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Manage This - The Project Management Podcast

Latest episodes

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Mar 6, 2023 • 36min

Episode 172 – Inheriting a Problem Project – Lessons from the Zoo 

The podcast by Project Managers for Project Managers. What do you do when you inherit a problem project? Hear about a stalled project that was threatening the accreditation of a popular city zoo. Our guest, Megan Young, inherited this project with no knowledge of the requirements, and with no plan or clear scope. Hear her advice on prioritizing, budget planning, addressing scope creep, negotiating tips, and team motivation. Table of Contents 02:41 … Greenville City Projects03:33 … Getting PMP Certified05:39 … Valuable Project Manager Skills07:20 … Addressing a Stalled Zoo Project10:31 … Tackling the Challenges12:36 … Building Trust with Stakeholders15:11 … How to Prioritize17:10 … Software Installation Projects19:27 … Kevin and Kyle20:42 … Budget Planning24:20 … Negotiating Tips26:32 … Addressing Scope Creep28:15 … Keeping the Team Motivated30:26 … Dealing with team Conflict32:40 … Megan’s Motivation33:45 … Contact Megan34:28 … Closing MEGAN YOUNG: You can learn a lot by just showing up onsite and having a conversation with somebody.  People will talk to you when they’re comfortable in their space. And a lot of times that means just going out and standing beside them.  I mean, when I was in the Parks Department, sometimes it meant helping somebody put a bench together.  And they would talk to you in that process and you’d kind of hear the good, the bad, and the ugly.  But a lot of times it was the most valid of the truth that you were hearing. WENDY GROUNDS:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  Thank you for joining us today.  My name is Wendy Grounds, and joining me in the studio is Bill Yates.  We want to take a moment to specially say thanks to our listeners who reach out to us and leave comments on our website or on social media.  We love hearing from you, and we always appreciate your positive ratings and reviews on whichever podcast listening app you use. Our guest today is Megan Young.  She currently serves as the Assistant Manager to the City Manager for the City of Greenville, South Carolina.  Prior to joining the City Manager’s Office, Megan was the Parks and Grounds Administrator for the City of Greenville.  Megan is a certified project management professional and certified park and recreation professional. During her time in the PRT department, Megan led the implementation of the Cityworks program as a work and asset management system.  She managed large and small-scale infrastructure projects and was integral in the successful reaccreditation of the Greenville Zoo in 2020.  And she’s going to tell us a bit about that project today. BILL YATES:  I’m excited about this.  We are going to talk about the zoo.  We’re going to talk about spider monkeys.  We’re going to talk about parks and recreation.  And I’ve got to go ahead and just let you know, too, this is near and dear to my heart because I went to Furman University, which is in Greenville, South Carolina.  Now, I graduated in 1980 [mumbling] something. WENDY GROUNDS:  It’s a while back, yeah. BILL YATES:  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  And Greenville at that time was just not cool.  It is super cool now.  And a lot of it is because of Megan and the team there at the City of Greenville and what they’ve done.  They’ve got an amazing Liberty Bridge and Falls Park area.  There’s the Swamp Rabbit Trail which my wife and I have actually ridden bikes on and walked along.  It’s just beautiful.  So Megan’s going to talk to us about a number of parks and different projects that they’ve done.  But this is, again, it’s special to me because she’s talking about an area that is a rich part of my history. WENDY GROUNDS:  Yeah, that’s really cool.  I’ve driven through Greenville.  I’ve never stopped there, but I think after this podcast I’m definitely going to take a stop next time I plan on driving through. BILL YATES:  Definitely. WENDY GROUNDS:  Hi, Megan.  Welcome to our podcast. MEGAN YOUNG:  Hi,
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Feb 17, 2023 • 0sec

