Manage This - The Project Management Podcast

If you’re recruiting new hires for your team, or if you’re in the market for new opportunities, listen in for Cate Murray’s well qualified advice. Hear recommendations on current job market trends, tips on how to attract and retain top talent, as well as how to attract interest from possible employers, optimizing your resume, and developing a network engagement plan.

The story of a remarkable project to construct the tallest elevator test tower in the Western Hemisphere. Ben Norton explains the innovative slipform construction process which was employed to ensure the accelerated pace of the tower construction. Hear about how this project team overcame multiple obstacles and challenges to achieve project success. Table of Contents 01:21 … Meet Ben02:48 … Project Vision and Purpose04:03 … The Battery in Atlanta05:38 … A Unique Construction Project06:27 … TK Elevator Headquarters08:22 … First Thoughts about the Job09:02 … Slipform Construction Process12:45 … Speed of Construction14:00 … Project Timeline15:24 … Scope, Time, and Cost16:34 … Challenges on the Project18:28 … Slipform and Steel Challenges19:30 … Weather Challenges20:51 … Pandemic Challenges24:46 … Biggest Surprises on the Project27:05 … In Retrospect29:50 … Social Connectivity30:46 … Advice for Project Managers32:16 … Get in Touch with Ben32:54 … Closing BEN NORTON: ...anybody getting into their career should just be ambitious and have a drive to learn as much as you can.  Always have humility and eagerness to learn and hunger to learn, but also be gracious and always a positive attitude, always respect their team.  WENDY GROUNDS:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  And we’re so glad you joined us today.  We have a really cool story to tell you.  I am Wendy Grounds, and in the studio with me is Bill Yates.  So today we’re going to be talking about the tallest elevator test tower in the Western hemisphere.  This is TK Elevator’s new North American headquarters at The Battery in Atlanta.  It’s a 420-foot-tall Innovation and Qualification Center.  This three-building headquarters complex which includes the tower will eventually be occupied by more than 900 employees.  And I’ve driven by this tower, and it is phenomenal.  It’s really big. BILL YATES:  Yeah, it’s so exciting.  You could see it going up.  And for those who are not familiar with TK Elevator, this company is one of the four largest elevator companies in the world.  They have 50,000 employees globally.  They do 8 billion in annual sales.  That’s euro.  So it’s a large company.  We’re delighted to discuss that with Ben today. Meet Ben WENDY GROUNDS:  Ben Norton is the Vice President and Division Manager for Brasfield & Gorrie, which is the general contractor for this construction project.  Ben, welcome to Manage This.  We’re excited to have you in the studio today. BEN NORTON:  Thank you for having me. WENDY GROUNDS:  First of all I wanted to find out, how long have you been with Brasfield & Gorrie?  And just tell us some of the projects that you’ve worked on. BEN NORTON:  Sure.  So this January will make 20 years with Brasfield & Gorrie.  It’s gone by very fast.  Some of the projects that I’ve worked on:  the Georgia Aquarium, most recently completed the Predator exhibit, and the Sea Lion exhibit that was completed about five years ago.  The Emory Health Science Research Building.  Also Marriott and a SpringHill Suites down at the GICC, convention center down by the airport.  St. George Village in Roswell is a large retirement facility.  A lot of work at Agnes Scott through the years, and University of Georgia.  And also recently wrapped up Passion City Church.  So a lot of different market sectors there to talk about. WENDY GROUNDS:  Yeah, yeah. BILL YATES:  Now, you mentioned University of Georgia.  But you actually went to Clemson University; is that correct? BEN NORTON:  That’s correct. BILL YATES:  Do you care for their football team, or you don’t really follow them?  They’re not very good; right? BEN NORTON:  Clemson’s or Georgia’s? BILL YATES:  Well played.  Yup.  All right.  We could dedicate a whole podcast just to college football and rivalries.  WENDY GROUNDS:  Yeah, yeah, but I’m going to move you along. BILL YATES:  Okay.

