Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme

Chapter 5. How to Launch a Project

The productivity of a workgroup seems to depend on how the group members see their own goals in relation to the goals of the organization.

—Paul Hersey and Kenneth H. Blanchard

When the best leader's work is done, the people say, "We did it ourselves."

—Lao-Tzu, Chinese philosopher

When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes reality.

—Joe Paterno, football coach, Penn State University

CHAPTER LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter, you will be able to:

• Describe the characteristics of an effective project team member

• Understand the different roles and responsibilities of core versus contract team members

• Help contract team members become part of the team

• Establish team operating rules for problem solving, decision making, and conflict resolution

• Know the types of team meetings and when to use each type

• Establish and use a team war room

• Define scope change processes and change management processes

• Know project communications requirements and use

• Assign resources

• Finalize the project schedule

• Describe the format and explain the contents of a work package

• Know when to require a work package description

The project plan has been approved, and it's time to get on with the work of the project. Before you turn the team loose, you must attend to a few housekeeping chores.

Tools, Templates, and Processes Used to Launch a Project

The major topics of this chapter are recruiting the full project team and preparing it to begin ...