PM Point of View© Podcast Series

 

UPDATE: Due to changes in PMI’s CCR System, for those claiming PDUs at PMI.com:

  • Be sure to choose the fourth option, "Online or Digital Media," in the Report PDUs page.
  • MANUALLY ENTER provider code# 4634 and select "M Powered Strategies,"
  • MANUALLY ENTER the name of the episode in the course field
  • Enter the date that you listened to the podcast
  • Be sure to select the appropriate option, Leadership/Strategic/Technical in the Talent Triangle at the bottom of the page
  • Check the box to confirm the validity of your submission
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This will work for all published episodes.

PM Discipline Integration in the Federal Government

Dive into the future of project management within the U.S. government in this engaging and insightful interview with key players from the USDA and NOAA. Hear from Jason Traquair, Kellie Cenzano, Daryl Frazier, and Joe Giraldi as they unveil their…

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Risk and Resilience at the UMD PM Symposium (Revised)

Risk– again!  This episode with guests from the upcoming UMD Project Management Center for Excellence symposium is a thought-provoking discussion that takes a closer look at a crucial aspect of project management – risk management. We’ve…

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People in Projects at the UMD PM Symposium 2024

Heralding the annual arrival of the flagship UMD Project Management Center for Excellence symposium, this episode has 3 of the presenters in the People and Projects track: Kevin Coleman, a visionary leader and the founder and CEO of KMC Empowerment,…

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Program Value Management

Challenged by the hosts, Kendall Lott and Mike Hannan, returning guest Steven Devaux takes his value break down structure (the “Golden Triangle”) to a new level, looking at quantifying value of project within programs. That’s the obvious, the less…

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Asteroids

In this podcast episode, co-hosts Kendall and Mike are joined by guest Roy Mazel, a retired NASA project leader and guest lecturer. They discuss the Project Management complexities of asteroid missions, specifically, the OSIRIS-REx Psyche missions….

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Let it Flow, Success without Force

In this episode, Kendall, Mike, and Wolfram Mueller discuss strategies to improve business workflows using the Theory of Constraints (TOC) and Critical Chain Project Management, focused on two things: underloading system constraints and buffer…

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Getting Out of Our Own Way

The crux of any success? It isn’t the plan, it isn’t the desire, not even the WIIFM, its EXECUTION. And organizational change is no different. Today’s episode discusses the difficulties that organizations face when it comes to executing change….

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PM Faceoff: Process vs Principles

So there we were at the 10th annual UMD PM Symposium, having the Great Debate of Process vs principles.  Facing off were Crystal Richards, CEO of MindsparQ and Laura Barnard, CEO of PMO Strategies. One hour of back and forth and audience…

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Listener Questions Revealed!

Elevating the Conversation about Project Management, with a twist. In this episode cohosts Mike Hannan and Kendall Lott take on some Listener Feedback. A running theme in the show is the actual and delineation of project manager, product manager,…

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UMD PM 4.0 AI & Future for Project Managers

No Luddites here! Episode 3 of the UMD PM Symposium prequal and guests Al Zeiton, Marissa Brienza and Bill Brantley chat about the role of AI in Project Management and the potential risks and benefits of using it as PMs. We discover the logic and…

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So you want to Agile

We all talk Agile, and sometimes we “say we wanna do agile”, so this conversation is about the challenges of implementing Agile in different environments with guests David Forsyth, Mike Mellane, and Caitlin Kenny.  Co-host Mike Hannan takes our…

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Critical Conversations

First, “do no harm”–seems like a good adage, and is consistent with our guest Kevin Coleman who discusses some tenets of his UMD PM Symposium presentation coming this April, called “Unconscious Bias: Recognize it and correct it.” Our second…

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Managing an AI Project

Oh Boy, AI projects…they’re the worst!! Exploding scope…the endless project. The scale of risk when something goes wrong can literally be exponential. While we PMs always had to watch quality, and we always focused on scope and schedule…the…

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Value Integration in Project Management

