People, Process, Progress
Where project management meets public safety. Real-world tools and insight with Kevin Pannell. Hosted by Kevin Pannell, PMP, CSM, Prosci, PSC III—a U.S. Navy and public safety veteran with over two decades of experience in emergency management, healthcare IT, and project leadership—this podcast bridges the gap between structured planning and real-time response. Each episode delivers practical tactics, leadership lessons, and field-tested tools for professionals operating at the intersection of public safety, emergency management, and complex projects. Whether you're leading a response team, managing a high-stakes initiative, or coordinating across agencies, this is your briefing room for what works in the real world.
Episodes
Planning a public event without structure is a risk you can’t afford. In this episode, How to Treat Your Event Like a Project (And Why You Should), Kevin Pannell shares how to apply project management principles and ICS tools, like RACI matrices, project phases, SMART goals, and SitReps, to plan safer, smoother public safety events. Whether you're leading a 5K, a drill, or a community gathering, treat the event like a project—and l...
This week, we apply an EMT’s trauma checklist to project leadership. Using the DCAP-BTLS framework, we explore how to scan your project for failure symptoms—before they spiral.
Key focus areas:
• Spotting early signs of project breakdown
• Clarifying roles and responsibilities
• Responding with intention, not reaction
Call to Action: Identify one “injury” in your project—like burnout, misalignment, or scope creep—and treat it today.
Peo...
Welcome to the second full episode in our All-Hazards Project Management series, What EMTs can Teach Us about Failing Projects. In this episode, we apply a trauma checklist used in emergency medicine—DCAP-BTLS—to assess and stabilize failing projects.
Strategies shared include:
- Weekly workload balancing
- Stakeholder alignment checkpoints
- RACI owners...
This week’s Foundations Friday, Start with One AI Use Case, is a bit of a reset and reminder. If you’re in public safety or project management, you don’t need to become a coder. But you do need to understand where AI can help you lead smarter and deliver faster.
In this episode, Can AI Revolutionize Public Safety and Project Management? We explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how we plan, respond, and lead in complex environments.
Key takeaways:
- How to get your PEOPLE ready with an AI readiness assessment
- Where to fit AI into your organization's PROCESS
- When to measure PROGRESS with an AI impact dashboard
People first. Process aligned. Progress together.
Welcome to the 20-episode run of the All-Hazards Project Management series of the People, Process, Progress podcast.
Since I was seventeen, I’ve been involved in public safety, emergency medicine, and planning events or incident responses. Across all these roles, one truth has stood out: effective planning connects them all. In public safety, it’s ab...
In this episode, Tackling Scope Creep: People, Process, & Courage, we're diving into how to protect our projects, keep our sanity, and build stronger teams in the process.
Episode outline
- Intro
- Core concepts
- The People Side: Assertiveness and Stakeholder Boundaries...
This episode is an audiobook-like version of the 7 Pillars Field Guide. This 7 Pillars Field Guide distills the key, actionable tools and techniques from The Stability Equation into one-page summaries of each of the seven pillars: ownership, mindfulness, movement, boundaries, connection, sleep, and faith.
Godspeed y'all,
Kevin
Welcome back to the People, Process, Progress podcast, the podcast dedicated to fostering pragmatic optimism in your professional world. Today, we're tackling a universal challenge: the art of the good project handoff.
Whether you're a healthcare professional transitioning patient care, a software developer handing off a project, or simply passing the baton in any collaborative effort, a smooth handoff is crucial for success. So, le...
In Lessons in Project Management from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, I share how the choices made in the virtual fantasy world of Skyrim parallel the strategic decisions Portfolio Managers and leaders must make when planning, resourcing, and executing projects within their organizations' portfolios.
Episode focus areas:
- Effective resource allocation and prioritization
- Effective stakeholder management
- Effective risk management
- Effectiv...
Restarting the Fix It Friday series with the March 2024 episode from the Hope is NOT a Plan podcast. This episode delves into the crucial skill of asking objective questions to drive clarity and problem-solving. We explore how unbiased inquiries can empower teams and improve processes by drawing parallels to the host's diverse podcasting journey and the principles in his book The Stability Equation. Learn practical techniques to fo...
Hey everyone!
I'm excited to officially announce the launch of my book, The Stability Equation: 7 Pillars for a More Balanced Life! This subreddit was created to discuss the principles and practices outlined in the book, and I'm so grateful to have you all here.
This book is deeply personal, born from my struggles with anxiety, trauma, and the journey to find lasting mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. It shares the roadmap I...
Today's episode, The Stability Equation: 7 Pillars for a More Balanced Life, is all about building a balanced life, a life that honors the miracle you are while acknowledging the human imperfections that come along with the ride. We're talking about the seven pillars that, when stacked carefully, create a life that's not just planned – it's thriving.
Welcome back to People, Process, Progress podcast. Today, on Five Benefits of Family Time Off, I'm diving into something I believe is essential for well-being and something that often gets pushed down the priority list amidst our busy schedules: family vacations.
The benefits:
- Stress reduction
Episode Objectives:
- Historical overview of political manipulation tactics used throughout America’s history
- Five key examples of manipulation spanning different eras
- Six actionable strategies for navigating today's complex political landscape
Godspeed y'all.
In this episode, The People, Process, & Progress of Public Health, I talk about what public health is, why it matters, and why it's crucial to protect it from political whiplash, ensuring that the critical work of keeping communities healthy continues regardless of who's in office.
Hello everyone and welcome back to The People, Process, & Progress Podcast, I’m your host Kevin Pannell. On today’s episode, How Technical Should Project Managers Really Be? | S4Ep17 I’m speaking to Project Managers, aspiring PMs, team leads, and anyone involved in software or technical projects. My goal is to talk through the optimal level of technical understanding for project managers, emphasizing the value of technical lite...
As a Project Manager I'm always seeking new knowledge, skills, and abilities to help me empower my team members and project partners. In Five Focus Areas for Project Managers in 2025, I'm sharing focus areas I will be diving deeper into and that I've gotten questions about from my teams and the internet.
On today’s episode, How we Should Reform the Federal Emergency Management Agency, I’ll examine the critical role of FEMA in disaster relief and explore strategies to improving its effectiveness
How we can improve FEMA:
- Thorough After-Action Report/Improvement Plans (AAR/IPs)
- Direct engagement with FEMA employees and the public
- Streamline Local and State assistance processes
- Enhance pre-disaster collaboration at all levels
Godspe...
In this audio from my video, I share lessons learned from the book Extreme Ownership written by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin and from my completion of the Echelon Front course Extreme Ownership Framework and how Project Managers can apply them when leading teams.
Find a course and sign up at https://academy.echelonfront.com/
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