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Listener Alexander Maslyukov wrote in and said "In my company there are functional managers who have the power. Functional managers assign salary, bonuses and have responsibilities for promotion of the employees. PMs don't have any instruments to force stuff to do everything. The only way to make the team to do something is to persuade them. But how can we motivate people?" In response to Alexander's question we are going to delve into motivation today. We review the various motivational theories, look at how to see if motivation is a problem on your project, what you can do to motivate and energize your project team on a shoestring and we end it with James R. Chapman's very elegant Motivation Triangle. Please consult the Helpful Resources to find links to the white papers and presentations mentioned in today's episode.

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In Episode 062 we asked Thomas Cutting to answer the question “How can I become a Project Manager?” Today, we continue this topic with our interview Guest Josh Nankivel. In his career Josh found a love for project management and decided to go back to school and get academic training in PM. He is currently going to school and will receive his Bachelors degree in PM in about a year. After that he will continue with his studies and begin his MBA with a focus on project management. In our interview, we look at how Josh applies his academic training to his everyday work, discuss if there are differences between what he is being taught and what he actually sees in the workplace, take a look at his blog www.pmstudent.com , and want to know from him what academia and the private sector can do in order to help the PM profession grow as a whole.

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Too often in our rush to produce deliverables the communications plan is overlooked. This happens everywhere, even in companies that have formal project management methodologies. On the outset of your project you might have all the best intentions and take the time to create a communications plan. But as the project progresses and day to day issues come your way the communications plan is drifting ever more into the background. Your communications aren’t managed, new stakeholders aren’t added to the list of recipients and all that remains is a nagging feeling that you are forgetting something. That’s the story, when you use the communications plan as a tactical tool. But what if you approached it strategically? What if you took the time and really managed your communications against the plan? Might there even be benefits? Margaret Meloni answers this question with a resounding “Yes!”, which is why she is our guest today. And to help you along with your communications management plan, we have three helpful resources that help you define that plan for small, medium and larger projects. But most importantly, we announce the winners of the giveaway for two one-year subscriptions to The Project Management PrepCast™ .

Click here to read Margaret's article titled "Avoid Communications Chaos" (*.pdf)

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A Risk is an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on a project’s objectives. There are many hard tools out there that tell you how to identify your risks, how to quantify them, how to define their impact on the project and what you can do in order to avoid or mitigate them. But how do you and the stakeholders on your project react to risks? Do risks frighten you or do they invigorate you? And what risk approach will a frightened project manager take versus the approach that an invigorated one takes? This discussion is at the core of Risk Attitudes. We are honored to welcome Janice Preston, PMP, on our program today to explore the four basic risk attitudes. Janice was a contributor to the risk section of both the 1996, 2000 and 2004 version of the PMBOK® Guide and as such very qualified to look into this with us. As always we have Helpful Resources that complement this interview.

If you are currently studying to take the PMP® exam, then listen in and learn how you can win a free, one-year subscription to our sister podcast The Project Management PrepCast™, where you can learn the tools & techniques you need to know in order to prepare to take the PMP exam.