Project Management Happy Hour
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
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 down how to step in, take charge, and rescue a broken project without losing your cool.
Kim shares his new 3-part formula for project recovery:
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:
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Hard-hitting stats: 1 in 6 projects go 200% over budget (Harvard Business Review), 17% of major IT projects thre...
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, Kat...
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:
...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:
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“The project’s almost done—let’s change everything!”
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“I read about [X] in CIO Magazine—can we bolt that on?”
“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 ...
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/memb...
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 ...
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 epis...
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 ...
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!
Read more
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 ...
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...
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 bu...
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...
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 a...
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?
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 meet...
“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 w...
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 lea...
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