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Project Management Happy Hour

Project Management Happy Hour

By: Kim Essendrup and Kate Anderson
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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!2026 | Project Management Happy Hour, LLC. Career Success Economics
Episodes
  • 125: How to survive the AI landscape as a PM with PMI's Dr Kelly Heuer

    125: How to survive the AI landscape as a PM with PMI's Dr Kelly Heuer
    May 20 2026
    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 business strategy. In this episode, Kim and Kate sit down with Kelly Heuer from Project Management Institute to talk about the skills that actually survive industry shifts, changing technology, and whatever shiny new buzzword LinkedIn is obsessed with this week. They unpack why "soft skills" are actually the hardest skills in project management, how business acumen separates strategic PMs from task trackers, and why learning to navigate ambiguity matters more now than memorizing formulas from the PMP exam. The conversation also dives into the uncomfortable reality that project success is rarely about perfectly following the original plan. Sometimes the real job is realizing the plan should change in the first place. Along the way, they cover durable vs. perishable skills, why varied career experience is secretly a superpower, how PMs can become more effective strategic partners, and why "say the thing" might be the most important career advice you'll hear all year. Grab a drink, question your project charter, and let's get into it. Guest Bio As Vice President of Learning at the Project Management Institute (PMI), Dr. Kelly Heuer brings over two decades of experience in higher education to lead PMI's Learning division. She oversees a global portfolio including professional standards, publications, live and enterprise training, and digital learning products that equip project professionals worldwide to drive project success. Kelly holds multiple degrees in philosophy, including an AB from Harvard and an MA and PhD from Georgetown University. She began her career at Georgetown, helping launch the university's first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in bioethics and co-founding its ethics and social innovation lab. She most recently served as Vice President of Learning Experience at edX, driving learning strategies and digital innovation across the company's portfolio. As the first in her family to pursue higher education, Kelly is passionate about mentoring first-generation students, coaching formerly incarcerated individuals, and supporting colleagues exploring alternative career paths. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner, Arjun, and their two children, chess enthusiast Kiran and aspiring explorer Ryan. 🎙️ Quotes from the Episode "If you're thinking the thing, if you're wondering the thing, if you're confused about the thing, say the thing." — Kelly "Human skills are more important than artificial intelligence skills." — Kate "Soft skills are the hardest part of project management." — Kate "Comfort with ambiguity. It's acknowledging change as a constant, not as something you're going to design around or manage your way away from." — Kelly 📌 Key Concepts & Takeaways Durable Skills vs. Perishable Skills Technical skills expire faster than most PMs want to admit. Tools change. Platforms die. Entire workflows disappear. But communication, business acumen, stakeholder management, adaptability, and decision-making under uncertainty keep paying dividends across every phase of a career. "Say the Thing" One of the biggest career mistakes is staying quiet because you don't want to sound inexperienced, difficult, or slow the room down. Asking the uncomfortable question early often prevents much bigger problems later. Business Acumen Is the Real Career Multiplier Technical project management skills are still important—but they're table stakes now. The PMs who move into larger, more strategic work understand value, organizational priorities, market shifts, and executive decision-making. Varied Experience Builds Better PMs Working across industries, teams, and business problems creates stronger long-term judgment. Diverse experience teaches pattern recognition, adaptability, and strategic thinking in ways repetitive specialization sometimes doesn't. Learning Happens in the Field Courses, books, and certifications matter—but they're only part of the equation. Real growth happens when people practice skills, make mistakes, reflect, adapt, and try again in live environments. Discussion Highlights One of the strongest threads throughout the conversation was the idea that project managers are being forced to rethink what makes them valuable. Kelly talked about how rapidly technical skills are expiring, referencing research showing that the "half-life" of professional skills has dropped dramatically over time. The implication wasn't that technical knowledge no longer matters—it absolutely does—but that technical expertise alone is no longer enough to sustain a long career. Kate pushed hard on the idea that so-called "soft skills" have always been the hardest part of the job. Not the formulas. Not the ...
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    59 mins
  • 124: Drowning in Tasks: How Successful PMs Organize the Chaos

    124: Drowning in Tasks: How Successful PMs Organize the Chaos
    May 6 2026

    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 own work when everything (and everyone) is demanding your attention.

    This isn't about finding the perfect tool or building a prettier dashboard. It's about surviving—and actually functioning—in an interrupt-driven world where emails breed overnight, notifications multiply, and every task somehow feels urgent.

    They get into what actually works: setting a North Star for your week (yes, only a few priorities), getting tasks out of your brain before they haunt you at 10 PM, and why some tasks are secretly just traps that create even more work (looking at you, boomerang tasks).

    Also: a gentle reality check—you're not supposed to do everything.

    Grab a drink, ignore your inbox for a bit, and let's figure out how to organize the chaos without losing your mind.

