We are excited to announce that registration for TWO PM StudyCoach Live Online Coaching Classes is now open. Sign up today and let Kevin Reilly, PMP be your coach and guide you in your studies towards PMP Exam success.

The PM StudyCoach Live is a self-study course that combines recorded training materials with live, online coaching calls: You study the recorded materials on your own time and then join the class for a weekly call. In each call we help you get into the PMI mindset, discuss concepts essential for the exam, review your study assignments and leave lots and lots of room to answer all of your questions. Click here for all the class details...

We have two classes starting for you this month. The first live coaching call is scheduled for Wednesday, May 23rd at 7pm PST and Thursday, May 24th at 7 pm EST respectively, and then each Wednesday/Thursday for 10 weeks after that. So let Kevin's experience guide you on the way!

However, we only accept 15 students for each class!

By limiting class size we can ensure that everyone gets the attention they deserve. So hurry and get your seat today. This is especially important because we have a three-tiered pricing structure, so the sooner you register the less you pay. Here are the prices:

• Tier 1: First 5 students to register: $599.00
• Tier 2: Next 5 students to register: $624.00
• Tier 3: Next 5 students to register: $649.00

Please click here to register and place your order...

Don't wait! This class is for you if...

• ...you want to prepare for the PMP Exam using self-study
• ...you can commit to 90 minutes of studying every day
• ...you want access to a coach helping you in weekly coaching sessions
• ...you are available on Wednesday evenings at 7pm PST (California timezone) or Thursday evenings at 7pm EST (New York time zone) for the live calls

Do you have any questions about this class? Please click here for The PM StudyCoach Live details... or simply reply to this message and we will give you an answer.

Kevin is looking forward to coaching you and helping you achieve your PMP certification..

Until Next Time,
Kevin Reilly, PMP Head Coach	Cornelius Fichtner, PMP President, OSP International LLC

This episode is sponsored by The PDU Podcast:

The projects that you and I manage are crucial to implement change within our organizations. To succeed, we routinely depend on the functional managers - the person who runs the department or division, who resolves day-to-day operational issues, and who is responsible for ensuring that the project team has the resources it needs and keeps its goals aligned with the company’s overall strategy and vision.

Unfortunately, there are only few functional managers who speak our language or even have firm grasp on the most fundamental of project processes. Too often, this knowledge gap leads to poor communications, conflict, schedule delays, cost overruns and lost business opportunity.

And who gets the blame? Yup... we do.

To help bridge this gap we are interviewing Jack Ferraro, PMP (www.myprojectadvisor.com) who wrote the book “Project Management for Non-Project Managers”. We discuss the many ways in which functional managers can get involved in project success and we also discuss the four key project management skills that any functional manager needs:

• Articulating the real customer need and business case
• Staying focused on project deliverables
• Understanding your key dependencies
• Being proactive about project risk.

There is one question that I get regularly asked from podcast listeners, and that is “Can you recommend any good project management templates?” Of course I can.

Over the years the following two collection of PM Templates have become my favorite:
PM Templates from Method123 at www.pm-podcast.com/method123
PM Templates from The Template Collective at www.pm-podcast.com/collective

In this video I show you what they have to offer and we open up a couple of examples from both products.

Please note that The PM Podcast is a compensated affiliate of both Method123 and The Template Collective. If you click and then buy their templates we will earn a commission, with which I will buy a pizza and that will keep my enthusiasm up to continue producing great podcast episodes for you.

This episode is sponsored by The PDU Podcast:

Today we welcome back Jeff Furman, PMP - the author of The Project Management Answer Book. In this second interview with him we learn how Jeff became a project manager and how he dealt with the fact that the first project ever assigned to him had previously failed and it now fell to him to save the day.

Jeff’s story is simply a great and inspirational tale of (for once) something going right in our profession. It shows how we as PMs can motivate people to do things right, if we can speak to the needs of our customers and then deliver on our promise.

This episode is sponsored by The PDU Podcast:

A while back we introduced The Project Management Answer Book written by Jeff Furman, PMP to you. I met up with Jeff recently and we recorded this interview in which he recounts all the doors that opened up for him simply because of the fact that he wrote down what he knew about project management.

As you can imagine, this interview is a bit different than others here on the podcast. Generally speaking, we usually talk about project management methodologies and how to apply them on your projects. In this interview we want to show you how with a little effort of writing about what you know can propel your career into unexpected and positive directions.

As you will hear, while Jeff authored a book and became published that way it all started simply because he started writing about IT and project management. So even if your goal isn’t to become a published author of a book it’s a good idea to get everything you know about our field written down and blog about it. And Jeff has a few recommendations for you.

To me, this is a really encouraging story showing what a few words a day can do for anyone.

This episode is sponsored by The PDU Podcast:

I came across an article titled The Leadership Attitude written by Elizabeth Harrin. I liked what she had to say. In this article she boiled leadership down to 4 main pillars:

• Openness
• Honesty
• Trust
• Integrity

In our interview today I meet up with her to discuss the article in more detail. We look at the difference between management and leadership, how to be a manager and leader at the same time, and what these 4 pillars mean to her.

A quick health update from me to all my listeners. After 2 months of physiotherapy I'm finally starting to feel better. I should be as good as new in hopefully about one month.

This episode is sponsored by The PDU Podcast:

I am once again joined by Todd Williams, author of the book Rescue the Problem Project: A Complete Guide to Identifying, Preventing, and Recovering from Project Failure. 

In our last interview Todd gave us an overview over the process, tools & techniques he recommends for rescuing problem projects. As our next step, we want to hear from Todd how he ensures that projects don’t get into trouble in the first place.

This episode is sponsored by The PDU Podcast:

When project budgets are dwindling, deadlines passing, and tempers flaring, then the usual response is to browbeat the project team and point fingers of blame - usually toward the project manager. That’s not really all that helpful. For these situations, what is needed is an objective process for accurately assessing what is wrong and a clear plan of action for fixing the problem.

Enter Todd Williams, PMP who wrote the book Rescue the Problem Project: A Complete Guide to Identifying, Preventing, and Recovering from Project Failure. Todd and I sat down at the PMI Global Congress last year and in this interview we discuss approaches to project rescue.

Here’s a brief book overview of Todd’s book: Rescue the Problem Project provides project managers, executives, and customers with the answers they require. Turnaround specialist Todd Williams has worked with dozens of companies in multiple industries resuscitating failing projects. In this new book, he reveals an in-depth, start-to-finish process.

As always when we have an author discussing his book we are giving away two copies and by now you should know how that works. One copy is reserved for our premium listeners and one for everyone else. If you want a chance of winning the book, please go to www.facebook.com/pmpodcast and look for the book giveaway announcement. All you have to do is leave a comment.

A quick health update from me to all my listeners. The diagnosis is BPPV and I'm on the road to improvement. However, I'm still not able to publish regular, weekly episodes.