Project Management Happy Hour
by Kim Essendrup and Kate Anderson
PM Happy Hour is the place for frank and honest discussion about real world issues in project management. We do it in a way that's not too dry, though it may get a bit salty from time to time.Each episode, your hosts Kim Essendrup and Kate Anderson cover a problem faced in project management today, and share practical advice, real-life examples and the occasional project horror story.Not only that, but every podcast is also an online class! Our host is a PMI Registered Education Provider, who has structured each podcast as an easy-to-listen-to lesson. To get credit, go to our web site at PMHappyHour.com, purchase your class, take the test (based on the content from our podcast) and you get your PDU certificate instantly!
Episodes
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134: How to Land a $300k PM Role in 2026 with Mukhtar Kadiri
What if the reason your project management job search is stalling has nothing to do with your skills? On average, about 300 people apply to a single opening, and the odds of being the one who gets the offer are slim. In that market, strong project leadership isn't enough. Landing a six-figure...
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133: The Introvert's guide to Communication for Project Managers
Why "over-communicating" isn't about saying more — it's about knowing exactly what your stakeholders need to hear, and when. What happens when a project manager goes silent? According to this episode of Project Management Happy Hour, nothing good. Left in an information vacuum, stakeholders don't...
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132: Why Your Most Supportive Stakeholder is Ruining your Project, with Dawn Mahan
Projects rarely fail from a lack of templates — they fail because of people. Author Dawn Mahan reveals the animal avatars that help you spot the cheerleader, the finicky fan, and the saboteur before one of them bites you in the ankle. Why do projects really fail? Not, as guest Dawn Mahan argues,...
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131: Don't be the PM everyone hates, with Rachel Losser
Your worst project management habit might also be your superpower — the trick is knowing which one you're wielding, and when. What actually separates a great project manager from the one everyone dreads seeing on their calendar? It's rarely a certification or a prettier Gantt chart — it's…
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130: Rigged bids, fake deadlines, and going 181x over budget
A $6.9 million estimate. A $1.25 billion catastrophe. How fake deadlines, a rigged bid, and a steering committee allergic to bad news turned a routine payroll migration into one of the biggest project disasters in Australian history. What happens when project leadership treats risk management as...
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129: How Credibility Starts with Curiosity, with Noel Nicole Ransom
Why do perfectly logical, well-researched project plans still fail to win people over? It's one of the most frustrating forms of project failure—not a broken schedule or a blown budget, but a smart solution that nobody trusts. Kim and Kate dig into that exact problem, exploring decision-making,...
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128: Your project can't possibly be as bad as working for Mr Beast, Part 2
Ever worked on a project that felt like a complete disaster... only for leadership to call it a huge success? In Part 2 of our Mr. Beast series, Kim and Kate dig into the reported chaos behind Beast Games—from weather disasters and safety concerns to unhappy contestants, lawsuits, and production...
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127: Your project can't possibly be as bad as working for Mr Beast, Part 1
Ever worked with a stakeholder who changes direction faster than your project plan can keep up? Then this episode may feel a little too familiar. Kim and Kate dive into the rise of Mr. Beast and the making of Beast Games through a project management lens—not to critique content creation, but to...
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126: "What's your AI Strategy?" Handling the Executive who wants AI in everything
You know the moment. Your project plan is solid. The scope is defined. The team is ready. Then an executive walks by and casually asks: "Can we just make this AI?" Suddenly you're no longer managing a project. You're managing expectations, buzzwords, corporate excitement, and whatever article...
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125: How to survive the AI landscape as a PM with PMI's Dr Kelly Heuer
AI is changing work fast enough to give every project manager emotional whiplash. New tools, new workflows, new expectations… and somehow you're still expected to hit deadlines, manage stakeholders, and explain for the fifth time why the project scope changed after leadership changed the entire...
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124: Drowning in Tasks: How Successful PMs Organize the Chaos
If your to-do list is 47 items long, your Slack won't shut up, and you ended the day thinking, "Cool… but what did I actually accomplish?"—welcome. You're among friends. In this episode, Kim and Kate take on the very real, very unsexy side of project management: figuring out how to manage your…
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123 - Hungry Hungry HPPOs - managing loud personalities with Evan Unger
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 episode is for you. Today, we're joined by facilitation expert Evan Unger to talk about a topic that Kate and Kim geek out over: meetings....
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122 - Kate puts Kim through the worst meeting hells our listeners could dream up: a PM HappyHour role play
Boss fights and boardrooms. Kate puts Kim through meeting hell in this tabletop roleplay episode. Kate: "Help me torture Kim." That was the prompt. What followed was a meeting dungeon built from listener-submitted horror stories, tabletop chaos, and the exact kinds of project meetings that make...
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121 - Top Shelf Replay: Embracing the Escalation
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 Top Shelf Replay of Project Management Happy Hour, we revisit the classic episode "Embracing De-escalation," exploring how savvy project managers…
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120 - How smart teams talk themselves into Failure, with Dr. Bill Brantley
Why do smart teams still deliver failed projects? Most project failures don't begin with a catastrophic mistake. Instead, they begin with small deviations—minor compromises that seem harmless in the moment. A warning sign gets ignored. A shortcut becomes acceptable. A risk is acknowledged but...
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119 - TSR: They told me I'm 'too nice'??
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 revisit "They Told Me I'm Too Nice" and break down what that kind of vague feedback is really doing (sometimes gendered, almost always inactionable)…
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118 - PM Turf Wars: Sharing your projects with other Project Managers
"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 project. Very often, you aren't the "one PM to rule them all" on your project - you may have other PMs involved that you need to work with. But how…
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117 - Top Shelf Replay: Say No by Saying Yes
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, executive, or important customer—just saying no often isn't productive, strategic, or even possible. In this Top Shelf Replay episode of Project Management...
