The PM Survival Guide to Difficult Teammates

In this episode of PM Unfiltered, Daniel, Elizabeth, and Justin take on one of the hardest realities of project leadership: working with difficult teammates. Not sponsors, not clients, the core team members you interact with every single day.

The crew unpacks everything from managing egos and silos to balancing respect with accountability. You will hear stories about developers who resist process, engineers who see oversight as micromanagement, and teammates who unintentionally derail progress. The conversation gets candid as they debate when feedback crosses into coaching, how to protect team morale, and the fine line between escalating issues and just absorbing the pain.

What makes this episode stand out is the clash of perspectives. Daniel emphasizes relationships as the foundation of influence, Elizabeth stresses the importance of boundaries and respect for roles, and Justin advocates for proactive feedback to keep projects on track. Together, they develop strategies for defusing conflict in the moment, navigating the politics behind the scenes, and building trust so that challenges do not spiral out of control.

If you have ever wondered how to manage a hard personality on your project without losing your sanity or your credibility, this episode is your playbook. It is raw, practical, and full of insights that you won't find in a PM textbook.