Keynotes and Workshops for:
Project Managers
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How These Sessions Are Different
My sessions provide in-depth exploration into the underlying ways we think, offering practical information and concrete strategies that can be implemented immediately. With a deep foundation in psychology and extensive experience working closely with project managers, my expertise bridges forensic psychology, project management, and cognitive sciences to deliver content that truly resonates with project management professionals. These sessions challenge and expand the way project managers approach their work, providing tangible insights that enhance their effectiveness and efficiency.
Research-Backed, Results-Driven Presentations
At the core of my sessions is a pioneering scientific study on thinking related to thinking in project audits, an endeavor that has expanded into a dynamic repository of project manager thinking patterns. This ongoing research fuels my interactive presentations, making them not only captivating but also profoundly educational and impactful. By understanding these unique cognitive processes, project managers gain valuable insights into their decision-making and strategic planning capabilities.
Beyond Technical Knowledge: A Focus on Cognitive Excellence
My philosophy centers on a simple yet profound truth: the value of a project manager’s technical knowledge relies on their ability to think critically and apply that knowledge effectively. My sessions are crafted to enhance this aspect, equipping project managers with the tools to become more efficient, insightful, and impactful in their roles. By focusing on the cognitive processes behind effective project management, participants learn to leverage their expertise in ways that drive project success.
Topics Tailored Especially for Project Managers
From the psychology of critical thinking in project management and tackling complex challenges to effective communication strategies, ethics, and leveraging data science, my presentations cover a wide range of topics crucial for today’s project managers. Each session is tailored to address the most pressing issues and trends in the project management world, ensuring your team remains at the forefront of the industry.
New Titles
Power Skills
Thinking Outside the Project
Innovative Approaches to Broaden Perspectives and Drive Project Success
"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
The structured nature of project management provides vital frameworks for planning and execution, but it can also unintentionally narrow focus and foster rigid thinking. This session challenges project managers to expand their perspective by exploring the neuropsychology of creative problem-solving. By understanding how ingrained processes shape thought patterns, participants will learn to identify and overcome mental blocks, enabling them to develop innovative solutions to complex challenges.
Through interactive discussions, practical exercises, and insights from cutting-edge research, this session introduces strategies to enhance cognitive flexibility, uncover opportunities, and address challenges that traditional methods might overlook. Participants will leave with actionable tools to embrace the strengths of structured processes while thinking beyond their boundaries, fostering adaptability and driving project success.
Major Subjects for Project Managers:
- Breaking Out of Cognitive Traps: Discover how structured project frameworks can unintentionally limit perspectives and learn to uncover unconventional solutions.
- Expanding the Project Manager’s Mindset: Master techniques to think creatively and tackle challenges with fresh, innovative approaches.
- Neuropsychology of Problem-Solving: Learn how cognitive flexibility and counterintuitive thinking can lead to breakthrough solutions and smarter decision-making.
- Spotting Overlooked Opportunities: Develop strategies to identify hidden challenges, inefficiencies, and opportunities that traditional approaches might miss.
- Balancing Structure and Innovation: Embrace project frameworks while fostering a mindset that adapts to complexity and looks beyond the immediate scope.
- Harnessing Technology and Collaboration: Explore how advanced tools and cross-functional teamwork can drive more effective project outcomes and solutions.
Only as Good as Your Word(s)
Great Ideas Require Great Communication
"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."
No matter how well-planned your projects or how solid your strategies, success depends on your ability to communicate effectively. This session delves into the psychology of communication, offering tools to help project managers transform complex project details into clear, compelling messages that motivate teams, align stakeholders, and drive action. Whether you’re presenting updates, pitching solutions, or leading meetings, this program equips you with strategies to enhance your leadership presence and elevate your communication to match your project management expertise.
Through interactive exercises and psychological insights, participants will learn to bridge communication gaps, tailor their messages to diverse stakeholders, and build influence through clarity and connection. Key challenges addressed include overcoming misunderstandings, crafting persuasive narratives, and navigating communication across teams and cultures in today’s dynamic business environment.
