Project Management Happy Hour
Episodes
123 - Hungry Hungry HPPOs - managing loud personalities with Evan Unger
14 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
If your weekly calendar looks like the loser in a state fair quilt competition - just solid blocks of mismatched colors with no room to breathe - this...
122 - Kate puts Kim through the worst meeting hells our listeners could dream up: a PM HappyHour role play
03 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Boss fights and boardrooms. Kate puts Kim through meeting hell in this tabletop roleplay episode. Kate: "Help me torture Kim." That was the prompt. Wh...
121 - Top Shelf Replay: Embracing the Escalation
24 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Escalation: it's a word that can make even experienced project managers tense. But what if you approached it as a tool rather than a threat? In this T...
120 - How smart teams talk themselves into Failure, with Dr. Bill Brantley
10 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Why do smart teams still deliver failed projects? Most project failures don't begin with a catastrophic mistake. Instead, they begin with small deviat...
119 - TSR: They told me I'm 'too nice'??
24 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Have you ever gotten feedback that made you want to flip a table because it was both insulting and totally useless? In this Top Shelf Replay, we revis...
PM Turf Wars: Sharing your projects with other Project Managers
10 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"Three PMs walk into a bar: a business PM, an IT PM, and a Vendor PM…" Sounds like a bad joke, but if you don't get it right - the joke will be your...
Top Shelf Replay: Say No by Saying Yes
30 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Project managers are constantly told they need to "learn how to say no." But in the real world—especially when the ask comes from a sponsor, executi...
116 - How to quit your job and completely fail as a PM contractor
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Thinking about going contractor? Kate and Kim share how they each left corporate and made the leap—two very different stories (burnout vs acting ear...
115 - Top Shelf Replay: Trust Bricks
16 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As project managers, we spend a lot of time talking about tools, processes, and delivery frameworks—but far less time talking about the invisible st...
114 - Happy Hour Chatter: What PMs Really Do, Fear in Decision-Making, and Lessons from Going solo
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kim and Kate settle in for a classic PM Happy Hour episode — the kind where the drinks are metaphorical, the conversation is wandering in the best w...
113 - Top Shelf Replay: Stage direction in the boardroom
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when you drop a senior project manager into a room full of attorneys, tribal leaders, political operators, and massive personalities? In ...
112 - Burnout: when a 500k job isn't worth it, with Norlander Wilson
11 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kate didn't plan to measure their burnout by the number of bags of pink-and-purple Mother's animal cookies consumed at their desk…but here we are. K...
111 - Top Shelf Replay: How do you start a hard conversation?
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever freeze up in a tough project conversation? Or worse—blow it up? In this episode of Project Management Happy Hour, Kim and Kate revisit their al...
110 - Are you defining project success wrong? Most PM's do! With PMI's Dave Garrett
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Are you defining project success the wrong way? Most project managers are — at least according to PMI's Dave Garrett. Project Management Happy Hour ...
109 - Top Shelf Replay: The Wolf - how to take over broken projects
30 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever been dropped into a troubled project that's already gone off the rails? Welcome to life as "The Wolf." Inspired by the fixer from Pulp Fiction, K...
108 - Why Risk Management? Future You Will Thank You
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why bother with risk management when you can just deal with problems as they happen? In this episode, Kim and Kate dig into the heart of that question...
107 - Top Shelf Replay: The Closer - Avoiding Project Acceptance Exception
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Please. Let it end. PLEASE! A defining characteristic of a project is that it ends. Finally. Just finish it, right? If it were only that easy! In an...
106 - Finish Strong: Why the End of Your Project Matters Most
26 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Projects aren't remembered for how they started—they're remembered for how they ended. In this PM Happy Hour episode, Kim Essendrup and Kate Anderso...
105 - Top Shelf Replay: How to Deal with Stupid Executive Asks
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ah, executives. They fund your project, cheer you on, and sometimes… ask for things that make you want to slam your head into your Gantt chart. Like...
104 - The one meeting that will make or break your project
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
"Well begun is half done" — Aristotle (or Mary Poppins, depending who you ask) The beginning of a project is a time when all stakeholders THINK t...
103 - Lessons not Learned: State of Maine HR System Project Debacle
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Think your project's on fire? 🔥 Come hear how Maine tried to swap a 30‑year‑old COBOL HR/payroll system for something cloud‑friendly … and ...
102 - Kim's first day working for the Empire: Kate runs another Project Management role-play
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Our D&D-style project role play was such a hit, we did it again - in a different universe. One far, far away… This time, it's Kim's first day as a ...
