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Episode 15: Five Tips for Project Success
51 Plays2 months ago
Ever wondered what it takes to keep a project running smoothly? How to best manage schedules, deliverables, and deadlines without going crazy? Join Nancy Boissonnet and Tiffany Carlson as they talk about the evolution of Libretto's project management, as well as some helpful tips and tricks you can put to use to keep your projects on the tracks and moving along.
In this episode:
- ASFA [case study] [podcast]
- Big Mistakes
- Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen
Hosted by Nancy Boissonnet and Tiffany Carlson
Produced and Edited by Tiffany Carlson
Music by Coma-Media, via Pixabay
© 2026 Libretto. All Rights Reserved.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Well Put Podcast
00:00:13
Speaker
Welcome to Well Put, a podcast about communications for mission-driven organizations from Libretto. I'm Nancy Boissanet, Libretto's Vice President of Strategy. And I'm Tiffany Carlson, Libretto's producer.
Evolution of Project Management at Libretto
00:00:25
Speaker
And today we're going to talk a little bit about how we set up our projects for success and what goes into taking them from the proposal stage at the beginning to deliverables and wrapping up the project.
00:00:36
Speaker
um So the first thing I wanted to ask is having a dedicated producer is kind of a change for libretto. um How did it used to work before you hired me, really, I guess, since I'm the first in the role?
00:00:49
Speaker
Yeah. And it's um so four years ago when we hired you, we were mostly working in a system where every person who was on a project was essentially managing their own project.
00:01:03
Speaker
I would step in and do some of the management for some of the bigger projects that needed additional handholding um or where there was a lot of scheduling or details that needed to be attended to. But in large part, folks kind of managed their own project and deliverables and timelines and schedules. And I think there was a little bit more of a fly by the seat of your pants. Okay. Okay. about things than there is now. I think over the over the years, we started realizing that um having the more structured project management
00:01:41
Speaker
surround in place allowed us to really do better project work and manage expectations. And it was easier for clients, which is the point at which we said, hey, you know, it would be a really good idea for us to actually have somebody on staff who knows how to do this and is good at it and could help us um sort of bring our project management to the next level.
Role of a Project Manager at Libretto
00:02:03
Speaker
And that's where you came in. That is where I came in four years ago, as you said. um Yeah, I would be curious about sort of what your experience was as you started and to what extent you felt that change um going from sort of an unstructured to a more structured approach to project management.
00:02:23
Speaker
Yeah. So for me, it was an interesting switch because I'd never actually done project management as such before. i had come from the library field. But one transferable skill that I think really, really helped was just this organization-focused brain. I was used to you know classifying and tidying and everything that comes with librarianship. um so coming into this role i was able to really just kind of put that to work in a different way. I was used to scheduling things in my previous role. um I remember one of the things that I took on when I started as well was organizing all of our files in the Google Drive um and getting things organized behind the scenes. So it was a really interesting exercise in kind of finding the role, given that there hadn't been one at Libretto before.
00:03:19
Speaker
And also kind of transitioning into it because when I started, obviously some projects were in various stages.
Adapting to Diverse Client Needs
00:03:27
Speaker
There were some that were almost done. There were some that were just getting started. and so um it was kind of a case-by-case basis to figure out where to slot me in. There were a few projects that we were like, we're close enough to the end. We don't want to confuse the client. We're just going to manage it until the project wraps.
00:03:46
Speaker
And there were a couple that were kicking off right away. And you all were like putting me on the calls right away, introducing me to the client and really letting me just get started and figure out how we wanted to go about creating my role, essentially.
00:04:03
Speaker
um And it's been a really fun process, I would say, because each of you who do the creative work here have a slightly different approach to projects. And so in addition to kind of finding what works for me and what the right balance of my involvement, it it also is kind of on a person by person basis, too.
00:04:29
Speaker
um And I think probably the thing that I've noticed as well that probably affects you is that it's about each librettist on the project and how they approach it. And it also a lot of it comes from the client, sort of the cues they're giving us and the way they like to work. And there are some people who have...
