Best Programmanagement Podcasts (2025)

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103 - Lessons not Learned: State of Maine HR System Project Debacle 51:22

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13 days ago51:22

51:22

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 wound up with six years, two vendors, and ± $35 M spent—with no live system to show for it. (Psst—Love this kind of real‑world PM talk? Join our member community for templates, monthly problem‑solving Happy Hour…

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102 - Kim's first day working for the Empire: Kate runs another Project Management role-play 40:34

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about a year ago40:34

40:34

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 project manager working on a secret government project for the Empire. As he shows up, he finds that his predecessor… well, let’s just say he didn’t get-on well with his exec sponsor. Kim’s new project i…

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101 - The Project Behind: Not Impossible Labs with Mick Ebeling 50:05

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about a year ago50:05

50:05

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 Not Impossible Labs, joins us to share how he turned a bold promise into world-changing innovation. From helping a paralyzed graffiti artist create art again to launching life-changing tech solutions,…

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100 - Retrospective: Our 100th Episode 52:10

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about a year ago52:10

52:10

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 decided to do this crazy podcast, to our highlights, lessons, and favorite episodes. We are so filled with gratitude for our amazing community who have supported us these 100 episodes, and the many incr…

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099 - The Iron Triangle of Getting a PM Job, with PM Career Coach, Kayla Quijas 1:00:37

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about a year ago1:00:37

1:00:37

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 mobility, but it sure seems like change has been accelerating the last couple years. And if you are in the hunt for a job right now, it can feel like the market is harder than ever! So what do you do? F…

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098 - Don’t Eat the Prickly Pears: Learning how to prioritize with James Louttit 52:53

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about a year ago52:53

52:53

As a professional in today’s working environment, you are constantly bombarded by things that demand your attention, your action, the very limited moments in your finite life. (wow, heavy). OK, so there are infinite demands on our time, but finite time. How do we balance those? SWOT analysis?! Of course not! To help us understand how to effectively…

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097 - PMO: Friend or Foe? 1:05:37

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about a year ago1:05:37

1:05:37

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 project manager, an organizational structure that will have a big impact on your life is the PMO. But if you aren’t used to working with a PMO, what should you expect? Are they going to make your life and pro…

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096 - Design thinking: don’t take things at face value or you will face plant, with guest Erik Rueter 1:03:22

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about a year ago1:03:22

1:03:22

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 is a methodology that focuses on the end users of a system when we are problem solving. Erik will share 5 different design thinking methods for understanding user needs in a way that not only helps you…

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095 - The 5 Foundational Behaviors for Developing Informal Authority, with Kory Kogon of Franklin Covey 1:11:56

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about a year ago1:11:56

1:11:56

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 leadership won’t come with an official title. So, if we are not ‘officially’ project managers, how are we supposed to lead the project? There are a lot of answers to this question, but one approach all …

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094 - Agile vs Waterfall Smack-Down! 1:11:10

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about a year ago1:11:10

1:11:10

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 t…

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093 - Rising from Tactical PM to Strategic Advisor, with Gregg Richie and Ralph Kliem 1:08:33

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about a year ago1:08:33

1:08:33

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 start. Or you can be a strategic part of the leadership team, recognized for your ability to help executives make their vision a reality. So, how do you develop yourself from tactical implementer to stra…

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092 - Goblins in the room! Managing meeting misbehaviors, with Rich Maltzman 1:01:45

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about a year ago1:01:45

1:01:45

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…

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091 - The Perfect Status Report: How to measure percent complete 47:07

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about a year ago47:07

47:07

“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 with your team, and to build rapport and engagement with stakeholders. But it’s also something we often take for granted. In this episode, Kate and Kim talk about how to approach status reporting whether y…

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090 - How to tell other people what to do 42:35

2 years ago42:35

42:35

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 accomplish a task, solve a problem, or create a new deliverable. And by definition, this is a unique task - so it hasn’t been done before, at least not in this way, for these stakeholders. In among the…

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089 - Reorgs and Restructurings: sailing the waves of organizational change chaos 47:04

2 years ago47:04

47:04

It can be hard getting a project started correctly: getting the right executive and stakeholder sponsorship and support, getting them all to agree on the scope and approach, getting funding, approvals, and all the other things required to get a project off the ground. You negotiate with other departments and get committed resource assignments and t…

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088 - The CHAOS Report: Measuring project failure 41:07

2 years ago41:07

41:07

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, customer dissatisfaction - it seems sometimes like projects miss the mark more often than they hit it. But why is that? What can we learn from all those past projects that can help us make future proj…

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087 - Creative decision making: do you have the right 4 voices in the room? with Teresa Lawrence 1:08:40

2 years ago1:08:40

1:08:40

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. Do you have these voices in the room when you make decisions? Do you know when you need all 4 voices - or only a couple specific ones? We are joined today by Teresa Lawrence who gave one of the most …