The podcast by project managers for project managers. Do you want to learn about the PMP Exam changes? Louis Alderman and Bill Yates discuss the 2021 PMP Exam created by the Project Management Institute (PMI). We also hear from Samuel Mills, PMP, who recently passed the PMP Exam. He shares his exam experience with us. Table of Contents 02:58 … Why Change the PMP Exam?04:23 … The ECO and the PMP Exam Changes06:18 … What’s in the ECO?08:27 … ECO Content: 35 Tasks11:41 … Predictive, Agile, Hybrid13:36 … Why is Agile Added to the PMP Exam?15:29 … PMP Exam Specifics19:54 … Are There Many Calculations?20:47 … Pass/Fail and Format of the PMP Exam23:59 … “Immediate” Exam Feedback26:24 … The 7th Edition of the PMBOK Guide27:05 … Velociteach Approach to the PMP Exam Changes32:26 … Not Our First Rodeo33:35 … PMP Examinee: Samuel Mills34:15 … Online or Test Center36:00 … Application Process36:14 … Managing Time38:04 … Best Prep Tools and Practice Tests40:32 … Advice for Test Takers42:39 … Advice from Louis and Bill44:13 … Closing SAMUEL MILLS: ...and I found time to study. I would take my lunch break, and I would pop up my book, and then I would just go through the material and just practice that, and that was my lunch.  You know, I would eat and study, eat and study.  And just taking it a step forward got me to where I was ready for the exam.  And even when I was taking the exam, I was like, oh, you know, I’m not sure.  But I was able to pass.  If you’re struggling for time, you can find time.  You’ve just got to be creative with where you’re going to get that time. WENDY GROUNDS:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  We want to say thank you to our listeners who reach out to us and leave comments on our website and on social media.  We love hearing from you, and we always appreciate your positive ratings on Apple Podcasts or whichever podcast listening app you use.  You can also leave us a comment on our website, Velociteach.com.  We know you’re looking for opportunities to acquire 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 to claim your PDUs. We’re doing something a little different today.  We’re actually going to be talking about the PMP exam, and we’re going to be talking a little bit about Velociteach and our approach to this exam. BILL YATES:  Yeah.  The exam changed January 2nd, 2021.  We’ve got several months under our belt now.  We made a lot of updates prior to that exam change.  And we’ve been able to see how well our updates are working.  Primarily, are our students passing? WENDY GROUNDS:  Right.  We’re going to hear from a student, as well.  We have a student who has recently passed the exam.  He’s going to be giving us a little bit of insight into his exam process. BILL YATES:  For our listeners who are thinking about pursuing the PMP, this is a great episode for them.  They’re going to learn a lot about the current exam, and really looking deeply into it so they’ll know what to study, what kind of content to expect.  And then for those who have already earned their PMP, but are curious about changes to the PMP exam or to the certification itself, this will be interesting, as well. WENDY GROUNDS:  Yeah.  And we want to give a big welcome to Louis.  Louis Alderman manages the instructional design process at Velociteach.  He’s responsible for curriculum development of our live class offerings, as well as the development of our courses delivered on InSite.  Louis is the expert on all things PMP exam, and we are very grateful for his time. LOUIS ALDERMAN:  Now, that’s a strong claim.  I tend to not classify myself as an “expert,” an ex being a has-been, and a spurt being a drip under pressure.  But I thank you for those accolades, and it’s more than my pleasure to be here today. Why Change the PMP Exam?