00:04:47
Speaker
already a really robust administrative arm on their end and other people who don't have that at all. And so trying to find that balance too is important. um And I think it's for us a lot easier to do having you dedicated to this role because that was something that I always struggled with sort of Saying like, oh, now I have a process that works. I want to apply that process to every project and realizing you can't do that because each project is so different. Each client is so different um and needing to be kind of nimble in that way.
00:05:19
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. That's also been kind of a fun, i would say, maybe not curveball, but it's been a fun challenge um because the other part of it too is learning the clients. We have many clients that we've worked with over the years, long before I started here, and they're kind of familiar with libretto's operating structure as well. So it it goes kind of both ways. And there are some clients where they had enough of kind of their own system on their side where maybe my involvement was more minimal. And there have been other folks who kind of embraced and brought me into the process fully, like wholeheartedly. And um that's been great too, to get to know the clients better in that way. Yeah. And then really being able to adapt to what works with everybody yeah is is very important, particularly in this kind of
00:06:15
Speaker
Yeah.
Organizing Client and Project Information
00:06:16
Speaker
two projects are going to be exactly alike yes so we can't have sort of a super systematized approach but we can have best practices and we can know what's worked in the past um i'm actually currently in the process of picking off two big projects yes And it's rare that two big projects are kicking off at the same time. um But, you know, at the office we've been spending at at the virtual office at the virtual office, we've been spending a fair amount of time thinking about these two big projects and knowing that two big projects are kicking off at the same time and thinking about what structures work.
00:06:58
Speaker
and which will work better for these two individual clients. And, you know, that's also something I've thought a fair amount about in the four years since you started um is the role that the project lead can play.
00:07:14
Speaker
In managing the organization and keeping yeah my own side of the house organized, making sure that I have a systematic approach to information organization so that I keep track of all the details of the client and project. um So sort of what are the things that I can do at the outset?
00:07:35
Speaker
to make sure that it is up and running smoothly. And something that I started before you started your role and that I've tried to carry over in my own projects is just making a project map or a project sheet at the beginning of every project that has key information.
00:07:52
Speaker
Who are the key client contacts? Who are the key subject matter experts? Who are going to be the decision makers? You know, and this is something that oftentimes you sort of write down at the beginning.
00:08:05
Speaker
Like, I don't know yet who are going to be the key decision makers. Maybe it will be these folks, but at the kickoff or as the project's getting started, we're going to need to nail that down. Yeah. What are the deadlines that are driving this? What are we working towards? Is there a fixed date that we absolutely need to be ready for? Or is there a little bit more play in the schedule?
Tools for Project Management
00:08:25
Speaker
um When are folks leaving on vacation? Are there going to be times that are kind of dead zones for client communication where we can be getting work done behind the scenes?
00:08:35
Speaker
And then, you know, a lot of our projects are capital campaign projects. All of that campaign information is really important to have up front as well. What's the campaign goal? What is the timeframe? What are they thinking for a go live date?
00:08:50
Speaker
And a lot of this stuff is going to change throughout the course of the project, but making sure it's all written down at the beginning that we've, you know, Everybody said it out loud that we've all acknowledged it um yeah and that it's easily accessible throughout the project so that you can even, you know, when the goal changes, you can go back and you can update it and you can keep track of what it was and what it is now. So that's a process that I've been...
00:09:16
Speaker
working through for these two new clients. And, you know, I'd be curious to hear kind of what it feels like from your perspective to do that setup. And what are the key things that you need to keep track of at the beginning of a project?
00:09:29
Speaker
Yeah, so I would say the parts that are most useful for me are maybe a subset of what's useful for you. So it my role primarily being in scheduling and keeping an eye on the timeline, you know, those important deadlines or blackout dates, you know, if there's a campaign launch date that we're working towards an event or something like that, those are really, really helpful for me.
