Most PMs walk into a kickoff meeting and hope for the best. This course draws on 50 years of combined PM experience to teach you the 5 questions that set every project up for success before the work even starts.
The Problem
You studied the PMBOK. You learned about risk registers and work breakdown structures and earned value management.
Then you sat down with a project sponsor for the first time and realized none of that prepared you for the conversation you were about to have.
What does this person actually want?
How will they measure success?
What are they not telling you?
Why does everyone seem to have a different answer to the same question?
These are the moments that determine whether a project succeeds or falls apart. And most PMs figure them out the hard way, three months in, when it's too late to fix.
What You'll Learn
5 lessons. 5 questions. Each one changes the conversation.
Lesson 1
The first question to ask in any kickoff meeting. The answer your sponsor gives tells you more about the project than any brief or charter ever will. If you only learn one thing from this course, this is the one.
Lesson 2
Figure out what's actually in and out of this project before your team starts building the wrong thing. Ask the question that surfaces misaligned expectations before they become misaligned deliverables.
Lesson 3
The budget question most PMs are afraid to ask, and how to ask it so your sponsor gives you a real answer instead of a number they pulled from thin air.
Lesson 4
How to pressure-test a deadline before committing, so you're not three months in explaining why the date was never realistic. Set timelines you can defend from leadership push back.
Lesson 5
The risk conversation that separates PMs who react from PMs who prevent. This question saves projects. You catch the thing that's going to derail you before it does.
How these 5 questions work as a system. Ask them in the right way, and you'll know more about your project in one meeting than most PMs learn in the first quarter.
Real Reviews
They gently teach the language of corporate and project management without making me feel dumb, and they make me laugh along the way.
Just a great space where you are getting expert advice in a way that's approachable and fun, practical, genuine, authentic.
If I did not have PM Happy Hour as a resource, I would be a lot more stressed. You're fun and engaging. I really need your expertise.
Your Instructors
Kim Essendrup and Kate Anderson have 50+ years of combined project management experience. They've managed projects at Fortune 500 companies, startups, agencies, and everything in between.
They host PM Happy Hour, a top-rated project management podcast running for 8+ years with over 100 episodes. They built this course from their very first recordings because after eight years, their members still say these 5 questions are the most important thing they teach.
Course Details
Everything you need to start every project right.
~40 min each, ~4 hours total. On-demand, at your pace.
Reinforce what you learn and test your understanding.
Business Acumen PDU upon completion of the course.
Yours to keep forever. Listen anywhere, any device.
Not available on the podcast or anywhere else. This course is the only way to access this content.
Listen to the lessons. Use the questions on your next project. If this course doesn't help, email us within 7 days for a full refund. No questions, no hassle.
Enroll Today
One-time payment. Yours forever.
Questions?
No. These questions work whether you have a PMP or not. If you do have your PMP, this course earns you 1 Business Acumen PDU.
No. These are from our very first episodes, which are not available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere in syndication. You can only access them through this course.
6 on-demand audio lessons, about 40 minutes each. Listen at your own pace, on any device. It's hosted on our course platform with quizzes built in.
Both. If you're new, these questions will save you months of learning the hard way. If you're experienced, you'll sharpen the way you run kickoffs and set projects up for success.
Email us within 7 days for a full refund. No questions asked.
Don't Wait
Most PMs learn these lessons the hard way. Months into a project that's going sideways because nobody asked the right questions at the start.
This course gives you the 5 questions in about 4 hours of audio. You can start using them in your next kickoff meeting.
Get the Course — $27