Episode 171 – Raising the Palace Theater – The TSX Broadway Project

The podcast by project managers for project managers. Situated at the most heavily trafficked public space in the world, Times Square in New York is undergoing an extraordinary renovation and expansion project.  Hear how the iconic Palace Theatre was raised 30 feet to make room for commercial space below. The goal of this complex project was to preserve the historic theater box, which was built in 1913, and raise it to its new home on the third floor of TSX Broadway. Table of Contents 02:16 … Intro to the Project03:12 … Raising a Theater04:42 … The TSX Broadway Project06:56 … Seeing the Vision08:34 … Major Stakeholders10:24 … Retained Slab Project11:47 … Effective Collaboration14:26 … The Hydraulic Lifting18:58 … Project Timeline20:27 … Kevin and Kyle22:00 … Monitoring the Lift24:53 … A Coordinated Effort25:38 … Lessons Learned27:40 … Advice for Project Managers29:08 … Find out More30:39 … Closing ROBERT ISRAEL: But I think the most important thing that I have been successful at is planning.  If you’re a good project manager, you know how to plan.  And if you can think three steps ahead of where you need to be, you’re going to be a successful project manager.  WENDY GROUNDS:  Hello, and welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  Thank you for joining us.  I am Wendy Grounds, and in the studio with me is Bill Yates.  If you like what you hear, we’d love to hear from you.  You can leave us a comment on our website, Velociteach.com; on social media; or whichever podcast listening app you use.  If you have any questions about our podcasts or about project management certifications, we’d love to hear from you. Our guest today is Robert Israel.  He’s an executive vice president at L&L Holding Company.  Robert leads and directs all aspects of the TSX Broadway project development’s design and construction.  Previously, Robert was the cofounder of Solid Development Group.  He has also served as a project director for RFR Holding, and he has served in various management roles at CBRE.  But it’s his project that we are most excited to hear about.  And I’m going to let Bill tell you more about that. BILL YATES:  Oh, man.  We are so excited about this.  We are delighted to have Robert as our guest because he has been instrumental in this $2.5 billion TSX Broadway project.  And the piece that we want to focus on is the raising of the Palace Theatre.  So we’ll talk about all aspects of it, but especially this historic theater, it’s a 1,700-seat theater that was opened in 1913, and it was on the ground floor.  Well, Wendy, it’s not on the ground floor anymore.  This thing has been raised 30 feet.  We’re going to talk about how you do that in a very busy Times Square with a historic building and all of the complexity that went into that.  Robert was right in the middle of it.  He’s got some amazing tips and tricks and advice that he’ll share. WENDY GROUNDS:  And also it’s not just the raising of the theater, which is the main thing we talk about; but it’s all the other components that are going into this building in New York.  Hi, Robert.  Welcome to Manage This.  Thank you so much for talking with us today. ROBERT ISRAEL:  Thanks for having me.  Appreciate you guys inviting me on. Intro to the Project WENDY GROUNDS:  Yeah, we’re looking forward to hearing more about this project.  Just as an introduction, can you tell us a little bit about L&L Holding and how long you’ve been working for the company? ROBERT ISRAEL:  Sure.  I’ve been working at L&L Holding for just over five years.  I came onboard with L&L in 2017, just as we were sort of awarded the project, TSX Broadway.  And we spent two years in preconstruction, essentially, and started construction with TSX on the beginning of 2019.  But L&L overall, we own approximately 8 million square feet in New York City, mostly office/retail.  This is our first foray into the hospitality world, really.  And, you know,
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Feb 6, 2023 • 0sec

