering your people and creating systems that adapt to the pace of change. Ps If you like content like this, please follow me 🙏

Most project failures aren’t execution errors. They’re upstream misunderstandings. Your Gantt chart is already in trouble if the problem isn’t framed right. In matrix environments, the pressure to move often overrides the need to understand. So, projects get scoped before anyone agrees on what’s actually broken. That’s why top-performing PMs use something called Phase Zero. A short, high-leverage pre-kickoff moment focused on problem framing, not just planning. This isn’t fluffy. It’s structured. Here’s how you know problem framing is working: ✔️ Context is documented: Why this problem matters now ✔️ Success is defined: What done looks like, clearly and measurably ✔️ Constraints are visible: Time, tech, political, or data limitations ✔️ Assumptions are surfaced: What’s being taken for granted and tested early ✔️ Stakeholder perspectives are aligned: You’ve validated that everyone sees the same issue Skipping this feels faster. But it costs you alignment, momentum, and team trust when change hits mid-execution. Execution doesn’t start at kickoff. It starts with shared clarity. And problem framing is how you get there. → Found this helpful? Repost and follow Jesus Romero for frameworks that make execution smarter, not just faster.

🌐 10 Stakeholder Engagement Activities for Real Projects & PMP® Success When I teach PMP® classes, many candidates assume “Stakeholder” is just another topic that shows up with ~30 exam questions. But let me be clear—👉 stakeholder engagement is not just for the exam. It’s one of the essential ingredients for project success. 📌 Projects succeed when stakeholders are engaged. ❌ Without it, the project has very little chance of sustained success. So here are 10 practical stakeholder engagement activities—they will help you in real projects and in the PMP® exam: ◻️ Map & Prioritize Stakeholders Early – Identify who matters, analyze influence and interest, and tailor your approach. ◻️ Listen to Needs & Expectations – Actively understand priorities, constraints, and outcomes. ◻️ Reinforce Shared Understanding – Use kick-off meetings and vision reiterations to align everyone. ◻️ Co-Create Requirements – Facilitate workshops, backlog refinement, and collaborative ownership. ◻️ Be Where They Are – Attend their meetings, trainings, and industry events. ◻️ Maintain Transparency – Share progress, risks, and challenges openly. ◻️ Host Regular Reviews & Demos – Show real progress and gather feedback. ◻️ Leverage Stakeholder Expertise – Involve them as mentors in specialized areas. ◻️ Engage Executives in Oversight – Bring them into governance and decision-making. ◻️ Gather & Act on Feedback – Use surveys, retrospectives, and one-on-one discussions. ✨ Remember: Engaging stakeholders is not a one-time event; it’s a continuous practice throughout the project lifecycle. 🚀 Learn how to apply these techniques with confidence in our PMP® Program at iZenBridge. #izenbridge #projectmanagement #pmpexam #PMPCertifcation

PMO (VS) Projects Control *PMO* It's an organizational entity that provides support, guidance, and standards for project management within an organization. It can be at the enterprise, departmental, or program level. Roles and Responsibilities: 1. Standardization and Methodology: • Develops and maintains project management standards, methodologies, and best practices. • Ensures consistent application of project management practices. 2. Training and Support: • Offers support tools and resources, such as templates, software, and guidelines. 3. Governance and Compliance: • Establishes governance frameworks for project oversight. • Ensures projects comply with organizational policies and procedures. 4. Portfolio Management: • Manages the organization’s project portfolio, prioritizing projects based on strategic goals and resources availability. 5. Reporting and Communication: • Provides regular project status reports to senior management. • Facilitates communication and collaboration ******* *Project Control* It's a function within project management focused on the planning, monitoring, and controlling of project performance. Roles and Responsibilities: 1. Planning & Scheduling: • Develops detailed project plans, schedules, and work breakdown structures (WBS). • Monitors project progress against the plan, identifying variances and recommend corrective actions. 2. Cost Management: • Establishes project budgets and manages costs throughout the project lifecycle. • Tracks expenditures, forecasts financial performance, and manages project cash flow. 3. Risk Management: • Identifies potential risks and develops mitigation strategies. • Monitors risk factors and implements risk response plans. 4. Performance Measurement: • Utilizes (KPIs) and metrics to assess project performance. • Conducts (EVM) to integrate scope, time, and cost for performance analysis. 5. Change Control: • Manages changes to the project scope, schedule, and budget. • Ensures that all changes are documented, evaluated, and approved. 6. Reporting and Documentation: • Provides detailed reports on project performance, including status updates, variance analyses, and forecasts. Key Differences 1. Scope of Responsibilities: • PMO: Broad organizational scope, focusing on standardization, governance, and strategic alignment across multiple projects or the entire portfolio. • Project Control: Narrower focus on specific project performance, ensuring adherence to plans, budgets, and schedule. 2. Position in the Organization: • PMO: Typically operates at a higher organizational level, providing oversight and support across various projects. • Project Control: Often embedded within individual projects or programs, working closely with project manager. 3. Decision-Making Authority: • PMO: May have authority to make strategic decisions. • Project Control: Focuses on operational decision-making related to project execution