Project Management Happy Hour

PMs are accountable for project success. As such, we are keenly aware when things are failing! And because most PM's are process and goal oriented, we can think of a lot of ways to improve an organization. But how do you propose a change in a way that gets support - instead of damnation? If you don't do it right, pitching a change can sound a lot like giving a bunch of other people more work to do...

Wouldn't it be cool if everyone followed all the processes we built? If everyone on our team followed the PMBOK or SCRUM methodologies perfectly every single time and every estimate we ever received was perfectly accurate?  Of course that doesn't happen. But did you ever stop to think - why? Well, our guest today has. Dr. Josh Ramirez has combed the scientific literature on human behavior and comb...

"I am in way over my head."  "I have no business doing this job" "I am totally not worthy of this role" "There is no way I'm qualified to do this"  Have you ever told this to yourself? You may be infected with Imposter Syndrome! That's OK - all highly capable people, especially project managers, find themselves with this affliction at one time or another - and again and again :-)  Not only can Imp...

The same way sports teams have coaches to help optimize their performance, organizations can engage PM coaches to help their project management team win.  In this episode, we are joined by Heather Gates, a PM coach who has worked to help develop project managers across many organizations. In this episode, Heather shares a few of her top coaching tips in some key areas: Self Awareness Communication...

Did you ever watch the credits at the end of a movie and think, "wow, that's a lot of people?" You're right. Hundreds or thousands of people engaged to deliver a massive, multi-million dollar project that is a feature film. How do they do that?  Our guest today walks us through the project behind a feature film: how do they plan a movie? How do they get funding? Who is really the PM in charge of p...

We are joined again by one of our favorite guests, Tim Creasey, Organizational Change Wizard. This time he shares 12 different methods for creating better alignment with your team and your stakeholders. In this first part of a 2 part episode, we share the first 6 of these hacks to help get two people on the same page.   7- Marathon Measures 8- Context and Contrast 9- Zoom 10- Top of Mind Not Top P...

We are joined again by one of our favorite guests, Tim Creasey, Organizational Change Wizard. This time he shares 12 different methods for creating better alignment with your team and your stakeholders. In this first part of a 2 part episode, we share the first 6 of these hacks to help get two people on the same page.   Pivot around Purpose "To What End?" To _____ By_____ statement Name it to tame...

The Ironman Triathlon. Without exaggeration, it is truly one of the most epic endurance events that a mortal human can participate in: 140.6 miles covered in a single day by swimming, biking and running.  As epic as it is to participate in an Ironman, it may be even more daunting to plan and manage one. 140+ miles of race course. 3 totally different disciplines (Swim, Bike, Run). As many as 2,000...

Project Managers are agents of change. Whether your project changes organizations, technologies, infrastructure or processes, the success of your project likely depends on *people* actually using your deliverables. But how much of your project is really focused on those people and helping them understand and make those changes?  Spoiler: Kate *totally* nerds out on this one :-) After we recorded t...

You're a PM and you have landed on a strange new world where you don't know the industry, the organization the people or the subject matter. How do you get oriented enough to intelligently deliver a project? How do you succeed in this alien environment?  In this episode, Kate and Kim talk about how to approach getting up to speed when you are faced with leading a project in a new department, new c...

Whether you are hiring project managers or hope to get hired, do you know what hiring managers should be looking for? What's going on in a hiring managers mind when they look at your resume and when they interview you?  In this episode we are joined by Matt Henderson - a long time PMO manager who has hired hundreds of project managers. In fact, at one point he managed both Kate and Kim. How on ear...

If you are a PM working in or with a large enterprise, you may have heard of ITSM, or the ITIL framework. And you may well have been asked to create additional deliverables and go through some processes to support ITSM. But what is it? How does it work? Why is it good for organizations? And as a PM, what do I typically need to do to support it? And, what's the difference between ITSM and ITIL?  To...

If your project customers are external to your organization, you have a lot more to worry about than the success of your project. You also have the carry the weight of building and maintaining a relationship with your organization's customer. And if you do it wrong... you are toast!  In this episode, Kim shares some points from training that he gives to new Project Managers that are transitioning...

