The Essential Principles of Human-Centered PM

Project managers are often measured by plans, tools, and process. But when the work gets hard, those things rarely explain why projects succeed or fail.

In this keynote-style webinar, Brett Harned reframes project management around what PMs are actually responsible for every day: navigating ambiguity, holding competing needs, translating across roles, protecting people, and making judgment calls when there’s no clean answer.

Rather than introducing another framework or methodology, this session brings the PM community together around a shared set of behaviors—the instincts and practices experienced PMs rely on long before a process kicks in. These principles are grounded in real work, real teams, and real constraints, not idealized project plans.

As the session unfolds, a clear pattern emerges: the parts of project management that matter most aren’t technical at all. They’re relational, contextual, emotional, and deeply human, even if we rarely recognize it.

This session will help PMs:

• Recognize and articulate the value of the work they already do

• Shift focus from rigid process to purposeful decision-making

• Lead calmly through chaos instead of reacting to it

• Balance empathy and accountability without burning out

• Become more intentional about the kind of PM they want to be

This isn’t about rejecting process. It’s about understanding why process alone is never enough. TL;DR: The work doesn’t look human on paper, but PMs know better.