You can help your organization understand the roles and skills required for the project management function -- you just have to know where to start. This week, Jay Christensen joins Pete Wright to help outline the planning elements you'll need to add to communication what will and will not be done on your project -- and by whom!

When working to build your team, you may find yourself in a sticky political mess when you find different groups in your organization are prioritizing your project differently. Consistent prioritization is key to alignment on projects and requires the right mix of authority, will, and communication. This week, Jay Christensen joins Pete Wright to point you in the right direction as you help your organization master project prioritization.

You have a problem. You escalate to your sponsor or steering committee. Their response? Don't worry, they're sure you'll be able to solve the problem without impacting Cost, Schedule or Performance! As frustrating as this response may be, listen in this week as Jay Christensen unravels the motivation behind this typical response, and gives you the tools you need to present the right solutions, just the right way!

Are you a project manager seeking support from the functional managers who have their employees on your teams? Are you a team member looking for more support from your functional manager as you work on projects? This week, Jay Christensen joins Pete Wright to take on both of these issues and give you the strategies you'll need to solve a tricky political puzzle.

It's one of the most common things we see on troubled projects, and sometimes the trickiest to navigate: No sponsor or steering committee supporting your projects. This week, Jay Christensen joins Pete Wright to dive into the issues that lead to this on your projects, and how you can find the support you need to get your projects back on track.

The problem card this week says it all: "Three project teams working on mandatory compliance projects to 18 countries, all three high priorities. Tasks from all three due all the time. How do I manage projects and priorities across overlapping critical projects?" It's a question for all over-worked project people, and John Patton and Jay Christensen join Pete Wright to tackle it on the show.

It may seem like stakeholder meddling, but external influences competing for attention on your project can be a symptom of a much larger problem. This week, John Patton and Jay Christensen help you focus on the lifecycle, using a few key tactics to ensure all your project stakeholders are working with you to keep the project focused -- not distracting you from getting your project work done.

Any number of challenges can slow a supplier delivering a complex product on your project. From engineering challenges to methodological roadblocks, it's your job as project manager to keep resources flowing into the project smoothly. This week, John Patton and Jay Christensen dissect this issue and give you a clear process to help keep your external suppliers on track.

From the problem cards this week, "The project is off to a slow start -- how do we gain traction and get this project moving?" Turns out, it's all a matter of focus on the life-cycle. This week, John Patton and Jay Christensen take to this issue with Pete Wright and give you a path to a solution that will help you get your project started on the right footing.

Thinking about Agile and how it might help your development projects? Looking for more detail on how the Agile approach maps to the Cadence Methodology? Coming in August, Cadence's Jay Christensen will be delivering a one-hour webinar dealing with the detail of Agile development with the Cadence Methodology. In today's show, Jay gives us a preview of his research and teaches us where misunderstanding in the Agile process can lead to poor implementation and sub-par results.