Project Management Interviews: My Top 15 Videos to Watch Now

In the four years since I recorded my first project management interview, I’ve had over 60 wonderful conversations with astonishing Project Professionals. In this article, I want to highlight my top 15.

Depending on when you read this, you may not see 60 interviews on my Conversations & Interviews playlist. Not all of them have appeared on my YouTube channel yet. But they will.

Passion Project

When I started recording these, I thought they would be tremendously popular and easy to make videos. I thought I’d do some prep with my guest, record the conversation, and do some light editing.

It turns out I was 180 degrees wrong. They are far less popular than my short, sharp knowledge videos. And the edits take a lot longer – some have taken more than a day.

For a while, I stopped making them. Until I realized three things:

1. I really enjoy speaking to deep experts about topics that fascinate them – and me
2. The amount of YouTube revenue I lose because they don’t do so well is small – because the amount I make on the ones that do better is also small! YouTubers earn around US$0.01 per view
3. I record conversations for people who want to watch and listen—and they love them!

Project Management Interviews & Conversations

Here, then, is my retrospective of the first 60 conversations and interviews I have recorded. I’ll share my top 15, with some honorable mentions along the way. I’ll divide my list into five categories

1. The First Ten Project Management Interviews
2. Core Project Management Topics
3. Power Skills
4. Urgent Priorities for Project Managers
5. Alternative Career Routes for Project Managers

The First Ten Project Management Interviews

None of my first ten project management interviews have made it into my Top 15. I was still learning a lot. But there were some notable conversations, nonetheless!

He very first interview to go out – and the one that triggered the whole endeavor – was Engaging Stakeholders on Projects: Interview with Elizabeth Harrin. This was a response to her then new book ‘Engaging Stakeholders on Projects: How to harness people power’.

My first ten guests were, in order:

1. Elizabeth Harrin – Engaging Stakeholders
2. Dawn Mahan – The PM Certification Question (should you?)
3. Markus Kopko – The (then) New PMP Exam
4. Elizabeth Harrin (again) – Onboarding a New Team
5. Dmitriy Nizhebetskiy – Selecting a Project Approach
6. Hélio Costa – The Fleks Hybrid Model
7. Frank Turley – Getting Started in PM
8. Anita Phagura – Building Inclusive Teams
9. Joseph Garfield – Getting a Clear Scope
10. Nader Rad – PMBOK 7 (he was a principal author)

Of these, I’d highlight two. Nader Rad, because it was the first really popular interview I did, and Anita Phagura, because the topic is so very important.

Project Management Interview Honorable Mention

Please do go back and watch or listen to Building Inclusive Teams: A Conversation with Anita Phagura of Fierce Project Management. It is criminally under-watched. For many people, this is neither an exciting nor comfortable topic; I get it. But it is vital to not just the humanity of what we do and how we do it, but also to the success of our team.

Core Project Management Topics

As you might expect, this is the largest group among my Top 15 Project Management interviews.

Managing Project Risk

I have known Glen Alleman for a long time, and he is one of the most astute project professionals, with a passion for rigor. I love his book, Performance Based Project Management, so when he brought out a new book, Risk Management (co-authored with Jon Quigley), I had to speak with him. Watch Managing Project Risk: Expert view from Glen Alleman.

Project Management Interview Honorable Mention

I must also give an honorable mention to my conversation, Risk! Safety & Security in Project Delivery – with Prof Andrew Sherry. Professor Sherry has worked in some of the most demanding engineering project environments, so his insights and anecdotes make for excellent listening.

Dealing with Difficult Stakeholders

I always have a blast when I speak with Andy Kaufman, so I’ll take any excuse. But our conversation, Dealing with Difficult Stakeholders – Conversation with Andy Kaufman was glorious and on a topic he has thought deeply about.

Project Management Interview Honorable Mentions

I also discussed stakeholder engagement with Elizabeth Harrin in my first-ever recorded interview: Engaging Stakeholders on Projects: Interview with Elizabeth Harrin. And, on a closely related topic, do look up Building a Working Relationship with Your Project Sponsor – With Jonathan Norman. He and I always have a blast.

The Extended Project Team

Another personal favorite is my recent conversation with Dawn Mahan about her recent book, Meet the Players in Projectland. Dawn and I first spoke, back in the early days of my interviews, about whether or not project managers should go for a certification: The Project Management Certification question: Discussion with Dawn Mahan.

But in this one, we talked about the different roles we encounter in projects, and the ways people with different personalities play out those roles. I am also particularly proud of how I was able to illustrate this with Dawn’s graphics – this one certainly took more than a day to edit! Check out Meet the Players in Projectland – Interview with Dawn Mahan

Project Management Interview Honorable Mention

Getting your whole extended team to collaborate with one another is always a challenge. So I’d also like to name-check my conversation, How to Build a Collaborative Project Culture with Deb Mashek. Deb’s book, Collabor(h)ate, is excellent.

All Change!

It’s impossible to categorize either Eddie Obeng or his work. But it was the first edition of his book, All Change, The Project Leader’s Secret Handbook, that transformed my thinking about leading projects. And the second edition is even better! Any conversation with Eddie will be a riot of ideas, insights, and provocations. This one was no exception, and recording All Change! An Astonishing Conversation with Dr Eddie Obeng! was a professional highlight of the last few years.

Agile Scrum

I have far too little content about agile approaches to Project Management (betraying, I suppose, my background and therefore my contact list). So I am particularly pleased to have attracted Alexis Allen to share her Introduction to Agile Scrum Project Management.