Recognizing the importance of identifying “what is the work in front of us” co-hosts Kendall Lott and Mike Hannan discuss improved ways cracking scope to improve project delivery and project value with guests Steven Devaux and Sergiy Potapov. Get…

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Cognitive PM and Military Planning

Compound Security Threats. Sends a chill through us, yes? Our military expends huge effort in thinking about that future, long-term for planning, short-term planning for execution all to address increasingly complex security concerns. And as our…

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The Beauty of AHP

Analytical Hierarchy Process–check this as it is a method (and you can get tools) that absolutely help you with project prioritization.  Co-Host Mike Hannan and I talk with Stuart Easton, CEO of Transparent Choice, about this accessible approach…

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PM Techniques In Ukraine

Guest Sergiy Potapov and co-host Mike Hannan are at it again discussing precepts of TOC and Cynefin that connects with effective PM practices to produce results, even in shocking and shattering circumstances, such as found in Ukraine during the war….

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Unleash Flow by Taming It…

Episode 100, where a theory based in manufacturing collides with the world of Knowledge Work (yeah, I’m talking about you, PMs) and we find a way to think about Critical Change Project Management.   We consider how to get to a pattern of “Unity of…

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PM Pessimist Optimist Synthesis

“PM is BS!” says Ben Damman, our (highly successful) guest today. Well, maybe…the concern is we have become ceremonial or process-centric over effectiveness.  WE HAVE SO MUCH POTENTIAL, but WE ARE STUCK . And that of course, takes us back to a…

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Ecosystem Designer

PMs as leaders you own understanding the design of the org, the ecosystem you sit in. But to what purpose? Join me and cohost Mike Hannan as we hear from Matt Barcomb who highlights understanding the organization as a system so that Product…

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PM under Duress

PMs how about we get to look at our discipline in action? From the western border of Ukraine, Sergiy Potapov tells us how he chose to have impact by being a PM to deliver humanitarian aid, and what lessons from Critical Chain theory and PM he has…

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Design Thinking

Design mindset, before you even get to design thinking, let’s figure out the problem and check assumptions.  Guest Charles Lambdin describes the need and method of creating a frame of thought that has us testing hypotheses of what we need, and…

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Change Management and TOC

“I will do what I can, with what I have, where I’m at.” This is a different take on change management; we break down what people say about change but linking it to the underlying framework from the Theory of Constraints. We should recognize that our…

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Cognitive Behavior

“Do all the humans on your team have brains?” Not a comment on ability but on cognition and hardwired biases; if they have brains, they make mistakes in regular patterns. PMs follow the same logical paths of cognition and shortcuts that all humans…

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Heretical Agile

In this episode, organizational change consultant and expert Agilista Leila Rao grounds us in the reality that investing in people is central to successful Agile transformation. While we’re often distracted by the allure of “Agile theater,”…

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Project Management Forward from the 2021 UMD Symposium

We know change is constant. So as business practices evolve and new systems & tools are developed, the role of Project Managers and the skills they rely on must change to meet the new demands. PMs who don’t move forward risk being left…

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Where has Project Management Gone?

Guest Galen Low, from The Digital Project Manager (DPM), discusses the challenges of the conventional project manager and the ways we define the field. As Lowe addresses, the expansion of the digital environment and transforming customer have led…

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Effective Communication from the 2021 UMD Symposium

Transformation Attenuation: The loss of signal that occurs as a message moves down the chain from the C suite.

Illusion: The assumption that communication has taken place, when in fact it hasn’t.

Here we explore these two phenomena in depth,…

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Product Management and the Toaster

A team, a technology, a toaster. A tale of the Product Manager and the Project Manager brought to life as co-hosts Kendall and Mike ride the narrative road with Tom Klaff, the CEO who made it happen. The story of manufacturing a new kind of toaster…

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Avoiding Failure from the 2021 UMD Symposium

The statistics around project success vs. failure are less than heartening, to say the least. For all the tools and expertise PMs bring to the table, we somehow manage to miss the mark more often than we should. Here we feature highlights from two…

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Expectations and Capacity

Kendall Lott and Mike Hannan with guest Hilbert Robinson explore exciting topics around product versus project management, setting expectations and how to address the variance between those and reality, the rounding of such expectations, and even…

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Estimations Oh My!

