Best Final Milestone Productions Podcasts (2024)

1
PM Discipline Integration in the Federal Government 59:27

4M ago59:27

59:27

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 pioneering efforts and collaborations aimed at enhancing program and project management disciplines acr…

1
Risk and Resilience at the UMD PM Symposium (Revised) 58:47

5M ago58:47

58:47

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 gathered a dynamic trio of experts from diverse backgrounds to share their insights, experiences, and groundbrea…

1
People in Projects at the UMD PM Symposium 2024 57:16

5M ago57:16

57:16

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, John Eskandar, a seasoned professional in project controls at Exelon and graduate of the UMD PM prog…

1
Program Value Management 58:53

10M ago58:53

58:53

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 obvious is looking at the need for this view point in critical areas such as public health, emergency …

1
Asteroids 1:00:16

11M ago1:00:16

1:00:16

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. As you might guess, the successful implementation of risk management strategies and the importance of…

1
Let it Flow, Success without Force 1:00:44

1y ago1:00:44

1:00:44

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 management (having a signal that our flow is or isn't working). One thing that pops out is the importance …

1
Getting Out of Our Own Way 56:18

1y ago56:18

56:18

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. Once again guest and change management author and guru April Mills comes to us on the topic of change…but…

1
PM Faceoff: Process vs Principles 1:01:05

1y ago1:01:05

1:01:05

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 questions. In sum: From the debate between Laura and Crystal,It's clear that project managers should grab the han…

1
Listener Questions Revealed! 58:00

1+ y ago58:00

58:00

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, and program manager--so we jump on that! Of course, our main theme of its all about value, adding value…

1
UMD PM 4.0 AI & Future for Project Managers 59:55

1+ y ago59:55

59:55

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 importance of maintaining human interaction—turns out its not fear that makes us think “it will never r…

1
So you want to Agile 53:59

1+ y ago53:59

53:59

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 experts through a journey of the tensions between customers and vendors and the difficulty in managing com…

1
Critical Conversations 1:01:51

1+ y ago1:01:51

1:01:51

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 critical conversations guest is John Hovell on his UMD presentation, "Conversational Leadership: Convening C…

1
Managing an AI Project 1:01:34

1+ y ago1:01:34

1:01:34

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 project management problems to launch an AI solution can be insidious, allowing us to make these scope, sched…

1
Value Integration in Project Management 55:24

1+ y ago55:24

55:24

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 past the traditional WBS to Product Flow Diagramming…which gives you progressive elaboration of the seq…

1
Cognitive PM and Military Planning 1:00:37

2y ago1:00:37

1:00:37

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 listeners know, where there is planning ("anticipatory decision-making"), there is the collision with co…

1
The Beauty of AHP 1:04:57

2y ago1:04:57

1:04:57

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 tying decision science to project prioritization, selection and sequencing. Lending focus to executive t…

1
PM Techniques In Ukraine 58:26

2y ago58:26

58:26

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. As Sergiy concludes, “Project management works, absolutely, in non-standard situations." But let’s n…

1
Unleash Flow by Taming It… 59:25

2y ago59:25

59:25

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 Purpose" a key pattern for success, and incidentally, a way of clearing barriers for leaders to have the…

1
PM Pessimist Optimist Synthesis 53:46

2y ago53:46

53:46

[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 ab…

1
Ecosystem Designer 1:01:15

2y ago1:01:15

1:01:15

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 Management can actually be effective. From strategy to structure (value streams, teams, roles, constraints) t…

1
PM under Duress 59:39

2+ y ago59:39

59:39

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 applied…really. Touching on the Cynefin decision-model, Critical Chain, risk and stakeholders, the conv…

1
Design Thinking 1:02:34

2+ y ago1:02:34

1:02:34

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 making faster smarter bets on the direction we should follow. A key takeaway: the first thing you design sh…

1
Change Management and TOC 1:00:49

2+ y ago1:00:49

1:00:49

"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 …

1
Cognitive Behavior 1:05:32

2+ y ago1:05:32

1:05:32

"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, o…

1
Heretical Agile 1:01:00

2+ y ago1:01:00

1:01:00

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,” genuine system improvements are generated through transparency and awareness. Rao articulates that Agile is h…

1
Project Management Forward from the 2021 UMD Symposium 1:00:46

2+ y ago1:00:46

1:00:46

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 behind. In the third episode from our 2021 UMD PM Symposium series, we discuss the role of "Innovation PMs," and h…