Episode 170 – Integrating Creative Problem Solving and Project Management

The podcast by project managers for project managers. The creative problem-solving process is far beyond simply generating ideas, and the project manager’s role is critical in the process. Dr. Amy Climer shares how to increase creativity to maximize innovation. Hear how to facilitate the clarify/ideate/develop stages of the creative problem-solving process to a successful implementation. Table of Contents 02:43 … Meet Amy04:00 … “I’m Not Creative!”05:29 … Practice Creativity06:42 … Strengthen Problem Solving Skills07:46 … Solving the Right Problem11:30 … Be Willing to Change Your Mind12:26 … Facing Resistance15:59 … Osborn-Parnes Creative Problem Solving Process17:38 … Creative Problem Solving and The PM22:05 … Kevin and Kyle23:25 … Divergent and Convergent Thinking27:49 … Initiating Ideas28:48 … Suspend Judgement29:30 … Seek Wild Ideas30:09 … Going For Quality31:51 … Convergent Thinking33:06 … Be Deliberate33:53 … Be Affirmative34:31 … Consider Novelty35:01 … Common Mistakes Made in the Process37:51 … Associations and Climer Cards41:27 … Get in Touch with Amy43:42 … Closing AMY CLIMER: ...an important skill of being more creative is being willing to change your mind.  And if you get so fixated on like this is the solution and you ignore all the data that might be coming in, or you don’t want to pay attention to this conversation, then you’re not open to this possibility.  So being open-minded to different perspectives, different solutions is a huge piece of being able to be more creative. WENDY GROUNDS:  Hello, and welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  My name is Wendy Grounds, and in the studio with me is Bill Yates Just a quick thanks to our listeners who reach out to us and leave comments on our website or on social media.  We always love hearing from you.  We know you’re also looking for opportunities to acquire PDUs, your Professional Development Units, towards recertifications.  And you can still claim PDUs for all our podcast episodes.  Listen up at the end of the show for information on how you can claim those PDUs. Our guest today is Dr. Amy Climer, and we’re very excited to talk with her.  She teaches teams and organizations how to increase their creativity so they can maximize innovation.  She works with organizations such as the Mayo Clinic, Stanford University, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  She has a Ph.D. in Leadership and Change from Antioch University, and she’s developed the Deliberate Creative Team Scale to help teams understand how to increase their creativity.  Amy lives in Asheville, North Carolina, and she’s also the host of The Deliberate Creative Podcast, and we recommend you check that one out.  She shares practical device and strategies to help leaders build innovative teams. BILL YATES:  Wendy, we are so excited to have Dr. Climer on this episode because I think all project managers are looking for a process, a set of steps to go through problem solving.  A creative problem-solving process is what she’s going to walk through with us.  Problems just occur.  They’re going to happen probably every day on our project.  We’ll have some really full risk register, and then one of those risks will occur, and we’ll look at our plan, and we’ll say, “Hey, we thought that was going to happen, and it happened.  We’ll start following that plan.”  And then the plan fails.  And we’re like, okay, all hands meeting.  The team has to get together.  We’ve got another problem to solve.  We need a process to go about that, and Amy’s got great advice for us.  I’m excited about this. WENDY GROUNDS:  Hi, Amy.  Welcome to Manage This.  Thank you for joining us. AMY CLIMER:  Thank you.  I’m very excited about our conversation. Meet Amy WENDY GROUNDS:  I know.  We’re looking forward to this.  This is a topic I’ve been wanting to talk about for some time.  So I’m glad we found you.  And I first want to find out how you got into this whole...
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Jan 16, 2023 • 38min

