Executives have to manage the portfolio of projects across the organization in spite of staffing changes, potential layoffs, operations scaling and other complicated market conditions. The decisions they make about projects and programs inside the organization will have a ripple effect with broad reach. Join John Patton and Scott Lissit this week as they cover the issues that come with increased demands, and give you suggestions to make the right portfolio decisions and deliver results.

Companies are being driven to take on projects with fixed due dates in spite of having to complete engineering development tasks which they have never attempted before. What are the costs of implementing your project while your engineering team is struggling to invent? Join John Patton and Scott Lissit this week as they cover the issues that come with these increased demands, and give you suggestions to streamline project management and deliver results.

The election for the 44th president of the United States of America has reset the bar against which campaigns will be measured. From unprecedented volunteerism to savvy strategy, the 2008 campaign season offers telling lessons in progressive project management. On today's show, join Cadence CEO John Patton and Scott Lissit as they draw their own project conclusions as the polls, and this season, draws to its close.

If you run large projects, you have seen team members come and go. But what do you do to keep your project moving forward while you transition to a new team member who might not have all the project background? This week, John Patton and Wil Mercer give you key on-boarding strategies to get new team members performing quickly.

In spite of your best efforts, you have a team member who refuses to commit to their tasks. How do you get to the bottom of the problem diplomatically, while keeping your project moving forward on schedule? This week, John Patton and Wil Mercer sit down to give you proven strategies to keep communication flowing, and your project on schedule.

You are moving into a mass production deadline on a significant project, but there's a non-trivial technical problem that your team still hasn't solved. What do you do with your project in this state of jeopardy? This week, John Patton and Wil Mercer sit down to tackle this very real problem on Ask Cadence, episode 29.

When two key executives are locked in a power struggle that affects your project, how can you resolve the issue and keep your project on track? This week, Cadence CEO John Patton and seminar leader Wil Mercer discuss the potential pitfalls, and give a few key lessons to help deflate tensions, improve communication, and allow you and your team to get back to work.

Continuing our discussion on the importance of OPM3 to modern project management, we sit down with John Patton and Scott Lisset of Cadence Management Corporation to discuss how companies can get started with OPM3, and where the new standard will have the most impact on project, program, and portfolio management operations.

This week, we sit down with John Patton for an introduction to OPM3. This new organizational benchmarking tool can be prove to be a daunting undertaking. Patton serves to clarify each component of the tool, and provides a discussion on the practical implications of getting started with OMP3.

When the pressure is high it is easy to let the planning process slide in favor of diving in and getting the work done. But, at what cost? Cadence CEO John Patton and director of seminar delivery Scott Lisset discuss the risks of ignoring planning, and give a few key lessons and project sizing guidelines that will help reduce frustration with the appropriate level of work.

There are some things you simply cannot control. This week, Cadence CEO John Patton and Director of Service Delivery Scott Lissit address one of the most frustrating of these for project managers: What do you do when your sponsor hands you a project with an unrealistic objective? Listen to the show this week and get a better understanding of why this happens to project managers, and suggestions on how to turn it around so that you can deliver results.

This year marks 25 years that Cadence has been driving the field of formal project management. On this week's show, we sit down with Cadence CEO John Patton and reflect on the business, and the event that shapes the Cadence impact around the globe: International Methodology Update.

Once you have your project management system in place, how do you measure deeper results of project success beyond major milestones? This week, Rob Bremmer and guest Dr. Sean Harry from Career Management Solutions join the round table to discuss active and passive metrics for managing project success.

How do project managers and team members keep up with the changing dynamics of large, long-term projects and keep skills sharp at the same time? This week, Rob Bremmer and guest Dr. Sean Harry from Career Management Solutions join the round table to continue our series on finding the training you need in a volatile market.

Organizations dealing with cuts to their training budgets are suddenly forced to think creatively about getting teams the training they need to build results. This week, Rob Bremmer and guest Dr. Sean Harry from Career Management Solutions and ASTD join the round table to continue our series on finding the training you need in a volatile market.