Estimations – they are at the very core of PM activities, the ability to estimate, the reliance others have on our estimations, our continuing white whale pursuit of improved estimations all work to empower us as masters of the universe, to state…

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85. Covid & the Art of Fundraising: A Theatre’s Tale

It was summer 2020. Covid-19 lingered on, with no end in sight. After months of canceled performances, funds were dwindling at Washington, DC’s Shakespeare Theatre Company. Their last hope, the annual fundraising gala, was set for October. As the…

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84. Pandemic at the University

How does a graduate program at a university – a program that has assiduously maintained a 100% face-to-face classroom ethos – swing into virtual reality at a moment’s notice? The program in question here is Industrial Organizational Psychology. The…

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83. Tips from Behavioral Science

Project management is about people: working with people, for people, through people. So it goes to reason that managers who have a deeper understanding of human behavior will be more effective. Beyond managing their teams, PMs are heavily involved…

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2021 Update: How to Claim Your PDUs

Starting in January 2021, many of you reached out to us, wondering why you weren’t able to claim a PDU for listening to PM Point of View® episodes. The short answer: You CAN continue to claim PDUs. But the process has changed. Listen to Kendall’s…

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82. View from the C Suite – Part 2

Where do projects go wrong? What tendencies or approaches of Project Managers are NOT helpful to executives? What do they want their PMs to focus on more? How can PMs move up the ladder? In the second part of our 2-part series from the C-Suite, we…

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81. Project Teams in a VUCA Context from the 2020 UMD Symposium

Covid-19 has changed the way we operate on every level, including how we manage projects. It has made clear the fragility of our reality, and the fancy dancing required, not only to survive, but to move forward constructively. In the 4th and last…

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80. View from the C Suite – Part 1

What do executives want from their Project Managers? What are their expectations? What do they like about how PMs work? What do they not like? In this first of two episodes covering the Executive Point of View, we talk to 10 executives from a wide…

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79. Agile Today from the 2020 UMD Symposium

Scrum with distributed teams. Agile in a traditionally non-Agile environment. Project Management in the time of Agile. (Is it still relevant?) These are the topics we cover in the third episode of our series from the 2020 UMD Project Management…

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78. Project Perspective: The Bigger Picture

How can you manage a groundbreaking innovation project when you are surrounded by auditors and compliance- and risk-managers? And how can you ensure that what you deliver will truly benefit the organization and its stakeholders?  Two presentations…

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77. Virtual PM: 2020 and Beyond

Ever since COVID-19 swept the globe, our world has shifted, and that includes the world of Project Management. A panel of digital project managers talks about the changes they have noted already and what they envision for the future vis-à-vis…

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76. Culture and Fit from the 2020 UMD Symposium

This episode, the first in a series featuring highlights from University of Maryland’s 2020 Project Management Symposium, focuses on culture and the importance of fitting in. We examine the hiring process, and maintaining a culture designed to…

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75. Milestones in History

The 9/11 boat lift in New York City and the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-56 were both hugely successful projects, with important lessons for Project Managers. The leaders did speedy but effective planning and set clear goals. They hit all the…

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74. Seizing Opportunity

An effective Project Manager can’t be stuck in a pre-established plan. You have to be able to re-route in response to current circumstances and developments. To make good decisions, you must have a complete understanding of the organization’s…

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73. Productivity

Stay at home, listen, and learn how you can up the productivity of your team. Start small. Hone your personal systems for ultimate efficiency. Next, the team. Then leadership and organizational culture. Here are some practical tips. (And, yes,…

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72. Teamraising

If you think of leadership like parenting, then you can comprehend the concept of teamraising. Think nurturing. Good leaders foster an environment where good manners and civility prevail. They pay attention to the individuals on their team. They…