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116 - How to quit your job and completely fail as a PM contractor
Thinking about going contractor? Kate and Kim share how they each left corporate and made the leap—two very different stories (burnout vs acting early) with the same core truth: contracting is built on relationships, reputation, and value… not job boards and commodity rates. We cover how to know…
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115 - Top Shelf Replay: Trust Bricks
As project managers, we spend a lot of time talking about tools, processes, and delivery frameworks—but far less time talking about the invisible structure that holds projects together: trust. In this Top Shelf Replay episode of Project Management Happy Hour, Kim Essendrup and Kate Anderson…
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114 - Happy Hour Chatter: What PMs Really Do, Fear in Decision-Making, and Lessons from Going solo
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 way, and the insights sneak up on you. This one covers three big themes that hit close to home for project managers, leaders, and anyone who's ever…
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113 - Top Shelf Replay: Stage direction in the boardroom
What happens when you drop a senior project manager into a room full of attorneys, tribal leaders, political operators, and massive personalities? In this Top Shelf Replay, Kate & Kim revisit one of the most beloved—and re-listened—episodes in PM Happy Hour history: "Stage Direction in the...
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112 - Burnout: when a 500k job isn't worth it, with Norlander Wilson
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. Kim's clue was a rotating cycle of stomach aches and "maybe these aren't panic attacks but the room is definitely spinning." And our guest, Norlander...
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111 - Top Shelf Replay: How do you start a hard conversation?
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 all-time favorite: Crucial Conversations by the team at VitalSmarts (now Crucial Learning). This book completely changed how they lead, negotiate, and...
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110 - Are you defining project success wrong? Most PM's do! With PMI's Dave Garrett
Are you defining project success the wrong way? Most project managers are — at least according to PMI's Dave Garrett. Project Management Happy Hour hosts Kim Essendrup and Kate Anderson sit down with Dave — Senior Advisor at the Project Management Institute (PMI) and co-founder of...
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109 - Top Shelf Replay: The Wolf - how to take over broken projects
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, Kim and Kate revisit one of our most popular episodes—now a PMI Global talk! —and break down how to step in, take charge, and rescue a broken…
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108 - Why Risk Management? Future You Will Thank You
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—and the answer might just save your future self a world of pain. You'll hear: Hard-hitting stats: 1 in 6 projects go 200% over budget (Harvard...
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107 - Top Shelf Replay: The Closer - Avoiding Project Acceptance Exception
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 another Top Shelf Replay, Kate and Kim revisit one of their classic past episodes, "The Closer." We play highlights from the original Closer episode as...
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106 - Finish Strong: Why the End of Your Project Matters Most
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 Anderson unpack why finishing strong is critical to your reputation and your project's legacy. Drawing on real project stories, they explore the axiom that...
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105 - Top Shelf Replay: How to Deal with Stupid Executive Asks
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: "The project's almost done—let's change everything!" "I read about [X] in CIO Magazine—can we bolt that on?" "Why are we doing it this way? Let's...
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104 - The one meeting that will make or break your project
"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 they know what they want, and maybe the team thinks they know what they are supposed to do. Or maybe they are just wondering, "what the heck is this new...
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103 - Lessons not Learned: State of Maine HR System Project Debacle
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...
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102 - Kim's first day working for the Empire: Kate runs another Project Management role-play
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...
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101 - The Project Behind: Not Impossible Labs with Mick Ebeling
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...
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100 - Retrospective: Our 100th Episode
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…
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099 - The Iron Triangle of Getting a PM Job, with PM Career Coach, Kayla Quijas
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...
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098 - Don't Eat the Prickly Pears: Learning how to prioritize with James Louttit
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...
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097 - PMO: Friend or Foe?
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...
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096 - Design thinking: don't take things at face value or you will face plant, with guest Erik Rueter
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...
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095 - The 5 Foundational Behaviors for Developing Informal Authority, with Kory Kogon of Franklin Covey
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…
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094 - Agile vs Waterfall Smack-Down!
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...
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093 - Rising from Tactical PM to Strategic Advisor, with Gregg Richie and Ralph Kliem
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…
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092 - Goblins in the room! Managing meeting misbehaviors, with Rich Maltzman
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...
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091 - The Perfect Status Report: How to measure percent complete
"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...
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090 - How to tell other people what to do
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...
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089 - Reorgs and Restructurings: sailing the waves of organizational change chaos
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...
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088 - The CHAOS Report: Measuring project failure
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...
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087 - Creative decision making: do you have the right 4 voices in the room? with Teresa Lawrence
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…
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086 - The project behind a Disaster Response, with the ITDRC
"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...
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085 - Deciding on how to make good Decisions, with Kandis Porter
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…
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About this show
PM Happy Hour is the place for frank and honest discussion about real world issues in project management. We do it in a way that's not too dry, though it may get a bit salty from time to time.Each episode, your hosts Kim Essendrup and Kate Anderson cover a problem faced in project management today, and share practical advice, real-life examples and the occasional project horror story.Not only that, but every podcast is also an online class! Our host is a PMI Registered Education Provider, who has structured each podcast as an easy-to-listen-to lesson. To get credit, go to our web site at PMHappyHour.com, purchase your class, take the test (based on the content from our podcast) and you get your PDU certificate instantly!
Hosted by
Kim Essendrup and Kate Anderson