    🎙️ Spicy Quotes from the Episode

    On chaos: "If you have no North Star point, the rest of your week is going to feel like chaos." — Kate

    On overwhelm: "The human brain can't really process all of that. We can process having three priorities." — Kate

    On modern work life: "Notifications trying to notify you about notifications." — Kim

    On control: "Manage your tasks—don't let your tasks manage you." — Kim

    On reality: "There has to be things you can stop doing." — Kate


    📌 Key Concepts & Takeaways

    The North Star Rule (a.k.a. calm down, it's not 47 priorities):
    Pick 2–3 things that actually matter this week. Everything else? It either supports those—or it waits.

    Get It Out of Your Head (your brain is not a storage system):
    If you're trying to remember everything, you've already lost. Write it down somewhere reliable so your brain can stop yelling at you.

    Boomerang Tasks (aka "this will take 5 minutes" lies):
    Some tasks look small but come with hidden side quests. Know the difference before you commit.

    Interrupt-Driven Work Is the Default—Act Accordingly:
    You're not bad at focusing. Your environment is designed to destroy it. Filter, batch, and control when you engage.

    Physical Lists Still Work (and no, it's not just nostalgia):
    Sometimes the best productivity hack is using something that doesn't ping, buzz, or open 12 tabs.

    Reflection Beats Hustling Harder:
    End your day or week by asking: what actually mattered? Not what felt urgent—what mattered.

    Not Doing Things Is a Skill:
    You don't need a better system. You probably need fewer things on your list.

    🔗 Links & Resources Mentioned

    PM Happy Hour Website: https://www.pmhappyhour.com
    Scripts & Resources: https://www.pmhappyhour.com/scripts

    Books Mentioned:

    • Essentialism by Greg McKeown

    • Getting Things Done by David Allen

    • Conquer the Chaos by Clate Mask

    Tools Referenced: Notion, Evernote, OneNote, Smartsheet, Jira, Monday
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    57 mins
  • 123 - Hungry Hungry HPPOs - managing loud personalities with Evan Unger

    123 - Hungry Hungry HPPOs - managing loud personalities with Evan Unger
    Apr 14 2026

    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. Specifically, why most of them are terrible, how they drain organizational productivity, and exactly what you can do to fix yours.

    We also tackle one of the most delicate situations in project management: how to handle the HIPPO (Highest Paid Person's Opinion) when they barge into your meeting and try to completely take over the flight controls. Grab a drink, settle in, and let's get into it.

    🎙️ Spicy Quotes from the Episode

    • On owning your time: "If you don't own your calendar, you don't own your life." – Kim

    • On the true cost of bad meetings: "If you're spending 50% of your time in meetings [that are less than 50% effective], you're literally going to spend a year's worth of your life and hours in meetings in under a decade. How organizations tolerate this, I have no idea." – Evan

    • On visibility: "Every meeting is a leadership moment." – Evan

    • On career survival: "We don't want to make hippos wrong because there's career limiting interventions. I mean, let's be honest, they have power and authority over us." – Evan

    • On meeting math: "Nine things on an agenda in a 40-minute meeting is 4.44 minutes per agenda item. That's just not possible. It is better to end early than to run over." – Kate

    📌 Key Concepts & Takeaways

    • The Meeting Metaphor (Flying the Plane): Every meeting needs three phases. Takeoff (getting aligned), the Flight (the process/agenda), and Landing (saving 5-10 minutes at the end to secure next steps and accountability). Do not run out of fuel and crash. Leave time to land the plane.

    • The POPRA Model for Meeting Prep: Don't accept or run meetings without knowing these five things:

      • Purpose: Why are we here?

      • Objectives: What are the specific deliverables or decisions needed?

      • Process: What is the agenda?

      • Roles: Who is the ultimate decision-maker? Who is the SME?

      • Agreements: How will we interact and handle disagreements?

    • The AREA Model for Taming the HIPPO: When a senior leader tries to bulldoze the process:

      • Acknowledge: Validate their right to a point of view without necessarily agreeing.

      • Reframe: Tie the conversation back to the project's purpose or objectives.

      • Engage: Ask neutral questions to open the floor ("Would you be willing to listen to other perspectives on this?")

      • Align: Bring the group's feedback back to the leader to help them make a better, more informed decision.

    • The Power of Simultaneous Chat: To break the dominance of the loudest voices (and the HIPPO), ask a question and have everyone type their answer in the chat without hitting enter. On the count of three, everyone submits at once. This holds space for introverts, junior staff, and non-native English speakers to contribute without getting run over.

    • Process is Your Shield: If a leader has a strong opinion, use process structure to ensure all sides are heard. Force the group to list "Pros" before "Cons," or use a timer to keep long-winded talkers (even the boss) in check.

    🔗 Links & Resources Mentioned

    • Connect with Evan Unger: Find Evan on LinkedIn (look for the blue/black check shirt and the impish grin, not the doctor!). Note: Evan is generously offering $2,000 off a seat in his training program for PM Happy Hour listeners!

    • Books Mentioned: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and Death by Meeting by Patrick Lencioni.

    • Join the Conversation: Want to geek out about project management with us? Check out the PM Happy Hour membership site at https://www.pmhappyhour.com/membership.

    • Say Hello: Hit us up on Facebook at PM Happy Hour or find our contact info on the website under "About Your Hosts."
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    1 hr and 1 min
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