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71. The Art of Negotiation

PMs deal with multiple stakeholders – the executives who commission the project; the project team who implements it; and the end users/recipients. They all have needs, requirements and limits. The better you can negotiate these competing concerns,…

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70. Marketing, Branding and Strategic Survival

When you think of Project Management, do the terms Marketing and Branding come to mind? Maybe they should. In order to survive in today’s fast-paced environment, with its accelerated rate of change, organizations need to pay attention to staying…

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69. Neuroscience in Project Management

Project management is a system designed by humans for humans. Over the course of a prescribed length of time, teams of humans work together to create a process or a product. The closer the process hones to a human operating system (taking into the…

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68. Project Management in the Federal Government

What’s different about managing projects in the Federal Government vs the private sector? For one thing, you have more stakeholders, more rules and restrictions. There is oversight from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Government…

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67. Cybersecurity in Project Management

Every day we hear about another cyber attack. Another virus that we have to guard against. Defending our digital infrastructure is an ongoing and top priority for every organization. It must also be incorporated into every project, from inception to…

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66. Leadership in the 21st Century

When managing millennials do the old rules still apply? (Think servant leader for starters.) What exactly is the science behind effective techniques for team motivation? Need some handy tips for conflict resolution or negotiation? Something you…

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65. Psychometrics: Practical Applications

Do the members of your project team communicate effectively? How well do they really trust one another? What do we mean when we say feedback, and what exactly is a “feedback culture”? What’s the difference between observed behaviors and drivers? In…

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64. Risk, Resilience, and Response

This is the first of three episodes featuring highlights from the University of Maryland Project Management Symposium 2019. Here we focus on two of the presentation tracks: Disaster Resilience and Risk Management. Topics covered are Post Disaster…

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63. PMs in a Digital World

When you’re managing a digital project, you need a framework that’s so nimble, even Agile might not provide sufficient flexibility. As technology advances at an unrelenting clip, project managers working in the realm of digital products -…

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62. Radical Performance

What’s the difference between preparation mindset and performance mindset? Did you ever consider that accountability should run horizontally as well as vertically? What’s the point of constantly drilling on the basics? (Once you know them can’t you…

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61. Authors Part II: The Strategic Project Manager

Projects are vehicles for change. The whole point is to add value to your organization and/or your stakeholders. With this in mind, PMs are increasingly charged with keeping an eye on the greater strategic goals of the organization. In this episode,…

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60. High Performance Teams

A former US Marine/Special Ops commander, the co-founders of Leadership Techniques International, and the director/coach of the offshore sailing team at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis talk about what it takes to lead highly effective,…

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59. Psychometrics: Myers-Briggs and Beyond

Know thyself. Then know your teammates. A key component of effective project management is teamwork. That’s not always easy when you bring together people representing a range of ages, backgrounds, and values. But there are steps PMs can take to…

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58. VOE I: Working at the Macro Level

Three seasoned Project Management practitioners, teachers, and authors share their insights, observations and what they consider the important issues of the day. Dr. Kenneth Smith talks about techniques and tools and why it’s important for PMs to…

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57. Organizational Effectiveness

“Efficiency is about going from inputs to outputs. But effectiveness is about going from outputs to outcomes.” So says Dr. Charles G. Chandler, author and podcaster, who discusses his model for organizational sustainability and effectiveness. What…

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56. Knowledge into Practice Part 3: Construction

This is the third in our series from the 2018 symposium at the University of Maryland’s Project Management Center for Excellence. For this episode, presenters and speakers talk about project management in the construction space. Learn about the…

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55. Volunteer Management

Managing Volunteers is key to the success of nonprofits and associations. In this episode of PM Point of View, host Kendall Lott talks with three Volunteer Management experts on the importance, the components, and the impact of good volunteer…

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54. Procurement

Almost every project involves some sort of procurement, whether it’s goods, or teams of contractors. In fact, Procurement is one of the ten Knowledge Areas of the PMBOK® Guide, and merits almost a complete column in the index of the Sixth Edition….