101 - The Project Behind: Not Impossible Labs with Mick Ebeling
11 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever had a moment where you saw a problem in the world and thought, "Someone should fix that"? What if that someone was you? Mick Ebeling, founder of ...
100 - Retrospective: Our 100th Episode
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We cannot believe it! It's been 100 episodes of PM Happy Hour! In this very special episode, we have a retrospective, looking back at when we first ...
099 - The Iron Triangle of Getting a PM Job, with PM Career Coach, Kayla Quijas
14 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
099 - The Iron Triangle of Getting a PM Job, with PM Career Coach, Kayla Quijas
14 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you are looking for a PM job or considering doing so, you are definitely not alone! The project management field has always had a good amount of mo...
099 - The Iron Triangle of Getting a PM Job, with PM Career Coach, Kayla Quijas
14 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
098 - Don't Eat the Prickly Pears: Learning how to prioritize with James Louttit
24 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As a professional in today's working environment, you are constantly bombarded by things that demand your attention, your action, the very limited mom...
097 - PMO: Friend or Foe?
30 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
AUDIO QUALITY NOTICE! Apologies, we have a little static on one of the mics during our recording - sorry for the occasional audio issue. As a pro...
096 - Design thinking: don't take things at face value or you will face plant, with guest Erik Rueter
20 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Kat and Kim talk to Erik Rueter about design thinking in our projects. What's design thinking, you may be thinking? Design thinking...
095 - The 5 Foundational Behaviors for Developing Informal Authority, with Kory Kogon of Franklin Covey
02 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Although an essential part of our project-driven world, most project leaders didn't set out to be one. For many of us, our first steps into project le...
094 - Agile vs Waterfall Smack-Down!
14 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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...
093 - Rising from Tactical PM to Strategic Advisor, with Gregg Richie and Ralph Kliem
16 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Project Management is weird. You can have the same job title and be a very tactical execution-minded project manager - which is the way most of us sta...
092 - Goblins in the room! Managing meeting misbehaviors, with Rich Maltzman
16 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
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...
091 - The Perfect Status Report: How to measure percent complete
26 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
"What percent done are you?" Status reporting is a core skill (and responsibility) of project managers. It is an opportunity for you to check in wi...
090 - How to tell other people what to do
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Being a project manager is tough. You are assigned a team of people who may never have with each other (or you) before, and you need to lead them to a...
089 - Reorgs and Restructurings: sailing the waves of organizational change chaos
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It can be hard getting a project started correctly: getting the right executive and stakeholder sponsorship and support, getting them all to agree on ...
088 - The CHAOS Report: Measuring project failure
06 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Projects are hard. And a lot of them - maybe most of them - fail to live up to their expectations. Missed timelines, quality issues, budget overages, ...
087 - Creative decision making: do you have the right 4 voices in the room? with Teresa Lawrence
17 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Creative decision making is key to what we do in all our projects. According to FourSight, there are 4 distinct voices in the decision making process....
086 - The project behind a Disaster Response, with the ITDRC
07 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
"I know the world is ending, but do you have wifi here?" Sounds funny, but it's deadly serious. Natural disasters impact critical infrastructure that ...
085 - Deciding on how to make good Decisions, with Kandis Porter
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Decisions make or break your project - starting with the decision of whether or not to even do your project. Beyond that, we have planned decisions / ...
084 - OH, We Forgot About Change Management! What to do when you get caught with your ADKAR down, with Tim Creasey
10 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Yeah! One of our favorite guests, Tim Creasey, returns! This time we are talking about what happens if you realize, too late in the game, that you rea...
083 - The 30 Minute Executive Meeting: Make it count
22 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
As a project manager, the time you get with an executive sponsor is critical: you don't get much of it and you cannot blow it! For many of our listene...
082 - The Project Behind a Tech Startup, with Pete Bernardo from Punchlist
29 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Tech startups drive the technology around us, and a good bit of the economy. They use creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit to solve proble...
081 - The Project Behind an Emergency Covid Vaccination Site, with Aaron Bellinger, PMP
30 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When the first Covid vaccinations were released, massive vaccination sites were launched, seemingly overnight, to vaccinate millions of people. If you...
080 - First PM on the Beach: How to succeed when you are the first Project Manager in your organization
19 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This episode is based on feedback we've had from our member 1:1 coaching sessions, one of the benefits we provide our PM Happy Hour members. Many PM's...
079 - Welcome to the Dungeon! Kate and Kim do Project Management RPG (D&D)
14 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
OK, originally this was going to be an April Fool's goof podcast, but it turned out to be a lot of fun and maybe a bit educational. But, nope, it's no...
078 - Recommending Change Without Getting Chased out the Door
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
PMs are accountable for project success. As such, we are keenly aware when things are failing! And because most PM's are process and goal oriented, we...