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086 - The project behind a Disaster Response, with the ITDRC 46:12

2 years ago46:12

46:12

“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 we depend on every day: shelter, fresh water, food distribution, and power. These are the ones we think about. But what about communication? How do relief agencies, police, fire, and government coordi…

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085 - Deciding on how to make good Decisions, with Kandis Porter 1:05:40

2 years ago1:05:40

1:05:40

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 / phase gates and ad-hoc decisions that happen throughout the entire life of our project. And if you’ve been around long enough, you know that one bad decision can sink your whole project - or at least …

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084 - OH, We Forgot About Change Management! What to do when you get caught with your ADKAR down, with Tim Creasey 1:00:15

2 years ago1:00:15

1:00:15

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 really didn’t consider Change Management enough in your planning cycle. It’s such a universal experience of a project manager to not have change management, and so many of us end up in these situations w…

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083 - The 30 Minute Executive Meeting: Make it count 1:00:42

2 years ago1:00:42

1:00:42

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 listeners, you may be new to executive meetings. But, how do you get the most out of these meetings and give a good impression so you can get the confidence of your executive sponsors? It’s something we ALL …

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082 - The Project Behind a Tech Startup, with Pete Bernardo from Punchlist 56:13

3 years ago56:13

56:13

Tech startups drive the technology around us, and a good bit of the economy. They use creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit to solve problems and build the world of tomorrow. But how do they do that? Is it really like the “Shark Tank” or “Dragon’s Den” tv shows? Today we are joined by a real-life tech founder who has successfully built h…

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081 - The Project Behind an Emergency Covid Vaccination Site, with Aaron Bellinger, PMP 46:06

3 years ago46:06

46:06

When the first Covid vaccinations were released, massive vaccination sites were launched, seemingly overnight, to vaccinate millions of people. If you volunteered or were vaccinated at one of these sites, you may have witnessed how huge, sophisticated and well run these sites were. But how did they do that? How (and who) planned, organized, stood u…

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080 - First PM on the Beach: How to succeed when you are the first Project Manager in your organization 42:15

3 years ago42:15

42:15

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 find themselves in a position where they are the first project manager in their organization. Whether you are a newbie or an experienced pro, this will be a challenge. The organization probably has a…

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079 - Welcome to the Dungeon! Kate and Kim do Project Management RPG (D&D) 56:37

3 years ago56:37

56:37

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 not your usual PMHH episode, and DEFINITELY not your typical PM podcast. So, if you are looking for something serious and academic, this episode is not the one for you. Kate will be your dungeon master …

Programmanagement Podcasts

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Project Management Happy Hour

Kim Essendrup and Kate Anderson

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103 - Lessons not Learned: State of Maine HR System Project Debacle 51:22

1
102 - Kim's first day working for the Empire: Kate runs another Project Management role-play 40:34

1
101 - The Project Behind: Not Impossible Labs with Mick Ebeling 50:05

1
100 - Retrospective: Our 100th Episode 52:10

1
099 - The Iron Triangle of Getting a PM Job, with PM Career Coach, Kayla Quijas 1:00:37

1
098 - Don’t Eat the Prickly Pears: Learning how to prioritize with James Louttit 52:53

1
097 - PMO: Friend or Foe? 1:05:37

1
096 - Design thinking: don’t take things at face value or you will face plant, with guest Erik Rueter 1:03:22

1
095 - The 5 Foundational Behaviors for Developing Informal Authority, with Kory Kogon of Franklin Covey 1:11:56

1
094 - Agile vs Waterfall Smack-Down! 1:11:10

1
093 - Rising from Tactical PM to Strategic Advisor, with Gregg Richie and Ralph Kliem 1:08:33

1
092 - Goblins in the room! Managing meeting misbehaviors, with Rich Maltzman 1:01:45

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091 - The Perfect Status Report: How to measure percent complete 47:07

1
090 - How to tell other people what to do 42:35

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089 - Reorgs and Restructurings: sailing the waves of organizational change chaos 47:04

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088 - The CHAOS Report: Measuring project failure 41:07

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087 - Creative decision making: do you have the right 4 voices in the room? with Teresa Lawrence 1:08:40

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086 - The project behind a Disaster Response, with the ITDRC 46:12

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085 - Deciding on how to make good Decisions, with Kandis Porter 1:05:40

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084 - OH, We Forgot About Change Management! What to do when you get caught with your ADKAR down, with Tim Creasey 1:00:15

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083 - The 30 Minute Executive Meeting: Make it count 1:00:42

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082 - The Project Behind a Tech Startup, with Pete Bernardo from Punchlist 56:13

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081 - The Project Behind an Emergency Covid Vaccination Site, with Aaron Bellinger, PMP 46:06

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080 - First PM on the Beach: How to succeed when you are the first Project Manager in your organization 42:15

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079 - Welcome to the Dungeon! Kate and Kim do Project Management RPG (D&D) 56:37