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53. Knowledge into Practice: Agile

In the second of our 3-part series from University of Maryland’s 2018 Project Management symposium, we feature excerpts from presentations in the Agile track: Jeff Dalton on Agility for Leaders; Jason Dunn on Deciding When to Save or Shut Down a…

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52. PMBOK® Guide 6th Edition: Risk

What do you get when you put a Systems Engineer, a Value Master, a Portfolio Manager, and a Risk Guy at a table together? Answer: an enlightening discussion on Risk in the PMBOK® Guide, seen through four very different lenses. This is the fourth in…

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51. Knowledge into Practice Part 1: Leadership

“Turning Knowledge Into Practice” was the title of the 2018 symposium hosted by University of Maryland’s Project Center for Excellence. For this episode, we feature the track on Leadership and Conflict. Five presenters are featured, covering…

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50. Ethics

According to the Project Management Institute, ethics is about making the best possible decisions concerning people, resources and the environment. Every Project Management Professional must sign off on a set of values: Honesty, Responsibility,…

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49. Influencers Part VI: Energy

An energy project today might be the development of a car battery that will run an electric car for 200 miles; the placement of wind turbines in an open field; or the construction of an oil refinery that can process half a million barrels a day. For…

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48. New Releases: Conversations with the Authors

In the beginning, there was the PMBOK®. Then came the deluge! If you are looking for information on the latest trends, philosophies, and cutting edge methodologies in Project Management, there is no shortage of books and articles to explore. The…

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47. PMBOK® Guide – 6th Edition: Quality

What does the PMBOK® Guide – 6th Edition say about Quality? It says a lot about the cost of Quality. But lack of quality also has a cost. Being able to measure quality helps us to juggle and flex project requirements. How exactly does quality fit…

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46. Change Management

Being creatures of habit, humans have a hard time with change. But resilience and adaptability have kept us going through the millennia.

Projects inevitably bring about change – whether its related to culture, processes, systems, environment,…

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45. PMBOK® Guide 6th Edition: The Agile Effect

This is the second in a series of roundtable discussions on A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 6th Edition, Project Management Institute Inc., 2016 — more commonly known as the PMBOK® Guide 6th Edition.

The focus here is…

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PMBOK® Guide 6th Edition: Scope & Schedule

This is the first in a series of roundtable discussions on A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 6th Edition, Project Management Institute Inc., 2016 — more commonly known as the PMBOK® Guide 6th Edition.

For this probing look…

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PM Point of View #43: Winners

Winners

PMI Award Winners discuss projects and their philosophies vis-à-vis Project Management. Learn about how these outstanding PMs went about laying out their vision, handling the stakeholders, addressing the risks, and successfully…

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Project Management in International Development

Looking for a challenge? Try managing a project whose stakeholders represent a cross section of cultures, languages, and even governments; where funding can come from multiple sources, often many steps removed, physically and culturally, from…

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Looking Ahead

This is a compilation of some of the earliest PM Point of View episodes, covering new directions in Project Management. Robert Brese, former CIO of the Department of Energy, talks about risk and what he looks for in a Project Manager. John…

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Influencers Part V – Teamwork

Project Management is a team sport; projects are rarely implemented by a single individual. But the minute you bring two, three, not to mention fifty or hundreds of team members together, you open yourself up a range of potential group dynamics…

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Influencers Part IV – Quality

Quality is difficult to define, so how can you guarantee that your project will result in a quality outcome? There are tools you can use and steps Project Managers can take to ensure quality results. Clearly define quality expectations up front,…

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Systems Engineering

Our PM methods face stress in the face of projects that are related to research and development…where systems engineering is the key discipline is needed. The focus is on the requirements that change, that the project scope is unstable, as…

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PM Point of View #37: Influencers Part III – Construction

