People, Process, Progress with Kevin Pannell
Hosted by Kevin Pannell, PMP, CSM, Prosci, author of The Stability Equation and The People, Process, and Progress of Project Management, this podcast bridges the gap between strategy and street level. Kevin brings stories and lessons from the military, public safety, and healthcare IT to help you lead better, think clearer, and act faster. Each episode delivers practical tools to align intent with action, empower your people, and create progress that lasts.
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How to Shake if Off and Step up | Faith in Action Friday 03
<p>Shake It Off, Step Up | Faith in Action Friday 03</p><p><br /></p><p>Some weeks feel like life is throwing dirt straight onto our backs. Stress, pressure, grief, fear, and the quiet battles no one sees. In this Faith in Action Friday episode, we walk through the donkey-in-the-well parable and connect it to the real experiences many of us face.</p><p>I share how I didn’t always “shake it off” or climb. I didn’t always have strong faith. I blamed others, blamed circumstances, even blamed God. But over the last four or five years, I’ve learned...
How to Make "Done" Mean Done
<p>A clear definition of done can make or break a project. In this episode, How to Make "Done" Mean Done, I share lessons from projects where success was obvious, as well as moments where even well written requirements failed to reflect what the customer really needed or what the leader intended. I also talk through how expectations get added quietly, why shadow scope appears, and how to protect the finish line so teams can deliver with confidence.</p><p><br /></p><p>What You Will Learn:</p>How to define done based on outcome, not activityHow to translate requirements...
Faith in the Right People | Faith in Action Friday 02
<p>Faith in Action Friday 02: Faith in the Right People</p><p>Sometimes people are at their lowest, and one moment of noticing can steady them. I share two moments that shaped me. A dad at daycare who saw I wasn’t ok as a new father, and a stranger during my midlife crisis who told me, “God will get you through this.” Those moments reminded me that faith in people is found in small acts of attention.</p><p><br /></p><p>This episode connects to the full episode, How to Get the Right People in the Room so Progre...
How to Get the Right People in the Room so Progress Happens
<p>Most meetings look right on the surface, but progress slows when the people who understand the work are not in the room. In this episode, How to Get the Right People in the Room so Progress Happens, I share how to identify the real business owner, balance the right voices, set expectations that matter, and protect the purpose of the meeting. You will also hear why strong leaders do not sit in every meeting, and how trust and presence shape better decisions and better outcomes.</p><p><br /></p><p>What You Will Learn</p>How to choose the...
Lessons in Faith from Viktor Frankl: Faith in Action Friday 01
<p>In this first Faith in Action Friday episode, Lessons in Faith from Viktor Frankl, I share how Viktor Frankl’s experience in the worst human conditions helped me reconnect with my own faith. Not religion, not routine, but real faith in meaning, faith in people, and faith in myself. Frankl’s story reminds us that even when everything is taken from us, we still have the power to choose our response. In this short reflection, we explore people, process, and progress through the lens of faith and consider where a little trust could lighten the load we carry.</p><p><b...
How to Fix a Failing Project Without Losing the Team
<p>When a project starts to slip, silence is the real risk. In this episode, Kevin Pannell shares how to escalate early, run real-time retros, and rebuild the plan using the KISS method, keeping it simple and strategic.</p><p><br /></p><p>Learn how to make escalation collaborative, protect team trust, and turn failure into alignment.</p><p>Based on the Progress section of The People, Process, and Progress of Project Management.</p>
Leadership Lessons from the Greatest Night in Pop
<p>In 1985, forty-six of the biggest names in music walked into a studio on Sunset Boulevard after the American Music Awards. No press, no leaks, just purpose.</p><p><br /></p><p>We Are the World was not just a song, it was a project. A one-night mission to create something that would feed millions of people suffering from famine in Africa.</p><p><br /></p><p>In this episode of People, Process, Progress, Kevin revisits the story he first explored in a March 2024 Hope is NOT a Plan episode, this time through the lens of leadership, culture, and the...
The Right People on the Bus
<p>In The Right People on the Bus, I share how a Nick Saban clip popped up in my algorithm this week, and it hit home. His message about getting the right people on the bus, and the wrong people off, speaks directly to project leadership. As project managers, we build our own teams every day, and success depends on who is on board, how we support them, and when we recognize it is time for someone to move on.</p><p><br /></p><p>In this episode, I share what Saban’s philosophy means for project teams: how to fo...
Build the Sidewalk Where People Already Walk
<p>In Build the Sidewalk Where People Already Walk, we explore what happens when project teams design based on real behavior instead of assumptions. Drawing from a Lean Coffee discussion and PMI’s survey findings that the customer is the ultimate indicator of success, this episode challenges leaders to define “done” through the eyes of the end user. Kevin shares how observation, empathy, and feedback lead to better requirements, stronger outcomes, and lasting trust. Learn how to build projects that people actually use and appreciate.</p>
Tools to Reset Your Intent | Focus Friday
<p>We already know what to do and what not to do in our lives, but when our intent drifts, so does our progress. This Focus Friday builds on When Strategy Fails: Fix the Intent Gap by combining principles from The Stability Equation and The People, Process, and Progress of Project Management to help you reset your intent, align your people and process, and move forward with purpose.</p>
