Project Management Happy Hour
Business & Finance
About
PM Happy Hour is the place for frank and honest discussion about real world issues in project management. We do it in a way that's not too dry, though it may get a bit salty from time to time.Each episode, your hosts Kim Essendrup and Kate Anderson cover a problem faced in project management today, and share practical advice, real-life examples and the occasional project horror story.Not only that, but every podcast is also an online class! Our host is a PMI Registered Education Provider, who has structured each podcast as an easy-to-listen-to lesson. To get credit, go to our web site at PMHappyHour.com, purchase your class, take the test (based on the content from our podcast) and you get your PDU certificate instantly!
Episodes
- 124: Drowning in Tasks: How Successful PMs Organize the Chaos
In Project Management Happy Hour Episode 124, hosts Kim and Kate address the challenge of managing overwhelming workloads and constant interruptions. They share practical strategies for project managers, focusing on setting weekly prioriti…
- 123 - Hungry Hungry HPPOs - managing loud personalities with Evan Unger
This episode features facilitation expert Evan Unger discussing how to improve meetings and organizational productivity. The discussion covers managing the HIPPO (Highest Paid Person's Opinion) and introduces models like POPRA for meeting…
- 122 - Kate puts Kim through the worst meeting hells our listeners could dream up: a PM HappyHour role play
In this April Fool's episode of Project Management Happy Hour, hosts Kate and Kim engage in a tabletop roleplay scenario simulating disastrous project meetings submitted by listeners. The episode humorously explores common meeting pain poi…
- 121 - Top Shelf Replay: Embracing the Escalation
This Project Management Happy Hour replay revisits how to use escalation strategically, not as a threat, but as a tool to enhance visibility, decision-making, and risk navigation. Hosts Kim and Kate explain how effective escalation balance…
- 120 - How smart teams talk themselves into Failure, with Dr. Bill Brantley
This episode of Project Management Happy Hour features Dr. Bill Brantley discussing the normalization of deviance, where smart teams inadvertently drift towards project failure by accepting small deviations and risks over time. The convers…
- 119 - TSR: They told me I'm 'too nice'??
This episode replays a discussion on vague feedback, such as being called "too nice." It explores the impact and gendered nature of such comments, offering strategies for responding constructively and coaching teams toward specific outcome…
- 118 - PM Turf Wars: Sharing your projects with other Project Managers
Episode 118 of Project Management Happy Hour discusses navigating conflicts between different project managers, including business, IT, and vendor roles. It covers strategies for managing friction, dealing with uncooperative vendor PMs, an…
- 117 - Top Shelf Replay: Say No by Saying Yes
This episode revisits a technique for project managers to handle difficult requests by responding with "yes, but" or "yes, and" to acknowledge the asker's goal while outlining necessary trade-offs. This approach helps maintain scope, sched…
- 116 - How to quit your job and completely fail as a PM contractor
Kate and Kim share their experiences leaving corporate roles to become project management contractors, emphasizing the importance of relationships and reputation over job boards. They discuss signs of readiness, the sales aspect of contrac…
- 115 - Top Shelf Replay: Trust Bricks
This Project Management Happy Hour episode, a replay of "Trust Bricks," explores how consistent daily actions build project trust, using the metaphor of "Trust Bricks." The hosts discuss how this predictability strengthens teams, improves…
- 114 - Happy Hour Chatter: What PMs Really Do, Fear in Decision-Making, and Lessons from Going solo
In episode 114, Kim and Kate discuss the multifaceted reality of project management beyond the job description, including managing people and ambiguity. They also explore how fear impacts decision-making for leaders and teams, and share pe…
- 113 - Top Shelf Replay: Stage direction in the boardroom
This Project Management Happy Hour episode, a replay featuring Sheila Morago, discusses "Stage Direction in the Boardroom." It covers managing senior stakeholders, negotiating, leading high-stakes meetings, and building relationships throu…
- 112 - Burnout: when a 500k job isn't worth it, with Norlander Wilson
This episode features Norlander Wilson discussing workplace burnout, particularly its impact on project managers. Wilson, an experimental psychologist and founder of Becoma, argues that burnout is a systemic issue often originating from le…
- 111 - Top Shelf Replay: How do you start a hard conversation?