00:09:54
Speaker
The contents, like background information, campaign goals, that isn't as relevant to the work that I do, but I would say i still have a hand in making sure it's accessible. What I like to do is when they send those materials over, You know, if it's already in a Google Drive folder, creating a link from ours to that one so it's easy for you to access. Or if it's attachments in an email, I download them and add them to the Drive folder. And I try to keep the Drive folder and then Slack as kind of our, not to use too much corporate speak, but like the single source of truth. You know, if you need information on a project, you need to know where to go. and i
00:10:37
Speaker
really try to live by if it should be in slack or google drive and honestly you can access google drive from slack so when in doubt go to slack um so i think that plays into kind of what i really focus on which is the tools for keeping the project organized and i would say your project map is one piece of that um and another piece that i have a heavy hand in is The project schedule, which I've built out a spreadsheet, having that spreadsheet that we can build out the schedule and see what is reasonable or like, are we going to be doing this on kind of a rush timeline, like being able to build back from those deadlines.
Collaborative Project Management with Partners
00:11:22
Speaker
um That's really where I kind of step in and. Take a look at what are all of the different small steps that we need to take to lead up to that deadline.
00:11:33
Speaker
And I guess I'm curious, before I started in this role, were there many documents like that? I can't remember a ton, but I was also taking a lot of information when I started. Yeah.
00:11:45
Speaker
I mean, the other thing that's interesting as a librettist is that a lot of times the project management is sort of shared with our partner teams. And so frequently we would work with design firms who had a more robust project management arm than we did. And so a lot of what I learned about project management came from working with them and watching them and saying like, oh, this is a really helpful tool. I wish we had something like this. And then trying to build it on my own for our next project. um Yeah.
00:12:16
Speaker
The projects that I can think of that had the sort of most robust project schedules were the bigger projects. So like a Dartmouth Health or a McLean Hospital, projects that had either multiple parts that needed to work together um or projects that were campaign projects that were very closely linked to giving levels. And when you sort of hit a certain goal level for your overall campaign giving that was going to move you into another phase. um So those projects would have had more robust schedules that I would typically maintain. The smaller projects, oftentimes I would send a kickout kickoff email that would say, you know, here's our overall project schedule. Here's how many discovery interviews we're doing. And then that
00:13:06
Speaker
It was sort of like that was the ancestor of the project map. And that's the thing we would reference back to over the course of the project to say, you know, what did we say about the schedule? What was happening next? But there was no sort of centralized, just go to Slack and click on the project schedule. It was often me sort of sifting through my email and looking back to what I had said.
00:13:28
Speaker
yeah Again, little bit more fly by the seat your pants. The other thing that we've instituted that's been really helpful is starting every discovery with a discovery spreadsheet.
00:13:39
Speaker
And that's a tool that I've found really useful and that had um had its roots in some of our bigger projects. I remember for the Alabama School of Fine Arts, that had a massive project discovery spreadsheet that that covered, I mean, we talked to like 80 people probably for that
Evolving Client Communication
00:14:01
Speaker
project. And i just remember going through it with our client from ASFA and each person, you know, in advance of talking to them, we walked through the spreadsheet and we talked about their role and we talked about the things that were most important to them. And we put the notes in the spreadsheet and it was amazing.
00:14:19
Speaker
eye opening how important that was when you're talking to that many people. yeah um You have to keep track of them. You have to know why you're talking to them and why they're important and what they care about.
00:14:29
Speaker
And so we took that ASFA spreadsheet and sort of used that as a model for a lot of the work moving forward. So now when we kick off a project, we really start by sending that and saying, write down the folks you think we need to talk to and then let's talk through it and get some background on them and make sure we know why they were selected and what we're looking to get from those conversations, just so we can really maximize what we get out of them. Yeah, I think...
00:14:55
Speaker
Those are really helpful for me too from a scheduling point of view. And I would say that that's the project management tool that we share the most frequently with clients, kind of regardless of their internal processes around project management, you know, having something that they can just fill in like a worksheet and then we can keep referencing back to it. um We just finished scheduling discovery conversations for a new client.
