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It’s always a good time to improve your expertise. Fortunately, nowadays, there’s an abundance of channels you can choose to learn from for free. If you haven’t already dug into some, it’s about time you start. For the project management topic, we’ve got you covered. Have you ever thought that your daily commute could make you smarter? Discover five exquisite podcasts and blogs that can make otherwise somehow wasted time count.
Let’s rewind the time to around ten years ago. It’s when I started my journey as a Project Manager. At the time, it was hard to dig into a new career and learn something new. Surely we had books on the topic. However, they were pretty heavy on the wallet. On the other hand, the information on YouTube at the time came with many interruptions and paying for the premium was non-existent. I mean, who wants to watch an ad every five minutes just to learn what Risk Management is?
To our luck, this has changed tremendously and knowledge is now at the disposal of only a few clicks. Moreover, the new sources of information come in many different formats you can even consume on the go. And don’t be mistaken – they’re not only great for juniors just starting in the field. Project management veterans can use them to enhance their expertise and stay updated with the latest trends.
Since the library of available resources is enormous, here are a few of my favorite ones you can start with.
5 Minutes Podcast with Ricardo Vargas
Short Description:
Ricardo Vargas is the author of 15 books on project management, risk crisis management and transformation that have been translated into seven languages and sold in over half a million copies. However, you don’t need to read all of them (even though I think you should) to get some of his brilliance. Since 2007 you can just tune into his 5 Minutes podcast.
Need more persuasion? Ricardo Vargas also became the first Latin American to be chosen as Chairman of the Project Management Institute, confirming his importance in the industry. As a venture capitalist and entrepreneur, his work in artificial intelligence, blockchain, big data, chatbots, and machine learning resulted in tools and products that transformed how users bring agility and agile management into project management software.
My Recommendation:
You should start listening to his podcasts not just because of his long-lasting and successful career. He is also one of the few who can keep engaged in the conversation with the guest. He does that by keeping the conversation spontaneous. In addition, he keeps his community involved by including them and regularly leaving some food for thought. Finally, as a passionate and experienced lecturer, he always touches base on new and trending topics in IT and Project Management yet still digs into exciting details of the selected topic.
Find on Webpage
Find on Spotify
I recommend starting with an episode titled To Be or Not to Be: That is the Question. In the episode, Ricardo claims that just because a project employs an agile methodology does not mean it is agile. On the other hand, a project that uses the predictive model may be more agile.
Ricardo points out that, regardless of the strategy adopted, the company must first have a critical feeling of urgency, agility, and adaptability.
People and Projects Podcast: Project Management Podcast
Short Description:
Andy Kaufman, the podcast host (of the section that covers project management), is the president of the Institute for Leadership Excellence and Development. He’s also an international speaker, author, and executive coach. In addition, Andy works with companies all over the world to help them improve their project delivery and leadership skills.
Andy brings over 25 years of experience to the table. Over the years, his keynotes, workshops, and executive coaching services have impacted tens of thousands of individuals from hundreds of firms, assisting them in completing projects, becoming more confident leaders, taking focused action, and delivering outcomes.
My Recommendation:
This podcast is incredible because there are multiple people involved in its creation. However, Andy and his section that covers project management is definitely the one you should listen to. The content is all about bringing interviews and insights that will help deliver projects and lead teams. Andy is truly good at talking about real scenarios and how he would solve them. As stated above, he has a broad skill set with a lot of experience and he has been through many different situations.
Find on Webpage
Find on Spotify
I do not have a preferred podcast episode that I would recommend since all of them are great. However, it would probably be most smart to start with the one that covers the topics you want to get more informed about.
David Pereira’s Blog
Short Description:
David Pareira is a passionate Product Leader with more than a decade of product management experience. Over the last few years, he has led many product teams in successful endeavors.
Some highlights of his journey are:
- Enabling exponential marketplace growth: from 5M EUR to 45M EUR revenue per year. David’s role was to find alternatives to scale the business sustainably.
- Innovating the second-hand car market in Brazil. He created a business of 200M USD per year and was responsible for three Product Teams.
- Reinventing the route planning for thousands of people all over Brazil. David led this project from concept to launch. It resulted in a 4M USD cost saving with a 200K USD investment.
My Recommendation:
If you compare David with the names I mentioned, he may seem less experienced. However, I like his ability to make a short take on rather complicated topics. Nowadays, we have less time, and our attention span is becoming shorter and shorter. David is aware of that, does not overdo it with unnecessary information, and can write super concisely.
Find on Webpage
One of his most fantastic posts is titled Let’s Stop Lying! Almost Nobody Does Scrum! I would highly recommend Project and Product Managers as well as Scrum Masters read this article to reflect on yourself. Are you really doing scrum?
Robert Sutton’s Blog/Articles
Short Description:
Another person that deserves praise is Bob Sutton. He is a management science and engineering professor at Stanford University, where he co-founded the Stanford Technology Ventures Program and the Institute of Design. He has written seven books and published over 200 papers in scholarly and popular journals.
My Recommendation:
Robert shares his amazing knowledge of his academic and professional studies. You would not necessarily find his best-written articles directly on his webpage, as some of his best works were published in different big-name media. However, his webpage is an excellent resource of links to his work.
One of my favorite writing of his is an article published by McKinsey Institute titled From a room called fear to a room called hope: A leadership agenda for troubled times. It reflects on how leaders should act and deal with difficult situations, one of them being the whole Covid-19 Pandemic.
The Agile Manifesto
Short Description:
This one is a bonus one, the mysterious Manifesto! Scrum, Extreme Programming, Crystal Clear, and other frameworks needed to establish common ground; therefore, the Manifesto was born. Anonymous authors created it; however, its original idea will get every product manager thinking.
My Recommendation:
Check out the blog to get clarity on how all of these frameworks are doing something similar.
Finally, if you sometimes still have some extra time during your commute, check out the TopDevelopers blog, where you can also find some interesting articles on project management of software projects.
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