PM Point of View
119 episodes - English - Latest episode: 27 days ago - ★★★★★ - 38 ratingsWelcome to Project Management Point-of-View (PM-POV).
This podcast series gives you brief and insightful conversations with PM practitioners in a variety of disciplines.
Host Kendall Lott draws on his experience as a PM, as CEO of M Powered Strategies and as former CEO of PMIWDC to explore how project managers create value in surprising places.
Our guests discuss their unique perspectives on project management, its uses, its challenges, its changes, and its future.
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Episodes
PM Discipline Integration in the Federal Government
April 01, 2024 10:30 - 59 minutes - 53 MBDive 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 pioneering efforts and collaborations aimed at enhancing program and project management disciplines across their respective organizations. Discover the innovative strategies, such as building vibrant communities of practice and leveraging integrate...
Risk and Resilience at the UMD PM Symposium (Revised)
March 16, 2024 02:09 - 58 minutes - 48 MBRisk-- 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 gathered a dynamic trio of experts from diverse backgrounds to share their insights, experiences, and groundbreaking strategies on tackling risks head-on, making your projects more resilient and successful. Joining us from the realms of technology, clinic...
People in Projects at the UMD PM Symposium 2024
February 29, 2024 01:35 - 57 minutes - 47.9 MBHeralding 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, John Eskandar, a seasoned professional in project controls at Exelon and graduate of the UMD PM program, who brings a wealth of experience managing large-scale construction projects and Abbigail Meah-Ali, a manager of construction services at the...
Program Value Management
October 24, 2023 15:12 - 58 minutes - 52.9 MBChallenged 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 obvious is looking at the need for this view point in critical areas such as public health, emergency response and national security. He emphasizes the need to prioritize or sequence projects within a program to optimize the schedule for maximum im...
Asteroids
September 20, 2023 16:00 - 1 hour - 44.9 MBIn 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. As you might guess, the successful implementation of risk management strategies and the importance of technical integrity in the face of schedule pressure is the litmus test of getting these missions completed on time, on budget, and without fail...
Let it Flow, Success without Force
August 08, 2023 21:19 - 1 hour - 51.4 MBIn 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 management (having a signal that our flow is or isn't working). One thing that pops out is the importance of calculating business cases and recognizing growth potential--that becomes the compelling case to get middle management on board with the change...
Getting Out of Our Own Way
June 30, 2023 14:36 - 56 minutes - 47.9 MBThe 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. Once again guest and change management author and guru April Mills comes to us on the topic of change…but this time it isn't how to do it, but how she has seen managers institutionally throw up their own barriers to change even as they try to change...
PM Faceoff: Process vs Principles
May 22, 2023 12:00 - 1 hour - 54.3 MBSo 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 questions. In sum: From the debate between Laura and Crystal, It's clear that project managers should grab the handle. Be a business leader and ask good questions, Embrace risk and change with no exceptions.
Listener Questions Revealed!
April 18, 2023 20:06 - 58 minutes - 51.7 MBElevating 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, and program manager--so we jump on that! Of course, our main theme of its all about value, adding value and understanding projects as investments is once again threaded through the answers. But new things lurk--how do you agile on a fixed-price cont...
UMD PM 4.0 AI & Future for Project Managers
March 23, 2023 19:18 - 59 minutes - 39.5 MBNo 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 importance of maintaining human interaction—turns out its not fear that makes us think “it will never replace us” but rather AI’s limitations in the larger PM discipline. Ah! But what potential magic AI may bring if we use it as augmenting project m...
So you want to Agile
February 22, 2023 17:39 - 53 minutes - 48.7 MBWe 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 experts through a journey of the tensions between customers and vendors and the difficulty in managing communication pathways, budgeting, and the principle-agent problem. Solutions you care about included dedicating teams, synchronizing resources, cap...
Critical Conversations
January 24, 2023 14:30 - 1 hour - 55.7 MBFirst, "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 critical conversations guest is John Hovell on his UMD presentation, "Conversational Leadership: Convening Conversations that Otherwise Wouldn't Happen" where grounded in Gestalt theory, he pushes us to develop conversations that affirmatively support o...
