Project Management Happy Hour

You depend on them and, let’s be honest, sometimes you abuse them. This week we talk to Ollie Hunter, the enterprise architect for a leading e-commerce firm in Europe. Ollie will share life from an architect’s perspective, and help us understand how we, as project leaders, can develop better relationships with our architects, and enable them so they can have the most impact on your project. We got so into this episode that it’s our longest one yet, at just about an hour of great stuff! And, yes, there is actual yelling in this episode J  OUR AMAZING GUEST Ollie Hunter is an Enterprise Architect with a passion for helping businesses realize the potential of their strategies by using technology as a force for change. Ollie has worked closely with project managers for over 15 years in a range of different organizations, from local and national government, education, healthcare, through construction and retail, he is currently focused on businesses undergoing major change, primarily through mergers and acquisitions. At the moment, he lives in London, UK. CONTACT OLLIE Should you want to contact Ollie directly, his contact information is below. Twitter: @olliehunter Email: ollie@olliehunter.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olliehunter/ DON’T FORGET YOUR TRAINING CREDITS! You can get professional development units (PDU) for the time you spent with us today. Come to our website at https://PMHappyHour.com , look for Episode 009 and follow the link to register, pay a couple bucks and take your quiz. Pass our easy quiz, and BOOM, you instantly get a certificate for your 1 full PDU’s. Subscribe and you can get PDU’s all the time!  JOIN US FOR HAPPY HOUR! Come by and say “hey!” at our Facebook page https://facebook.com/pmhappyhour STUMP THE PM’S! We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at podcast@pmhappyhour.com 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.

This week we plunge into Project Communications – the most common cause of project failure. We are joined by Jennifer Rock and Michael Voss, authors of the book “B.S., Incorporated.” Over happy hour, they share 5 insightful “tough love” tips on project communication, the way that only a BFF would. Thanks Jennifer and Michael!   OUR AMAZING GUESTS Jennifer Rock and Michael Voss have a shared, lifelong passion for storytelling. They are professional communicators and have had the good fortune to work for and with companies that span multiple industries. They have spearheaded global communication strategy and worked with Project Managers for more than 20 years. In 2013, they formed their own communication agency ROCKdotVOSS and finished their debut novel – “B.S., Incorporated.” Both live in Minneapolis, Minnesota.   CONTACT JENNIFER AND MICHAEL As you will hear on the podcast, Jennifer and Michael are great communicators. Feel free to communicate with them J Check out their great book here: rockandvossbooks.com Facebook: facebook.com/rockandvossbooks Twitter: @jenniferrock; @mvoss23 Email: voss@gmail.com Instagram: instagram.com/rockandvossbooks LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rockjennifer; www.linkedin.com/in/michael-voss Check out their communications practice here: rockdotvoss.com   DON’T FORGET YOUR TRAINING CREDITS! You can get professional development units (PDU) for the time you spent with us today. Come to our website at https://PMHappyHour.com , look for Episode 008 and follow the link to register, pay a couple bucks and take your quiz. Pass our easy quiz, and BOOM, you instantly get a certificate for your 0.75 PDU’s. Subscribe and you can get PDU’s all the time!   JOIN US FOR HAPPY HOUR! Come by and say “hey!” at our Facebook page https://facebook.com/pmhappyhour   STUMP THE PM’S! We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at podcast@pmhappyhour.com 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.

This week we talk about a tough subject – how to handle an outside senior stakeholder who wants to exert influence on your project. This can be very tough when that influence is contrary to decisions already agreed in the project by senior stakeholders, or if that influence is uninformed.   In this episode, Kate outlines a formula that she uses to effectively manage such requests. Following that 5 step formula results in the following response statement: Knowing that we wanted to achieve [project success definition] within [success criteria], we looked at [new random request from the stakeholder].  This would give us [positive thing about random request]. However, with [the impacts of the request],  it makes us [exceed constraint or missed objective].   For example: Knowing that we wanted to obliterate the rebellion By next Friday, We looked at Lord Vader’s request to implement a swimming pool on the Death Star. This would give us a great way to chill out once we rule the galaxy. However, since this would have to replace the Tie fighter bay and delay completion of the main reactor, It makes it impossible to destroy the rebellion by next Friday, and risks the rebel scum destroying the Death Star, since we would have no Tie fighter defense   Listen in to find out how you can effectively use this formula, whether or not you have a Death Star LISTENER MAIL In listener mail, we answer the question: If I want to break into the Project Management field, should I try to get a PM degree? Or try to get experience? DON’T FORGET TO GET YOUR PDU’s! Want professional development units for the time you spent with us today? Come to our website at https://PMHappyHour.com , look for Episode 007 and follow the link to register, pay a couple bucks and take your quiz. Pass our easy quiz, and you instantly get a cert for your 0.75 PDU’s! Subscribe and you can get PDU’s all the time! JOIN US FOR HAPPY HOUR! Come by and say “hey!” at our Facebook page https://facebook.com/pmhappyhour STUMP THE PM’S! We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at podcast@pmhappyhour.com 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.   *Death Star, Tie fighters and Darth Vader are all copyright of Star Wars, Disney and people who could sue us into oblivion. 