When assessing the impacts of tradeoffs, project managers must exercise responsibility in relation to schedule, budget, quality, and compliance decisions. Additionally, one cannot turn a blind eye towards duty of care of the safety of the end user. Dr. Te Wu provides a project management perspective on what factors led to the catastrophic events surrounding the Boeing 737 Max 8 airline tragedies. Table of Contents 01:33 … The Boeing 737 Max 8 Events05:07 … Initial Investigations07:20 … Factors Leading to the Events10:16 … Prior Complaints12:58 … Technical Complexity and Increased Risk17:37 … Brewing a Perfect Storm20:38 … MCAS Software Issues24:35 … Lessons for the Project Manager27:15 … Intelligent Project Manager vs. Bold Project Manager29:58 … Duty of Care35:07 … Latest on the 737 Max 836:44 … Three Responsibilities for a Project Manager39:15 … Get in Touch with Te39:45 … Closing TE WU: ... if project managers could think about these three aspects – be realistic, be fact-driven, and be truthful about the data, at least to one’s self and team – and also be a little bit more holistic, we could solve so many problems upfront and head off the downstream challenges. 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. Today we’re talking with Professor Dr. Te Wu of Montclair State University.  He’s also a visiting professor at China Europe International Business School and the CEO of PMO Advisory. BILL YATES:  As a certified portfolio, program, project, and risk management professional, Te is a very active volunteer, including serving on PMI’s Portfolio and Risk Management core teams, and he’s a U.S. delegate on the ISO Technical Committee 258 for Project, Program, and Portfolio Management. WENDY GROUNDS:  Dr. Te Wu is also going to be speaking to us today about the Boeing 737 MAX 8 story.  He has done a lot of research on this project, based on an educational standpoint for project managers.  And he’s taken a lot of lessons from that, that we can learn.  And it’s a very interesting study that he’s done.  So we’re looking forward to digging a little deeper with him today. Hi, Te.  Welcome to Manage This.  Thank you so much for being our guest today. TE WU:  It’s a pleasure to be here.  Thank you very much for inviting me. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 Events WENDY GROUNDS:  We’re going to jump right in.  And I want to ask if you can give us some details behind the story of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 events which occurred in 2018/2019? TE WU:  Sure.  Absolutely.  The first incident or tragedy happened with Indonesian Lion Air Flight 610.  That happened October 29th, 2018, and flying a very new Boeing 737 MAX plane.  It was a domestic flight from Jakarta to Pangkal Pinang.  And it crashed about 13 minutes after taking off, crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 189 passengers and crew members.  This was the first major accident involving this new series of plane, the Boeing 737 MAX. And as you could imagine in an accident of this magnitude, it triggers a number of investigations, not only from Boeing, but from the Indonesian Air Authority.  There’s a committee called Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee, KNKT, as well as of course the United States FAA, Federal Aviation Administration.  And at the time Boeing promised full cooperation with the investigation.  But even domestically you could see – I have airline friends, for example, that quite a number of fingers were pointing.  One, it happened on foreign soil.  Two, they were questioned on the rigor of training at Indonesian Lion Air.  And in some ways there were a series of, I would say, cultural mishaps trying to point toward human error than toward the potential problem with the plane. And Boeing, to be fair, probably did do a good analysis, but perhaps not good enough.  The reason I say that is less than six months later the secon...

Creating an Olympic legacy: The project story about successfully ensuring the delivery of venues and infrastructure of the London 2012 Olympic Games while overcoming huge constraints which impacted project planning.

How do you plan for something you can't predict? Strategist Lance Mortlock demonstrates how scenariolanning can help identify risks and expose vulnerabilities. Listen in for practical steps so that projectmanagers can be better prepared by strategically incorporating scenario planning into project planning. Table of Contents 02:04 … Writing the Book: Disaster Proof03:41 … What is Scenario Planning?07:09 … Examples of Scenario Planning Implementation11:37 … Essential Questions for Scenario Planning11:45 … Step 1: Defining Scope14:38 … Step 2: Explore Environment16:32 … PESTEL18:16 … Porter’s Five Forces21:25 … Step 3: Analyze Trends, Risks, and Uncertainties22:21 … Step 4: Build Scenarios and Signposts24:45 … Storytelling27:05 … Step 5: Confirm Scenarios and Stress Test29:41 … Step 6: Monitor Signposts and Execute Strategies31:40 … Applying AI in Scenario Planning35:04 … Connect with Lance36:27 … Closing LANCE MORTLOCK:  With storytelling, we talked earlier about how project managers take their discipline to the next level.  There’s the basics of what’s expected.  But the truly great project manager leaders again are using the different tools out there like scenarios, like the power of storytelling, to create a more compelling vision of what the future could look like. WENDY GROUNDS:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  I’m Wendy Grounds, and with me in the studio is Bill Yates.  I just want to thank our listeners who have reached out to us and leave comments on our website or social media.  We always like hearing from you. We appreciate your positive ratings on Apple Podcast or whichever podcast listening app you use. So today we’re talking with Lance Mortlock.  Lance is a senior strategy partner with Ernst & Young. And he’s provided management consulting services on over 150 projects, to more than 60 clients in 11 countries.  The topic of our conversation today is based on his book, “Disaster Proof:  Scenario Planning for Post-Pandemic Future”.  And Bill and I both really enjoyed reading this book.  This was very interesting, talking about how you plan for something you can’t predict. BILL YATES:  Yeah, yeah, the uncertainty.  None of us project managers like uncertainty.  Yeah, Lance has written a brilliant book.  Okay, this is not basic project management stuff.  This is taking it to another level.  Lance’s explanation of scenario planning is spot-on.  The six steps he’s going to talk through with us are so practical and I think will resonate with the listeners.  These are some practical steps that we can use as we look at those tough questions that sponsors and customers come to us where they want us to look in the crystal ball and predict the future. WENDY GROUNDS:  Lance, welcome to Manage This.  We are so grateful to you for being our guest today. LANCE MORTLOCK:  Thanks for having me.  Looking forward to it. Writing the Book: Disaster Proof WENDY GROUNDS:  We’re talking about your book, “Disaster Proof:  Scenario Planning for Post-Pandemic Future”.  And my question is, did you already have this book in the works prior to 2020?  Did you write it as the pandemic emerged, or were you already on this project? LANCE MORTLOCK:  I have been writing for quite a bit in a more serious way and professionally for about 10 years. You know, ever since I joined Ernst & Young.  And I’ve been writing over the years about resilience, business resilience, around continuous improvement, different topics around strategy and integrated planning.  And really in, I guess, two years ago I started to think, well, I’ve done all this writing.  I’ve explored all these topics.  There’s a tremendous opportunity to kind of bring these topics together in an integrated way.  So I started to think about that and work on that two years ago. And then I would say a year ago, when we got hit with COVID, it really came to light for me that future thinking in organizations is ...