What do you do when your organization is forced to trim training budgets? You get creative! This week, the regular team is joined by Dr. Sean Harry from Career Management Solutions to take on the importance of training even in a volatile market, the process of creating a skills inventory, and where to find resources to continue to learn even when you don't have the budget to pay for it.

When working with customer-based extended teams, how do you remain responsive and reactive when you don't have visibility of customer project planning efforts? This week, John Patton and Connie Plowman take on this issue and give advice on how teams can get control of broad teams through communication and collaboration.

The problem card this week asks for help when a team is handed a new project and a timeline for delivery that most would feel is too tight to plan. John Patton and Connie Plowman work through the implications for the team -- and for you as project manager -- and show just how critical the planning function is, even when planning time appears to be minimal.

The problem card this week asks for help when a team member evades the work of the project and turns in sloppy work to the team. There are a number of reasons this might be happening on your projects, and this week John Patton and Connie Plowman work through the implications for the team -- and for you as project manager -- and outline a few simple strategies to address them.

This week, how do you drive for accurate and efficient communication when your department or operating team is growing faster than work can be delegated? This week, John Patton and Connie Plowman take on the problem of dynamic operational teams in trouble, and provide insight in how managers can keep the right people involved and informed while being more effective leaders.

When team members jump into your project uninvited, do you have an opportunity to leverage many hands into light work, or a politically charged vehicle for self-promotion? Join Cadence president John Patton and COO Connie Plowman on Ask Cadence this week and gain insights into managing extra-team enthusiasm appropriately and professionally to get the job done.

The attached Excel Spreadsheet is the Workload Planning template referred to in Ask Cadence Episode 12. Download all the Cadence supplemental templates from cadencemc.com.

When operations and project collide in day-to-day worklife, it's often a complicated juggling act determining where staff attention should be directed. This week, Cadence CEO John Patton and COO Connie Plowman share their expertise in managing the juncture between projects and operations and the benefits of workload planning.

When a key manager holds the keys to your project schedule, how do you deliver results without creating a politically charged situation around your project? Join Cadence president John Patton and COO Connie Plowman on Ask Cadence this week and gain insights on "managing up" appropriately and professionally to get the job done.

On this week's show, Jay Christensen and Rob Bremmer discuss the challenges that come to project managers who fail to take the time and initiative to know and understand their customer. Whether from confusion within sponsorship ranks in the organization or project manager planning in a vacuum, the results are the same: misunderstanding of the customer causes misunderstanding of the project.

On this week's show, Jay Christensen and Rob Bremmer discuss the challenges that come to project managers who plan their projects without any input from the team. Whether it comes from a subconscious need to be a star, or a lack of organization of resources early in the project, this problem can be disastrous to long-term commitment to project activity. Listen now for strategies to address this problem proactively and discover who ultimately owns this problem to deliver results on your critical projects.

On this week's show, Jay Christensen and Rob Bremmer discuss the challenges that come with team members who don't fully support your project. Do they have a full understanding of the project objective? Do they understand the potential impact of the project on the organization? Listen now for strategies to address these team members proactively to ensure they are delivering at their best on your most critical projects.

With more projects than people in today's project environment, organizations are often forced to assign team members to project teams who are not equipped with the skills required to contribute most effectively. This skill gap can have a severe negative impact on project deliverables and put project managers in a difficult position when working to get their projects complete. On this week's show, Jay Christensen and Rob Bremmer address key organizational symptoms that can lead to an environment in which the skill gap occurs, and how to address these symptoms proactively to ensure the right team members are delivering at their best on the most critical projects.

This week, our Cadence graduate writes, "Complete requirements for the project are received before the project is due to be complete." Without complete organizational understanding and sponsor/customer agreement, this project problem comes up time and again. Experts Jay Christensen and Rob Bremmer walk through the nature of the problem and how you can put a keen eye on resolution by getting back to basics, holding the reins of communication tightly, while addressing the needs of the team. Listen to this week’s Ask Cadence for more on getting your teams talking, and thanks to those who have written in with this challenge!