Managing an AI Project
December 21, 2022 14:00 - 1 hour - 55.8 MBOh 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 project management problems to launch an AI solution can be insidious, allowing us to make these scope, schedule and quality errors in unobserved and massive ways. AI solutions may be great, but the project management of AI has potential for tremendous...
Value Integration in Project Management
November 19, 2022 22:08 - 55 minutes - 38.3 MBRecognizing 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 past the traditional WBS to Product Flow Diagramming…which gives you progressive elaboration of the sequencing of work as you define it. Then step up to Value Breakdown Structures to identify total costs of work, including the drag (opportunity) co...
Cognitive PM and Military Planning
October 19, 2022 16:36 - 1 hour - 40.2 MBCompound 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 listeners know, where there is planning ("anticipatory decision-making"), there is the collision with cognitive behavior and neuroscience. Yes, Dr. Josh is back and bringing his colleague (and student of NeuralPlan) Jay Macias of the Joint Special Op...
The Beauty of AHP
September 20, 2022 19:01 - 1 hour - 43.2 MBAnalytical 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 tying decision science to project prioritization, selection and sequencing. Lending focus to executive teams, it helps us focus on what to do and more importantly, what not to do. Value is not an objective thing, and humans aren't great estimator. T...
PM Techniques In Ukraine
August 23, 2022 18:30 - 58 minutes - 43.6 MBGuest 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. As Sergiy concludes, “Project management works, absolutely, in non-standard situations." But let’s not get hung up on outputs, the classic PM premium benchmark. As Sergiy wryly notes, "The project with a good output and no outcome is a nightmare...
Unleash Flow by Taming It…
July 19, 2022 15:05 - 59 minutes - 31.5 MBEpisode 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 Purpose" a key pattern for success, and incidentally, a way of clearing barriers for leaders to have the bandwidth to stay focused. Mirrors and signals, autonomy and spooky action (decisions) at a distance, in the end we need teams to understand wh...
PM Pessimist Optimist Synthesis
June 22, 2022 13:05 - 53 minutes - 28.3 MB[6/10 1:30 PM] Kendall Lott "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 question of value. Products or projects, where is value is driven? Is this about general practices or specific adaptations. Today we have the pessimist view, the optimist view, and surprisingly, we landed at some lea...
Ecosystem Designer
May 16, 2022 14:39 - 1 hour - 23.2 MBPMs 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 Management can actually be effective. From strategy to structure (value streams, teams, roles, constraints) to rewards, we have to get this right to get effective work, and it requires a design. But not design for design's sake, Mike reminds us "to what ...
PM under Duress
April 21, 2022 19:55 - 59 minutes - 22.5 MBPMs 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 applied…really. Touching on the Cynefin decision-model, Critical Chain, risk and stakeholders, the conversation highlights that we PMs can make a difference in the community around us. Listen in and hear current example that gives us insight into wh...
Design Thinking
March 23, 2022 12:55 - 1 hour - 34 MBDesign 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 making faster smarter bets on the direction we should follow. A key takeaway: the first thing you design shouldn't be over designed and should be wrong…our goal is learning what is needed. The evidence is it saves overall design cycle time. Ultimately, ...
Change Management and TOC
February 22, 2022 22:13 - 1 hour - 31 MB"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 organizations are fragile systems, and may be running on consequences and not on relationships. The organization has a sort of physics, and what we see in a lot of change environments is directive, not engagement, and we overcomplicate it--and eve...
Cognitive Behavior
January 29, 2022 22:10 - 1 hour - 26.4 MB"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 do, some of which lead us to wrong conclusions and unhelpful behaviors. As planners and forecasters, our decisions have consequences for others, from executives wanting "the right answer" to colleagues whose performance reviews rely on work, schedu...
