Let’s be honest: project management has a reputation problem. So does delivery management.

I’ve been thinking lately about people who stay in the same organisation for decades. 20 or 30 years in the same company, sometimes even the same department. On the surface, it seems like a no-brainer: they must be amazing at what they do, right?

Discovery is often misunderstood. People may want to treat it like a checklist to get through before the real work starts, something to tick off so you can get to delivery.

I spent a day recently at the annual student conference from Sheffield Methods Institute, which is part of The University of Sheffield. I spent time during the day thinking about advice I’d give to students and so wrote it down here.

Delivery managers can seem a bit abstract if you’ve never worked closely with one. Some people assume we’re here to manage tasks boards or chase deadlines. Others just aren’t sure what we do at all.