
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!
Latest episodes

Nov 22, 2018 • 44min
041 - Witness me! Justifying Project Management
Have you ever had to justify the value of Project Management in your organization? Doh! So do we. Listen in as we share our best responses to, “is PM really needed?” You don’t have to justify the existence of the Finance team. Or Sales & Marketing. Or Executive Management. So why do we have to justify the existence of Project Management? This week we explore this question and share some of our favorite responses to help educate our stakeholders and show the value of what we do. 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 Facebook at facebook.com/pmhapyhour 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.

Nov 12, 2018 • 48min
040 - I’m a WHAT?! What’s the point of personality assessments?
Many companies employ personality assessments to help their team members understand their strengths or communication styles. Are these a waste of time? Or do they have value we can leverage as PMs? Today we are joined by Fai Mo, long time project manager and manager of project managers. Fai will share his experience in leveraging one type of assessment, Strengthfinders, and how he helps his team leverage this tool to improve their management skills. ABOUT OUR AMAZING GUEST, FAI MO Fai Mo is an accomplished project management and technology leader with a background in business and technology consulting. Additionally, Fai has led teams and programs in several industries including financial services, utilities and education. Fai loves to grow and develop project managers using various techniques including the one in today’s podcast. You can find Fai’s professional profile on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/fai-mo 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 Facebook at facebook.com/pmhapyhour 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.

Nov 5, 2018 • 51min
039 - Burning Questions: A Trick or treat bag of listener mail
As we gorge on our kid’s leftover Halloween candy, we answer a number of Listener questions left on our Facebook and Linkedin pages. What are some good ways to describe PM-ish duties on a resume/CV? What are some tips on holding someone accountable? How do you create a timeline for a project with a new technology you don’t know about? When and how do you call out a team member who is not doing their job? What are some tips on working with an external IT vendor PM? And more! Got your own questions you wish we’d covered? It’s not too late! Hit us up on facebook at /pmhappyhour today 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 Facebook at facebook.com/pmhapyhour 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.

Oct 28, 2018 • 44min
038 - Charter? Huh! What is it good for? (absolutely every project)
“What are we even doing in this project?” If you’ve ever asked yourself (or been asked) this question, go back to your Project Charter right now! The Project Charter is a keystone project artifact, authorizing the very existing and base assumptions and structure of your project. It can be called many things - a statement of work, a project initiation document - but whatever, if you don’t have some kind of document that authorizes your project, you may be in trouble! In this episode we talk about charters, what they are, what should be in them - and what doesn’t need to be in there. MEMBER ONLY BONUS CONTENT - DOWNLOAD ONE OF OUR CHARTER TEMPLATES! Members can log in and go to https://pmhappyhour.com/resources/ to download our Project Charter templates! We have a long format and a short format template. The long format comes with instructions and example text to get you started. MEMBER ONLY BONUS CONTENT II - EXTENDED WALK-THROUGH The course for this podcast includes a special 20+ minute extended walk-through of our charter templates to make sure you get your charter off on the right foot. 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 Facebook at facebook.com/pmhapyhour 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.

Oct 21, 2018 • 44min
037 - Transform from Project Manager to Project Leader - with Naomi Caietti
This episode we are joined at Happy Hour by prominent PM thought leader, Naomi Caetti. We chat with Naomi about what it takes to transition from being “just” a Project Manager to a Leader - both for your project and your organization. Check out this episode to learn how to take your game to the next level! OUR AMAZING GUEST NAOMI CAIETTI Naomi Caietti is an award-winning business woman, widely respected global virtual thought leader in the project management community for over 25 years, and an honoree of the 2017 #CelebratingWomen Project from Dr. Kirstin Ferguson. In 2014, Naomi founded her consulting company to meet virtual on demand business needs as a speaker, author and consultant. Naomi has been featured in national and international media//publications including the Project Management Institute, ProjectManagement.com, Workfront.com, Employee Engagement Network, Professional Woman Network, IT Metrics and Productivity Institute and ProjectManager.com. You can find out more about her new book “Transform Your Leadership” at www.naomicaietti.com, connect with her on Linkedin and follow her on twitter at @califgirl232. Leadership Webinar: Naomi’s webinar, “The Self Aware PM,” packed with latest info for PMs who wish to “Transform from a PM to a Project Leader.” https://www.projectmanagement.com/videos/396995/PMXPO-2017--The-Self-Aware-Project-Manager Virtual Leadership Articles by Naomi: https://www.projectmanagement.com/articles/371618/Virtual-Team-Strategies https://www.projectmanagement.com/articles/408168/Virtual-Leadership https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/takes-virtual-pm Press Release for Naomi’s Podcast Book Tour https://www.naomicaietti.com/uploads/1/3/8/4/13846026/press_release_for_transform_your_leadership_2018.pdf 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 Facebook at facebook.com/pmhapyhour 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.