The construction industry is evolving in terms of women-led teams. Listen in for advice to women entering the industry. Jody Staruck worked on the YWCA Central Massachusetts $24 million renovation project. She talks about the requirements, scope and stakeholders of this project and the unique story behind their petition to win the bid for this renovation. Table of Contents 01:41 … Meet Jody04:04 … The First Female Executive06:23 … Consigli Construction Growth08:38 … Maintaining a Strong Company Culture11:10 … YWCA Central Massachusetts Renovation Project13:44 … The YWCA Services to the Community14:50 … A Unique Bid Petition17:16 … Approach to Obstacles21:53 … The Unique Perspective of a Woman-Led Team24:34 … Overcoming Communication Barriers27:55 … Is the Construction Industry Changing?30:52 … Advice for Younger Women32:29 … Creating More Career Advancement Opportunities34:38 … Get in Touch with Jody35:36 … Closing JODY STARUK:  ...what I tell my younger teammates, male or female, is make a decision because at least then you’re in control.  Otherwise, the decision is being made for you.  And if you make the wrong decision, make another one to fix it.  So there’s always another option to fix it. 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.  We want to take a moment to say thank you to our listeners who reach out to us and leave comments on our website and on social media.  We love hearing from you, and I always appreciate your positive ratings on Apple Podcasts or whichever podcast listening app you use. One other thing is we know you’re looking for opportunities to acquire PDUs, your Professional Development Units, towards recertifications.  You can still claim PDUs for all of our podcast episodes.  Take a listen at the end of the show for information on how to claim your PDUs. When you think of an industry dominated by men, construction might be one of those that comes to mind.  Not so, Bill.  Women make up apparently only 10 to 11% of the construction industry’s workforce. BILL YATES:  Well, we are fortunate to have a conversation today with a real trailblazer in the industry.  In 2017, our guest, Jody Staruk, received Consigli’s highest honor, Builder of the Year, out of 300 eligible employees.  Now, Consigli is located –it’s in the northeast.  It’s mostly in the Boston area.  So Jody is the first woman recipient.  She’s also the first female project executive in Consigli’s 116-year history. Meet Jody WENDY GROUNDS:  Hi, Jody.  Welcome to Manage This.  Thank you for joining us today. JODY STARUK:  Thank you so much for having me. WENDY GROUNDS:  We want to find out a lot of things from you today.  But I first want to know how did you get into the construction business?  It is rather an unusual choice.  Just tell us your background story a little bit. JODY STARUK:  Sure.  Well, it was actually by sheer luck.  I grew up in Maine.  I never saw a building be built in my entire life.  My mom was a math teacher.  So if I got less than an A in math I was grounded, which didn’t seem very fair because the worse I ever got was a B, but that’s still how it works.  So I was good at math by necessity, and I also enjoyed, you know, the sciences and stuff like that. And the only thing that led me down the road of engineering was a drafting class I took my senior year in high school.  And in Maine they have the University of Maine system, and UMaine Orono has a really good engineering school.  So I was going to go there because everybody goes to one of the UMaine schools.  And I applied to Worcester Polytechnic Institute just to say I applied to two schools.  I got into both, and I said, “All right, great, I’m going to go to UMaine.”  And my parents said, “Great, you’re going to live at home.”  And I said, “WPI it is.” BILL YATES:  So it made the decision. JODY STARUK:  Yeah,