077 - Behavioral PM: the Feakonomics approach to project delivery with Dr. Josh Ramirez
19 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Wouldn't it be cool if everyone followed all the processes we built? If everyone on our team followed the PMBOK or SCRUM methodologies perfectly every...
076 - Imposter Syndrome: Diagnosis and Treatment
02 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
"I am in way over my head." "I have no business doing this job" "I am totally not worthy of this role" "There is no way I'm qualified to do this" ...
075 - Top Tips from a Project Management Coach, with Heather Gates
04 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The same way sports teams have coaches to help optimize their performance, organizations can engage PM coaches to help their project management team w...
074 - The Project Behind a Movie
12 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Did you ever watch the credits at the end of a movie and think, "wow, that's a lot of people?" You're right. Hundreds or thousands of people engaged t...
073 - A 12 Pack of Alignment Hacks with Tim Creasey - Part 2
01 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We are joined again by one of our favorite guests, Tim Creasey, Organizational Change Wizard. This time he shares 12 different methods for creating be...
072 - A 12 Pack of Alignment Hacks with Tim Creasey - Part 1
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We are joined again by one of our favorite guests, Tim Creasey, Organizational Change Wizard. This time he shares 12 different methods for creating be...
The Project Behind an Ironman Triathlon with Paul Huddle, Senior Regional Director for the Ironman Group
23 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 cov...
070 - Change Management Mic Drops with Tim Creasey
16 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Project Managers are agents of change. Whether your project changes organizations, technologies, infrastructure or processes, the success of your proj...
069 - Project Management in an Alien Environment
22 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
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 yo...
068 - Interviewing PM's: Inside the Mind of a Hiring Manager with Matt Henderson
17 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Whether you are hiring project managers or hope to get hired, do you know what hiring managers should be looking for? What's going on in a hiring mana...
067 - What the heck is ITSM? And how is it like Improv?
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If you are a PM working in or with a large enterprise, you may have heard of ITSM, or the ITIL framework. And you may well have been asked to create a...
066 - How to be a consultant: Dealing with customers without having a nervous breakdown
09 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
If your project customers are external to your organization, you have a lot more to worry about than the success of your project. You also have the ca...
064 - Getting into - or out of - Project Management, with Ben Aston of The Digital Project Manager podcast
01 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Are you trying to get into the field of Project Management? Or, are you ready for the next step and to move out of the PM field? This week Kate and ...
063 - Candid Conversations with a Project Management Recruiter, with Norma Gutierrez
09 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Are you looking for a PM job? If not now, one day you may be. So, why not talk to a pro who knows the market and help you find the right job? A Projec...
062 - Do I really need a PMO? (Part 2 of 2)
18 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Do I need a Project Management Office (PMO)? Does anyone REALY need a PMO? Why, aren't those all going away because of Agile? What value can a PMO giv...
061 - Do I really need a PMO? (Part 1 of 2)
31 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Do I need a Project Management Office (PMO)? Does anyone REALY need a PMO? Why, aren't those all going away because of Agile? What value can a PMO giv...
060 - Say-Do-Say: Fundamentals of Project Communication
22 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We get asked a lot about what project management is about, what it's like to get into the profession, and what are the most important things to do as ...
059 - Crying Happens
12 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Project Management can be tough - full of stress, emotion, passion and… more stress. You, your team and your stakeholders are trying to make big cha...
058 - Shut-in but not Shut-down: Managing Projects and Teams from Home
25 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Many of us are suddenly finding that we - and our teams - are working remotely from home. While this is normal for a lot of our workforce, it can repr...
057 - ADKAR: It's not a trap! Change Management can save your mission
25 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Projects are about change - but what are you doing to manage that change in your project? Fortunately, there's an entire field of practice to make cha...
056 Don't buy the bias! Managing bias in project management
21 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Whether we realize it or not, we all have bias in the way we think about things. Maybe you have a bias to be overly optimistic in your estimates, or...
055 - A slice of Thankfulness from Kate and Kim
08 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Hiya listeners, in this episode we share what we've been up to and why we've been a bit quiet, some amazing PDU stats and share some things that we're...
054 - How to be a Project Manager: Kate and Kim get interviewed by a PM student about breaking into the field
16 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
For this episode the tables are turned - Kate and Kim get interviewed! Arizona State University student Krystal Ebadi contacted us and asked if she co...
053 - What if I told you that you were a PM all along?
04 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This episode we talk with one of our amazing listeners, Josh Mildren, who shares his story about how he became a project manager - or rather, how he r...