I’d love to give honorable mentions to the rest of my agile content, but… Crickets

The closest is my conversation with Agile Software Developer, Duncan McGregor, that I have listed in my Top 15, below, under Power Skills.

Portfolio Management and Benefits Management

I will end this section with a two-fer… Two for the price of one. Steve Jenner is a recent acquaintance, but we are kindred spirits, very much aligned. When APMG asked me to review his new edition of Managing Portfolios, I loved it and asked for an interview and a copy of the recent edition of his Managing Benefits book too. Both are excellent and are the bases for two excellent specialist certification programs that Steve designed.

Steve Jenner is a real leader in thinking about portfolio management and benefits management. Both he and I see the two disciplines as closely intertwined. So, as soon as we’d recorded the first interview, we went on and did the second. They are companion pieces, and like twin children, it would be invidious to pick a favorite! What I can say is that to date, the Managing Portfolios video is the longest I’ve ever made!

• Managing Portfolios: Steve Jenner on Portfolio Management
• Managing Benefits: Steve Jenner – the expert on Project Benefits Management

Project Management Interview Honorable Mention

For a compatible, but different take on Portfolio Management, I also recommend Introduction to Portfolio Management – with Murali Kulathumani.

Power Skills Interviews

I’m still not sure I like the term ‘power skills’. But it’s now widely used, and I do accept the premise. So, I guess I’m sneaking up on it! Anyway, this is an important area, and I’ve already mentioned a few Power Skills-related interviews. Here are my top four.

High-Performing Project Teams

I’ll start with Build High-Performing Project Teams – Conversation with Charles Vivian, for no better reason than having known Charles for (gosh) nearly 30 years. His expertise in the area spans project work, business-building, and extreme sports. Charles is a leader first and foremost.

Project Management Interview Honorable Mentions

I must highlight the very start of the process, which I discuss with Elizabeth Harrin in Onboarding a New Team – with Elizabeth Harrin | Interview. And I also want to reiterate the importance of Building Inclusive Teams: A Conversation with Anita Phagura of Fierce Project Management.

Neuroscience for Project Managers

I make no secret of my belief that Carole Osterweil’s book, Neuroscience for Project Success, is one of the most important project management books of the last few years. I absolutely loved my conversation with Carole, Neuroscience for Project Managers with Carole Osterweil.

Is Your Developer Lying to You?

Another conversation to file under ‘one-of-a-kind’ was How to Tell if Your Developer is Lying to You – with Duncan McGregor. Duncan is a software engineer and a self-confessed ‘liar’ in the sense that he may not always choose to respond in the way project managers may want. Why? How can you tell? And, crucially, what’s the best way to get the truth and work well with your developers? For all of the click-baity title, this video is vital for anyone who leads teams that include software engineers.

Project Management Interview Honorable Mention

If you still fancy working in the IT Project Management sector, I recommend Building a Career in IT Project Management – with Andreanna Marshall. Andreanna is one half of the fabulous Not Scrum Dumb YouTube channel.

Facilitating Productive Meetings

Rich Maltzman is the author of a series of insightful books for Project Managers. After a long career delivering projects, he is now a Professor at Boston University. How to Facilitate Productive Project Meetings – with Rich Maltzman is a great introduction to Rich’s pragmatic approach to delivering successful projects.

Urgent Priorities for Project Managers

It’s no great surprise that the two topics I’ll focus on here are AI and sustainability.

Sustainable Project Management

GPM (Green Project Management, as it was) has been in the news recently, due to its prominent new association with PMI. Just before the public announcement, I met with their Executive Vice President, David Smyth, for a rich introduction to Sustainable Project Management: Interview with David Smyth of GPM Global.

Project Management Interview Honorable Mention

Sustainability is one component of a wider move towards Responsible Project management. And one of the leading lights for this initiative is Dr Karen Thompson. Check out Responsible Project Management | Interview.

Artificial Intelligence and Project Management

I kicked off my Year of Artificial Intelligence and Project Management (2023) with a conversation with Professor Nicholas Dacre about How will Artificial Intelligence Impact the PM Profession?

Artificial Intelligence-based Tools

It’s hard to pick one of the many conversations I have had with leaders of businesses working at the forefront of developing AI-based solutions for the projects profession. So, I will lump together as one item, these four conversations:

1. What Can AI Do for Project Managers? Dev Amratia is at the Leading Edge
2. Can AI Really Predict Project Outcomes?
3. Decision-Making AI for Project Portfolios – with Stuart Easton
4. Can AI Really Write Your User Requirements?

Alternative Career Routes for Project Managers

My last two selections look at Project Management-adjacent career options.

Project Management Office

Moving from project delivery to working in or leading a Project Management Office (PMO) is a well-trodden path. I loved recording Working with a PMO and Building a PMO Career – with Curtis Jenkins

Project Management Interview Honorable Mention

To go deep into the capabilities PMO professionals need, House of PMO developed the first ever PMO competency framework. So, I had to speak with the lead author and House of PMO founder, Lindsay Scott: PMO Competency Framework: A Conversation with Lindsay Scott of House of PMO

Transformation Leadership

Tony Lockwood is the sole author of the astonishing, 600+ page Transformation Leaders Body of Knowledge. To understand what transformation is, how it differs from business change, and the elements of the capability, watch The Transformation Leaders Body of Knowledge Interview with Tony Lockwood

Project Management Interview Honorable Mention

At the intersection of transformation leadership and AI, my conversation with Matt Simons of AI Catalyst Partners is excellent too: Transforming Business with AI: The Biggest PM Opportunity in 20 Years?