Project Management Happy Hour

Why bother with risk management when you can just deal with problems as they happen? In this episode, Kim and Kate dig into the heart of that question—and the answer might just save your future self a world of pain. You’ll hear: Hard-hitting stats: 1 in 6 projects go 200% over budget (Harvard Business Review), 17% of major IT projects threaten company survival (McKinsey), and why 69% of projects don’t succeed. Firefighting vs. fire prevention: why controlled burns (boring, thankless prep) prevent disasters while the “heroes” just put out fires. ROI of risk management: the surprising 20:1 return on time spent planning versus cleaning up issues later. Language hacks: how swapping “risks” for “obstacles” (credit to Dr. Josh Ramirez) can get your team—and executives—on board. Practical techniques: from whiteboarding failure points to slicing your project into risk categories, simple ways to start risk management without drowning in templates. Whether you’re a seasoned PM or just tired of project disasters, this episode shows why risk management isn’t about doom and gloom—it’s about giving future you a fighting chance. 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

Please. Let it end. PLEASE! A defining characteristic of a project is that it ends. Finally. Just finish it, right? If it were only that easy!  In another Top Shelf Replay, Kate and Kim revisit one of their classic past episodes, “The Closer.” We play highlights from the original Closer episode as they talk about how to build up to a crisp conclusion to your project, making it a win for everyone. Then, Kate and Kim talk through their revised perspectives and learnings since the original airing of the Closer - and some of their hard learned lessons since then!    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

Projects aren’t remembered for how they started—they’re remembered for how they ended. In this PM Happy Hour episode, Kim Essendrup and Kate Anderson unpack why finishing strong is critical to your reputation and your project’s legacy. Drawing on real project stories, they explore the axiom that people will remember your project the way it ended—and two key corollaries every project manager needs to know: Corollary 1: People naturally forget past wins and focus on the most recent problems. Corollary 2: People will redefine success to fit the outcome—if it gives them a win. You’ll learn practical practices to keep your stakeholders focused on value, even when things get bumpy, including: How to keep your team and sponsors aligned on the value proposition Why PMI has redefined project success around value delivered (not just the triple constraints) How to reframe challenges as wins without whitewashing reality Why a strong finish can redeem a rocky project—and a weak finish can ruin a good one If you’ve ever had a project limp across the finish line, this episode will give you tools to finish strong and leave stakeholders with the story you want them to remember. 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

Ah, executives. They fund your project, cheer you on, and sometimes… ask for things that make you want to slam your head into your Gantt chart. Like: “The project’s almost done—let’s change everything!” “I read about [X] in CIO Magazine—can we bolt that on?” “Why are we doing it this way? Let’s redo it completely differently… and badly.” In this Top Shelf Replay, we revisit the best parts of this classic episode, then Kate & Kim reflect on what they’ve learned since—especially now that they're the execs making the asks (hopefully less stupidly). Oh, and yes—this is the episode where we try to talk Darth Vader out of building an infinity pool on the Death Star.  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  

“Well begun is half done”  — Aristotle (or Mary Poppins, depending who you ask) The beginning of a project is a time when all stakeholders THINK they know what they want, and maybe the team thinks they know what they are supposed to do. Or maybe they are just wondering, “what the heck is this new madness that I’m getting drug into?!”   Regardless, it’s a near certainty that your team, your stakeholders and your sponsors - someone is NOT on the same page. And if you launch your project with that misalignment, you are lighting the fuse on project troubles. Enter the Kickoff meeting, one of the goals of which is to try to bring everyone’s expectations of the project into alignment.    Join Kate and Kim as they talk about how to approach this most critical meeting, and ensure your project is off on the right step. Be the Aristotle (or Mary Poppins) of your project!  🎯 What you’ll learn in this episode: How to structure your kickoff meeting Key questions to ask your stakeholders Tips for getting your team engaged from the start How to align goals, roles, and expectations 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  

