Podcast! People, Process, and Technology: How to Keep Complex IT Projects on Track

In this episode of the Vertali Podcast, host Ed Nell is joined by Richard Goldsby, Program Manager at Vertali, for a deep dive into the world of project and program management in complex technology environments.

Richard draws on years of experience across IBM and beyond to explain what project management actually involves, why communication sits at the heart of every successful delivery, and what happens when that discipline is missing.

Key Takeaways

A project manager is an enabler, not a doer.
The role is about keeping things moving: getting the right people focused on the right priorities, removing blockers, and making sure everyone knows where they are and what comes next.

Communication is the single most important discipline in project management.
Richard returns to it throughout the conversation because it underpins everything: stakeholder confidence, priority decisions, risk management, and the relationship with the customer.

People, process, and technology are the three pillars of any complex project.
If one is missing or poorly handled, the project will run into problems. Of the three, people are the hardest to manage, particularly when key stakeholders have not been told a project is happening at all.

Good governance should be light-touch, consistent, and targeted.
A two-page weekly report that the right people actually read is worth far more than a twenty-five-page document nobody opens. The goal is to avoid surprises at the executive level.

Plans always change. What matters is how you manage that change.
The plan provides structure and direction, but the skill lies in tracking milestones, anticipating dependencies, and communicating clearly when dates shift and why.

Key Moments

“I often joke that I don’t do anything. I enable other people to do the right things.”

“It’s not a case of I told you so. It’s a case of, right, this has happened. Now how do we fix it?”

“The assumptions that aren’t shared are the ones that get you.”

“Identify the key stakeholders up front, and give yourself enough time, because things happen.”

Listen on our podcast page here or on all major podcast platforms.