Kim and Kate revisit Crucial Conversations by VitalSmarts, a book they consider essential for project managers. The episode details how to identify high-stakes discussions, create shared understanding, and employ techniques like "Start Wit…
- 110 - Are you defining project success wrong? Most PM's do! With PMI's Dave Garrett
Are you defining project success the wrong way? Most project managers are — at least according to PMI's Dave Garrett. Project Management Happy Hour hosts Kim Essendrup and Kate Anderson sit down with Dave — Senior Advisor at the Project Ma…
- 109 - Top Shelf Replay: The Wolf - how to take over broken projects
Ever been dropped into a troubled project that's already gone off the rails? Welcome to life as "The Wolf." Inspired by the fixer from Pulp Fiction , Kim and Kate revisit one of our most popular episodes—now a PMI Global talk! —and break d…
- 108 - Why Risk Management? Future You Will Thank You
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-hitti…
- 107 - Top Shelf Replay: The Closer - Avoiding Project Acceptance Exception
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 Close…
- 106 - Finish Strong: Why the End of Your Project Matters Most
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. Dra…
- 105 - Top Shelf Replay: How to Deal with Stupid Executive Asks
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—ca…
- 104 - The one meeting that will make or break your project
"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…
- 103 - Lessons not Learned: State of Maine HR System Project Debacle
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—L…
- 102 - Kim's first day working for the Empire: Kate runs another Project Management role-play
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 fi…
- 101 - The Project Behind: Not Impossible Labs with Mick Ebeling
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 i…
- 100 - Retrospective: Our 100th Episode
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…
- 099 - The Iron Triangle of Getting a PM Job, with PM Career Coach, Kayla Quijas
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…
- 098 - Don't Eat the Prickly Pears: Learning how to prioritize with James Louttit
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, bu…
- 097 - PMO: Friend or Foe?
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.…
- 096 - Design thinking: don't take things at face value or you will face plant, with guest Erik Rueter
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. Er…
- 095 - The 5 Foundational Behaviors for Developing Informal Authority, with Kory Kogon of Franklin Covey
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 manage…
- 094 - Agile vs Waterfall Smack-Down!
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,…
- 093 - Rising from Tactical PM to Strategic Advisor, with Gregg Richie and Ralph Kliem
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…
- 092 - Goblins in the room! Managing meeting misbehaviors, with Rich Maltzman
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 t…
- 091 - The Perfect Status Report: How to measure percent complete
"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…
- 090 - How to tell other people what to do
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 i…
- 089 - Reorgs and Restructurings: sailing the waves of organizational change chaos
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…
- 088 - The CHAOS Report: Measuring project failure
Projects are hard. And a lot of them - maybe most of them - fail to live up to their expectations. Missed timelines, quality issues, budget overages, customer dissatisfaction - it seems sometimes like projects miss the mark more often than…
- 087 - Creative decision making: do you have the right 4 voices in the room? with Teresa Lawrence
Creative decision making is key to what we do in all our projects. According to FourSight, there are 4 distinct voices in the decision making process. Do you have these voices in the room when you make decisions? Do you know when you need…
- 086 - The project behind a Disaster Response, with the ITDRC
"I know the world is ending, but do you have wifi here?" Sounds funny, but it's deadly serious. Natural disasters impact critical infrastructure that we depend on every day: shelter, fresh water, food distribution, and power. These are the…
- 085 - Deciding on how to make good Decisions, with Kandis Porter
Decisions make or break your project - starting with the decision of whether or not to even do your project. Beyond that, we have planned decisions / phase gates and ad-hoc decisions that happen throughout the entire life of our project. A…
- 084 - OH, We Forgot About Change Management! What to do when you get caught with your ADKAR down, with Tim Creasey
Yeah! One of our favorite guests, Tim Creasey, returns! This time we are talking about what happens if you realize, too late in the game, that you really didn't consider Change Management enough in your planning cycle. It's such a universa…
- 083 - The 30 Minute Executive Meeting: Make it count
As a project manager, the time you get with an executive sponsor is critical: you don't get much of it and you cannot blow it! For many of our listeners, you may be new to executive meetings. But, how do you get the most out of these meeti…
- 082 - The Project Behind a Tech Startup, with Pete Bernardo from Punchlist
Tech startups drive the technology around us, and a good bit of the economy. They use creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit to solve problems and build the world of tomorrow. But how do they do that? Is it really like the "Shark…
- 081 - The Project Behind an Emergency Covid Vaccination Site, with Aaron Bellinger, PMP
When the first Covid vaccinations were released, massive vaccination sites were launched, seemingly overnight, to vaccinate millions of people. If you volunteered or were vaccinated at one of these sites, you may have witnessed how huge, s…
- 080 - First PM on the Beach: How to succeed when you are the first Project Manager in your organization
This episode is based on feedback we've had from our member 1:1 coaching sessions, one of the benefits we provide our PM Happy Hour members. Many PM's find themselves in a position where they are the first project manager in their organiza…
- 079 - Welcome to the Dungeon! Kate and Kim do Project Management RPG (D&D)
OK, originally this was going to be an April Fool's goof podcast, but it turned out to be a lot of fun and maybe a bit educational. But, nope, it's not your usual PMHH episode, and DEFINITELY not your typical PM podcast. So, if you are loo…
- 078 - Recommending Change Without Getting Chased out the Door
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 i…
- 077 - Behavioral PM: the Feakonomics approach to project delivery with Dr. Josh Ramirez
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 d…
- 076 - Imposter Syndrome: Diagnosis and Treatment
"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 -…
- 075 - Top Tips from a Project Management Coach, with Heather Gates
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 de…