Think your project’s on fire? 🔥 Come hear how Maine tried to swap a 30‑year‑old COBOL HR/payroll system for something cloud‑friendly … and wound up with six years, two vendors, and ± $35 M spent—with no live system to show for it. (Psst—Love this kind of real‑world PM talk? Join our member community for templates, monthly problem‑solving Happy Hours with us, and coaching: PMHappyHour.com/membership.)   👋 Your Hosts Kim Essendrup – PM coach, speaker, project‑failure super‑fan Kate Anderson – coffee‑powered realist & co‑host of Project Management Happy Hour   What We Cover Why Maine’s 2016 “$15 M, 2‑year” vision looked reasonable on paper Vendor #1: Infor hired for $13.5 M … then fired after two years with nothing working Vendor #2: Workday lands a $15 M deal—hope (briefly) restored 2019–2020 red flags: missing staff, test cycles where 50 % of paychecks were wrong, “rosy” status decks Feb 2021: Maine’s 30‑day ultimatum & $22.16 M demand letter to Workday (spoiler: lawyers ensue) Project culture bombs: 400 % team turnover, a toxic manager, and a “rescue PM” married to the sponsor Independent audit slide‑deck gold: zero items “ready for go‑live,” chaotic configs, no data owner Accenture steps in (another $10.9 M) while employees still depend on the 1980s mainframe   5 Brutal Lessons You Can Use Tomorrow 1) Write it down or write a check – fuzzy requirements = infinite rework. 2) Freeze configs, then test – moving targets make every cycle worthless. 3) Own the data – bad source data means bad payroll, period. 4) Toxic leadership kills progress – harassment & turnover wipe out continuity. 5) Audit early, not post‑mortem – an external sanity check at first failure could have saved millions.   You Might Be in Trouble If … Your payroll test run is half wrong but the go‑live date stays. A core requirement (e.g., labor‑cost distribution) is “coming later”—after all testing. Status decks stay green while teammates are crying in their cars. The new “fix‑it” PM just happens to be married to the exec in charge. Nobody can explain entrance‑/exit‑criteria, yet QA keeps restarting. Ad‑hoc reports only work if you strip every security role. Steering committee = five‑minute victory lap + fifty‑five minutes of blame ping‑pong. Backup plan is still “keep the COBOL mainframe running indefinitely.”   If any of those hit home, open your RAID log—now—before your $15 M idea turns into headline fuel.   Why listen? Rolling out HRIS, ERP, or Workday? Spot the landmines first. Tired of sanitized “success stories”? We tell it like it is—with a dash of salt. Exec or sponsor? See how weak governance detonates budgets—and morale.   👉 Subscribe for more Lessons Not Learned, salty PM rants, and practical tips. 💡 Grab our free RAID Log template & on‑demand training at https://PMHappyHour.com   Sources & References Maine Legislature. Government Oversight Committee Report on Workday Implementation (2021). Maine Legislature. IJA Strategies Independent Assessment (2020). Portland Press Herald. “System failure: Inside Maine’s $35 M HR software meltdown” (Jun 20 2021). Sun Journal. “Maine hires new contractor to complete long‑delayed software upgrade” (Jun 7 2022). The Register. “Maine threatens to terminate Workday contract over delays” (Mar 31 2021). The Register. “No accountability for Workday’s HR system failure, officials claim” (Apr 14 2021). Views are the hosts’ own. Brand names belong to their respective owners. #ProjectManagement #LessonsNotLearned #Workday #ProjectFailure #PMHappyHour   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

Our D&D-style project role play was such a hit, we did it again - in a different universe. One far, far away… This time, it’s Kim’s first day as a project manager working on a secret government project for the Empire. As he shows up, he finds that his predecessor… well, let’s just say he didn’t get-on well with his exec sponsor. Kim’s new project is behind schedule, roadblocked with supply chain issues and is out of funding. Can he get the “RTDU” project back on track by the end of the day, or will he have to give an awkward project update to his black-cloaked project sponsor? You can bet Game Master Kate has some fun in store! And… you can get the mug! For a limited time, you can go to https://pmhappyhour.com/merch and get a commemorative PM Happy Hour mug with an image of the “RTDU” in use! 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  