Episode 169 – Knowledge Management – A Key Discipline of Top-performing Teams

The podcast by project managers for project managers. Knowledge Management is a key practice for top-performing teams. We can improve our projects by tapping into, and managing, project knowledge. Join us to learn more about managing project knowledge, knowledge sharing, and nurturing knowledge within an organization. Table of Contents 01:56 … A Definition of Knowledge02:59 … Difference between Knowledge and Wisdom04:53 … Tacit Knowledge - “Knowhow” and “Know What”05:43 … The Purpose of Managing Knowledge06:20 … Managing Project Knowledge08:10 … Overcoming Resistance to Knowledge Bias09:52 … Projects Run on Knowledge11:03 … Measuring Business Value12:27 … Drink Tea14:59 … Face-to-Face Communication17:09 … Nurturing Knowledge in an Organization19:27 … Kevin and Kyle21:08 … Rewarding Knowledge Sharing22:55 … Building Organizational Trust25:04 … Developing Knowledge-Oriented Team Culture27:11 … Recognizing the Value of Knowledge29:06 … Building Successful Knowledge Projects32:42 … Effectively Harnessing Experience36:22 … Contact Larry36:57 … Closing LARRY PRUSAK: There’s a lot of ways to instill trust.  Trust your children.  Trust your community and things like that.  It really pays off.  I mean, it’s not so much being altruistic.  It pays off.  Things work better when you trust each other.  Speaking as a social scientist, it lowers the transaction costs.  You don’t have to always be looking over your shoulder or sniffing out things.  It lowers the cost.  Oh, yeah, I trust him.  He’ll do what he said, or she’ll do what she said. WENDY GROUNDS:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  I’m Wendy Grounds, and here in the studio with me is Bill Yates. So we want to take a moment to say thank you to our listeners who reach out to us and leave comments on our website or on social media.  We love hearing from you, and we always appreciate your positive ratings and reviews on whichever podcast listening app you use. Today we’re talking about a topic we’ve not addressed before, and we’re very excited to dig into it.  Our guest is Laurence Prusak, and Larry has been studying knowledge and learning for the past 30 years.  He has been a consultant in these areas for Mercer and a co-founder for Ernst & Young Center for Business Value.  He’s the founder and director of the IBM Institute for Knowledge Management and co-founder of the Babson College Working Knowledge Research Program.  He’s been a senior consultant for NASA, as well as teaching in over 40 universities.  He has also recently taught at Columbia University’s program on information and knowledge, and he has co-authored 11 books. BILL YATES:  Wendy, we got this recommendation from Stephen Townsend to reach out to Larry and talk with him.  One of the books that Larry recently worked on is called “The Smart Mission:  NASA’s Lessons for Managing Knowledge, People, and Projects.”  So as we get into this topic, I think project managers will appreciate the depth of Larry’s knowledge on knowledge management. WENDY GROUNDS:  Hi, Larry.  Welcome to Manage This.  Thank you so much for being our guest today. LARRY PRUSAK:  You’re welcome. A Definition of Knowledge  WENDY GROUNDS:  So we’re going to be talking knowledge management, which is a new topic for us on our podcast.  And we’re very excited that we have you with us.  Before we begin, could you give us your definition of knowledge? LARRY PRUSAK:  It’s what a knowledgeable person knows.  Think about, if you go to a dentist, a dentist knows how to fix your teeth.  If he wasn’t knowledgeable, you wouldn’t be going to him.  We’re talking about working knowledge, the knowledge that allows people to do things.  There’s other sorts of knowledge.  There’s religious knowledge, aesthetic knowledge, all sorts of things.  But we’re talking about the knowledge that allows you to do something, and do it well.  Information is not knowledge.  Knowledge isn’t data.
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Jan 3, 2023 • 30min

Episode 168 –  Manage This Moments – Celebrating Milestones

Manage This first hit the airwaves January 2016. In this episode, we celebrate seven years with over one Million listens! And we are so grateful to have you, our listeners, with us for the adventure. We have talked to many project managers and subject matter experts in our endeavor to bring you top-notch advice and encouragement as you navigate your projects.
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Dec 19, 2022 • 0sec

Episode 167 – How To Manage Several Projects at Once

The podcast by project managers for project managers. Hear practical advice from Elizabeth Harrin on how to more effectively manage a significant project workload, and how to manage several projects at once. This episode is about saving time and working smarter! Table of Contents 02:07 … Meet Elizabeth03:44 … Inspiration for the Book06:56 … A Multi-Project Environment07:41 … Scheduling Challenges08:44 … Simplifying Scheduling10:55 … Managing Dependencies12:10 … Engaging Stakeholders13:46 … Sushi, Spaghetti, and Side Dish Workloads15:13 … 5 Major Concepts15:52 … Portfolio 18:39 … Planning19:32 … Kevin and Kyle21:03 … People Management23:39 … Time Limitations with Senior Execs25:45 … Better Connections27:01 … Productivity28:07 … Overcoming Procrastination28:57 … RAID31:31 … Positioning33:44 … The Five Email Rule34:44 … The Future of Project Management36:16 … Contact Elizabeth37:04 … Closing ELIZABETH HARRIN: ...And if we have organizations that support us, and the culture is there to understand the capacity for change, then we can fly.  We can do the things that our companies, our organizations need us to do because we do have the right skills to do it.  The challenge, the flipside of that is often we’re asked to do that without the resources, funding, and time to make it possible. WENDY GROUNDS:  Hi, and welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  Thank you for joining us.  My name is Wendy Grounds, and in the studio with me is Bill Yates.  If you like what you hear, we’d love to hear from you.  You can leave us a comment on our website, Velociteach.com; on social media; whichever podcast-listening app you use.  If you have questions about our podcasts or about project management certifications, we’re always here for you. Today we’re talking to someone we’ve spoken to before, and she’s well known in the circles of project management.  This is Elizabeth Harrin.  She’s an author, speaker, and a mentor who helps people manage projects.  She has lots of straight-talking, real-world advice.  Elizabeth is an APM fellow and the author of seven books, and she’s on a mission to make sure you can deliver better quality projects with more confidence and less stress. BILL YATES:  In this episode we’re going to talk about Elizabeth’s latest book.  It’s called “Managing Multiple Projects.”  In that book she offers advice on ways you can more effectively manage your project workload.  If you’re like me, you typically had more than one project that you were managing at a time.  Elizabeth tackles that.  She gives great advice.  Every chapter ends with key takeaways and action steps.  Another thing I really appreciate about her writing style is she invites a lot of practitioners, project managers to give advice, share tips, share struggles.  You’ll see those interwoven throughout each chapter.  Great book, great resource.  I’m excited to talk with Elizabeth about it today. WENDY GROUNDS:  Elizabeth, it’s so good to have you back, virtually.  And welcome to Manage This. ELIZABETH HARRIN:  Thank you.  Thanks for having me back.  It’s great to be here talking to you today. Meet Elizabeth WENDY GROUNDS:  So I’ve read your book, and it is excellent, very helpful resource.  And I was also looking back at when we last talked to you, and it was sometime I think in 2018.  And I wasn’t even on the podcast yet.  I think it was right before I joined Manage This.  So it’s been a while.  What have you been up to in the last four years? ELIZABETH HARRIN:  That was quite a long time ago; wasn’t it.  So what I’ve been doing since then, well, I was leading projects until the autumn of 2019, so just before we went into the pandemic.  In the worst of the pandemic I stopped working in a corporate project management role, and I took a couple of years away from that to spend some time writing, including that book; teaching, mentoring, that kind of thing, doing some freelance work.
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Dec 5, 2022 • 0sec

