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She Writes Change
Expert insights on project & programme management, business transformation, and AI. Read practical advice from 15+ years of consulting and delivery experience
Project Management
Posts about Project Management, and Project and Programme planning and delivery.


𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭
84% of executives say innovation is critical to their growth strategy, yet only 6% are satisfied with their innovation performance (Department of Innovation). I've personally seen innovation talked about but, in practice, it often doesn't happen. The structure isn't in place and the culture stymies risk taking, rather than encouraging it.
Sally-Anne Baxter
Dec 92 min read


𝐃𝐞-𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐩𝐬
Customer journey mapping, be it internal of external customers, is more than a fully CX exercise. It's an excellent project planning tool that spots problems before a line of code is even written.
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬
Map out every touchpoint your customer will have with what you're building. Do this upfront, before you've committed budget. This will let you see and structure processes and features early on, making sure you also spot issues that could blindside you after l
Sally-Anne Baxter
Nov 242 min read


The most important person in your project kick-off is never in the room.
The team, the sponsors, and the stakeholder are all there. Scope, goals, and timelines are aligned. But the most critical voice is missing: the end-user. Not the internal client. Not the budget holder. But the person who really matters, whose life or work we are supposed to be improving. When the customer isn't represented from day one, we risk delivering a project that's on time, on budget, BUT isn't fit for purpose.
Sally-Anne Baxter
Nov 171 min read


Post-Mortems won't save your project
Post-Mortems or Lessons Learned are useful if run properly, of course, BUT they won't save your project. We've normalised learning lessons after delivery, after the damage, after the failure.
But what if there was a better way?
Sally-Anne Baxter
Nov 131 min read


The £1,500 Project Meeting
The most expensive thing in your project isn't what you think. It's a the endless one-hour meetings with either the wrong people, or the wrong agenda. And I've seen this everywhere, hell, I've definitely been guilty of it myself in the past!
Sally-Anne Baxter
Nov 111 min read


Stop asking for Project Lessons Learned
Stop asking for "Lessons Learned". Start asking for "Lessons Applied". How many times have you sat in a post project meeting review, listing out all the "Lessons Learned", only see them filed away in a document that's never read again?
Sally-Anne Baxter
Nov 101 min read


Are you Leading a Project or a Product?
I've delivered both projects and products (from idea to market), and there are significant differences in how you need to approach them.
Many "projects" are actually products in disguise, and that's why they fail to deliver long term value.
Sally-Anne Baxter
Nov 31 min read


Debunking a Persistent Project Management Myth
Debunking a Persistent Project Management Myth: It's not just Time and Budget we manage. One of the biggest misconceptions in project management is that PMs are simply “deadline-and-budget enforcers.” In reality, the best project managers know that success is measured by more than on-time delivery and cost control. While timelines and budgets are essential constraints, modern PMs balance a wider set of priorities, quality, stakeholder satisfaction, team morale, and business
Sally-Anne Baxter
Oct 311 min read


The Art of Intelligent Escalation in Project Management
Stop annoying your sponsors: 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 "𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐄𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧".
Escalate too often, and you look incapable. Escalate too late, and you become a liability. Sound familiar? Before even thinking about your sponsor, ask: "Can my team and I solve this without external help?" and "Is this issue significant enough to warrant executive attention?" This shows you respect your own authority and your sponsor's time.
Sally-Anne Baxter
Oct 291 min read


Project Management - Fixing Green Light Syndrome
Your project dashboard is a sea of green but you know something's off. Your status updates say everything is on track, your weekly reports are all positive. But you know that it's not accurate. 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐞!
Sally-Anne Baxter
Oct 272 min read


3 Voices needed for Successful Transformations
Successful Transformations need 3 distinct voices in the room from day one - Voice of the Customer, Voice of the Employee, Voice of the System.
Sally-Anne Baxter
Oct 231 min read


The Single Pane of Glass Myth
You've integrated all your project dashboards into one view. So why is your Steering Committee still confused?
I've seen organisations invest heavily in Project software and unified dashboards, integrating every project management tool, all to create the perfect "single pane of glass" view.
Then they sit in Steering meetings where executives still ask the same questions: "Are we on track?". "What does this really mean for the business?". "Should we be worried?".
Sally-Anne Baxter
Oct 202 min read


How to make sure your AI Project Succeeds
After years of managing technology transformations, I've learned that you cant treat AI like "just another IT project". There are critical key differences, including mindset and approach.
AI projects aren't traditional tech projects with a new label. They operate under fundamentally different rules:
Sally-Anne Baxter
Oct 152 min read


Tracking Project Success
A project might tick every box during delivery, on time, on budget, stakeholders happy, but fail to deliver the promised business value months later.
Without post-implementation tracking, you're essentially flying blind.
Sally-Anne Baxter
Oct 92 min read


AI won't replace Project Managers
Whilst AI can handle more of the technical and admin work, the uniquely human aspects of project management become MORE critical to success, not less.
Sally-Anne Baxter
Oct 72 min read


Size Matters
That "move fast and break things" mentality? It's invaluable in early days. BUT what works at 10 people doesn't work at 100.
Sally-Anne Baxter
Oct 61 min read


Why Transformations Fail (and how to save them)
Why Transformations Fail (and how to save them). Most transformation failures follow the same pattern. The root causes are rarely technical or financial. They're organisational.
Sally-Anne Baxter
Oct 31 min read


How to Deliver Projects at Scale
Launching a new digital product across 12,000 retail locations taught me that scale isn't about size, it's about psychology. You can't just double the resources for double the locations. The real challenges are human. Here's what I learnt about scale:
Sally-Anne Baxter
Oct 12 min read


5 Steps to Make Governance your Growth Engine
Is your governance framework balanced? Or is it holding your business back?
Sally-Anne Baxter
Sep 291 min read


The Business Risk of Siloed Project Delivery
So when I talk about the business risk of siloed delivery, I'm talking from real experience. And I've seen it in so many other places too. Disconnected projects undermine what could be powerful business outcomes, it puts pressure on people already overloaded with change.
Sally-Anne Baxter
Sep 252 min read
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