Ever had a moment where you saw a problem in the world and thought, “Someone should fix that”? What if that someone was you? Mick Ebeling, founder of Not Impossible Labs, joins us to share how he turned a bold promise into world-changing innovation. From helping a paralyzed graffiti artist create art again to launching life-changing tech solutions, Mick’s story is a masterclass in fearless problem-solving. In this episode, we dive into what it takes to commit to the impossible, build the right team, and use project management superpowers to change lives. If you’ve ever doubted your ability to make an impact, this conversation will prove otherwise. Cheers to embracing audacity—tune in now! 🍻🎧   About our amazing guest, Mick Ebeling: Named Fortune’s Top 50 World’s Greatest Leaders and honored with the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian of the Year Award, Mick Ebeling is a groundbreaking innovator dedicated to changing the world through innovation and story.  As the Founder of Not Impossible Labs – an innovation incubator disrupting the status quo and tackling seemingly impossible problems – Mick has spent over a decade driving a movement of positive impact for the sake of humanity.  Through his “Help One. Help Many” approach, Mick and his team have created some of the most internationally celebrated inventions, including The Eyewriter, Project Daniel, and Don’s Voice, as well as their most recent spin-off companies, Bento (formerly Hunger: Not Impossible) and Music: Not Impossible. His work has been recognized as a 3x recipient of TIME’s Best Inventions and Fast Company's World Changing Ideas. Mick continues to inspire, empower, and teach individuals, organizations, and communities to take bold action, so they too can make the impossible, NOT impossible. 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  

We cannot believe it! It’s been 100 episodes of PM Happy Hour!  In this very special episode, we have a retrospective, looking back at when we first decided to do this crazy podcast, to our highlights, lessons, and favorite episodes.  We are so filled with gratitude for our amazing community who have supported us these 100 episodes, and the many incredible leaders who have joined us as guests over the years.  Note: we recorded this episode as a Linkedin livestream. If you want to watch the video version, it should be out there on Linkedin!  Cheers! 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  

If you are looking for a PM job or considering doing so, you are definitely not alone! The project management field has always had a good amount of mobility, but it sure seems like change has been accelerating the last couple years.  And if you are in the hunt for a job right now, it can feel like the market is harder than ever!   So what do you do? Focus on getting more certs? Get a recruiter? Submit 500 more applications through Linkedin?  To help understand how to land a great PM job in today’s job market, we talk with Kayla Quijas, practicing project manager and professional Project Manager career coach. Kayla helps her clients develop their profiles and land fantastic PM jobs. Kayla gives us the low-down on today’s PM job market, and shares her own “Iron Triangle” of things to focus on to land that great job.  About our amazing guest, Kayla Quijas After five years as a cake decorator and feeling stuck in a dead-end job, Kayla Quijas made a bold move: she quit after being asked to return to work after a grueling 12-hour shift.  Determined to break into the corporate world, she started as a receptionist at a law firm and rapidly climbed the corporate ladder. Now, Kayla is a senior project manager at a global law firm, overseeing one of its largest accounts.  Realizing the invaluable role her coaches played in her journey to success, she found her true purpose: inspiring others to escape dead-end jobs and pursue fulfilling careers. Now, as a certified Senior Career Coach, Kayla empowers individuals to make intentional career transitions. You can connect with Kayla and get help with your PM career via the links below:    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayla-quijas/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thepmcareercoach Website: Kayla Quijas Career Coaching | Project Management Career Coach (kaylaqcareercoaching.com)

As a professional in today’s working environment, you are constantly bombarded by things that demand your attention, your action, the very limited moments in your finite life. (wow, heavy). OK, so there are infinite demands on our time, but finite time. How do we balance those? SWOT analysis?! Of course not! To help us understand how to effectively prioritize in today’s crazy world,  Kate and Kim are joined by James Louttit, author of Leading Impactful teams. We talk about prickly pears, paw-paws, and practical ways to prioritize in today’s demanding world. Spoiler: It’s not SWOT, MoSCoW or the Eisenhower matrix ;-)  About our amazing guest, James Louttit James Louttit knows what it’s like to have to deliver complex projects under pressure, and what it costs when we get it wrong. In 2016 he ended up in hospital because he was trying to run his projects with effort rather than IMPACT. That story, which forms the introduction to his book “Leading Impactful Teams”, inspired him to figure out how to deliver projects better. He learned everything he could around the subject, from the PMP and Agile worlds that we all know and love, to Design Thinking, Facilitation Techniques, Psychology and Human Nature and everything that might be useful to people delivering projects. His career took off. He became the Head of Project management Competency at a large Bank and then Chief Information Officer of a major PLC in Ireland. What he learned, and put into practice made a huge difference to the effectiveness and stress levels in his teams. People kept asking him for help, so he found an artist and started drawing cartoons to explain the concepts in more human, memorable and fun ways. He wrote “Leading Impactful Teams” to help anyone who is managing any type of work or project that involves real, imperfect people in real, imperfect organizations.  Now he works with the biggest companies in Ireland to help their teams cut through the noise, and build a toolbox of practical techniques and approaches that reduce stress, improve outcomes and help people face the challenges of project delivery with confidence and positivity. You can connect with James and check out all his amazing content and the knowledge he shares at the links below:  James’ book Leading Impactful teams:  https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0DN7GP2XB?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdpv  And on Amazon:  https://a.co/d/9rFmDwt  James Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-louttit/  His website:  https://www.impactfulpm.com/  The Brilliant Beaver Guidebook - https://a.co/d/hM4gfz7  The Brilliant Beaver Audiobook (😊) - https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/The-Brilliant-Beaver-Guidebook-Audiobook/B0DKZ7G93J?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp    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  