Heretical Agile
December 21, 2021 22:42 - 1 hour - 31.7 MBIn 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,” genuine system improvements are generated through transparency and awareness. Rao articulates that Agile is how we make human truths and values—such as openness, empowerment, trust and courage—viable in the workplace. Optimizing the customer experience as...
Project Management Forward from the 2021 UMD Symposium
November 22, 2021 14:00 - 1 hour - 35.2 MBWe 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 behind. In the third episode from our 2021 UMD PM Symposium series, we discuss the role of "Innovation PMs," and how they can effectively manage open-ended, amorphous innovation projects. And Data: how to collect and leverage meaningful data to make better, ...
Where has PM Gone?
October 26, 2021 18:14 - 1 hour - 35.6 MBGuest 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 project management into navigating an ever-changing landscape. Digital PMs often serve as a bridge. Value delivery requires collaboration across all phases and iterations of a life cycle, from product to project to program. The nature of projects ma...
Effective Communication from the 2021 UMD Symposium
September 22, 2021 13:00 - 1 hour - 34.9 MBTransformation 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, and examine ways to avoid them, thereby increasing project & organizational effectiveness. Check out more presentations from the UMD Symposium at https://pmsymposium.umd.edu/pm2021/ Listen, learn, and get a free PDU! PDU Information Use the ...
Product Management and the Toaster
August 26, 2021 14:53 - 1 hour - 31.4 MBA 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 just as trade tensions increase with a main supplier and then pandemic lockdown is as interesting as the intertwining roles the Product Manager and Project Management. A Man, A Mission, Toast…well, really convenience and improved customer experien...
Avoiding Failure from the 2021 UMD Symposium
July 22, 2021 12:29 - 59 minutes - 34.7 MBThe 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 presentations of the 2021 UMD Project Management Symposium - one from a science/engineering angle, the other from construction - plus interviews with the presenters, who offer actionable insights into how you can manage crisis and avoid failure, no...
Expectations and Capacity
June 25, 2021 22:01 - 1 hour - 35 MBKendall 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 the value of trade-offs when faced with new initiatives. Enjoy these topics and more for this segment of PMPOV.
Estimations Oh My!
May 25, 2021 17:06 - 1 hour - 33.2 MBEstimations - 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 our predictions of the future. And yet…they are all magical thinking at worst, and expectations-setting goal posts, ever receding into a distancing horizon, of our slog through projects and communications, at best. And then we report and update, in ...
85. Covid & the Art of Fundraising: A Theatre's Tale
April 23, 2021 12:49 - 59 minutes - 34.4 MBIt 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 date drew near, it became clear that there would be no party. The staff had to come up with Plan B, and they had to do it fast. This is the story of a creative project team, dedicated to their mission. Their clear, agile response provides concrete ...
84. Pandemic at the University
March 22, 2021 13:36 - 59 minutes - 34.7 MBHow 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 university is the University of Houston, Clear Lake. For this virtual round table, three professors reflect on the past year: the response, the challenges, the losses and what will never be the same again. Listen, learn, and get a free PDU! PD...
83. Tips from Behavioral Science
February 22, 2021 13:58 - 1 hour - 35 MBProject 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 in forecasting - defining the scope, budget and schedule of their projects, and then making decisions based on those forecasts. How much do their own biases and neurological wiring play into these processes? We gather three keynote speakers from th...
2021 Update: How to Claim Your PDUs
January 28, 2021 16:49 - 3 minutes - 3.01 MBStarting 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 explanation or read below. And if you have any problems, contact us via our website: www.mpoweredstrategies.com. Thank you for listening. (And for keeping it in scope and getting it done!) UPDATE: Due to changes at PMI’s CCR System, for those cla...
82. View from the C Suite - Part 2
January 21, 2021 14:00 - 59 minutes - 34.7 MBWhere 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 get the scoop directly from a group of executives, representing a wide swath of enterprises. Listen, learn, and get a free PDU! PDU Information Use the following information in PMI’s CCRS system to register the PDUs for this podcast: PDU Cat...
