Project Management Survival: A Practical Guide to Managing & Delivering Challenging Projects

✍ Scribed by Jones R.

• Publisher: Kogan Page
• Year: 2007
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 255
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Project Management Survival is written for people who find themselves handed a major corporate project and are wondering how to see it through successfully without faltering. This book provides readers with a template for success based on real-world project management techniques. It explains what to do if one starts or inherits projects where resources are scarce and time is short. Author Richard Jones give practical advice on getting the right initial diagnosis, developing a genuinely workable plan, and managing people so the project stays on track. Always taking a pragmatic approach, he shows how to succeed in even the toughest project situations.

✦ Table of Contents

Half Title page......Page 2
More Praise for Project Management Survival......Page 3
Title page......Page 4
Imprint......Page 5
Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgements......Page 10
Introduction......Page 12
Part I Understanding Projects......Page 14
WHAT IS A PROJECT?......Page 16
WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?......Page 17
WHY IS IT VITAL TO MANAGE PROJECTS WELL?......Page 19
PROJECT KILLERS......Page 20
2 Dead Project Walking – Why some projects must be killed......Page 24
WHY DEAD PROJECTS LIVE ON......Page 25
Part II Where Are We?......Page 28
WHY DOING A DIAGNOSTIC MAKES SENSE......Page 30
GETTING TO THE TRUTH......Page 31
DIGGING INTO THE PLAN......Page 35
DIAGNOSING A MULTI-COMPANY PROGRAMME......Page 39
Part III Getting the Right Initial Plan......Page 42
THE WRONG KIND OF PROJECT MANAGERS......Page 44
BEING THE RIGHT KIND OF PROJECT MANAGER......Page 45
GIVE THE TEAM RESPONSIBILITY......Page 46
MANAGING IN A MATRIX......Page 47
BEING A TEAM PLAYER......Page 48
OVERCOMING ‘IT CAN’T BE DONE’......Page 49
FOCUSING YOUR ATTENTION IN THE RIGHT PLACES......Page 52
INTRODUCTION......Page 55
PROJECT INITIATION......Page 56
CREATING THE PROJECT CHARTER......Page 59
GET IT RIGHT EARLY ON – IT’S CHEAPER......Page 61
WHY OBJECTIVES ARE IMPORTANT......Page 68
DEVELOPING WELL-DEFINED OBJECTIVES......Page 70
GOOD AND BAD OBJECTIVES – SOME EXAMPLES......Page 72
7 Milestones......Page 77
THE PROBLEM WITH BAD MILESTONES......Page 78
HOW TO WRITE A GOOD MILESTONE......Page 79
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MILESTONES AND GATES......Page 81
HOW RESULT PATHS HELP......Page 87
SETTING UP RESULT PATHS......Page 88
ASSESSING RESULT PATHS......Page 90
BEYOND MILESTONES......Page 93
9 Activities/Work Breakdown Structure......Page 96
WHAT IS A WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE?......Page 97
THE WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE UNDERPINS MUCH OF THE PLANNING?......Page 100
THE ROLLING WAVE APPROACH......Page 101
THE IMPACT OF ROLLING WAVE ON ESTIMATION AND CONTINGENCY......Page 102
IDENTIFYING THE RESOURCES YOU NEED......Page 107
WHY ESTIMATION GOES WRONG......Page 111
WHY MANAGING USING ‘PERCENTAGE COMPLETE' DOESN'T WORK......Page 113
A BETTER APPROACH FOR ESTIMATION – WORK CONTENT......Page 117
PRODUCING GOOD ESTIMATES......Page 119
RECORD ANY ASSUMPTIONS USED IN ESTIMATION......Page 122
ESTIMATING TASK DURATIONS FROM THE WORK CONTENT......Page 125
13 Dependencies......Page 135
DIFFERENT TYPES OF DEPENDENCIES......Page 136
LAG......Page 137
PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS......Page 139
TASKS AND SUB-TASKS......Page 140
CRITICAL PATH......Page 142
SLACK/FLOAT......Page 144
14 Risk and Mitigation......Page 147
IDENTIFYING AND MANAGING RISKS......Page 148
RISK IDENTIFICATION......Page 149
RISK ASSESSMENT......Page 150
RISK REDUCTION......Page 154
RISK MANAGEMENT......Page 156
Part IV Getting the Plan Right......Page 160
15 Optimizing the Plan......Page 162
CREATE MORE REALISTIC RESOURCE USAGE......Page 163
IMPROVE RESOURCE USAGE TO SHORTEN THE DURATION OF KEY TASKS......Page 164
WORKING IN PARALLEL......Page 168
OPTIMIZATION AND RISK......Page 169
PROJECT CRASHING......Page 171
WHERE YOU END UP IS WHERE YOU START......Page 174
Part V Staying on Track......Page 176
PROJECT MANAGER......Page 178
PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS......Page 180
PROJECT SPONSOR......Page 181
STEERING GROUP......Page 182
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE ROLES......Page 183
PROJECT MANAGER’S WEEKLY CHECKLIST......Page 186
THE UPDATE INFORMATION YOU NEED FROM TEAM MEMBERS......Page 189
INTEGRATING THE UPDATES......Page 190
UPDATING THE PLAN IN PRACTICE......Page 192
HOW OFTEN?......Page 193
INTRODUCTION......Page 194
HOW TO MONITOR PROGRESS WITHIN A PROJECT......Page 195
EARNED VALUE ANALYSIS (EVA)......Page 197
USING EVA TO MONITOR PROGRESS......Page 201
LIMITATIONS OF EVA......Page 204
INTRODUCTION......Page 205
MANAGING ISSUES......Page 206
20 Controlling Change......Page 208
REPORTING DOWN......Page 212
REPORTING UP......Page 213
22 Project Closure......Page 214
Appendix 1: The Changing Nature of Projects......Page 216
Appendix 2: Project Management Software......Page 222
Appendix 3: Project Management Approaches and Methodologies......Page 230
Appendix 4: Problem-solving Techniques......Page 240
Appendix 5: References and Resources......Page 244
Index......Page 246