AUDIO QUALITY NOTICE!  Apologies, we have a little static on one of the mics during our recording - sorry for the occasional audio issue.  As a project manager, an organizational structure that will have a big impact on your life is the PMO. But if you aren’t used to working with a PMO, what should you expect? Are they going to make your life and projects easier, or crush you with red tape? If you are interviewing for a job where they have a PMO, what questions should you ask to get a better understanding of how they work? And, what should you expect from a PMO - and what are they expecting from you?  With all these questions, we thought we should reach out to a couple of the most well known minds in PMO: Lindsay Scott and Eileen Roden. Their UK based “House of PMO” organization does some great things in the PMO space (plus they are a lot of fun!) so we feel very fortunate that Linsay and Eileen agreed to join us and help us understand a bit more about whether PMO’s are our friends or foes.    About our amazing guests, Lindsay Scott and Eileen Roden Lindsay has worked in and around project management and PMO for over 20 years and is a Director at PMO Learning, a training company focused on PMO.  She is Co-Founder of the House of PMO, a professional membership organisation for PMO practitioners. Lindsay is the co-author of the PMO Competency Framework and editor of the Handbook of People in Project Management. She speaks regularly on project management and PMO career topics – and provides 1-2-1 coaching for those looking to advance their careers in PMO. Eileen has 15 years practitioner experience in a variety of project management roles (predominantly PMO management) along with IT and functional HR roles, with a variety of UK, EMEA and global responsibilities.  Her practical experience is supported by both academic and professional certifications including a Masters in Applied Project Management (with distinction), AIPMO-E, PRINCE2®, MSP®, MoP®, Managing Benefits®, Better Business Cases®, Programme and Project Sponsorship®.  She is now a Consulting Director of PMO Learning and co-founder of the House of PMO. She is the author of P3O® Best Management Practice and lead author of the PMO Competency Framework, co-author of Knowledge Management in a Project Environment, along with contribution to many APM publications.  She is a frequent conference speaker throughout UK and Europe. You can learn more about all the amazing things that Lindsay and Eileen are doing around PMO and even join their great community at https://houseofpmo.com/    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

In this episode, Kat and Kim talk to Erik Rueter about design thinking in our projects.  What’s design thinking, you may be thinking? Design thinking is a methodology that focuses on the end users of a system when we are problem solving. Erik will share 5 different design thinking methods for understanding user needs in a way that not only helps your project provide better deliverables but can also help build a better project team.   About our amazing guest, Erik Rueter Erik K. Rueter, PMP, PMI-ACP, has over 20 years of experience in diverse industries, including tech startups, academia, healthcare, and entertainment. Currently, he serves as a senior project manager at the American Marketing Association and has held multiple senior staff positions at various organizations. Erik holds a BA in neuroscience from Wesleyan University, with further education in digital design, Irish studies, and MicroMasters in Design Thinking and Project Management from the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is also certified in diversity and inclusion by Cornell. Erik's contributions to the field include co-authoring papers on health inequity, lecturing at Boston and Emerson Colleges, and advocating for diversity and inclusion with organizations like Medtronic, VSP, and the San Antonio Spurs. He has spoken, in person and virtually, at PMI Greece, PMI Michiana, and PMI Western Michigan, among others. He has appeared on podcasts such as “Confessions of a Higher Education CMO”; and “I Wanna Work There!” and contributed to “The Evolution of the PMO”, a key resource for project managers. He founded Human-Centered Success LLC to promote inclusive leadership which is National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce certified as an LGBTQIA+-owned business. Residing outside Pittsburgh with his husband and two dachshunds, Erik enjoys marathons, gaming, and sharing his insights. Contact: erik@humancenteredsuccess.com. To learn more about the amazing things Erik is up to:  Check out his website at: www.humancenteredsuccess.com Learn about solution delivery: Mastering Solution Delivery Erik’s Upcoming Speaking Engagement: PMI Global Summit 2024 Rock Lobster Leadership: Lessons from The B-52s Resilience and Relatability: A New Paradigm for Project Leadership (With Jake McGaffin and Olivia Montgomery)   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 PM’S! We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at podcast@pmhappyhour.com or on Linkedin and we’ll see if we can help you. If we use your question, we’ll send you a PM Happy Hour coaster you can enjoy at your next happy hour.  