Episode 166 – Reduce Cybersecurity Risk for your Projects

The goal of cybersecurity is to protect the data and integrity of your computing from malicious digital attacks. The challenge for a project manager is to implement effective cybersecurity measures to secure yourself, your team, your clients, and your projects as attackers become more innovative. Our guest is Andy Sauer a cybersecurity leader who helps organizations build cybersecurity maturity. Table of Contents 01:47 … Meet Andy02:29 … Raising Awareness of Cybersecurity for PMs03:34 … A Case Study06:55 … Lessons Learned from a Cyber Attack09:23 … “Least Privilege Necessary” Model10:48 … Lack of Multifactor Authentication11:39 … Staying Ahead of Attackers13:35 … 10 Steps to Better Cybersecurity13:42 … Training for Phishing15:25 … Multifactor Authentication16:14 … Least Privilege Necessary17:34 … Apply Patches to Systems and Applications18:40 … Delete Old Accounts19:53 … Kevin & Kyle21:13 … Adopt Cloud Services22:15 … Building an Incident Response Plan25:16 … Establish Hardened System Baselines26:13 … Keep Your Backups Air Gapped27:21 … Store Security Logs and Watch for Unusual Behavior.30:18 … Security is Your Responsibility31:09 … External Cybersecurity32:25 … Concerning Emerging Technologies34:31 … Evolving Cybersecurity Threats36:32 … Get in Touch with Andy37:38 … Closing ANDY SAUER: ...it’s very easy to look at cybersecurity concerns and think, that is not my problem.  We have a security team.  We have an IT team.  But I promise you when the compromise happens, the folks in the IT and cybersecurity teams are often focused on the technical and getting the systems back up.  They’re not particularly concerned about your specific project and your workload. You have to take that responsibility. WENDY GROUNDS:  Hello, and welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  Thank you for joining us today.  My name is Wendy Grounds, and joining me is Bill Yates.  If you like what you hear, we’d love to hear from you.  You can leave us a comment on our website Velociteach.com, on social media, or whichever podcast listening app you use. Today our guest is Andy Sauer.  Andy’s a cybersecurity leader who helps organizations build cybersecurity maturity.  Now, this was someone that Bill had been in touch with. BILL YATES:  Yeah.  This is how I came across Andy.  I heard him speaking to a group of CEOs.  And what struck me was, okay, not only does he know cybersecurity, but he’s having an impact on this group.  I watched the CEOs taking notes, and some were texting.  It was funny, they were apologizing to Andy after his presentation.  “Hey, I wasn’t ignoring you.  You said something that struck me, so I was texting members of our team to see if we had done that yet.”  You know, I felt like, okay, for project managers, this is something we need to hear.  It’s something we need to be reminded of and raise our awareness.  So Andy’s going to be a great resource for that. WENDY GROUNDS:  We talked to Don Hunt before on cybersecurity, and that was a few years ago. BILL YATES:  Yes, yeah. WENDY GROUNDS:  So I think it’s good that we retouch the topic again. BILL YATES:  Right. WENDY GROUNDS:  Hi, Andy.  Welcome to Manage This.  Thanks for joining us. ANDY SAUER:  Hey, there.  Thanks for having me on. Meet Andy WENDY GROUNDS:  So tell us a little bit about your background in cybersecurity before we get into talking about this topic.  And something about your role at Sentinel Blue. ANDY SAUER:  Sure.  I’m the CISO, the Chief Information Security Officer, for a small company called Sentinel Blue.  I’ve been in IT and cybersecurity for about 13 years, with the last five years really being focused in on cybersecurity, rather than IT.  Sentinel Blue is a cybersecurity services firm that works with small and medium-sized businesses, particular in the U.S. defense industry.  And our main focus is really on building cybersecurity maturity for those businesses.
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Nov 14, 2022 • 0sec

