Project Management for Dummies, 2nd UK Edition

Project Management for Dummies, 2nd UK Edition

by Nick Graham
Released April 2015
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781119025733

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Book description

Get projects done on time, on budget, and with maximum efficiency

In today's time-pressured and cost-conscious global business environment, reliable project management and competent delivery are more important than ever. Increasingly, project management is being seen as an essential management skill for all, as well as a career choice for many. This new UK edition of Project Management For Dummies quickly introduces you to the principles of successful project management with a clear and logical approach to help you deliver your projects, not only successfully, but also more easily. Unique to the UK edition, you'll find clear guidance on using the highly logical product-based approach to project planning, along with advice on how to release the great power of the technique, not only for effective planning, but also for project control.

Updated with fresh content, tips, and tactics that cover everything you need to know from a project's start to finish, this accessible guide takes you through every stage of project management. You'll discover how to make project planning easier and more effective, manage resources and stay on track within a budget. Then you'll find help and advice to help you motivate and manage your teams to help them perform at their best. To help you stay at the leading edge, you'll also find two new chapters in this edition explaining project governance and the increasingly important international standard ISO 21500. In short, this book will help you master a highly valuable skill for advancing your career.

  • Provides clear descriptions of who should do what in a project to prevent communication and control problems

  • Presents the latest concepts in project management techniques

  • Discusses how to keep risks under control during the project

  • Includes access to online project management templates and checklists to aid in learning

    • If you're a manager taking on a project for the first time or a more experienced project professional looking to get up to speed on the latest thinking and techniques, Project Management For Dummies equips you for project management success.