Although an essential part of our project-driven world, most project leaders didn’t set out to be one. For many of us, our first steps into project leadership won’t come with an official title. So, if we are not ‘officially’ project managers, how are we supposed to lead the project?  There are a lot of answers to this question, but one approach all project leaders need to master is the art of managing with informal authority. Without being people’s ‘boss,’ we need to pull a team of seemingly random people, give them common purpose, build a team and help them successfully deliver a project.  But, seriously, what really is ‘informal authority?’ What’s involved and how can I master this mystical art? To help us understand this superpower, we are joined on this episode by Kory Kogon, author of the book, “Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager.” Kory takes us through the 5 pillars of informal authority which include:  Demonstrate respect Listen first Clarify expectations Extend trust Practice accountability About our amazing guest, Kory Kogon Kory is FranklinCovey’s Vice President, Content Development, and a Senior Leadership Consultant. She is a co-author of the #4 Wall Street Journal bestseller, The 5 Choices: The Path to Extraordinary Productivity, in addition to Project Management Essentials for the Unofficial Project Manager, and Presentation Advantage. Kory has been featured on Inc.com and in its Productivity Playbook online series, on Fast Company.com, Forbes.com, and in Investor’s Business Daily. She has also appeared on NBC’s TODAY with Hoda Kotb. Kory has over 25 years of business expertise from frontline positions to serving as an executive team member for a global franchise organization. This provides her a unique perspective on the application of FranklinCovey’s world-renowned content within organizations. Kory not only understands the strategy and principles necessary to build great leaders, systems, and winning cultures, but she understands how FranklinCovey’s blended learning offerings deliver practical solutions that enable the behavior changes required for transformational results in organizations with both formal and informal leaders. To learn more about the amazing things Kory is doing and to get her great book: Book: Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager | FranklinCovey Learn about the Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager Course: Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager™ | FranklinCovey About Kory Kogon: FranklinCovey Speaker: Kory Kogon | FranklinCovey Connect to Kory Kogon on linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kory-kogon   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 PM’S! We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at podcast@pmhappyhour.com or on Linkedin and we’ll see if we can help you. If we use your question, we’ll send you a PM Happy Hour coaster you can enjoy at your next happy hour.  

For the first time, Kate and Kim find an Agilist brave enough to join them on the podcast to talk about some really hard questions about working Agile vs Waterfall. Let’s get it on! We ask the questions that PM’s want to ask - frustrated, annoyed PM’s who are told to work “agile” by people who maybe don’t even understand Agile - or Waterfall, for that matter. In this refreshingly honest talk about the reality of ways of working, Kate, Kim and their guest Agilist, David Asch, talk in real-world terms about Agile, Predictive and the reality in-between. About our amazing (and brave) guest, David Asch David Asch has a 36-year career in startup and mid-stage commercial software companies. He’s worked in various industries, including transportation, supply chain, retail analytics, scientific marketing, blockchain, and secure communications. From his experience with the challenges and successes of delivering software over a long career, David founded 10xPrinciples, a management/organizational consulting company, to help technology companies navigate the transition from startup to mid-stage.  During a time of rapid growth and change, teams typically find that the ”wearing many hats” culture from their startup days is no longer the best approach to honoring commitments. David helps these companies weave Agile practices into the fabric of their cultures. David’s recognized expertise in companywide Agile-driven management makes him invaluable to clients who need to implement Agile principles and methodologies into their unique business environments. Get David’s book, The Agile Enterprise: Applying Agile Principles to Drive Organizational Success, on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Agile-Enterprise-Applying-Principles-Organizational/dp/1637425473/  Connect to him on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidasch1/  And check out his website: https://10xPrinciples.com    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 PM’S! We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at podcast@pmhappyhour.com or on Linkedin and we’ll see if we can help you. If we use your question, we’ll send you a PM Happy Hour coaster you can enjoy at your next happy hour.  