Episode 165 – CIRT: An Environmental Project to Reduce Waste

The podcast by project managers for project managers. This episode we share an environmental project story about CIRT, a startup company working on a solution to share recycling information to reduce waste. Kat Shayne and her team built a database to answer your recycling questions. Hear about the complex challenges encountered on this project. Table of Contents 01:37 … Meet Kat04:37 … The Origin of CIRT08:17 … Accessing CIRT08:55 … Building a Database11:19 … What is GiGi?12:42 … Identifying What Can be Recycled13:59 … Keeping the Data Current15:40 … Skills or Passion?17:51 … Satisfying Stakeholders20:00 … Tackling Obstacles22:44 … Lessons Learned Building CIRT24:48 … Measuring the Impact of CIRT26:14 … I Wish I had Known!27:53 … Advice to Project Managers29:49 … Get in Touch with Kat31:12 … Closing Kat Shayne: ...making sure that the people that are in place are doing the things that are their strengths, and providing access to resources and tools that help them work on their weaknesses. WENDY GROUNDS:  Hello, and welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  Thank you for joining us today.  My name is Wendy Grounds, and with me in the studio is Bill Yates.  We like to bring you stories about projects.  And today we are bringing you a story about Katherine Shayne.  She worked in environmental sustainability focused on global materials management and marine plastic litter for the Jambeck Research Group and UGA New Materials Institute.  Kat has a passion for bridging science and technology with business and mitigation strategies in communities especially in terms of waste management and new materials. BILL YATES:  Wendy, have you ever been holding something in your hand, or you’re about to throw it in the trash, and you’re like, wait a minute, maybe I could recycle this. WENDY GROUNDS:  Yes, yes, many a time. BILL YATES:  So this is the question.  This is the problem that Kat and her team have been addressing.  At the University of Georgia Kat is the co-founder and president of Can I Recycle This.  It’s a startup company which is working on a solution to help people, people like me and you, governments, and businesses figure out what products or packaging are locally recyclable and how to get them to where they need to go. WENDY GROUNDS:  Hi, Kat.  It’s great to have you on the podcast.  Thank you for joining us today. KAT SHAYNE:  Thanks for having me.  I’m really excited to be here. Meet Kat WENDY GROUNDS:  I want to hear a little bit about your background before we start.  You have a master’s degree in environmental engineering from the University of Georgia. BILL YATES:  Go Dawgs. WENDY GROUNDS:  Yeah. KAT SHAYNE:  Go Dawgs. WENDY GROUNDS:  What sparked your interest in environmental sustainability?  How did it all begin? KAT SHAYNE:  Actually, I did not plan on becoming an engineer at all.  I was an English major when I started at UGA.  And I was going pre-law because I’d already looked up one of the highest-passing degrees for the LSAT was English.  So I started off in English.  I was really passionate about writing.  And I had a class that was an elective science class.  It was with Dr. Knox.  He’s a climatologist at UGA.  And he had me in his class, and he asked me to come in for office hours one day.  He was like, what is your major?  And I told him I wanted to do pre-law. I really had a passion for policy and law. And he says, “Well, you really have a knack for this,” because it was a climate course.  He said, you know, “Have you explored engineering, applied sciences?”  I said, “No, I didn’t even know UGA had engineering.”    So I went and checked it out, and at the same time I was trying to find a little bit more purpose in my degree, you know, what kind of law did I want to go into if I was going to do that. Because my significant other at the time had been diagnosed with cancer.  And he was 20, and he had colon cancer.
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Oct 31, 2022 • 0sec

