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Project Management Happy Hour

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 we will 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!

Jul 14, 2026

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...


Jun 30, 2026

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...


Jun 16, 2026

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...


Jun 3, 2026

You know the moment.

Your project plan is solid. The scope is defined. The team is ready. Then an executive walks by and casually asks:

"Can we just make this AI?"

Suddenly you're no longer managing a project. You're managing expectations, buzzwords, corporate excitement, and whatever article someone just read on the...


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...