Project Management is weird. You can have the same job title and be a very tactical execution-minded project manager - which is the way most of us start. Or you can be a strategic part of the leadership team, recognized for your ability to help executives make their vision a reality.  So, how do you develop yourself from tactical implementer to strategic partner?  This episode we are joined by two experienced leaders, Ralph Kliem and Gregg Richie, who have made this transition, and rose to provide pivotal strategic partnership roles with executive teams to help them develop Disaster Recovery capabilities. In fact, they wrote the book on it: Business Continuity Planning: A Project Management Approach. Ralph and Gregg will talk us through how to step beyond the mindset of a tactical project manager and engage with our leadership teams as a strategic partner. About our amazing guests, Ralph Kliem and Gregg Richie Ralph Kliem, M.A.,PMP, CBCP, is the author or co-author of twenty books, including the Management Lessons of the Great Explorers; Political Risk Management and the Global Supply Chain; Business Continuity Planning; and Leading High Performance Projects. He has also published in the Project Management Journal and PM Network.  He managed numerous business continuity projects and programs for major airplane programs at The Boeing Company as well as financial, operational auditing, and information systems projects. He is now retired after over 40 years in the private and public sectors.  Gregg D. Richie, has over 40 years of experience in project management.  His education includes a MBA with a specialization in Project Management from Indiana Wesleyan University, a BS in Workforce Education and Development from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and a Master’s Certificate in Applied Project Management from Villanova University. He has managed, participated in, or consulted on more than 1200 projects in his career, and  He authored three books on Microsoft Project.  As a retired member of the US Navy SEABEES, he uses real-world experiences in teaching project management concepts. You can follow or connect with Gregg at:   @GreggDRichie https://www.linkedin.com/in/greggrichie/   You can find their book on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Business-Continuity-Planning-Management-Approach/dp/1482251787/  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 PM’S! We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at podcast@pmhappyhour.com or on Linkedin and we’ll see if we can help you. If we use your question, we’ll send you a PM Happy Hour coaster you can enjoy at your next happy hour.  

Meetings. Love them or hate them, they are core to what we do as project leaders. We need to pull people together (real or virtually) to discuss, plan, check-in, and get things done. But as we know, when we get people together, sometimes their misbehaviors - “goblins” - tag along, too! Being able to manage effective meetings can make or break us as PMs. And learning how to manage these misbehaviors in meetings can make or break each meeting. Fortunately, we have help! This episode we are joined by Rich Maltzman of Boston University. Rich and his colleague Jim Steward wrote the book, “Great Meetings Build Great Teams: A Guide for Project Leaders and Agilists.” In this book, Rich and Jim write about these “meeting goblins” - how to identify them, and how to respond effectively to keep your meeting on track.  Join us and learn how to tame the meeting goblins!  You can find Rich’s book on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Meetings-Build-Teams-Agilists/dp/1637424752/ And check out the website here: http://projectmeetings.us You can connect directly with Rich and his co-author, Jim on linked in here:  Rich: https://www.linkedin.com/in/exclaim/ Jim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimstewartpmp/   And if you would like to study project management with Rich at Boston University, you can read about their globally respected program here: https://www.bu.edu/met/programs/project-management/   About our amazing guest, Rich Maltzman Rich considers himself a ‘pracademic’ – and is now Master Lecturer at Boston University, an author, and a consultant, providing clients with a deep learning experience and improved results. He had a 40-year career in telecom, mainly in engineering and project management.  At the University level, his focus is always on converting weaknesses into strengths while teaching clients/students how to apply learned skills to everyday situations.  Rich co-founded EarthPM, LLC, a company devoted to integrating sustainability thinking into project management. His integration of a holistic, global view of project management has resulted in international consulting and speaking engagements in which the focus is the long-term success of projects, with an eye towards ecological and social systems. His blog at the projectmanagement.com site has become very popular. A co-author of seven books on project leadership, Rich is a former VP of Professional Development for PMI Mass Bay (the Boston area PMI Chapter), and was on the Review Committee for the 7th Edition PMBOK® Guide, helping to assure that sustainability thinking finally made it into the Standard and the Body of Knowledge. 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 PM’S! We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at podcast@pmhappyhour.com or on Linkedin and we’ll see if we can help you. If we use your question, we’ll send you a PM Happy Hour coaster you can enjoy at your next happy hour.  