00:15:22
Speaker
probably only a week or two ago. And this spreadsheet was such a useful tool for me to communicate with that main contact at that client because, you know, i wouldn't necessarily email her every day to be like, okay, where are we at with this, this, and this? You know, we have columns in this spreadsheet that's like, Oh, client reached out. Oh, client put them in touch with libretto to schedule a conversation. Oh, here is when the conversation is scheduled. And that might sound really granular, but it it's a really great asynchronous way to keep in communication early on in the project, which
00:15:59
Speaker
can be helpful before you're actually developing any sort of content. um So that discovery sheet has been a really useful tool from ah my end of things, too, just from the scheduling perspective. But then, you know, once we get past that discovery phase and we start getting into delivering outlines, first drafts of things, I would say that our communication and like how we stay in touch with the client kind of changes. And a lot of times, I've noticed especially on projects recently, what's worked really well is setting up structured check-ins that we just schedule
00:16:36
Speaker
basically over the life of the project. Like we anticipate wrapping by fall of 2026. So we schedule those to be recurring every week, every two weeks, you know, it varies by client.
00:16:47
Speaker
um And then that helps us stay in communication too. And I'm kind of curious, you know, from my standpoint, I know I really like doing that because it just means that we're not trying to schedule something last minute. necessarily. We know there's time held for these conversations, but I'm curious, are there other ways in which having these are really helpful from the like creative and the writing side of the work? I mean, there's one way that's huge and it's just the the prevention of slippage of deadlines.
00:17:20
Speaker
It's like, you know, you have that meeting coming up. And so it's not like you're working towards a more abstract date, but you have that meeting and you want to take advantage of the time where you have somebody in front of you. So you want to make sure that at least something is done to check in about. um So that I think is really keeps us honest. Yeah.
00:17:41
Speaker
um So I think from that perspective, it's really helpful. And then the other thing that I would say about the regular check-in is that there are some days where there's not that much going on. But for projects that are really in the swing of things, almost invariably, i think it still makes sense to have a conversation to say like, hey, what's going on over there?
00:18:03
Speaker
How are your, you know, how are your asks going? How is the, how is the major gift phase of this campaign going for you? Have you solicited all the board members or how is your year? How's your class shaping up? If it's an enrollment project, you know, what are you hearing from folks? What are you seeing in terms of trends and maybe different ways that students are communicating with you than they did last year. Is there more Instagrammers? Is there more texting?
00:18:31
Speaker
All of those little details that just make up somebody's kind of day-to-day reality can be helpful for a project and help you understand what they're going through, their challenges, where they're at with things. um And that's stuff that, you know, you don't necessarily write an email to say like, hey, how's...
00:18:49
Speaker
the new text campaign going to try to reach prospective students. But when you have that check-in time, you can take five minutes and just check up on that stuff. And that can be really the difference between having that very intimate understanding of their day-to-day and not getting and just sort of chugging along on your path.
Managing Changes and Adaptability
00:19:11
Speaker
So for for that reason, I find check-ins to be hugely helpful. Yeah, that's really interesting to hear too, because I know that we try to get a good understanding of a lot of, maybe not the vibe, but just like how things are going. We try to get a good sense of that during discovery, but especially these days with all of the wrenches that can be thrown into things with a single news story, i mean, that can change weekly. Like what you learn in discovery isn't necessarily the be all end all. You might have to pivot. You might have to you know, take into consideration, know,
00:19:44
Speaker
you know are there layoffs? Is there you know some kind big change? budget cuts? changes in you know how people are communicating what you're going to hear in those conversations to and even from a project management perspective like it's nice to know too like hey We just got word that this big change is happening happening on campus.
00:20:07
Speaker
We're going to have to push this meeting out or the deadline for this deliverable is going to have to change. And that's helpful from my perspective, too. I can get all of our tracking stuff updated and make sure, you know, we have a good understanding of how that might change our deadlines. Yeah.
00:20:24
Speaker
yeah Yeah, absolutely. And when you're working with partners, you know how are all of those things related? And if there's something that they're... you know A lot of times our check-ins will be both with the client and the partner and maybe something's changed on their end that's going to impact our work and it comes up and we hear why and we understand that somebody needed extra time to review or there's been a change in the creative direction and so they're redoing something. Yeah.
