104 - The one meeting that will make or break your project

More from Project Management Happy Hour

1. 

   2 Sep 2025 · 47 min

   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 they talk about how to build up to a crisp conclusion to your project, making it a win for everyone. Then, Kate and Kim talk through their revised perspectives and learnings since the original airing of the Closer - and some of their hard learned lessons since then! JOIN THE HAPPY HOUR! Get access…

2. 

   26 Aug 2025 · 42 min

   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 people will remember your project the way it ended—and two key corollaries every project manager needs to know: Corollary 1: People naturally forget past wins and focus on the most recent problems. Corollary 2: People will redefine success to fit the outcome—if it gives them a win. You'll learn…

3. 

   22 Jul 2025 · 55 min

   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 redo it completely differently… and badly." In this Top Shelf Replay, we revisit the best parts of this classic episode, then Kate & Kim reflect on what they've learned since—especially now that they're the execs making the asks (hopefully less stupidly). Oh, and yes—this is the episode where we try…

4. 

   15 Sep 2026 · 33 min

   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 assume the best — they assume the worst. That single insight sits at the center of a conversation about project leadership, stakeholder communication, and the quiet skill that separates good project managers from great ones: knowing exactly what to say, to whom, and when. If you've ever been accused…

5. 

   25 Aug 2026 · 52 min

   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, from a shortage of templates or Gantt charts — but from the people around them. In this episode, Kim and Kate dig into the human side of project delivery: the stakeholders who love your project, the ones who quietly want it dead, and the "style under stress" that surfaces when the pressure cooker of…

6. 

   12 Aug 2026 · 51 min

   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 behavior. This episode of Project Management Happy Hour digs into project leadership, accountability, team dynamics, and the everyday habits that quietly undermine project delivery. The uncomfortable truth running through the whole conversation: our worst project management habits are usually just our…

7. 

   29 Jul 2026 · 39 min

   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 optional, decision making gets diffused across committees, and a hard deadline turns out to be completely negotiable? You get one of the most instructive project failure case studies in project management history — and in this episode, Kim and Kate pour it out one painful lesson at a time. The…

8. 

   14 Jul 2026 · 35 min

   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, risk management, and team performance through the lens of one hard-earned leadership lesson: being right is not enough. If you've ever done everything "to the T" and still hit resistance, this conversation is for you. In this episode, Kim and Kate welcome Noel Nicole Ransom—VP of Implementation, PMP,…

9. 

   30 Jun 2026 · 33 min

   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 challenges. But here's the twist: despite all the problems, does the sponsor spin it as a win? If they did - would they be 'right?' This episode explores project sponsors, stakeholder management, risk management, and one uncomfortable truth many project managers eventually learn: success is often…

10. 

    16 Jun 2026 · 29 min

    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 examine what happens when vision outpaces execution. From sponsor behavior and scaling challenges to agile gone sideways, they unpack the risks of massive ambition without the systems to support it. If you've ever managed shifting priorities, difficult stakeholders, or a project that seemed to grow by…

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