“Projects are the machine that turns the investment into value…I don’t think we are in a shortage of money in the world, but a shortage of good ideas and of people making those ideas a reality.” Just one of the excellent quotes from the…

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Influencers in PM: Risk

 

Risk is an organizational problem that reaches into our ability to make sound business decisions. We should think of stakeholders (and activating them to be positive and helpful), remember to check assumptions, and recognize that risks…

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Cultural Resources Management

Saving Priceless History! From cracks in the US Capitol Dome, to the dirt of Idaho, to the empty shelves of the Iraq Museum, experts protect the artifacts of our society. These artifacts are an important element of maintaining the lessons of who…

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High Impact Community Leaders

Leaders ask the hard questions, the ones others don’t; and they push to get constructive results.  And they do this will elevating others to be at their best, making not just a difference, but a continuous difference, by coalescing people around…

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Security

Security issues are everywhere, and it turns out, it’s a lot of projects and there is a need for both the PM discipline and PMs.

From Law Enforcement, to National Security, to the world of private security, issues of scope, schedule, risk and…

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PM in Outer Space

You’ve seen the movies: satellite imagery tracking the perfect storm, a landing on Mars, scientists peering into scary Deep Space.

Now hear the professionals on this episode that actually manage, the real activities that puts humankind into…

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Advances in Project Management Part 3: The Organization Leans In

Projects exist within the context and value requirements of their organizations. This episode looks at three angles the organization can (should!) take to get the right projects designed for the strategy set by executives and the organization as a…

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PM in the Federal Government: Navigating Complexity

PM, it’s everywhere, and one of the most interesting places to find it is in the US Federal Government. As one of the largest project-generating bodies in the world (just look at the budget!), the Government faces challenges related to size and…

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Influencers – Part 1: New Perspectives

PMs are often the product of their education—their technical education of how to handle the 10 knowledge areas and perform the activities required to maintain sound processes.

Sadly, that’s not enough to show real value in the discipline, but…

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Spies Like Them: Project Management in Intelligence

US intelligence operations and analysis has a long history with the project management discipline, and the Central Intelligence Agency has purposefully implemented rigorous organizational level project management techniques. Beyond missions and…

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Advances in PM Part II: Beyond the PMBOK® Guide

In Advances in Project Management Part I we looked at how PMs are really investment managers. In this episode we extend the discussion to look at techniques in getting the value achieved.

From risk-based analysis of the WBS to determine the…

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Military Transition – Joining the Ranks of Project Management

From POG to PM (yes, you have to listen to figure that out!), it’s the PM Point of View podcast, looking at how leaders in project management are putting together the ideas, activities, and chapter board support to serve those who have served…

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Advances in PM Part I: Value

Heads down on getting things done, project managers often forget (or are left in the dark about) the underlying purpose the projects they are assigned.

Even more, they are rarely told of the value of the project.

Projects are investments. PMs…

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Proof

Nazis in Austria, Moral Courage around the world, and the Supreme Court here in the US – all parts of a story on Proof and the project management needed to make it, share it, and bring forward into a context we can use.

In this episode of the…

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Project Failure!

We asked for examples of project failure and we got an earful from participants of the PMIWDC 2015 PM Symposium.

From the realities of Federal Government Health Care and IT systems, to the business environments of regional theatre and Role…

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Connections

Listen to our three experts give their recommendations on how to build connections, ways to approach networking and how to use LinkedIn well beyond its “job hunting” capacity. Ultimately, making connections, doing the work of planning for…

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America Counts: The US Census

Featuring Lisa Blumerman, the U.S. Census Bureau’s Associate Director for the Decennial Census Programs, this episode takes us on a tour of the portfolio of projects that lead up to the US Census, conducted every ten years. Harnessing the power of…

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Hot Topics from the PMI Silver Spring Symposium

We present a snapshot of some of the most representative speakers and topics from the Silver Spring Chapter’s “Actionable Intelligence: Tools, Techniques and Templates for Project Managers” symposium in June of 2015.

With a field of 30…

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