052 - Who owns this baby when I'm done? Planning for deliverables handover
07 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This episode we talk about that make-or-break moment in project closing: handing over your project deliverables. If you plan your project right, this ...
051 - They told me I'm "Too Nice?!" Dealing with inactionable feedback
24 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We love our listeners, and we love to answer your questions! In fact, this episode comes straight from a call for help we received from one of our l...
050 - Project Financials 101: A quick and dirty overview of how money affects projects
30 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Ever have a project that costs money? Well, this podcast is for you! In this episode, Kate and Kim give you the quick and dirty rundown of basic proje...
049 - How to Call BS without getting Sh#t upon
20 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Communication is a critical part of a Project Manager's job, and perhaps no aspect of comms is more important than ensuring that what is communicated ...
048 - Brand Yourself with Sonia Mundra
01 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Many Project Managers are on a trajectory that takes them from a more technical or tactical focus to a more leadership focus in their career, possibly...
047 - Project Management at Burning Man: Managing Volunteers, with Kayla Glenn
12 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Burning Man is a famous event held in a temporary city the middle of the Nevada desert, dedicated to self expression and artistic freedom with 80,000 ...
046 - Process, Data & Maturity: is it BS or does it really matter?
18 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We all assume that following process, better data and improved maturity will fix all our PM issues. That make sense, but is it true? What does the d...
045 - Entrepreneurial Project Management with Rolondo Talbott
09 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Today we are joined by Rolondo Talbott who gave an amazing presentation at this year's PMO Symposium. He is going to share with us an amazing story fr...
044 - Dear Project Diary: Project (b)logging to keep your head straight
03 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In today's world we are bombarded with more information than ever before - it's on our mobile devices (social email, etc.), daily stand-ups, 24 hour n...
043 - How to be "The Wolf" - Taking over broken projects
07 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A natural stage in PM professional development is when you become the 'fixer' - the one called in to take over or fix 'broken' critical projects. This...
042 - The Closer: Avoiding Project Acceptance Exceptions
17 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A defining characteristic of a project is that it ends. Finally. Just finish it, right? If it were only that easy! This episode Kate and Kim talk abou...
041 - Witness me! Justifying Project Management
22 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
040 - I'm a WHAT?! What's the point of personality assessments?
12 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Many companies employ personality assessments to help their team members understand their strengths or communication styles. Are these a waste of time...
039 - Burning Questions: A Trick or treat bag of listener mail
05 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
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 go...
038 - Charter? Huh! What is it good for? (absolutely every project)
28 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
"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 ...
037 - Transform from Project Manager to Project Leader - with Naomi Caietti
21 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
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...
036 - PMO - What is it really? And how do I run one?
11 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This episode, we get the great opportunity to speak with Hussain Bandukwala, PMO Coach and founder of the PMO Virtual Summit this October. Hussain hel...
PM Happy Hour Membership - Helping new PMs "How to PM"
07 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
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" questi...
PM Happy Hour Membership - Painless, easy PDU's!
05 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
035 - Kickass Martial Arts Lessons for Project Managers
02 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This episode, Kim shares some lessons from his time studying martial arts studies with some amazing instructors that apply to Project Management! And ...
034 - PM Superhero Smackdown! Kate and Kim share lessons from their favorite movie PMs
24 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
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 th...
033 - Lessons from Interviewing 50 Women PMs in 50 days - a chat with Elise Stevens
17 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This episode, we are excited to have Elise Stevens, podcaster, speaker and PM thought leader join us on our show! Elise shares what she learned in und...
032 - Project Management Thunderdome! Internal versus External Project Managers
03 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Project Managers can be categorized as "internal" project managers, who deliver projects for stakeholders within their own organizations, or "external...
031 - Crucial Conversations part 3 - Stepping in and taking the lead
27 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
One of the toughest - and most important jobs - of a PM is having difficult conversations. These can be with sponsors, stakeholders, team members or o...
030 - Crucial Conversations part 2: Oh, man it just got difficult!
20 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
One of the toughest - and most important jobs - of a PM is having difficult conversations. These can be with sponsors, stakeholders, team members or o...
029 - Stop the Scope Creep! Using Change Control to keep the monsters at bay
29 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Controlling your project scope is one of the most important things we can do as project managers - but so easy to let slip. Don't let Scope Creep snea...
028 - Embracing the Escalation: raising visibility without raising your blood pressure
29 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Management escalation, oh, no! When issues get escalated to our managers and executive stakeholders, our hearts sink, a sweat breaks out and we start ...
027 - Crucial Conversations: Part 1 - Oh, man it just got crucial
22 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
One of the toughest - and most important jobs - of a PM is having difficult conversations. These can be with sponsors, stakeholders, team members or o...