{"id":5714,"date":"2025-12-02T08:29:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T13:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teresadurham.com\/?p=5714"},"modified":"2025-11-21T08:28:32","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T13:28:32","slug":"santas-watching-a-cautionary-tale-of-two-project-elves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teresadurham.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/02\/santas-watching-a-cautionary-tale-of-two-project-elves\/","title":{"rendered":"Naughty or Nice? What Your Project Management Style Says About You"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The holiday season is here, and while most are dreaming of sugarplums and PTO, Santa\u2019s been busy auditing project managers. Yes, he\u2019s making his list, checking it twice, and this year, it\u2019s all about project communication, leadership, and who\u2019s been managing naughty or nice.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s head to the North Pole, where two high-performing elves, Tiffany and Thomas, have been leading some of Santa\u2019s most mission-critical initiatives. One leads like a pro. The other\u2026 well, let’s just say, his status update includes coal and an apology note to the reindeer. Their tales may be fictional, but if you\u2019ve managed a team this year, they might hit a little close to home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83c\udf81 Communication: The Gift That Keeps on Giving<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When Tiffany kicked off her holiday launch project, she did what professionals do: held weekly team syncs, created a shared dashboard, and sent stakeholder updates that were both timely and<\/em> clear (a rare gift).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Project<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Thomas? He sent a one-liner that said, \u201cLet\u2019s aim to be done by Tuesday?\u201d<\/em>
That was the entire plan. No follow-up. No questions allowed. Stakeholders were expected to stay updated by… existing in the general vicinity of the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why overcommunicate, right? That would require effort. And clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83c\udf85 Verdict:<\/strong>
Tiffany lands on the Nice List. Her communication created alignment, reduced rework, and kept momentum strong. Her team felt informed and her stakeholders stayed engaged.
Thomas gets a lump of coal wrapped in ambiguity. His \u201cless is more\u201d approach led to confusion, delays, and one too many side conversations that started with, \u201cWait, were we supposed to do that?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83c\udf84 Setting Expectations: Defining the Present Under the Tree<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Before the first ornament was hung, Tiffany gathered her team for a kickoff meeting. They aligned on scope, deliverables, roles, and success metrics. They even did a pre-mortem to surface potential roadblocks. Classic overachiever move\u2014and it worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas skipped the kickoff. \u201cThe title of the project is self-explanatory. We\u2019re building toys,\u201d he shrugged, waving vaguely at a whiteboard. Sure. Because \u201cElfOps Revamp Q4\u201d really screams clarity. The result? Confusion, missed milestones, and a suspicious number of Nerf swords marked \u201curgent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83c\udf85 Verdict:<\/strong>
Setting expectations isn\u2019t busywork\u2014it\u2019s how you avoid scope creep, team confusion, and panicked last-minute patch jobs. Tiffany earns another candy cane badge of honor. She laid the groundwork.
Thomas laid a trap and stepped directly into it. He gets the silent treatment from the gift-wrapping team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83e\udd36 Stakeholder Involvement: A Team Sport<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tiffany made stakeholder engagement a top priority. She scheduled regular check-ins, followed up when folks missed meetings, and customized updates so nobody was blindsided. Even when things got hectic, she found ways to keep everyone informed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, Thomas … well, he figured stakeholders would stay aligned through holiday spirit alone. Of course, they didn’t. When things started to go off-track, he fired off a long, slightly defensive update titled \u201cQuick heads-up.\u201d<\/em> It was neither quick nor helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who knew that ignoring key decision-makers might lead to chaos? (Answer: everyone.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83c\udf85 Verdict:<\/strong>
Tiffany treated stakeholder communication as a proactive strategy.
Thomas treated it like an afterthought and paid for it in rework, frustration, and one very frosty executive meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\ud83e\udddd\u200d\u2642\ufe0f Team Dynamics: The Elves in Santa\u2019s Workshop<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

When friction emerged between two team members, Tiffany didn\u2019t pretend not to notice. She addressed it directly and scheduled a quick retro, shuffled roles to better match strengths, and opened the door for honest feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas noticed the tension but chose to ignore it. \u201cWe\u2019re all adults here. I\u2019m not here to play elf therapist,\u201d he muttered. This is a great philosophy until your team is openly arguing over glue gun usage at the gingerbread assembly line. Resentment on the team snowballed into full-on mutinies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83c\udf85 Verdict:<\/strong>
Team dynamics don\u2019t fix themselves. Addressing conflict early isn\u2019t soft, it\u2019s strategic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiffany built trust and earned her elf leadership badge.
Thomas built resentment and gets a passive-aggressive note in his stocking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83e\ude99 Budget Constraints: Making Every Penny (and Peppermint) Count<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Halfway through the quarter, budget cuts hit. Turns out, reindeer snacks are super expensive. (who knew?) Tiffany immediately reassessed priorities, calmly reallocated resources, negotiated better terms with candy vendors, and trimmed non-essential spend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas continued on like it was business as usual. When questioned, he blamed \u201cscope creep\u201d and replied, \u201cWell, the plan changed. Not my fault.\u201d<\/em> Somewhere, an elf in Finance sprouted a new gray hair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83c\udf85 Verdict:<\/strong>
Tiffany adapted like a pro.
Thomas is now the subject of a \u201cLessons Learned\u201d session in Elf Finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Budget management is leadership in action – not just balancing numbers, but making hard calls when resources tighten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83c\udf28\ufe0f Risk Management: Planning for Blizzards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Tiffany ran a risk planning session during project initiation and created contingency plans for key threats. So when a vendor dropped out mid-project, she calmly implemented Plan B, kept the timeline intact, and moved on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas called risk planning \u201ca vibe killer.\u201d So when the toy-printing machine jammed during crunch week, he panicked, made four conflicting decisions in an hour, and then blamed the printer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83c\udf85 Verdict:<\/strong>
Tiffany\u2019s foresight allowed her team to pivot with confidence – staying calm and coordinated, even in a flurry.
Thomas\u2019s improvisation left his team scrambling and his timeline in shambles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83c\udf81 So… Which List Are You<\/em> On?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you found yourself nodding along with Thomas\u2019s antics – maybe laughing a little too nervously – consider this your festive gut check. I mean, we’ve all had a coal-worthy moment or two, right? The holidays might bring chaos, but strong project management doesn\u2019t melt under pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Whether you\u2019re managing toy rollouts or transformation initiatives, the Nice List starts with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2705 Clear, structured communication
\u2705 Defined expectations and roles
\u2705 Engaged stakeholders
\u2705 Healthy team dynamics
\u2705 Smart budgeting
\u2705 Actual risk planning<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiffany didn\u2019t save the season with Christmas magic. She planned<\/strong> for success and executed. That’s what good project management looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So yes, laugh at Thomas. But maybe also… quietly audit your last project before Q1 sneaks up. You’ve still got time to turn this sleigh around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santa\u2019s watching. And so is your COO. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The holiday season is here, and while most are dreaming of sugarplums and PTO, Santa\u2019s been busy auditing project managers. 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