“What percent done are you?”  Status reporting is a core skill (and responsibility) of project managers. It is an opportunity for you to check in with your team, and to build rapport and engagement with stakeholders. But it’s also something we often take for granted.  In this episode, Kate and Kim talk about how to approach status reporting whether your project is big or small, and how to leverage this key communication point to help with overall project success.   Why Status Reporting?  Essential for communicating project progress and challenges Builds trust with stakeholders by demonstrating progress Tailoring Status Reports Reports should be adapted to audience needs Understanding the audience (executives, team members, stakeholders) is crucial! Components of an Effective Status Report Executive Summary: A clear, concise overview Accomplishments: Completed tasks or milestones Upcoming Tasks: Planned activities or next steps Risks and Issues: Key challenges and potential problems Go-to-Green Plan: Strategy for addressing significant off-track areas RAG Status: Red, Amber, Green indicators for project health Budget Status: Financial overview (where applicable) Timeline Overview: High-level graphical representation of key events Approaches to Percent Complete Debate on the utility and accuracy of percent-complete metrics Preference for tying status to key milestones over percent completion Status Report Frequency and Medium Weekly status meetings with teams Different report cadences for different audience levels (e.g., executive status monthly) Possible mediums: Email, PowerPoint, Slack, or other communication tools Challenges in Status Reporting Ensuring stakeholder engagement and consumption of reports Potential pushback on RAG status, especially when reporting red or amber Importance of team input and alignment on report content Additional Recommendations Focus on highlighting value and progress in reports Importance of clear, effective communication in status reports Using status reports for accountability and project alignment   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 PM’S! We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at podcast@pmhappyhour.com or on Linkedin and we’ll see if we can help you. If we use your question, we’ll send you a PM Happy Hour coaster you can enjoy at your next happy hour.  

Being a project manager is tough. You are assigned a team of people who may never have with each other (or you) before, and you need to lead them to accomplish a task, solve a problem, or create a new deliverable. And by definition, this is a unique task - so it hasn’t been done before, at least not in this way, for these stakeholders.  In among these challenges is perhaps the toughest one: you have to lead this group of people. As project managers, these people almost never report to us - someone else is their boss. So, how do we provide leadership and direction to a group of people when you are not their boss? How do you tell them what to do?  Sure, we could talk about servant leadership and how a PM is a facilitator, who should be working to enable, motivate and coach the team. But in the real world, you need to get these people to get stuff done, or you are all going to fail.  In today’s episode, Kate and Kim talk about this conundrum, and offer advice based on their real-world challenges trying to get people to do things - who don’t report to them.  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 PM’S! We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at podcast@pmhappyhour.com or on Linkedin and we’ll see if we can help you. If we use your question, we’ll send you a PM Happy Hour coaster you can enjoy at your next happy hour.  

It can be hard getting a project started correctly: getting the right executive and stakeholder sponsorship and support, getting them all to agree on the scope and approach, getting funding, approvals, and all the other things required to get a project off the ground. You negotiate with other departments and get committed resource assignments and timelines. You finally get your amazing project off the ground, you’re humming along then, BOOM! The organization changes.  Your stakeholders change. Your executive sponsors change. The structure or ownership of the organization changes. Your resources are all moved to different teams.  And you’re caught-out like a PM with a flip-phone at an iphone convention.  What now? What do you do? How do you re-align your project and ensure its success in the new (or ever changing) organizational environment? This is the problem that Kate and Kim are painfully familiar with, and tackle on this episode.  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 PM’S! We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at podcast@pmhappyhour.com or on Linkedin and we’ll see if we can help you. If we use your question, we’ll send you a PM Happy Hour coaster you can enjoy at your next happy hour.