Episode 164 – Negotiation and Persuasion- Strategies to Success

The podcast by project managers for project managers. Two important interpersonal skills for project professionals to sharpen are negotiation and persuasion. Before you embark on your next stakeholder negotiation or try persuade an unyielding team member, take a listen to Carlene Szostak as she talks about successful negotiation and persuasion. Table of Contents 01:45 … Meet Carlene02:38 … Types of Project Negotiations03:40 … The Traits of a Good Negotiator04:38 … Preparing for the Negotiation Process05:45 … Finding the Why07:29 … Listen Well10:26 … Enhance Your Negotiating Power12:43 … Dealing with Unethical Tactics14:59 … Reading Body Language16:12 … Negotiating for a Project Extension17:02 … Traps to Avoid in Negotiations18:48 … When Negotiation Stalls21:57 … Kevin and Kyle23:13 … Factors for Successful Persuasion24:40 … The Right Mindset for Persuasion26:37 … Dealing with a Confrontational Person28:46 … Persuasion vs. Manipulation30:46 … Tips to Persuade an Owner or Stakeholder32:31 … Challenges Facing PMs Today34:01 … Contact Carlene34:30 … Closing CARLENE SZOSTAK: ... Well, with technology and with the ability to reach people regardless of where they are in the organization, those walls have come down.  And people that are in the position of power want to hear from the people closest to the projects.  So therefore the permission has been granted.  All we have to do is step into it. WENDY GROUNDS:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  My name is Wendy Grounds, and with me in the studio is Bill Yates.  And we’re so glad you joined us today.  If you like what you hear, we’d love to hear from you.  You can leave us a comment on our website, Velociteach.com; on social media; or whichever podcast listening app you use. Our guest today is Carlene Szostak.  She’s a business leader, she’s a consultant, author, and an educator.  She’s an established senior leader with a broad range of experience managing people, process, and technology.  So we’re going to talk about negotiation and persuasion. BILL YATES:  You know, Wendy, one of the things that we’re talking about is the importance of getting to know the other person that we’re negotiating with.  And one of the books that I’ve read on negotiation is by Chris Voss.  It’s “Never Split the Difference.”  In that he offers some questions that I think are helpful for me when I’m thinking about a negotiation, and what does the person on the other side of the table want?  Here are some of these questions.  This is just food for thought. “What about this is important to you?  How can I help to make this better for us?  How would you like for me to proceed?  What is it that brought us into this situation?  How can we solve this problem?  How am I supposed to do that, that thing that you’ve asking?”  These are just some questions that are food for thought for those that are trying to get in the mindset of that person on the other side of the table. Meet Carlene WENDY GROUNDS:  Carlene, welcome to Manage This. CARLENE SZOSTAK:  Thank you so much for having me. WENDY GROUNDS:  Won’t you tell us how you got into project management? CARLENE SZOSTAK:  So my career started with the NFL.  Again, that had nothing to do with project management, but that experience segued me into working for a Fortune 50 company that had multiple moving parts.  And our senior leadership did not believe in project managers.  We hired the team, the team did the work, and that’s it.  And one very excited and future-looking leader on the C Suite came in and said, “Well, why don’t we just test the model?”  I had the opportunity in my region to actually get a project manager to work for me, and they opened our eyes on the things that we didn’t even consider we had to do or think about.  And ever since then I have been passionate about making sure that organizations have project management influence in anything that’s touched that makes a diffe...
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Oct 17, 2022 • 45min

Episode 163 – Supporting Neurodiversity on Project Teams

As a project professional, are you creating an inclusive, high-performing team that builds on each individual’s strengths? Hiren Shukla, the founder of Neuro-Diverse Centers of Excellence at Ernst & Young Global, talks to us about how to support neurodiversity on project team. Hiren shares the remarkable impact of this innovation at EY as they are tapping into the significant skills of the neurodiverse community.

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