00:20:51
Speaker
The other thing that's really nice about the check-ins is, know, we talk a lot at Libretto about the ways that things have changed since we've become a virtual company. yeah And, you know, there used to be the moment before the meeting and the moment after the meeting where you would just check in with people. And, you know, that that really human aspect Yeah. Of working with others. And because we work in a consultancy, we meet a lot of new people all the time and we're always building new relationships and we want it to be as human as possible. And I think the check-in really helps with that too, because you take five minutes at the beginning and you're waiting for somebody to come and you talk about
00:21:29
Speaker
your kids' sports season or your recent camping trip. And it just allows us to know each other as individuals in a way that, again, and you know, that helps the work because you build trust and you build confidence and there's a sense of camaraderie and everybody's in it together. Yeah. So I really, I like the the project check-in or that as well. But, you know, I would also say it helps to know people better so that you can have more spontaneous communication as well, because sometimes we agree there can be this slight trap where you think like, oh, I'm not going to bother reaching out now because we're talking to them in three days.
00:22:11
Speaker
But sometimes you need to just reach out, get an answer really quickly, have a quick touch base, yeah figure out something that's come up.
Building Client Relationships Virtually
00:22:20
Speaker
um And I think just keeping those lines of communication open is super important. um Yeah.
00:22:29
Speaker
Both between us and our clients and between the various creative partners who are involved and between you as a producer and the client and me as a creative and the client. So just, you know, there's that whole constellation of different ways people need to be in touch with each other. I'd be curious to hear from your perspective, having always worked at Libretto as a virtual company, sort of what do you think works best for you to maintain those those relationships and to build relationships with new clients and partners? um What have you found is most successful for you?
00:23:07
Speaker
Yeah, so I think, honestly, going back to your point about being able to kind of have those moments to build that connection, the, you know, talking about recent trip, the weather even, you know, those moments are huge for me, um especially when it's on projects, maybe with like a recurring project.
00:23:29
Speaker
Client that you all met with in person prior to the company going remote, where there's that extra layer of familiarity. um I would say that actually those longstanding or returning clients have been the easiest for me to build that rapport with just because...
00:23:48
Speaker
You all had that relationship already. And so I think the clients just, you know, were ready to embrace a new librettist. um But also just being able to get to know everybody on a more.
00:24:04
Speaker
just person-to-person level helps build that comfort level to just reach out about any random question. yeah And I find that you know on projects, especially the bigger ones where I have kind of the larger role of keeping an eye on the timeline, on the deadlines, on you know scheduling and leading those check-ins, you know those are the projects I've found where Yes, we have all of those touch points, but it's also very easy and that it feels very casual and very comfortable just shooting off a quick email saying, hey, got a quick question about this billing date or a quick question about, you know, the deadline for your feedback or a deadline for us delivering a draft. It works.
00:24:55
Speaker
It helps me feel more comfortable doing that. And it I get the sense that the folks that I'm emailing with, whether it's a client or the creative partners, they I get the same the sense that they feel the same.
00:25:09
Speaker
And I think that makes a huge difference. It's funny when I hear you talk about that. It reminds me of a recent conversation I had with a friend of mine about sort of ways to keep in touch with your friends. And she was saying, I i always hesitate.
00:25:23
Speaker
i want to just shoot out like a, hey, how you doing? But there's all this stuff that's happened in the time that we haven't spoken. yet I also want to give you an update. So I tend to push it back and not do it. And we made this vow, like, just send the text that says, like,
00:25:40
Speaker
everything's busy, but I'm thinking of you. Or um i had this one question and then we'll catch up later. And you stay in touch in a really different way when that happens. And all of sort of personal lessons about how to stay in touch with people when you're busy actually apply really well here. i i so appreciate the client contacts when I am able to just say like, oh, I have this one quick question. And I know that they're going to write back in a timely fashion and just say like,
00:26:07
Speaker
oh yeah, no, that's against our style guide. You can't do that. or You did talk to that person. it was the third interview on Thursday. you know, oftentimes they're pretty banal questions, but I just need an answer um rather than thinking like, oh, I'll wait until Friday and when we have our check in and then I'll ask them when I have their captive
Maintaining Transparency with Clients
00:26:29
Speaker
attention. um I think being able to create that kind of rapport makes things so much easier to get absolutely actually move things along.
00:26:38
Speaker
Yeah. And it also, I would say at the same time, too, like if we are working through a lot of revisions or, you know, we are trying to build out the first draft of a very robust messaging platform, sometimes I've found that it's even helpful to say, hey, we're thinking about you guys and we are working on the first draft.
