Projectified

The Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification can be a career game-changer. What’s the best way to study for the exam? How do you stay motivated through months of preparation? What’s the difference between taking the exam in-person or online? We discuss this with Kelly Heuer, PhD, CAPM, VP of learning at PMI in Brooklyn, New York, USA; Fernanda Sa, PMP, procurement coordinator at Meta Reality Labs via Mackin Talent in Bellevue, Washington, USA; and Prabhjeet Singh, PMP, project manager at MedStar Health in Washington, D.C. 
Key themes
01:09 Why earn the PMP certification? 
04:52 How to create a study plan for the PMP exam
09:07 Ways to stay motivated while studying for the PMP
12:01 How PMI can help you prepare for the PMP exam
17:03 Taking the PMP exam online or in-person
20:40 How the PMP certification affects project careers
23:41 Advice for the PMP certification exam

Launching a career in project management can spark a flame. But how do you get that first job and keep the early fire burning? We talk about starter career goals, PMI certifications, mentorship and more with Albert Cayuela, CAPM, PMP, a technical project manager at Banco Sabadell in Madrid, and Krista McCalley, CAPM, PMP, a project coordinator at Insight Global in Des Moines, Iowa in the United States. 
Key themes
01:04 How did you start your project management career? 
02:55 Pursuing the CAPM certification and crafting a career plan 
09:08 Overcoming imposter syndrome and leaning on mentors early in your career 
14:55 Solidifying knowledge, developing skills and boosting confidence with PMI certifications
17:57 Advice for project professionals starting their project careers

Gigaprojects aren’t hard to spot: deep complexity, massive stakeholder groups, wildly ambitious scopes and a major boost to national economies. We discuss two gigaprojects with: 
Ryan Banas, project director for the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion project and VP at HNTB in Norfolk, Virginia, USA; and Chris Hall, district engineer at the Virginia Department of Transportation in Hampton, Virginia, USA: Banas and Hall discuss how their teams prepared for the years-long bridge and tunnel project, how they keep teams aligned across multiple hand-offs, and the clever ways they engage stakeholders—including community members affected by construction.  
Mohammed Almutlaq, project management office VP at the Royal Commission for AlUla in Riyadh: Almutlaq shares how teams are turning the historical site of AlUla into an archaeological tourism destination. He discusses how the PMO keeps teams across portfolios aligned to a singular strategy, ways teams best communicate and keep track of progress across projects, and builds flexibility into projects through solid change management practices.
Key themes
01:42 Managing a multibillion-dollar infrastructure overhaul in Virginia
04:42 How teams collaborate to tackle years-long projects
07:41 Good practices for hand-offs across the project life cycle
10:12 Keeping the community informed—and building buy-in for the long haul
15:44 Transforming the ancient city of AlUla into a tourism hub
18:18 How a PMO keeps multiple teams aligned to one strategic vision
21:19 Building adaptability into projects with change management
25:06 Top challenges: continuous value delivery and retaining the right talent  over long timelines

Success is in the eyes of the beholder. For projects, that means winning over the top decision makers in the C-suite. How can project management office leaders best share project progress with executives? How can you better engage the C-suite to manage their POVs? We discuss this with Douglas Pulini, PMP, PMI-PMOCP, head of the strategic management office at SPC Brasil in São Paulo, and Stephan Wohlfahrt, PMI-ACP, DAVSC, PMP, head of the project management office at Bosch Mobility in Stuttgart, Germany. 
Key themes
00:56 The C-suite’s role in project success
02:33 How PMO leaders decide what information to share with executives
05:24 Ways to engage executives to benefit project success
10:26 Choosing how to best present project updates to the C-suite
14:28 Must-have skills for PMO leaders to effectively manage stakeholder perceptions

Every project—no matter the sector or region—can be led and managed more sustainably. How can project professionals gain executive buy-in for sustainability efforts? How have they put environmental and social responsibility front and center in their work? And how can other project leaders further develop their knowledge of sustainability in their sectors? We discuss this with Pratik Mishra, PMP, senior strategic portfolio manager at Zalando in Berlin, and Michael Mylonas, GPM-b, PMP, director of project management at the Xeni Gwet’in First Nations Government in Tsilhqot’in Title Land, Nemaiah Valley, British Columbia, Canada. 
Key themes
00:52 Why you should embed sustainability into every project phase
04:29 Gaining stakeholder buy-in for sustainability on projects
08:49 Building environmental and cultural sustainability into a community center project
12:16 How project professionals can develop their sustainability knowledge 
15:26 Ways you can boost sustainability in your projects