1
Where has PM Gone? 1:06:26

3y ago1:06:26

1:06:26

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 project management into navigating an ever-changing landscape. Digital PMs often serve as a bridge. Val…

1
Effective Communication from the 2021 UMD Symposium 1:00:17

3y ago1:00:17

1:00:17

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, and examine ways to avoid them, thereby increasing project & organizational effectiveness. Check out more pr…

1
Product Management and the Toaster 1:02:05

3y ago1:02:05

1:02:05

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 just as trade tensions increase with a main supplier and then pandemic lockdown is as interesting as …

1
Avoiding Failure from the 2021 UMD Symposium 59:58

3y ago59:58

59:58

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 presentations of the 2021 UMD Project Management Symposium - one from a science/engineering angle, the…

1
Expectations and Capacity 1:05:15

3y ago1:05:15

1:05:15

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 the value of trade-offs when faced with new initiatives. Enjoy these topics and more for this segment o…

1
Estimations Oh My! 1:03:10

3y ago1:03:10

1:03:10

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 our predictions of the future. And yet…they are all magical thinking at worst, and expectations-setting…

1
85. Covid & the Art of Fundraising: A Theatre's Tale 59:30

3+ y ago59:30

59:30

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 date drew near, it became clear that there would be no party. The staff had to come up with Plan B, and…

1
84. Pandemic at the University 59:54

3+ y ago59:54

59:54

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 university is the University of Houston, Clear Lake. For this virtual round table, three professors r…

1
83. Tips from Behavioral Science 1:00:25

3+ y ago1:00:25

1:00:25

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 in forecasting - defining the scope, budget and schedule of their projects, and then making decisions …

1
2021 Update: How to Claim Your PDUs 3:08

3+ y ago3:08

3:08

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 explanation or read below. And if you have any problems, contact us via our website: www.mpoweredstrate…

1
82. View from the C Suite - Part 2 59:53

3+ y ago59:53

59:53

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 get the scoop directly from a group of executives, representing a wide swath of enterprises. Listen, l…

1
81. Project Teams in a VUCA Context from the 2020 UMD Symposium 1:00:29

3+ y ago1:00:29

1:00:29

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 episode from our series highlighting presentations from UMD's 2020 Project Management Symposium, we foc…

1
80. View from the C Suite - Part 1 59:29

3+ y ago59:29

59:29

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 spectrum of businesses - software, kitchen appliances, construction, defense, etc. - to find out what …

1
79. Agile Today from the 2020 UMD Symposium 58:42

4y ago58:42

58:42

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 Symposium. Listen to highlights from the three presentations, along with follow-up interviews with the pres…

1
78. Project Perspective: The Bigger Picture 1:00:28

4y ago1:00:28

1:00:28

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 from University of Maryland's 2020 Project Management Symposium describe the pitfalls and offer solutio…

1
77. Virtual PM: 2020 and Beyond 1:00:02

4y ago1:00:02

1:00:02

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 project environment, tools, and ways of meeting, collaborating and doing business. The possibilities are li…

1
76. Culture and Fit from the 2020 UMD Symposium 1:00:34

4y ago1:00:34

1:00:34

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 retain top-notch staff. We also learn about a unique approach to stakeholder management. By observing orga…

1
75. Milestones in History 1:00:16

4y ago1:00:16

1:00:16

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 milestones, and adapted as they went along. They communicated effectively and strategically. They were al…

1
74. Seizing Opportunity 1:00:08

4y ago1:00:08

1:00:08

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 culture, as well as the broader strategic purpose behind the project. In this episode, three experienced PM…

1
73. Productivity 1:00:21

4+ y ago1:00:21

1:00:21

According 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 Pr…

1
72. Teamraising 1:00:21

4+ y ago1:00:21

1:00:21

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 groom those with leadership potential, and guide them through the training and experiences they need to …

1
71. The Art of Negotiation 1:00:20

4+ y ago1:00:20

1:00:20

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, the more fluidly your project will run, and the more effective your outcomes will be. If done well, th…

1
70. Marketing, Branding and Strategic Survival 59:33

4+ y ago59:33

59:33

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 connected and staying relevant. PMs are well positioned to evaluate external perceptions as well as pick…

1
69. Neuroscience in Project Management 59:51

4+ y ago59:51

59:51

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 account variations in wiring of each individual), the more efficient it will be. In this episode of PM…

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