Project Podcast

Hosted by Project magazine, brought to you by APM

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Episodes

150

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-GB

About the show

Project managers share their stories from the front line of the project and programme management profession. This podcast is brought to you by APM, the chartered membership organisation for the project profession. For more information on how to join APM, visit apm.org.uk.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 20, 202648 min

How to launch a project (the right way)

How do you start a project well when the real world is messy, teams form gradually and not everything is ready on day one? In this episode, Emma speaks to Lindsey Brown from the V&A, Kerry Daly from Balfour Beatty and Anita Suji from AECOM about project launches, kick-off meetings and building momentum. They discuss readiness checks, stakeholder alignment, psychological safety, team culture, optimism bias, roles, responsibilities and the human relationships that keep projects moving. Their advice: invest time up front, get the right people together and make expectations clear. Want more? Read the Project magazine feature ‘How to start a project (brilliantly)’: https://www.apm.org.uk/blog/how-to-start-a-project-brilliantly/

August 6, 202646 min

How to beat change fatigue

Change fatigue is the weariness teams feel when faced with yet another change initiative. It creates scepticism and leaves everyone with a ‘here we go again’ feeling. To discuss how to overcome change fatigue, Emma is joined by Sharon Davies, Director of Infrastructure at Turner & Townsend, who led the implementation of the MOD project that won APM’s 2025 Transformation Project of the Year Award; Dawn Temme, an executive coach, change practitioner and Capability Development Lead at Health Determinants Research Collaboration for Greater Essex; and Kate Ward, Head of Change Management at King’s College London.

July 23, 202640 min

Game, set, match: managing projects at Wimbledon

Emma chats all things tennis with Stephen Frame, Head of Project Delivery at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, better known as Wimbledon, about project management there, as well as about its ambitious future expansion plans. This episode was recorded in the second week of the 2026 championships, where it wasn’t only the heatwave hotting things up, but also the fact that Briton Arthur Fery was through to the semi-finals.

July 9, 202644 min

Humans + AI: how project managers can build hybrid intelligence

How can humans and artificial intelligence (AI) applications work together as a hybrid intelligence in a positive way for organisations, projects and individuals? There’s a lot of chatter on the subject and there are many so-called experts, so it pays to be discerning about who you choose to listen to. Joining Emma to help cut through the noise are James Garner, Head of AI at Gleeds, and Stephanie Stasey, CEO of Miss AI. Want more? Download APM's report AI’s Dual Impact on Project Managers’ Well-Being : https://www.apm.org.uk/resources/research/published-research/ai-s-dual-impact-on-project-managers-well-being/

June 25, 202653 min

From Gen Z to Baby Boomers: what makes multigenerational teams work?

Multiple generations are currently working side by side: Gen Z in their mid-20s and 30s, Millennials in their 30s and 40s, Gen X in their late 40s and 50s, and Baby Boomers in their 60s and 70s. Generational stereotypes abound: Baby Boomers supposedly have it all, while digital-native Gen Z are dismissed as ‘snowflakes’. How helpful are these labels? Probably not very. There’s a backlash against them within HR and business circles, but there are differences between generations in how they like to work, what work means to them and how they prefer to communicate. In this podcast, Emma delves beneath the chatter and brings together project professionals from every generation to ask them for their experience of working together. Joining her are Baby Boomer Gordon MacKay FAPM, Gen X Karina Singh, Millennial Jimmy Nguyen and Gen Z Miles Allibone-Dover.

June 11, 202635 min

Building your experience to gain an executive role

Emma talks all things leadership with Dave Corbin ChPP, Chief Project Delivery Officer at Gleeds. Dave started his working life as a gas engineer before switching into project and programme management and working his way up to the top. He shares his career advice on getting ahead, and explains why clarity matters in project leadership. Dave was a finalist for APM's Chartered Project Professional of the Year Award in 2024 – so what has he learnt about project and programme leadership? And how can you go about building your own experience to gain an executive role?

May 28, 202645 min

Delivering a £3bn water infrastructure resilience programme

Emma is joined by John McNeill ChPP, Head of Programme Delivery at United Utilities, who's helping to lead the £3bn Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme (HARP) in North-West England. What's it like to get a once-in-a-generation critical infrastructure programme off the ground? What's it like to work on a major project in an area, water supply, that is garnering so much public and media attention? Listen on to find out.

May 14, 202643 min

Why storytelling matters in project management

Emma meets Zoë Arden, author of Story-Centred Leadership: Crafting cultures of change . The pair discuss storytelling – why it's a great skill to master as a project professional and how to do it well. Zoë is a fellow at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and was previously Director of Communications at BT, as well as European MD of global communications firm Weber Shandwick, among other executive roles. For more information on Zoë’s book visit: https://zoearden.com/my-book The APM book Effective Communication in Projects: Tools, Techniques and Tips , is available at the APM book shop: https://www.apm.org.uk/book-shop/effective-communication-in-projects/

April 30, 202630 min

From project professional to CEO, with the RSPCA's Joanna Rowland

Emma meets Joanna Rowland, Chief Executive of the RSPCA. Listeners might remember her previous interview with the podcast in 2020 during the pandemic, when she was Director of HMRC’S COVID-19 response unit, responsible for helping mastermind the UK government’s furlough scheme, and where she was also head of the project management profession. A lot has changed for Jo since then. She rose through the ranks of the civil service, leaving project management behind her to become Director General of the Home Office, before joining the RSPCA in December 2025 as CEO. Find out what it’s like to be a first-time CEO; why project management is a perfect training for the role; why project managers need to set their sights higher; and her advice to getting to the C-suite.

April 16, 202642 min

Why psychological safety is not a nice-to-have

Emma meets James Evans, Programme Manager at NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee, who has a deep interest in psychological safety and contributed to the forthcoming APM e-learning module on the topic. James explains what psychological safety actually is (and what it isn’t) and the reasons why it's such a hot topic in project management. Psychological safety is no longer a nice-to-have, he explains – it's become a critical factor in managing projects successfully. The e-learning module is available from APM Learning for APM members. For more information, visit https://www.apm.org.uk/resources/apm-learning/