Oct 11, 2018 • 46min
036 - PMO - What is it really? And how do I run one?
This episode, we get the great opportunity to speak with Hussain Bandukwala, PMO Coach and founder of the PMO Virtual Summit this October. Hussain helps us understand what a PMO really is (and should be), then shares some great insights into the career path of someone who wants to be a PMO leader. Some great tools Hussain shared are linked here: Article about co-existence of product & project management for startups: https://www.parwaazcc.com/5-reasons-why-project-management-is-a-no-brainer-for-your-rapidly-growing-startup/ Introspection Attribute Analysis (direct file download) https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&id=165cCFwnYRGB3TJIQ07_PCAAUcu0ZbXKs CHECK OUT THE PMO VIRTUAL SUMMIT Check out the PMO Virtual Summit October 16 - 18 - Hussain will have some amazing guests! Click HERE to check out the PMO Virtual Summit! OUR AMAZING GUEST HUSSAIN BANDUKWALA Hussain Bandukwala is the Chief Coach at Parwaaz Consulting (https://www.parwaazcc.com/) and helps PMO leaders succeed. Through coaching, workshops and other resources, Hussain arms aspiring and first-time Project Management Office (PMO) leaders with experiential learning and confidence to achieve PMO triumph systematically and effectively. He also works with PMO leaders and executives at high-growth small- and mid-sized organizations to conquer their biggest challenges in meeting strategic goals, achieving operational efficiency, and delivering project value. Hussain has led and facilitated the setup of PMOs at several companies and advised numerous PMO leaders throughout their own PMO setup journeys. He has authored several PMO-focused publications, teaches at LinkedIn Learning and speaks frequently on the subject. 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 Facebook at facebook.com/pmhapyhour 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.

Oct 7, 2018 • 7min
PM Happy Hour Membership - Helping new PMs "How to PM"
Whether you are an "accidental" Project Manager or eager to get into the field, the PM Happy Hour membership can help you with your "How to PM" questions! We focus on practical advice and tips and make it easy (maybe even fun) to listen to! Promo warning - This episode we share a bit about our PM Happy Hour Membership! What the heck are you waiting for?! Join the Project Management Happy Hour Membership and be part of the community! If you join by October 9, you can still get in on the launch membership special, and lock the price in for life at $4.99/month or $49.99/year. Check us out at pmhappyhour.com/membership

Oct 5, 2018 • 6min
PM Happy Hour Membership - Painless, easy PDU's!
Project Management Happy Hour means Painless PDUs and dare we say, "FUN!" PDUs! Check out this video podcast to find out more. Promo warning - This episode we share a bit about our PM Happy Hour Membership! What the heck are you waiting for?! Join the Project Management Happy Hour Membership and be part of the community! If you join by October 9, you can still get in on the launch membership special, and lock the price in for life at $4.99/month or $49.99/year. Check us out at pmhappyhour.com/membership

Oct 2, 2018 • 37min
035 - Kickass Martial Arts Lessons for Project Managers
This episode, Kim shares some lessons from his time studying martial arts studies with some amazing instructors that apply to Project Management! And no, they do not include giving that troublesome stakeholder a spin-kick to the head :-) But they do include lessons on how to assert yourself, how to focus on the important things in the moment and how to approach mentorship. Join the journey from white belt to kickass PM black belt! From the Filipino stick fighting art of Balintawak Eskrima to American Kenpo, we talk through just a couple of life lessons you can apply to your projects. And maybe also to troublesome stakeholders. Ha! This episode is humbly dedicated to the three great martial artists and amazing people that inspired it with their teaching and mentorship - Manong Sam Buot Mr. Scott Gonzalez Coach Richard Cotterill 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 Facebook at facebook.com/pmhapyhour 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.

Sep 24, 2018 • 44min
034 - PM Superhero Smackdown! Kate and Kim share lessons from their favorite movie PMs
This episode, Kate and Kim talk about their favorite Project Managers from the big screen and small screen - and what lessons we can take away from them. From big-screen capers to everybody’s favorite movie PM (who is “here to put you BACK on schedule, commander"... because the sponsor is not as forgiving as he is… :-) ) Laughs aside, media are a big part of everyone’s lives, and these characters and plots are part of our culture - as should be project management. So, get some popcorn, listen to OUR pics for best movie PMs, then join the conversation on our website or FB - tell us which PMs we missed! And which movie project sponsor you are SO GLAD you don’t have. 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 Facebook at facebook.com/pmhapyhour 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.
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