Major Subjects for Project Managers:
What You Say is What They See:
Learn how your communication style shapes perceptions of leadership, competence, and credibility—and why clear, intentional messaging is vital to project success.The Power of Being Understood:
Discover why clear communication, not just knowledge, is the ultimate driver of influence, team alignment, and actionable outcomes.Bridging the Perception Gap:
Uncover how differing assumptions between project managers and stakeholders lead to misunderstandings—and learn strategies to align perspectives and avoid breakdowns.Communication as a Leadership Tool:
Explore how effective communication builds influence, trust, and collaboration, becoming a cornerstone for project success.Cross-Cultural Collaboration:
Develop techniques to communicate effectively across diverse teams, recognizing and adapting to cultural differences to build stronger connections and alignment.
Popular Titles
Untapped: How Project Managers Can Be Better Thinkers
This highly acclaimed session, tailored specifically for project managers and led by Dr. Toby Groves, embarks on a captivating exploration of the psychological science behind effective project management practices. The session serves as a practical and inspirational call to action, equipping project managers with powerful tools to enhance their thinking when it matters most. It introduces new thinking, daily habits, and advanced strategies that substantially improve judgment and decision-making. Participants will learn to cultivate the foundational cognitive abilities that support the key skills required for project managers, enabling them to perceive insights that remain unnoticed by others.
The course teaches how to dismantle mental blocks and approach problem-solving from fresh perspectives. These same strategies naturally promote confidence, mental clarity, flexibility, and resilience, which improves mental well-being and resistance to stress and burnout. Additionally, we will critically evaluate our project management approaches in light of emerging issues such as Artificial Intelligence, sustainability, hybrid project management, data-driven decision making, risk management, and enhanced organizational change management, equipping project managers with the foresight and adaptability required to excel in the evolving project environment.
Also now available Untapped for Teams
Enhancing Project Management Decisions: Integrating AI and Critical Thinking
This cutting-edge course equips project managers with the vital skills to integrate critical thinking with artificial intelligence, significantly boosting project task performance, decision-making, and data analysis. Participants will engage with the intersection of cognitive science and AI, leveraging AI’s potential through prompt engineering and critical evaluation of AI outputs. The course features hands-on examples and practical techniques to identify and mitigate biases, uncover logical inconsistencies, and formulate contextually relevant questions for real-world applications.
Emotional Intelligence in Project Management: Enhancing Judgment and Communication
Emotional intelligence deeply influences our reasoning, shaping how we prioritize, interpret, and present information. It’s crucial for project managers, affecting judgment and decision-making. This session delves into emotional intelligence’s role in project management, focusing on enhancing this skill to improve our thinking and effectiveness as project managers. We’ll explore strategies to boost emotional awareness and mastery, vital for navigating project challenges. Attendees will learn how to elevate their emotional intelligence and communication, key for mastering complex professional interactions and engagements.
Seeing Patterns Others Don't
In a world brimming with complexity, the ability to discern how various elements interact and influence each other stands at the heart of innovative problem-solving and sound decision-making. This session promises to unveil the secrets of connectivity, offering a deep dive into the art of systems thinking and pattern recognition. You’ll explore cutting-edge techniques to uncover hidden and unconventional patterns, tackle contradictory evidence with finesse, and master the art of identifying and interpreting intricate connections. Prepare to transform your perspective and develop a keen eye for the patterns that elude others, opening doors to unparalleled insights and strategic advantages.
Data
We have more data than ever, but what is it really telling us? New technologies and analytical methods detect myriad patterns in our data, but what do they really mean and what decisions can they help us make? Is the underlying data reliable? Is it valid for the purpose you are using it? Cognitive technologies distance us from the context of our data, shrouding the meaning behind the patterns and how to apply the information for effective decision-making. New thinking approaches are required to move beyond simple recognition of correlations to insight into why relationships exist. This session will teach methods that give us the ability to discern the inner character of problems, to recognize why interactions occur, and what decisions can be made with the information.
