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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.

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"How can I become a project manager?" This is the question that we get asked most often here at The Project Management Podcast™. We tried to answer each email individually, but also decided that this would be a great topic for our program.

We looked and found Thomas Cutting (http://cuttingsedgepm.blogspot.com) who discusses this question with us today. Thomas' blog is one of many social media for project managers resources.

In the interview, we look at Thomas' own career but also take a generic look at possible PM career paths. There are many options for you to consider as a career, whether your interest is in construction, fashion, engineering, healthcare, or a particular method, like waterfall or you could take the role of project manager in SAFe agile environments and explore your interests that way.

We discuss the value of experience vs. certification and working as a PM in-house or for a consulting firm. Project manager coaching and mentoring is one way to reflect on what the right career path for you might be. 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.

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Most often business applications do not have to achieve the same level of quality, accuracy, and consensus or be as fault free as many aerospace, defense or medical-related systems. That isn’t to imply they don’t strive for excellence and accuracy, only that it can be tolerated better. As a result, there are different priorities placed on quality and the use of disciplined approaches that demand a lot of up front time. In today's episode of The Project Management Podcast™ we welcome Inez Marino to discuss with her approaches that employ such an up-front time commitment that many businesses do not believe they can afford to spend. We also look at the importance of high quality requirements on your projects. Our two Helpful Resources complement this discussion.

Click here to download the presentation (*.pdf) mentioned during the interview. (Click here if the document appears empty .)

We apologize for the "hiccups" in the recording at the start of the interview.