APM Podcast

Arts and science: how to manage projects in any sector

Ahead of International Women’s Day later this week, Emma meets two successful women in project management who work in completely different sectors – Josie Harries and Anna Ustynyuk. They explain how core project management skills combined with sector-specific knowledge can give you a career that is highly transferable from one industry to another. Both Josie and Anna are members of the APM Women in Project Management Interest Network, which you can learn more about here. 

The show must go on! Royal Ballet and Opera’s £40m renewal programme

Emma goes behind the scenes at the Royal Ballet and Opera in London to explore how a £40m technical renewal programme is being delivered without interrupting live performances. From upgrading stage elevators and lighting rigs to replacing critical communications systems, every project must be carefully designed, prototyped and installed around a relentless performance schedule.Hear from the project professionals leading the work as they share insights on stakeholder engagement in high-pressure environments, hybrid delivery approaches and building trust in teams where reliability is everything.Look out for the spring issue of Project journal where we bring you more detail on projects at the RBO. Also, don’t miss our previous podcast episode where Emma interviews RBO COO Heather Walker.

When a project director becomes COO: Heather Walker at Royal Ballet and Opera

Emma meets Heather Walker, Chief Operating Officer at Royal Ballet and Opera (RBO) in London, where she's responsible for planning and coordinating a range of services to support across technical and production estate, visitor experience, technology and administration.A major focus is the renewal of the estate, ensuring that sustainability is at the heart of fabric and plant upgrades, and that audiences, artists and staff benefit from changes to the environment and the technology running its services. Previous to becoming COO, Heather was project director at RBO.Look out for our upcoming behind-the-scenes episode at RBO.Contact us: apmpodcast@thinkpublishing.co.uk

What makes a great project manager? (Part 2)

In this episode, we find out the secrets of being a great project manager. It’s January, the time of year where many of us have New Year's resolutions, or maybe just a vague idea of how we want to change things up. So, listen on for some excellent advice from APM’s Chartered Project Professional of the Year, Tamsin Alli-Balogun, who’s also Associate Director of Transport at AtkinsRéalis; Paul Chapman OBE of the University of Oxford Saïd Business School, where he is Academy Director of the UK Government’s Major Projects Leadership Academy; Andy Alder, Managing Director for Major Infrastructure Delivery at Anglian Water; and Anne Marie Purcell of Purcell Advisory.If you want even more top tips, listen to our first instalment of this podcast, published in January 2025. Contact us: apmpodcast@thinkpublishing.co.uk

What the project economy means for your career

Emma welcomes back to the podcast Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez, author and Vice President of APM, to talk about his new book, Powered by Projects, which is published by Harvard Business Review Press in January 2026. In it, he argues that CEOs must put projects, not operations, at the centre of how their companies create value. But where does that leave the project managers in that organisation? And how can every project professional future-proof themselves? Contact us: apmpodcast@thinkpublishing.co.uk