00:27:01
Speaker
Just a reminder, we're going to be delivering it in four days, whatever. So the client knows, you know, we are still involved because sometimes we need, you know, a week, two weeks to build that out. and oh yeah.
00:27:14
Speaker
If we don't have a check-in, too, like I find it it goes over really well. And I think the client really appreciates just a quick, hey, we're working on it. We're thinking of you. We're still working towards this deadline. Yep.
00:27:26
Speaker
having So it doesn't feel like going away into some kind of yeah secret workspace where they don't have access. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, because we don't share the document until it's ready. So they don't have a way to just go in and see, you know, what's the progress being made kind of. which we are able to do when we're planning out the discovery sheet. You know, we're able to see, oh, they've populated six names or they've reached out to four people. It's it's different when we're producing that first draft. And so i think that goes a long way towards building the rapport too of just like, hey, I can just reach out to say we're still working towards this. That's a really good point. Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:01
Speaker
Yeah, that's not something I always think to do, but I think it it is really beneficial. and And, you know, I think that setting up these expectations at the beginning, sort of circling back to that idea of the project map and explaining to people really, click really carefully, this piece is the creative piece and that's going to take a fair amount of time.
00:28:20
Speaker
Yeah. But if that, you know, if there are things that come up, we're going to want to be able to ask questions. If you have ideas or thoughts, feel free to reach out. um And that can also be a good time to maintain your project check-ins, even though they might not feel as necessary.
00:28:35
Speaker
I agree. I mean, I think the last thing that I would keep in mind is just that as much as we do to set projects up at the beginning, things change. It's going to change. Yep, absolutely. We're going to go off track sometimes, or there's going to be a new development that needs to be addressed that hadn't gotten covered in discovery because it's a new program or it's a change in the plan or it's a change in leadership or yeah lots of different things that can happen. But if you do have a solid foundation,
00:29:11
Speaker
You can deal with that stuff. You can adjust the schedule. You can show how this change is going to impact each of the subsequent deliverables. yeah um And i think that just sort of keeping that realization that because of the nature of the work that we do, it can't be too systematized and it does need to stay really flexible is probably, to my mind, the biggest takeaway.
00:29:36
Speaker
There's a lot of things we can do and we need to set up that that solid foundation. But you also have to just be completely aware that things are going to change and that you're going to have to deal with things that come your way.
Ensuring Clarity in Creative Projects
00:29:45
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. I would say from my perspective, what's really helpful with that is with those planning documents. Especially the timeline one, I always try to make sure that there is a last updated date. So, you know, if something changes and if maybe the email rolled through on Tuesday afternoon, i don't update it till Wednesday morning. If somebody goes and looks, they know. um It's great idea. I don't think I normally do that, but that's helpful.
00:30:12
Speaker
it on On working documents like that, I find it very helpful because it's also kind of without a conversation communicating like, oh, this has been updated or this hasn't been updated. And um I would also add, too, because I've definitely asked myself this question before, is, you know, is it worth having these documents if we know they're going to change? And I would say that absolutely it is because you still need to be able to see, you know, the impact of one deadline changing kind of affects all the others. Yeah, you need to know what the baseline was too. Yes. Yep, exactly. It's absolutely still worth doing all of the setup documents, even if it even if you will have to change them down the road.
00:30:55
Speaker
And that's the thing about sort of how do we create a solid foundation that allows for the possibility of change down the road and allows us to think about the fact that this is what we believe. This is what everyone believed when we started the project. And then things are going to change. um You know, another piece that we do on the creative side that has kind of an analogous role is the creative brief. So for naming, um and we didn't used to do as many creative briefs outside of naming projects because naming projects are the ones internally where we really need to share the most information with the rest of the team.
00:31:33
Speaker
And the creative brief is always the vehicle to do that. But I've started doing creative briefs just on my own internal projects for the internal team, just to say, here's what we've heard. Here's what our goals are. Here's what we're setting out to do Here are some recommendations and how we think we're going to do that.
