Project Management Happy Hour

You’re a PM and you have landed on a strange new world where you don’t know the industry, the organization the people or the subject matter. How do you get oriented enough to intelligently deliver a project? How do you succeed in this alien environment?

In this episode, Kate and Kim talk about how to approach getting up to speed when you are faced with leading a project in a new department, new company, new domain or totally new industry where you don’t know the subject matter.

In summary:

1. Get a head start where you can
2. Stand on what you know
3. Build trust then ask for help
4. Fake it ‘til you make it

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STUMP THE PM’S!

We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at [email protected] 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.

The Ironman Triathlon. Without exaggeration, it is truly one of the most epic endurance events that a mortal human can participate in: 140.6 miles covered in a single day by swimming, biking and running.

As epic as it is to participate in an Ironman, it may be even more daunting to plan and manage one. 140+ miles of race course. 3 totally different disciplines (Swim, Bike, Run). As many as 2,000 - 3,000 participants. Literally tons of food and drink to get out across the course. Thousands of volunteers. City permits, police, medics, media... By any measure, each and every Ironman event is an extraordinary project and major logistical feat, and one the Ironman group does extremely well.

We are joined by Paul Huddle, Senior Regional Director for Ironman, who walks us through what's involved in planning and running an Ironman event. Whether you are a Project Manager, an Ironman athlete or just amazed by extraordinary endeavors, you are going to dig this episode!

About our amazing guest, Paul Huddle

Paul Huddle is a Seasoned Event Operator with more than 20 years of experience in the fast-paced mass participation endurance sport industry. He is a Senior Regional Director for the Ironman Group, and is responsible for triathlons from sprints to the Ironman Championship, mountain biking, and running events - including the Rock & Roll marathons.

Paul is also the author of: The Athlete Minded Traveler, Ironman - Start to Finish and Starting Out Triathlon

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 [email protected] 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.

Creative projects can be very fulfilling and provide tremendous value to any organization. But, they can also be very susceptible to scope creep. For those of us used to dealing in data-driven GANTT charts and Risk reports, how can we effectively approach a project with creative deliverables? Especially if we are not sure what those deliverables are supposed to look like? And how do we get objective results when it depends on subjective feedback?

Today’s guest, Shawn Hardy, will walk us through his process for approaching a project as a creative, and help us understand how to succeed in a Creative project. Proof in point: he was the designer for our amazing new PM Happy Hour website!

Our amazing guest, Shawn Hardy:

For the past 17 years Shawn has worked with hundreds of clients ranging from mom-and-pop’s in Phoenix, to startups in San Francisco, to global corporations in Boston. Shawn believe that ideas, design, and marketing should always motivate and inspire people. Working closely with business owners, other marketers, and creative teams to co-create effective and engaging work is what he is passionate about. His work takes a wide range of deliverables including brand identities, interactive websites, print, advertising campaigns, traditional marketing, TV, content marketing, video, and motion graphics. Beyond his career as a creative, he lives an active life which includes triathlons, running, and cycling. Shawn keeps his family and dogs close by, always with the end goal of simply enjoying life.

See more of SmittenLabs amazing work on their website, here: Smittenlabs.co

And you can reach out to Shawn directly, here: [email protected]

JOIN THE HAPPY HOUR!

Get access to all podcasts, PDU certificates, bonus content, exclusive member Q&A webinars and more from our new membership! https://pmhappyhour.com/membership

STUMP THE PM’S!

We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at [email protected] 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.

Meetings. Love them or hate them, they are core to what we do as project leaders. We need to pull people together (real or virtually) to discuss, plan, check-in, and get things done. But as we know, when we get people together, sometimes their misbehaviors - “goblins” - tag along, too!

Being able to manage effective meetings can make or break us as PMs. And learning how to manage these misbehaviors in meetings can make or break each meeting. Fortunately, we have help! This episode we are joined by Rich Maltzman of Boston University. Rich and his colleague Jim Steward wrote the book, “Great Meetings Build Great Teams: A Guide for Project Leaders and Agilists.” In this book, Rich and Jim write about these “meeting goblins” - how to identify them, and how to respond effectively to keep your meeting on track.

Join us and learn how to tame the meeting goblins!

You can find Rich’s book on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Great-Meetings-Build-Teams-Agilists/dp/1637424752/

And check out the website here: http://projectmeetings.us

You can connect directly with Rich and his co-author, Jim on linked in here:

Rich: https://www.linkedin.com/in/exclaim/

Jim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimstewartpmp/

And if you would like to study project management with Rich at Boston University, you can read about their globally respected program here: https://www.bu.edu/met/programs/project-management/

About our amazing guest, Rich Maltzman

Rich considers himself a ‘pracademic’ – and is now Master Lecturer at Boston University, an author, and a consultant, providing clients with a deep learning experience and improved results. He had a 40-year career in telecom, mainly in engineering and project management. At the University level, his focus is always on converting weaknesses into strengths while teaching clients/students how to apply learned skills to everyday situations.

Rich co-founded EarthPM, LLC, a company devoted to integrating sustainability thinking into project management. His integration of a holistic, global view of project management has resulted in international consulting and speaking engagements in which the focus is the long-term success of projects, with an eye towards ecological and social systems. His blog at the projectmanagement.com site has become very popular.

A co-author of seven books on project leadership, Rich is a former VP of Professional Development for PMI Mass Bay (the Boston area PMI Chapter), and was on the Review Committee for the 7th Edition PMBOK® Guide, helping to assure that sustainability thinking finally made it into the Standard and the Body of Knowledge.

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 [email protected] or on Linkedin 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.

For the first time, Kate and Kim find an Agilist brave enough to join them on the podcast to talk about some really hard questions about working Agile vs Waterfall. Let’s get it on!

We ask the questions that PM’s want to ask - frustrated, annoyed PM’s who are told to work “agile” by people who maybe don’t even understand Agile - or Waterfall, for that matter.

In this refreshingly honest talk about the reality of ways of working, Kate, Kim and their guest Agilist, David Asch, talk in real-world terms about Agile, Predictive and the reality in-between.

David Asch has a 36-year career in startup and mid-stage commercial software companies. He’s worked in various industries, including transportation, supply chain, retail analytics, scientific marketing, blockchain, and secure communications. From his experience with the challenges and successes of delivering software over a long career, David founded 10xPrinciples, a management/organizational consulting company, to help technology companies navigate the transition from startup to mid-stage.

During a time of rapid growth and change, teams typically find that the ”wearing many hats” culture from their startup days is no longer the best approach to honoring commitments. David helps these companies weave Agile practices into the fabric of their cultures. David’s recognized expertise in companywide Agile-driven management makes him invaluable to clients who need to implement Agile principles and methodologies into their unique business environments.

Get David’s book, The Agile Enterprise: Applying Agile Principles to Drive Organizational Success, on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Agile-Enterprise-Applying-Principles-Organizational/dp/1637425473/

Connect to him on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidasch1/

And check out his website: https://10xPrinciples.com

Get access to all podcasts, PDU certificates, bonus content, exclusive member Q&A webinars and more from our membership! https://pmhappyhour.com/membership

We love to hear about your tough PM issues, so please hit us up at [email protected] or on Linkedin 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.