Episode 174: The Pulse of Project Management

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Have you ever wanted to take "The Pulse" of project management? You know, have a simple way at your disposal with which you could see and learn what's going on with project management these days? To learn what people are talking about, maybe learn about new tools & techniques and just generally understand where our field is heading?

Well... I have... many times. And my answer to this is a new feature here on The PM Podcast called "The Pulse" that you will be hearing here every few months. In the pulse you will hear the voices of a number of Project Management bloggers out there and learn what they are writing about, what they hear from their readers and what they read on other blogs. These bloggers are at the forefront of project management today. They constantly ask themselves "Where is PM going these days?", "Where am I going as a PM?" and "What's new and cool that I could write about for my readers?".

And it's that inquisitiveness that we are bringing together here on The Pulse for you to learn from.

The bloggers that you will hear from today are:

• Peter Taylor: www.thelazyprojectmanager.com
• Josh Nankivel: www.pmstudent.com
• Terry Doerscher: www.planview.com/enterprise-navigator-blog
• Elizabeth Harrin: rebelsguidetopm.com
• Soma Bhattacharya: www.steppingintopm.com

If you yourself have a blog and would like to be part of The Pulse then let us know to be included.

Episode Transcript

Below are the first few pages of the transcript. The complete transcript is available to Premium subscribers only.

Podcast Introduction

Cornelius Fichtner: This is The Project Management Podcast™. We bring project management to beginners and experts. Find us on the web at www.pm‑podcast.com or send your emails to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Cornelius Fichtner: Hello and welcome to Episode #174. I am Cornelius Fichtner. This is The Project Management Podcast™, nice to have you with us.

Have you ever wanted to take "The Pulse" of project management? You know, have a simple way at your disposal with which you could see and learn what's going on with project management these days? To learn what people are talking about, maybe learn about new tools and techniques and just generally understand where our field is heading?

Well, I have, many times. And my answer to this is a new feature here on The Project Management Podcast™ called "The Pulse" what else? You will be hearing The Pulse here every few months. In The Pulse, you will hear the voices of a number of project management bloggers out there and learn what they are writing about, what they hear from their readers and what they read on other blogs. These bloggers are at the forefront of project management today. They constantly ask themselves "Where is project management heading these days?", "Where am I going as a project manager, myself?" and "What's new and cool out there in project management that I could write about for my readers?"

And it's that inquisitiveness that we bring together here on The Pulse for you to learn from.

Are you preparing for the PMP® Exam? Yes? Do you want to measure if you are ready? Yes again? Our very own PM Exam Simulator will do exactly that. It contains 1,800 realistic sample questions in a simulated testing environment. We are launching this new PM exam simulator on March 25th 2011. Stop by at www.pmexamsimulator.com and get a 20% launch discount. That's PM Exam Simulator .com. And yes, it’s PM Exam Simulator .com - there is no 2nd P.

The bloggers that you will hear from today are:

Peter Taylor

Josh Nankivel

Terry Doerscher

Elizabeth Harrin

Soma Bhattacharya

If you yourself have a blog and you would like to be part of a future The Pulse then let us know and we will include you.

And now, let's listen to the heartbeat of project management. Enjoy The Pulse.

Podcast Interview

[Pulse beat music]

Cornelius Fichtner: Hello Peter! Welcome back to The Project Management Podcast™.

Peter Taylor: Hello once again, Cornelius!

Cornelius Fichtner: Yes, and even though our listeners have heard your name and your voice before here on The Pulse, we still want to introduce your blog to them, just like we do with all the other bloggers here. So what is the name and the URL of your blog?

Peter Taylor: Okay! Well the name is The Lazy Project Manager and…

Cornelius Fichtner: Yeah, what a surprise right?

Peter Taylor: Absolutely! And it can be found strange enough at www.thelazyprojectmanager.com and then just search for Blog and then there it’ll be.

Cornelius Fichtner: And since when are you blogging?

Peter Taylor: I’ve been blogging now for just over 2 years.

Cornelius Fichtner: Okay and what are the PM blogs do you read?

Peter Taylor: I read a lot of blogs actually. Let me just pick 2 or 3. I’m going to go and support the ladies to begin with. So I do like “A Girl’s Guide to Project Management” with Elizabeth Harrin.

Cornelius Fichtner: Yes!

Peter Taylor: And I do like “How to Manage a Camel.” I’m not just sure of the title, but that’s with Lindsay Scott. And I’m not saying Bas is a girl but I do like Bas de Baar of “Project Shrink “as well. That’s 3 I look at very regularly.

Cornelius Fichtner: Alright. What is your motivation for blogging? Why do you do it?

Peter Taylor: I started blogging because I was a frustrated author and that’s kind of how I got going and now I am an unfrustrated author with a book’s out. I continue to go because people seem to like them and I enjoy writing them.

Cornelius Fichtner: And the particular focus on your blog?

Peter Taylor: The focus is a mixture. It’s part diary. It has life of myself in the speaking engagements and the work I do and it’s also part general project management, anything that catches my interest, I pick up on them and then blog about.

Cornelius Fichtner: Okay! Let’s talk about what’s happening on your blog right now. What’s been happening on your blog in the past few months? Did you have a theme that you blogged about say in the last 3 to 4 months?

Peter Taylor: Yes! There’s something I’ve been particularly interested in. And I know you have it in the States as well. We have over here in the UK. It’s “The Apprentice”. The Apprentice and the way The Apprentice represents project management good, bad or even evil some people think.

Cornelius Fichtner: Yeah! Just to be on the safe side. You’re talking about the TV show, The Apprentice,  right?

Peter Taylor: The TV show, The Apprentice, absolutely. You know I think it’s great! I’ve blogged throughout the series over here in the UK with lessons learned each week and also there has been an ongoing discussion here, strong discussion with people talking about: “Is it good for the profession of project management or is it not good?” My personal view is that all publicity is good publicity and we should latch on to that and talk about project management on a wide audience.

Cornelius Fichtner: Right! Did you know that they used to be an actual podcast, a Project Management Podcast, on The Apprentice? I’m furiously typing here trying to find it because I could have sworn that I had it as part of The Project Management Podcast very early on. It must have been about 4 years ago.

Peter Taylor: Ah interesting!

Cornelius Fichtner: Yeah!

Peter Taylor: I know in the UK there are training courses using old episodes of The Apprentice for lessons learned through project management. So I enjoy it. It’s entertaining but I think it was a good thing. It gets project management out there to the millions.

Cornelius Fichtner: Right! Learned anything from The Apprentice that you’ve implemented at your job?

 

Above are the first few pages of the transcript. The complete PDF transcript is available to Premium subscribers only.