The Digital Project Manager

Are you an average project manager or one that's destined for greatness? The difference is not so much about what you do, it's all about how you do it. Ben Aston talks to Patrice Embry to discuss how we can take those everyday responsibilities of a project manager and do them better. Find out what you should really be doing to separate yourself from the pack, and accelerate your PM caree...

If you've ever got yourself in a pickle on your projects because you didn't have written evidence of your discussions with your clients, then this episode is for you! Ben Aston talks to Robyn Reynolds about the often forgotten status report and how they can save your bacon. Find out what you should put in it, how you can make them less of a pain to create and make them useful for you, th...

We all know communication is a massively important part of our project manager role. But what are the tools we can use to be better at it? One of them is a communications plan. Ben talks to Natalie about how you can use a communication plan to manage expectations better - keep listening to find out how you can stop clients badgering you for information, and get the things you need from your client...

Do you feel like your team is making the same mistakes over and over again? It's probably because they are - and it's probably because you're not helping them change! Ben and Alexa talk about how we can use sprint retrospectives to highlight opportunities for change, generate process improvements, and move the team in the right direction. Listen to discover some practical applicatio...

Being productive isn't about doing more, it's about being smarter. Ben talks to Tucker to discuss how - the time management hacks we can use to be (nearly) as productive as Beyoncé! Listen up for for really practical tips and simple hacks that are going to save you stacks of time and get you back on top of your PM game. 

Starting new projects can be incredibly daunting, particularly if you're working on a new client, new in the agency, or on the receiving end of a shoddy handover. Ben Aston talks to Joanna Leigh Simon to discuss the questions to ask about the project plan, team, client and work to get your bearings and get a project in order. Listen up to learn how you can make your own project onboarding exp...

As project managers, we're in the business of managing teams. But are we managing them, and leading them well? Ben Aston chats with Karl Sakas, author of, 'Made To Lead', to discuss how can we lead our teams be more effective, cast vision better, and manage with strategies that are effective for delivery. 

Project managers are masters of getting stuff done. But what are the tricks for getting more stuff done, better? Ben Aston chats with Cédric Waldburger, founder of SendTask, to discuss everything from crypto currencies to founding companies, and how we can get more done by making our lives simpler.

Are you actually good at what do you do? Deep down, do you sometimes wonder if you're actually a project manager charlatan, or in the wrong career altogether? Ben Aston chats with Lina Calin to discuss how we can know if we're really doing a good job of this project management thing.

The pressure to do the right thing and be seen to do the right thing is immense. But should we be doing all those project management things, all the time? Ben Aston talks to Patrice Embry to discuss how you can save yourself time by cutting the extraneous things from your PM routine.

Beyond managing projects, how can we use our emotional intelligence to be project leaders? Ben Aston talks to Colin Ellis, author of The Conscious Project Leader to discuss building a positive project culture and leading our projects so that our teams are engaged and motivated to succeed.

Ben Aston and Robyn Reynolds introduce an anonymous advice column for digital PM's to ask awkward questions and share their own stories of managing tricky situations in the life as a digital project manager. 

Ben discusses the life of a 'remoter' project manager with Natalie Semczuk, and her new DPM(ish) newsletter. After a tragic internet malfunction, the conversation pivots to unpacking typical project problem areas, why and how it's important to document lessons learned, and what to do with those lessons, to stop making the same mistakes. 

How you can make Scrum work in an agency, and how do you make any process change effectively? In this podcast, Ben Aston talks to Alexa Huston about her introduction of Scrum at the agency Crema and you can make process changes with your team and tools work for everyone. 

The relationship between a project manager and their development team can often be a tricky one - so how can we make it better? Kelly Suter joins Ben Aston to discuss techniques you can use to build a better dynamic with your development team and tools she's using to run projects. 

Solid relationships are crucial to the success of projects - but how do you put that into practice? Lina Calin joins Ben Aston to discuss the techniques you can use to build a stronger, more dynamic and successful team.

Will our jobs as project managers be taken over by artificial intelligent PM bots? Discover in this podcast with Dennis Kayser from Forecast.it and learn about how they're using artificial intelligence and machine learning to help project managers make better decisions and automate repetitive PM tasks. 

Is project management a thankless job, and should you strive to be an invisible PM? Ben Aston debates with Justin Handler how to do invisible project management; understanding technology, setting your team up for success, client and expectation management, and having difficult conversations.

Ben Aston chats with Brian Kessman about the best ways to build and scale a project management team, particularly within in agency. They cover everything from defining the purpose, getting the right people, establishing the right partnerships, setting in place the right processes and monitoring the PMO's performance. 

Ben Aston chats with Joanna Leigh Simon, discovering her personal DPM story and chatting about the project management best practices that you should be doing each month. Covering the whole gamut of a monthly project reset, discover how to enhance your workflow, decrease the daily stress, and keep your projects running smoothly.

Emily Carbonell-Ferguson hosts a roundtable discussion with Patrice Embry, Abby Fretz and Ben Aston on the sometimes confusing job titles we use as we progress through our DPM careers; digital project manager vs senior digital project manager vs producer vs account manager - what's it all about? Is there really any difference between us? Or should we be calling ourselves something different a...

In this episode, Ben Aston chats with Natalie Semczuk about project management hacks, diving into the details of automation you can setup, tools you can use, techniques you can apply and philosophies to adopt that'll make your DPM life a whole lot easier. 

In this inaugural Digital Project Manager podcast, Ben introduces the vision of the Digital Project Manager site, http://www.thedigitalprojectmanager.com, shares his story of becoming a DPM and gives an overview of what you can expect from this podcast.