Hi Phillip, Rob, (Discussions through blogs are one of the worst inventions I know... but let's give it a try, until some day the aggregated/syndicated discussion tools will be there.) Let's add my experiences with a completely different set of non-profits. I think we share the feeling that our favourite non-profits have almost all adopted an approach of "Just In Time" management (with many occassions where it becomes "Just Too Late"). -~=#=-=-=-=#=--=#=-=-=-=#=~- One aspect is the ability to make reasonably accurate *estimates* for tasks. The tendency is to be overly optimistic, so regardless of either project or time management, you'll likely run into problems with either completing things on time, or over-extending yourself, as you mentioned. Few organisations track time spent on tasks, usually people are in full-time (which then becomes "over their neck", you don't want to loose credit with your peers by taking time off while saving Planet Earth). Whether in projects or in ongoing operations, the wisdom and experience in how long or how much effort certain things take is mostly left as implicit knowledge in people's mind. -~=#=-=-=-=#=--=#=-=-=-=#=~- A second aspect is the ability to communicate about not meeting deadlines or expectations. This is not unique for non-profits, but I have the feeling it is more often perceived as a kind of "personal failure". On the other hand, the response is often along the lines "We're all doing our best, aren't we, so why be hard on anyone?". Because activities are linked, one person not meeting a deadline usually leads to difficulties for another person to meet her/his deadline, and often, heroic firefighting attempts at meeting deadlines result in people replacing their planned work with more urgent work, leading to delays in their plans. Since there is no shared overall view, or someone with the role to keep an eye on the overall flow of things ("we have no bosses"), it is hard to even discuss allocation of time and resources in a reasonable way. -~=#=-=-=-=#=--=#=-=-=-=#=~- To communicate about time and effort, and expose these linkages and effects, a common language, model, or understanding is needed amongst the participants, and this is where project management comes in pretty handy: it creates a common understanding of how to identify risks, and take precautions (make sure people keep a portion of their time available for the unexpected, and to jump in when their co-workers are in a pressure situation; understanding how much freedom you have for a specific task to be delayed, so that you know when you can be a bit late, or reprioritise). That takes a lot of the pressure off of your personal time management, and creates a basis to communicate priorities to your peers, whether they "manage" their time or not: an agreed framework to indicate the urgency of something, to be able to check in with each other ("you should have started on this by now, did you or should we look at the schedule together again?"), and to have deadlines and pressure from those that are based on reasonable estimates rather than wishful thinking. -~=#=-=-=-=#=--=#=-=-=-=#=~- If it weren't for the last minute, nothing ever would get done. Should we focus on managing that minute? Greetings! Rolf.