Project Management For Dummies, 4th Edition

Chapter 1

Project Management: The Key to Achieving Results

In This Chapter

Defining a project and its four stages

Breaking down project management

Identifying the project manager’s role

Determining whether you have what you need to be a successful project manager

Successful organizations create projects that produce desired results in established time frames with assigned resources. As a result, businesses are increasingly driven to find individuals who can excel in this project-oriented environment.

Because you’re reading this book, chances are good that you’ve been asked to manage a project. So, hang on tight — you’re going to need a new set of skills and techniques to steer that project to successful completion. But not to worry! This chapter gets you off to a smooth start by showing you what projects and project management really are and by helping you separate projects from nonproject assignments. This chapter also offers the rationale for why projects succeed or fail and gets you into the project-management mindset.

Determining What Makes a Project a Project

No matter what ...