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2 min read Resources

A human-centered project check-in

Practical resources for human-centered project management, with project check-in worksheets, handwritten notes, and a pen layered over textured blue, yellow, coral, and green shapes.

Sometimes a project feels harder than it should, and you can’t quite put your finger on why. People are showing up, the tasks in your PM tool are up to date, and the status meetings happen with almost religious consistency. Yet decisions keep getting revisited, deadlines feel questionable, and you’re spending a surprising amount of time figuring out what everyone thought someone else was doing.

It can be difficult to step back and understand those patterns while you’re busy managing the work. I created a human-centered project check-in to give you a little structure for doing exactly that.

This free, six-page working guide helps you look at a current project through five areas: shared expectations, raising concerns, realistic capacity, difficult conversations, and ownership. You’ll identify where something needs attention, separate what you’ve observed from what you’re assuming, and choose a practical next step.

Inside, you’ll find a project assessment, questions to help you investigate a concern, and a worked example showing how an unrealistic launch request can become a clearer conversation about commitments. There’s also a 25-minute team exercise and a one-week action plan, with room to write things down and follow through.

Allow about 20 minutes to work through it on your own, or use the team exercise to compare perspectives with colleagues. The aim is to leave with a better understanding of what’s getting in the way and one specific change you can try this week. You have enough on your plate without giving yourself an organizational transformation project.

The check-in accompanies Human-centered project management: A practical guide, where I explain the approach and how it applies to everyday project situations. You can read that first for context or start here with a project you want to work on.

The PDF is free for subscribers to my Project Management for Humans newsletter. Subscribe below to access it, or sign in if you’re already a member.

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