00:31:52
Speaker
And that's another one that I think really benefits from a last updated date because those things are changing all the time too, but you want some kind of record of, you know, we had always said that the audience was a B2B audience primarily, but since the last board meeting, we've realized that we also need to do some, know,
00:32:09
Speaker
Outreach to internal audiences within the organization. And so that's going to kind of adjust the dial of how you're going to be working on the project. So that's another kind of project tool, but from the creative side that I think, A, is super important to establish.
00:32:24
Speaker
B can sometimes feel somewhat futile because it's going to change. And C, that doesn't matter. You have to do it anyway. Yeah. Well, i think if we think back to this, it comes out to sort of a set of ah recommendations. And it looks like what we've said so far is the ways we do it is make a project map, build out tools that will be valuable, set up structured check-ins and stick to them. And then as a way to maintain all of this, keep the lines of communication as open as possible and be nimble. Absolutely. I think that's a really good summary of it all. And I think it really encapsulates kind of how you all had been doing it prior to me, but definitely how we've tried to...
00:33:05
Speaker
kind of operationalize it and, you know, implement it going forward. And I think it feels like it's been successful so far. I definitely think it has strengthened a lot of client relationships and how we approach projects. And I personally think it's been really fun to kind of work through as a challenge over the last four years of like what works best for us, especially being a small team.
00:33:30
Speaker
Yeah. and and And what works best for us is important because it like the tool can't just work for me. It has to work for the entire team and we have to be able to share it and update it together and make sure that it kind of jives with everybody's sense of how they're going to approach the project.
00:33:48
Speaker
um I mean, one of the things I like most about working at Libretto is that every time you start a new project, you get a new chance to try things out that you learned on the last project and adjust things that maybe you think could have been better.
Implementing Lessons from Past Projects
00:34:01
Speaker
um And that's every, you know, every time you're then kind of have a clean slate to do that all over again, which. Yeah. provides for a lot of learning opportunities. And I will say that every time I go to the Google Drive these days and I can actually find something I'm looking for, I experience a little moment of inner joy. thank for bringing that kind of organization into our i I love doing it. i I know it's not everyone's cup of tea to organize things, but it's definitely mine and I embrace it. And I you know i think things have come a long way in four years, not to toot my own horn, but No, I think we all definitely benefit from it and It hasn't been just me. It's been all the feedback from everybody. It's been, you know, trying things out, seeing what works on each of these projects. And um so it really has been a group effort. I keep it organized, but we've all kind of put our thoughts and experience into developing the tools.
00:35:00
Speaker
So...
Personal Touch - Hosts' Favorites
00:35:12
Speaker
But I think it is now time to switch into wrap-up segment, which is what are you loving these days? So, Nancy, I'm curious, what have you been loving?
00:35:23
Speaker
Well, you asked me at a good time because just last night I finished up the first season of Dan Levy's new show, Big Mistakes, on Netflix.
00:35:34
Speaker
Okay. Which is the first, I think it's the first TV show he's made since Schitt's Creek. um He did, i think, a movie in the meantime. A bunch of other things. But this is the first show he's done. And it's very fun.
00:35:50
Speaker
It's a kind of a hard show to describe. but He plays a pastor. In a kind of a wacky family in a town where his father is the former chief of police and his mom is running for mayor and his sister is trying to get her life together.
00:36:11
Speaker
And it's got so it's got a lot of the Schitt's Creek goodness of the family dynamic and a lot of wacky personalities. It's a lot more high energy and almost a little frenetic than Schitt's Creek was.
00:36:27
Speaker
um It's got a big crime element to it. And there's a lot of um big moments that you didn't see coming. But it's also got all of the sort of Schitt's Creek heart to it where you have a tight knit family who loves each other, but also squabbles all the time. And you have kind of quirky characters who...
00:36:47
Speaker
are looking out for themselves, but also care about each other deeply. and you sort of learn about those relationships as you go. So it did just get greenlit for a second season, which I'm excited about.
00:36:58
Speaker
And I don't actually know her name, but the actress who plays his sister in Big Mistakes is fantastic and so much fun to watch. So I can't wait to see what they do next season set set up yeah so when you say when you say some crime and stuff is it like a mystery show or is it more sitcom or both i guess it's more like a sitcom it's like a sitcom but about they get pulled into a whole crime thing inadvertently Oh, okay. And then there's all of this fallout from how they're trying to get themselves out of it, but somehow managed to just keep them getting themselves in deeper and deeper.
