People and Projects Podcast: Project Management Podcast

Finger Tapping and Cookie Crumbs In this premium episode, I follow-up on some points from my interview with Paul Weber. You'll learn about: Elizabeth Newton's finger tapping experiment How cookies flushed out some bossy characteristics Click here to watch an interview with Bob Sutton that goes into the bossy issue more. Also, here's the HBR article with Bob. Thank you for joining me for this premium episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!   NO GOOD LAYABOUT by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Introducing Paul Weber, PMP We continue our In the Trenches series with this discussion with Paul Weber, PMP. Paul shares insights and lessons he's learned in his years of leading teams and delivering projects. To learn more about Paul and to contact him about the free EVM and PERT calculators mentioned in this episode, go to http://www.pmpguy44.com.   Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "Like" it and join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!   Bob Sutton on Power Poisoning Paul warned us to make sure we don't think of leadership as being the boss or being bossy. Here's one of my favorite authors talking about power poisoning, the effect that happens when someone gets power. {youtube}Mozejv4sE5o{/youtube} NO GOOD LAYABOUT by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Adapt. Deliver. Fast. If you are in the business of delivering projects, especially in the area of software development, you have certainly heard about agile project management. A good sign that the influence of agile continues to grow is when the Project Management Institute created the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner credential (PMI-ACP®) in 2012. If you are actively involved with agile in any of its many forms, it's worth learning more about the PMI-ACP certification. And if you're not currently utilizing agile practices, it's worth investing time to understand what it is and isn't.   Welcoming Back Cornelius Fichtner, PMP In this episode, I welcome back my friend and podcast colleague Cornelius Fichtner, whom you probably know as the voice of The Project Management Podcast. In this episode, I talk with Cornelius about agile, the PMI-ACP certification, and a new way to study for the PMI-ACP that might just fit your style of learning.   Try the Agile PrepCast™ If you want to study to pass the PMI-ACP exam, check out The Agile PrepCast. Cornelius and his team have been working for over a year to make this a critical resource in your preparation. Similar to his PM PrepCast offering, the learning is delivered via a podcast stream so you can watch or listen to it in a manner that is convenient for your work and lifestyle. For years I have been an affiliate of Cornelius' products and it is with great confidence that I recommend the Agile PrepCast to you.   Add Your Voice to Our Podcast! Are you a regular listener to The People and Projects Podcast? I'd love to have your voice added to the beginning or end of the cast. Just send me an e-mail saying "I'd love to help!" I would love to have the opportunity to talk with you directly so contact me today and we'll set up a time to record your piece.   Join our Facebook Page I invite you to stop by our podcast Facebook page! "Like" it and join the discussion. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!   A Little Agile Humor My favorite agilists tend to be people who don't take themselves too seriously. Enjoy! {youtube}ALWHCUNU8Nw{/youtube} FASTER DOES IT by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. "PMI" and "PMI-ACP" are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc.

What Does It Take To Motivate Your Team? One of the common concerns I hear from those who lead projects and teams has to do with motivation. What does it take? An inspirational speech (see the video below!)? Money? Time? All the above, depending on the person?   Motivating Project Teams In this episode I talk with Heidi Grant Halvorson and E. Tory Higgins.. They are the authors of a book just released this week entitled Focus: Use Different Ways of Seeing the World for Success and Influence. The underlying research behind the book finds we each tend to have a primary motivational focus or mindset: either promotion or prevention. You'll learn more about what these mean in this episode. I invite you to visit Heidi's website at at http://www.heidigranthalvorson.com/. You can take an assessment to learn your motivational style by visiting http://www.yourfocusdiagnostic.com.   Need Some Motivation Hey, you promotion-minded listener! Need a little pick-me-up that will speak right to your promotion-minded heart? Check it out! {youtube}d6wRkzCW5qI{/youtube} BIG BAND from April 1992, from The Music Bakery MILITARY PROCESSION from April 1992, from The Music Bakery GRATITUDE from the album PEACE & QUIET, from The Brain Store.

Can I Ask You a Favor? So let's say someone asks you for help. For a favor, let's say. What's your first reaction? Is it, "Sure! No problem! I'd love to help!" Perhaps most of us would like to think that's how we respond. Could your response vary, based on the situation? Let's modify the scenario. Let's say this person who is asking for help seems, in your mind, to have very little potential to help you in any meaningful way--now or in the future. Regardless of how you made that assessment, in economic terms, this favor would appear to have very little perceived return on investment. So, would you still help? Or would you scramble for an excuse to step away?   Welcoming back Dr. Adam Grant My guest in this episode is Dr. Adam Grant. We talk about his new book released just this week entitled Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success. In this episode you'll hear Adam talk about givers, takers, and matchers, three reciprocity styles that form the basis of the book. I invite you to visit the book's website at at http://www.giveandtake.com. You can take his self-assessment on that site to learn your preferred style. Also, Adam mentions work done by Alison Fragale at University of North Carolina. Here's a link to an article summarizing her work regarding powerless communication: http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/news/2010/07/the-power-of-powerless-speech Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!   Adam Grant on Success Here's a 5 minute clip of Adam summarizing the reciprocity styles. {youtube}CLsqiRPiKD0{/youtube} How can you avoid being a doormat? {youtube}zL8CsfJiKH4{/youtube} Magic of Fog by Rushus is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives (aka Music Sharing) License. The Giving and the Taking by Dolly Parton from the album Kenny & Dolly Additional music from Music Alley.