81. Project Teams in a VUCA Context from the 2020 UMD Symposium
December 22, 2020 14:00 - 1 hour - 35 MBCovid-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 episode from our series highlighting presentations from UMD's 2020 Project Management Symposium, we focus on the leadership skills and approaches that are needed in today's volatile, fast-shifting environment. To listen to all the symposium prese...
80. View from the C Suite - Part 1
November 20, 2020 14:00 - 59 minutes - 34.4 MBWhat 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 spectrum of businesses - software, kitchen appliances, construction, defense, etc. - to find out what it is that executives value in their PMs. Listen, learn, and get a free PDU! PDU Information Use the following information in PMI’s CCRS syst...
79. Agile Today from the 2020 UMD Symposium
October 27, 2020 13:00 - 58 minutes - 34 MBScrum 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 Symposium. Listen to highlights from the three presentations, along with follow-up interviews with the presenters. Listen, learn, and get a free PDU! PDU Information Use the following information in PMI’s CCRS system to register the PDUs for this ...
78. Project Perspective: The Bigger Picture
September 23, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 35 MBHow 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 from University of Maryland's 2020 Project Management Symposium describe the pitfalls and offer solutions to both these questions. Richard Wyatt of TIAA talks about "The Project Management of Innovation," and Shane Perkins of Aurelius Group in ...
77. Virtual PM: 2020 and Beyond
August 27, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 34.7 MBEver 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 project environment, tools, and ways of meeting, collaborating and doing business. The possibilities are limitless and a brave new world awaits the Project Manager who is bold enough to seize the opportunities this moment affords. AI, Virtual Reality, m...
76. Culture and Fit from the 2020 UMD Symposium
July 28, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 35 MBThis 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 retain top-notch staff. We also learn about a unique approach to stakeholder management. By observing organizational culture through an ethnographic lens, PMs can detect patterns and probabilities, and address potential gaps before they become seriou...
75. Milestones in History
June 23, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 34.9 MBThe 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 milestones, and adapted as they went along. They communicated effectively and strategically. They were alert to risks and responded swiftly and decisively. In this episode we hear from two project managers who have studied these historic events throug...
74. Seizing Opportunity
May 22, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 34.8 MBAn 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 culture, as well as the broader strategic purpose behind the project. In this episode, three experienced PMs discuss effective communications strategies, the benefits of establishing a PMO (Project Management Office) within an organization, and the I...
73. Productivity
April 23, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 34.9 MBAccording to research and reports such as the Chaos report, the success rate for projects is far from great. Despite all the methods, tools and lessons learned, we seem to be in a holding pattern vis-a-vis increasing the success rate. This episode of PM Point of View® tackles this issue, with some specific approaches and techniques that can help Project Managers get more bang for their project, and increase productivity. Listen, learn, and get a free PDU! PDU Information Use the followi...
72. Teamraising
March 25, 2020 13:00 - 1 hour - 34.9 MBIf 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 groom those with leadership potential, and guide them through the training and experiences they need to get to the next level. In this podcast, experts discuss the ways organizations can and should address these issues, thus enabling greater success ...
71. The Art of Negotiation
February 24, 2020 14:00 - 1 hour - 34.9 MBPMs 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, the more fluidly your project will run, and the more effective your outcomes will be. If done well, the resolution will yield more than either party anticipated. Three experts discuss the approaches, strategies and tools to enhance your negotiation...
Marketing, Branding and Strategic Survival
January 22, 2020 14:00 - 59 minutes - 34.5 MBWhen 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 connected and staying relevant. PMs are well positioned to evaluate external perceptions as well as pick up on internal cues that can be indicators of the overall health of an organization. As you will learn in this episode of PM Point of View®, th...
70. Marketing, Branding and Strategic Survival
January 22, 2020 14:00 - 59 minutes - 34.5 MBWhen 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 connected and staying relevant. PMs are well positioned to evaluate external perceptions as well as pick up on internal cues that can be indicators of the overall health of an organization. As you will learn in this episode of PM Point of View®, th...