Are you trying to get into the field of Project Management? Or, are you ready for the next step and to move out of the PM field?  This week Kate and Kim have a very special guest, Ben Aston, the host of The Digital Project Manager podcast - one of our favorite PM podcasts. Kate, Kim and Ben talk about how to break into the field of Project Management, and talk about what may lay beyond project man...

Are you looking for a PM job? If not now, one day you may be. So, why not talk to a pro who knows the market and help you find the right job? A Project Management Recruiter!    Building a relationship with a recruiter can be a gateway to a great PM career, or to your next step in that career. In this episode we speak with Norma Gutierrez, an experienced Project Management recruiter who shares with...

Do I need a Project Management Office (PMO)? Does anyone REALY need a PMO? Why, aren't those all going away because of Agile? What value can a PMO give to an organization? And when does it not make sense to have a PMO? We go through all this and more on this 2 part podcast - check it out! JOIN THE HAPPY HOUR! Get access to all podcasts, PDU certificates, bonus content, exclusive member Q&A webinar...

Do I need a Project Management Office (PMO)? Does anyone REALY need a PMO? Why, aren't those all going away because of Agile? What value can a PMO give to an organization? And when does it not make sense to have a PMO? We go through all this and more on this 2 part podcast - check it out! JOIN THE HAPPY HOUR! Get access to all podcasts, PDU certificates, bonus content, exclusive member Q&A webinar...

We get asked a lot about what project management is about, what it's like to get into the profession, and what are the most important things to do as you get into the field. There are so many things to think about, so many considerations that it can be hard to think of a simple answer to 'what is project management like?' But one answer we fall back on often is that Project Management is about: Sa...

Project Management can be tough - full of stress, emotion, passion and… more stress. You, your team and your stakeholders are trying to make big changes happen in the intense pressure cooker that is a project. And if you've been around long enough you will know that tears sometimes happen in the workplace. But how do we handle that - if we work with someone and they shed tears, or if it's us? In t...

Many of us are suddenly finding that we - and our teams - are working remotely from home. While this is normal for a lot of our workforce, it can represent a very big change for a lot of teams. How do we stay focused and stay productive - and help our team stay focused as well? And how do we do that in a way that keeps us all sane?  In this webinar, Kate and Kim talk through this process from how...

Projects are about change - but what are you doing to manage that change in your project? Fortunately, there's an entire field of practice to make changes stick - Organizational Change Management Today our guest walks us through the Prosci ADKAR model for implementing change - one of the most well known and popular methodologies for managing change.  OUR AMAZING GUEST AND PM HAPPY HOUR MEMBER Korn...

Whether we realize it or not,  we all have bias in the way we think about things. Maybe you have a bias to be overly optimistic in your estimates, or under estimate the impact of risks. Planning fallacy, illusion of control, confirmation bias - the list goes on of different ways bias can mis-shape our perceptions and our decisions   This week's amazing guest, Jennifer Chandler, brings her depth of...

Hiya listeners, in this episode we share what we've been up to and why we've been a bit quiet, some amazing PDU stats and share some things that we're thankful for.  Cheers! And thanks to our amazing listeners   JOIN THE HAPPY HOUR! Get access to all podcasts, PDU certificates, bonus content, exclusive member Q&A webinars and more from our membership! https://pmhappyhour.com/membership   STUMP THE...

For this episode the tables are turned - Kate and Kim get interviewed! Arizona State University student Krystal Ebadi contacted us and asked if she could interview us for her PM class about the realities of studying PM and getting a job. Of course we said yes! And Krystal let us share that interview with our listeners. Thanks Krystal! Join us as we talk about studying project management in a Unive...

This episode we talk with one of our amazing listeners, Josh Mildren, who shares his story about how he became a project manager - or rather, how he realized he was a project manager all along. Like a lot of our Happy Hour listeners, Josh was looking for new ways to address challenges his organization was struggling with, and found that a pragmatic approach using Project Management principles has...