Kory Kogon talks about the science behind extraordinary productivity. Hear how to get the right things done, both personally and professionally, and with quality.  Kory highlights three productivity challenges: decision management, attention management, and energy management, and she describes the 5 choices to implement to master these challenges.

Negotiating, recruiting, career planning, interviewing... rarely taught, crucial skills that are indispensable to career success. Listen in as Mark Herschberg, author of The Career Toolkit, Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You, gives valuable career advice about pivoting and about the value of knowing your Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) tactic to deliver significant negotiating power.   Table of Contents 01:40 … Meet Mark02:58 … Pivoting Your Career04:56 … Impact Of COVID on Career Progress06:27 … Post Pandemic Work Shift08:19 … Being Intentional with Relationships11:01 … How to be Better at Interviewing15:11 … What are Good Interview Questions?21:17 … Preparation for Negotiations23:48 … The BATNA Approach27:10 … How to Anchor your Negotiations31:37 … How to Contact Mark32:48 … Closing. MARK HERSCHBERG:  So you want to prepare ahead of time, think about what is it that you want to get out of this negotiation.  What’s your ideal outcome?  What’s your BATNA, your Best Alternative To Negotiate Agreement?  That’s the point at which you walk away.  You shouldn’t take anything less.  What are some possible scenarios that might come up?  What are some tradeoffs you might want to do?  And what might the other side be doing?  WENDY GROUNDS:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  Thank you for joining us today.  I am Wendy Grounds, and joining us on Skype is Bill Yates.  Today we’re talking to Mark Herschberg.  Mark was educated at MIT, and he’s spent his career launching and fixing new ventures at startups, Fortune 500s, and academia.  Mark helped create the Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program, MIT’s career success accelerator, where he’s taught for 20 years.  Bill, you’ve read Mark’s book, and you’re going to tell us a little bit about that. BILL YATES:  Yes.  The goal of his book is to be a career success accelerator, just like you mentioned.  And there is so much application to project management.  He’s got a chapter on communications, and the leadership chapter talks about how do we motivate team members, different ways to do that.  There’s some familiar topics here, things like Tuckman’s Ladder, the five different stages for project team development, looking at the 5 Whys technique, the Iron Triangle.  So he goes into some of these things that we’ll look at as project managers and go, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I get that.  And then he goes deeper, and those are the topics that we want to talk to him about today, things like negotiation, interviewing, tips that I think project managers can really benefit from. Meet Mark WENDY GROUNDS:  Mark, welcome to Manage This. MARK HERSCHBERG:  Thanks for having me.  It’s a pleasure to be here today. WENDY GROUNDS:  I want to hear a little bit about your book.  You authored “The Career Toolkit:  Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You.”  What prompted you to write this book? MARK HERSCHBERG:  Years ago, when I first started hiring people, software engineers, project managers, I found when I had asked them a technical question, I’d get a technical answer.  But when I would ask a question like what makes someone a good teammate, what are the communication challenges we face, I would get blank stares.  And I realized we never teach this in our undergraduate curriculum.  So I had to start training up folks that I was trying to hire. At the same time, MIT was getting similar feedback from corporate America and began to put together their own program.  So I heard about this.  I was about a year ahead of them.  I said, “You know, I’ve been working on this.  Can I help?”  So I then got involved with MIT.  I helped develop this program.  I’ve been teaching for the past 20 years.  But of course these skills, it’s not just for MIT students.  It’s not just for students.  They are universal skills.  Again, corporate America said these are the skills we want to see,

If your team alignment is off, this misalignment becomes amplified with remote teams. Hear about tools to manage the human side of your project as we take look at The Team Alignment Toolkit.