Hope is NOT a Plan

About Hope is NOT a Plan

People. Process. Progress. Good project management isn't about adding more process. It's about helping people do the right work, creating enough structure to make that work visible and predictable, and building confidence that the organization can deliver. People, Process, Progress is a podcast about practical leadership, project management, and execution. Hosted by Kevin Pannell, PMP, CSM, Director of an IT Project Management Office and former healthcare PMO leader, the show draws on more than 25 years of experience across project and portfolio management, healthcare, emergency management, public safety, and military service. Episodes explore the real work behind successful projects and portfolios: setting clear intent, prioritizing work, building useful standards, managing risk, coordinating resources, improving visibility, making decisions, adapting when plans change, and getting work across the finish line. Everything comes back to three simple ideas: People: Lead well, build trust, communicate clearly, and give people what they need to succeed. Process: Create practical standards and structure that support the work without becoming the work. Progress: Execute, learn, adapt, and keep moving toward meaningful outcomes. The goal is simple: greater visibility, better predictability, and increased confidence in the people, processes, and projects delivering the work. If you lead projects, programs, portfolios, PMOs, or the teams doing the work, People, Process, Progress is for you. Leadership • Project Management • Execution

Publisher

Kevin Pannell

Category

business · business · business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

30 Apr 2020

Latest episode

28 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

18 of 426 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   28 Aug 2026TRANSCRIPT

   What Should a Good PMO Actually Do?

   Host Kevin Pannell interviews himself on what a good PMO actually does, focusing on creating visibility, predictability, and confidence for project execution.

2. 

   13 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Episode 430: New Year. New Intent.

   Host Kevin Pannell interviews himself on how leadership intent, not just projects, drives successful fiscal years and better outcomes.

3. 

   2 Jul 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Be Like Water: Leadership Lessons for Your First 90 Days in a New Role

   Host Kevin Pannell interviews himself on leadership lessons for new roles, emphasizing observation and trust before transformation to foster sustainable change.

Inside a recent episode

What Should a Good PMO Actually Do?

Published 28 Aug 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] That was really the conversation. The framework I used was pretty simple. We looked at the work through the lens of drum roll, people, process, progress. And we looked for three outcomes, visibility, predictability, and confidence. So rather than walk you through a presentation slide by slide, I wanted to pull some principles out when some of these ideas came from and how I learned to think about them in practice. Here's the central idea. A good PMO should make it easier for an organization to see its work, understand how that work moves, and trust its ability to execute. That's the visibility, predictability, confidence stuff. […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Contact Hope is NOT a Plan

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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