00:37:37
Speaker
I'll have to look this up. It sounds really good. It's really good. I really enjoyed it. um Yeah. I think that, I think it'll be fun to see what they do with season two as well. yeah Cool. yeah Yeah. How about you Have there been something lately that you have loved or would recommend?
00:37:54
Speaker
Yeah, like you timing is great for this. I actually finished a book last night that I really, really enjoyed. um It was called Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen.
00:38:06
Speaker
And it felt very much like a realistic fiction, just kind of like day in the life sort of. nothing huge happening, but there was this kind of supernatural element to it that just kind of kept reappearing. The chapters would switch between, you know, the main character and some other characters in the book and then a ghost story.
00:38:30
Speaker
And it would be from the perspective of, you know, a character who is past who, you know, the other characters will reference as being influential influential in their lives or, you know, meaningful to them in some way. And over the course of the book, I found that kind of the theme was sort of how, you know, those who pass away never really leave us. But in kind of ah using that supernatural as like a way to see them still present, you
00:39:02
Speaker
But also, at the same time, kind of talking about, you know, the stages of grief and letting go and, you know, working towards that feeling of being at peace after after all of it. um But it was set, it it just felt so cozy. it was set in this fictional town of Mellow Island, like M-A-L-L-O-W, where the The island was once famous for its marshmallow production. and so very cute, coastal, picturesque, like, painted lady style homes. um
00:39:36
Speaker
The way the author described the location even felt very... it the whole book just gave very cozy, kind of fun vibes while having kind of this serious story about grief and, you know...
00:39:51
Speaker
moving on to another part of your, another phase of your life. So it was very, was very touching, but it was very fun. and As odd of a combination as that might be, but I really, really enjoyed it.
00:40:04
Speaker
Had you read any of her other books? No, I had never heard of her before. How did you come to this this book? Was it a recommendation or did you just find it? i just found it many years ago. i I found the receipt inside the book, actually. um i bought it back in 2018 or 19, I think, and just put it on my shelf. And i was looking for something to like a physical book to take with me on my camping trip this past weekend. And said, this sounds really interesting right now and finally gave it a read. like
00:40:37
Speaker
That's cool. I always wonder how people come to the books that they're reading, yeah if it's something they've read about or if it's a recommendation. But I have a ton of books like that that I bought over the years and just thought, like I'll put it in my shelf and I'll read it.
00:40:52
Speaker
But I have a very bad habit of leaving those on the shelf and getting new new books and reading the one I just got. um so it's nice to hear that book was not just forgotten under your shelf. Yeah, no, this was an exercise in I bought the book, didn't read it then. and then when I read it, it felt like the perfect time for me to be reading it. I mean, I'm not even dealing with like grief or anything like that, but it just felt like a very cozy summer read. And I know it's only May, but...
00:41:18
Speaker
It just felt like the right time. You kicked off the camping season with this book. Exactly. So it counts. I mean, I read it in
Conclusion and Invitation to Learn More
00:41:24
Speaker
a weekend. That's how much I loved it. Oh, that's fantastic. But i I actually do have plans to see if this author has written anything else because I really enjoyed her writing. It looks like she's written a number of things. I just looked it up while you were talking.
00:41:38
Speaker
Okay. So I think you have some other books to add to your... Excellent. cb r i will be doing that. Well, thanks so much for the discussion today. It was really great to talk about how we set up projects, particularly as we're in the process of setting up some new projects right now.
00:41:54
Speaker
um And I hope that it's been helpful for anybody listening who may be thinking about ways to update and upgrade their project management. I know for us working with partners and seeing how they do things and kind of adjusting in ah as a result of that can be hugely beneficial. So maybe some pointers here will help others as well.
00:42:17
Speaker
Yeah. This has been Well Put, a Libretto podcast. I'm Nancy Boissonnais. And I'm Tiffany Carlson. If you want to learn more about libretto and what we do, check out libretto-inc.com.
00:42:29
Speaker
Well put. Wonderful. We did it.