Introducing Kiron Bondale, PMP We continue our In the Trenches series of episodes, with this interview with Kiron Bondale, PMP. Kiron runs the Project Management Office at Agricorp. Make sure to check out Kiron's insightful blog at http://kbondale.wordpress.com. Kiron has graciously offered to share a risk register template with listeners of The People and Projects Podcast. Click the icon below to download the Microsoft Excel file:   20 PDUs for a Great Price! Whether you need contact hours for PMP®certification or PDUs, we can help! Our e-learning is engaging, informative, and even fun. Go to http://courses.i-leadonline.com/courses/advanced-project-management to get 20 PDU's for a great price.    Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!     FIREWORKS by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License.

So, how do you feel when each of the following occurs? You come across a typo in a project document. You receive an e-mail that is pages and pages long. Someone hits Reply All and there are hundreds of people on copy. You're stuck in a meeting listening to a presenter who has mastered every business cliche in the book! Yuck. We're living in a business climate where writing skills matter so much but get so little attention.   Tips for Better Business Writing Ever sit there in front of your monitor, your keyboard anxiously waiting for you to start typing your communication and you just feel stuck? Wouldn't it be great if there was a concise guide to improve your business writing? Thankfully, there is! My guest in this episode is Professor Bryan A. Garner. He is the author of over 20 books, including Garner's Modern American Usage, Black's Law Dictionary (editor-in-chief), and the grammar and usage chapter in the venerable The Chicago Manual of Style. Brian recently published The HBR Guide to Better Business Writing, published by Harvard Business Review Press. If you want to raise the bar and think outside the box to leverage best practices in business writing, well, um, just listen to this interview with Bryan! You can learn more about Bryan and his organization at http://www.lawprose.org. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!   Business Jargon Gone Wild It's so easy for me to succumb to bizspeak. In the spirit of mocking business jargon, here's a 2 minute video from some friends in the U.K.: {youtube}0MFUE0KgoEQ{/youtube} Sentimental-Fields 3 All Kinds Of Gibberish Sounds by The Superfools is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareALike License. Talk to Me by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License.

Lessons Learned... For Life Hopefully by now you have had the opportunity to listen to my interview with Karl Pillemer. I can honsestly say this is one of my favorite books in the last year so it's my pleasure to share some additional insights with you from the discussion with Karl. In this premium episode we'll discuss ideas such as: Who are your experts? How a profound awareness of short time horizon helps us make better choices The importance of work that is intrinsically motivating Why, unless there is a compelling reason not to, you should error on the side of saying "Yes" The importance of relationships and why emotional intelligence trumps expertise Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week! Total Duration 12:38 {mp3remoate}http://traffic.libsyn.com/peopleandprojectspodcast/90-PremiumFollowUpLifeLessons.mp3{/mp3remote} Download the premium episode

When it comes to the stuff of life, there is no shortage of people and resources who offer insights on how to be successful, get a job, have meaningful relationships, and more. The experts range from celebrities to academics to anyone with a blog. Our guest in this episode is Karl Pillemer, author of 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans. There are all kinds of reasons why Justin Bieber or other celebrities aren't the best sources for life lessons! But what if we talked to people who have lived much of their life and had a bit of a retrospective or lessons learned with them? That's the idea behind Karl's book, which we discuss in this episode. Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!   30 Lessons Trailer For more about Karl and his book, check out this trailer: {youtube}PRaboPigDyc{/youtube} QUADRILLE LAURIER (6EME PARTIE) by Isidore Soucy is licensed under a Orphan Work License. TROUBA by Steve Gunn is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License.

In The Trenches... Like You A month or so ago I was talking with listener Mike Settlemire. Mike was participating in our Advanced Project Management e-learning program and we were talking about the podcast. Mike had a suggestion: what about interviewing practitioners? People who are leading and delivering in the real world?   Insights from Your Peers, Not Authors Hey, I love bringing you discussions with people like John Kotter, Dan Pink, Kerry Patterson, Adam Grant, and the many other guests we have had thus far. And we will continue to deliver interviews from authors of books that can stretch and inform us to better lead and deliver. But I think Mike is exactly right! Some times it can be just as effective to hear from a peer. What does he or she do to help them lead and deliver? What has led to their success and what would they do over?   Introducing Ryan Endres Our first installment of our In the Trenches series is with Ryan Endres, PMP. In the interview, Ryan shares insights and lessons that have helped him successfully lead and deliver. During the discussion, Ryan mentions the following resources: Herding Cats blog pmStudent A Girl's Guide to Project Management Ryan's blog: Thoughts of a Project Manager In the interview, Ryan mentions a status report that he loves to use. Ryan was gracious enough to share it with us. Click the icon below to download the Microsoft Word file:   20 PDUs for a Great Price! Whether you need contact hours for PMP®certification or PDUs, we can help! Our e-learning is engaging, informative, and even fun. Go to http://courses.i-leadonline.com/courses/advanced-project-management to get 20 PDU's for a great price. If you need contact hours to prepare for your PMP, check our PMP®Prep e-learning at http://courses.i-leadonline.com/bundles/pm-certification-exam-prep.   Thank you for joining me for this episode of The People and Projects Podcast! Have a great week!   JARDINS DU LUXEMBOURG by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License.