Join us for our new podcast, the Project Management Happy Hour! In our first 5 pilot episodes (plus this bonus!) , we are going to look at the first 5 questions you need to ask whenever starting a new project. If you haven’t listened to episodes 1-5, you might want to check those out first J Question 1 helped us define success for the project, Question 2 helped us understand scope and opportunity. Question 3 helped us understand budget and value, and question 4 helped us understand the schedule and what drives it. In question 5, we looked at how to understand where it can all go wrong, and how to avoid that. Now, in this bonus episode, we are going to talk about ways you can use these questions. We will also have some cool templates on our site you can use to better kickoff your project and communicate with your teams. DON’T FORGET TO GET YOUR PDU’s! Want professional development units for the time you spent with us today? Come to our website at https://PMHappyHour.com , look for Episode 006 and follow the link to register, pay a couple bucks and take your quiz. Pass our easy quiz, and you instantly get a cert for your 0.5 PDU’s! Subscribe and you can get PDU’s all the time! JOIN US FOR HAPPY HOUR! Come by and say “hey!” at our Facebook page https://facebook.com/pmhappyhour  STUMP THE PM’S! We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at podcast@pmhappyhour.com 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.

The hosts share engaging anecdotes while discussing essential questions for starting new projects. They dive into navigating project risks and emphasize the importance of transparency in building stakeholder trust. The conversation highlights user impact and the ramifications of miscommunication during project kickoffs. They also tackle specific challenges like meeting tight deadlines and managing supplier quality. The insights culminate in proactive risk management strategies to ensure project success.

Discover the essential questions for starting a project, with a spotlight on the critical role of scheduling. Uncover the difference between arbitrary and hard deadlines, and learn how to create realistic timelines with your team. Embrace the iterative nature of project management and the importance of adaptability. Explore effective communication strategies to convey timelines and manage dependencies successfully. Plus, get insights on backward planning to ensure you meet those hard deadlines!

Dive into essential questions for project success! Discover the importance of mastering project budgets and financial management. Learn strategies to navigate resource availability and handle approval delays effectively. Understand how to manage scope changes while maintaining relationships. Explore the role of contingencies and proactive communication in budget management. This engaging discussion equips you with practical insights for defining project success and fostering strong stakeholder connections.

Join us for the Project Management Happy Hour! In our first 5 pilot episodes, we are going to look at the first 5 questions you need to ask whenever starting a new project, whether you are: Kicking off a fresh new project Taking over an in-flight project Scoping out a new project opportunity Performing an assessment of a project that may be in trouble Communicating an overview of a project to team members or stakeholders If you haven’t listened to Episode 001, you might want to check that one out first J Question 1 in Episode 1 helped us define success for the project. With question 2, we’re going to dig down into what the project is about. As you’ll hear in the podcast, it is a LOT more than just “what are we here to do?”   DON’T FORGET TO GET YOUR PDU’s! Want professional development units for the time you spent with us today? Come to our website at https://PMHappyHour.com , look for Episode 001, and follow the link to register, pay a couple bucks and take your quiz. Pass our easy quiz, and you instantly get a cert for your 0.5 PDU’s! Subscribe and you can get PDU’s all the time! JOIN US FOR HAPPY HOUR! Come by and say “hey!” at our Facebook page https://facebook.com/pmhappyhour STUMP THE PM’S! We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at podcast@pmhappyhour.com 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.

Cheers! Join your hosts Kim Essendrup and Kate Anderson for our new podcast, the Project Management Happy Hour! In our first 5 pilot episodes, we are going to look at the first 5 questions you need to ask whenever starting a new project, whether you are: Kicking off a fresh new project Taking over an in-flight project Scoping out a new project opportunity Performing an assessment of a project that may be in trouble Communicating an overview of a project to team members or stakeholders   Question 1: When I sit down for the first time with project sponsors or key stakeholders, especially in kickoff meetings, I like to start with one, simple question… and that’s the topic of our first show   DON’T FORGET TO GET YOUR PDU’s! Want professional development units for the time you spent with us today? Come to our website at https://PMHappyHour.com , look for Episode 001, and follow the link to register, pay a couple bucks and take your quiz. Pass our easy quiz, and you instantly get a cert for your 0.5 PDU’s! Subscribe and you can get PDU’s all the time!   JOIN US FOR HAPPY HOUR! Come by and say “Cheers!” at our Facebook page https://facebook.com/pmhappyhour   STUMP THE PM’S! We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at podcast@pmhappyhour.com 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.