Jump to talks on: Critical Thinking, Communications, Data, Ethics, Fraud, Leadership, Culture and DE&I
Ethics
Ethics in The Real World
Codes of ethics, ethics training, and “tone at the top” are expected to improve ethical behavior. But do they? Research shows that not only can these traditional initiatives be unhelpful, but they can harm ethical reasoning! Instead of looking at how people are “supposed” to behave, this class examines how people actually make ethical decisions in the real world. We will explain how ethics codes can cause unethical behavior, why we misunderstand the influence of tone at the top, and why people betray their own ethical beliefs.
Best Intentions: Why You Fail to Do What’s Right
A primary reason we fail to do what’s right is that we neglect to see the important ethical aspects of a situation in the first place. Therefore, training our brains to notice the moral and ethical facets of our environment is critical to ethical reasoning. When we are aware of the ethical aspects of a situation, we lack objectivity about our own ethical views and rationalize behavior that supports those views. This class explains the psychology behind why we fail to detect the ethical parts of a decision and what we can do to gain awareness and objectivity to improve ethical reasoning.
The Science of Ethics
This session delves into the fascinating neuroscience behind how our minds work when we face decisions with conflicting motivations or difficult dilemmas for which the best answer is not clear. Attendees will explore real-life dilemmas and learn effective cognitive processes to deal with those dilemmas as revealed by the latest research in neuroscience. The session draws on organizational psychology, cognitive science, psychobiology and even sports psychology to create an immersive experience and unveil the hidden ways our minds perceive and interpret problems.
Jump to talks on: Critical Thinking, Communications, Data, Ethics, Fraud, Leadership, Culture and DE&I
Comunications
Advanced Communication Skills for Project Managers
Master the nuances of advanced communication in the project management sphere with this comprehensive course. Delve into the intricacies of both written and verbal communication across in-person and virtual platforms. Develop the skills to present complex project-related information compellingly and employ storytelling techniques to motivate change. Gain expertise in sophisticated persuasion and negotiation strategies to influence outcomes effectively. Learn the fine art of navigating difficult discussions with tact and learn how to probe deeply with questions that unveil the true intent behind the responses. Acquire techniques to establish immediate trust and adapt your communication style to various cultural contexts. For project managers who aspire to elevate their influence and impact, this course is an essential step towards becoming a formidable communicator.
When the Facts Aren’t Enough: The Art of Communicating Complex Information
Mastering the art of translating complex information into influential insights is a skill that transcends mere data analysis—it’s about crafting narratives that resonate and motivate. Our session, ‘When the Facts Aren’t Enough,’ focuses on the nuanced art of making intricate data accessible and compelling, even to those unfamiliar with the subject matter. This expertise signifies not just an in-depth comprehension of the data but a profound insight into its real-world implications and how it’s perceived by diverse audiences. By adopting the perspectives of your listeners and embodying their experiences, this interactive workshop delves into the cognitive strategies and thinking paradigms essential for clear, impactful communication. Participants will emerge with enhanced abilities to convey their knowledge persuasively, ensuring their messages are not just heard but felt and acted upon
Jump to talks on: Critical Thinking, Communications, Data, Ethics, Fraud, Leadership, Culture and DE&I
Leadership
The Science of Great Leadership
Leadership skills have never been more important, in all industries and at all levels, whether executive or front-line employees. Organizations succeed in meaningful ways when their individual members have the ability to inspire action, build trust, solve complex problems, coordinate effective teams, and resolve contentious conflicts without damaging important relationships. This requires a deep understanding of human motivation, emotional intelligence, and nuances of cultural psychology. This session teaches a powerful model that allows attendees to build their own core leadership skills as well as the psychology of performance and motivation and the social psychology of organizational behavior.
Jump to talks on: Critical Thinking, Communications, Data, Ethics, Fraud, Leadership, Culture and DE&I
Culture
The Science of Organizational Culture and Decision-Making
A strong organizational culture impacts social networks, fostering deep learning and flexible thinking. Research shows that teams with diverse perspectives achieve higher satisfaction and better decision-making. This course explores the scientific principles that enhance social networks and teaches how to embed social norms that promote collaboration. Learn strategies to build a culture encouraging personal responsibility in shaping group norms, driving collective success. Understand the science of social influence and group behavior to create an environment where team members contribute effectively to decision-making, ensuring robust organizational outcomes.