    Table of contents

      1. Introduction
        1. About This Book
        2. Foolish Assumptions
        3. Icons Used in This Book
        4. Beyond the Book
        5. Where to Go from Here
      2. Part I: Understanding Projects and What You Want to Achieve
        1. Chapter 1: Success in Project Management
          1. Taking on a Project
          2. Avoiding the Pitfalls
          3. Deciding Whether the Job is a Project
            1. Understanding the four control areas
            2. Recognising the diversity of projects
            3. Understanding the four stages of a project
          4. Defining the Project Manager’s Role
            1. Looking at the Project Manager’s tasks
            2. Opposing opposition
            3. Avoiding ‘shortcuts’
        2. Chapter 2: Thinking Through the Life of Your Project
          1. Being Methodical
          2. Breaking the Project Down into Stages
            1. Appreciating the advantages of stages
            2. Deciding on the number of delivery stages
          3. Understanding the Four Main Stages
            1. Starting the Project
            2. Organising and Preparing
            3. Carrying Out the Work – delivery stages
            4. Closing the Project
        3. Chapter 3: Defining the Scope and Producing a Business Case
          1. Defining the Scope
            1. Managing expectations and avoiding disappointment
            2. Challenging the scope
            3. Understanding the dimensions of scope
            4. Being clear
            5. Requirements
          2. Producing a Business Case
            1. Getting to grips with the basic contents
            2. Keeping the Business Case up to date
            3. Figuring out why you’re doing the project
            4. Understanding project justification
            5. Understanding benefits
            6. Writing the Business Case
            7. Complying with organisational standards
          3. Going Back to the Scope
          4. Getting to Grips with Techniques
            1. Calculating return on investment
            2. Understanding cost–benefit analysis
        4. Chapter 4: Knowing Your Project’s Stakeholders
          1. Managing Stakeholders
            1. Identifying stakeholders – the ‘who’
            2. Analysing the stakeholders – the ‘where’
            3. Understanding positions – the ‘why’
            4. Deciding action – the ‘what’
            5. Working with stakeholders – the ‘how’
            6. Planning the work – the ‘when’
          2. Handling Opposition
            1. Solving the problems
            2. Focusing on the common areas
            3. Understanding that you’re a threat
            4. Spotting facts and emotions
            5. Overriding the opposition
          3. Handling Multiple-Stakeholder Projects
            1. Getting multiple approvals
            2. Developing management strategies
      3. Part II: Planning Time: Determining What, When and How Much
        1. Chapter 5: Planning with Deliverables First
          1. Seeing the Logic of Product Planning
            1. Thinking ‘product’ before thinking ‘task’
            2. Understanding the problems of an activity focus
          2. Knowing What a Product Is – and Isn’t
          3. Finding Good Product Names
          4. Using a Business Project Example
            1. Identifying the products
            2. Developing a sequence
            3. Defining the products
          5. Using a Structured Product List
          6. Unleashing the Power of the Work Flow Diagram
            1. Using the Work Flow Diagram for risk
            2. Using the Work Flow Diagram for control
            3. Using the Work Flow Diagram to show stages
            4. Using the Work Flow for progress reporting
            5. Getting a picture of the project
        2. Chapter 6: Planning the Activities
          1. Moving From Products to Activities
            1. Having multiple tasks to build a product
            2. Listing the activities or tasks
          2. Drawing Up a First Activity Network
            1. Seeing how you build up an Activity Network
            2. Using the Work Flow Diagram
            3. Putting in the time durations
            4. Calculating the length of the project
          3. Understanding Float and Its Impact
          4. Identifying the Critical Path
            1. Watching the critical path
            2. Finding a split critical path
          5. Being More Precise with Dependencies
            1. Understanding dependency types
            2. Staying in touch with reality
            3. Thinking a bit more about sequences
          6. Working with the Activity Network
            1. Working back to meet end dates
            2. Avoiding backing into your schedule
          7. Going for Gantt
          8. Estimating Activity Durations
            1. Getting the best information
            2. Using estimating techniques
            3. Putting a health warning on estimates
        3. Chapter 7: Looking At Staff Resources
          1. Seeing Why You Need to Plan Staff Use
            1. Dealing with resource conflicts
            2. Making sure that people are available
            3. Monitoring use of staff on the project
          2. Matching People to Tasks
            1. Working out the skill sets and knowledge that you need on the teams
            2. Growing your people
            3. Developing a Skills Matrix
          3. Honing Your Task Duration Estimates
            1. Documenting your estimates
            2. Factors in activity timing and estimates
            3. Estimating required work effort
            4. Factoring in productivity
            5. Taking care with historical data
            6. Accounting for availability in estimates
          4. Smoothing the Resource
            1. Checking for resource conflict
            2. Resolving resource conflicts – the steps
            3. Co-ordinating assignments across multiple projects
        4. Chapter 8: Planning for Other Resources and Developing the Budget
          1. Determining Physical Resource Needs
            1. Identifying resource needs
            2. Understanding physical resources
            3. Thinking a bit more about timing
          2. Making Sense of Costs and Budgets
            1. Looking at different types of project costs
            2. Developing a project budget at three levels
            3. Refining your budget through the stages
            4. Creating a detailed budget estimate
            5. Avoiding drowning people in detail
        5. Chapter 9: Planning at Different Times and Levels
          1. Putting the Main Structure in Place
            1. Deciding on the stages
            2. Holding a Stage Gate
          2. Working with Planning Levels
            1. Drawing up new plans
            2. Keeping higher level plans up to date
            3. Planning at more than one level at once
        6. Chapter 10: Venturing into the Unknown: Dealing with Risk and Uncertainty
          1. Understanding Risks and Risk Management
            1. Seeing why you need risk management
            2. Managing, not necessarily avoiding, risk
            3. Keeping people informed
            4. Keeping risk in focus throughout the project
          2. Working Through the Risk Cycle
            1. Identifying a risk and its trigger event(s)
            2. (Re)analyse the risk and check existing actions
            3. Deciding risk management action(s)
            4. Add/modify risk management in the plans
            5. Take planned action(s) and monitor the risk
          3. Documenting Risk
            1. Risk Plan
            2. Risk Log
          4. Getting Some Help from Techniques
            1. Ishikawa (fishbone) diagram
            2. Work Flow Diagram
            3. Risk Checklist
            4. Decision Tree
      4. Part III: Putting Your Management Team Together
        1. Chapter 11: Organising the Project
          1. Designing the Project Organisation
            1. Understanding it’s about roles, not jobs
            2. Getting to grips with project roles
            3. Looking at the roles
            4. Influencing the selection of PSG roles
          2. Defining Organisational Structures
            1. The functional structure
            2. The projectised structure
            3. The matrix structure
            4. Taking note of the structure
        2. Chapter 12: Working With Teams and Specialists
          1. Looking At the Team In Context
          2. Working with Team Leaders
          3. Accepting That People Are Different
            1. Using the Controller–Analyst Matrix
            2. Building in or avoiding team conflict
            3. Using the model on the fly
          4. Thinking About Suitable Team Members
          5. Considering Performance
            1. Identifying the performance progression
            2. Monitoring performance
            3. Maximising performance
          6. Working with Senior Staff
            1. Being secure in your role
            2. Calling in the heavy guns
          7. Working with Technical Specialists
            1. Finding a translator
            2. Admitting your ignorance
            3. Being on-side
          8. Working with Supplier Teams
            1. Supporting supplier staff
            2. Choosing suppliers carefully
            3. Thinking ‘time’, not just ‘initial cost’
          9. Dealing With Discipline
            1. Maintaining some distance
            2. Owning the problem
            3. Avoiding jumping to conclusions
            4. Resolving problems – or trying to
            5. Treading the disciplinary trail
          10. Changing Staff
        3. Chapter 13: Being an Effective Leader
          1. Practising Management and Leadership
            1. Understanding what makes a good leader
            2. Developing personal power and influence
          2. Knowing What Motivates, and also What Demotivates
            1. Taking a lesson from Fred Herzberg
            2. Understanding points of demotivation
            3. Ensuring that others are on board
          3. Developing Your Teams
            1. Defining your project operating processes
            2. Helping your teams to function well
          4. Stoking the Boilers
            1. Letting people know how they’re doing
            2. Motivating people when they leave
            3. Keeping your finger on the pulse
      5. Part IV: Steering the Project to Success
        1. Chapter 14: Tracking Progress and Staying in Control
          1. Understanding What Underpins Effective Progress Control
            1. Having a reliable plan
            2. Having clear and frequent milestones
            3. Having an effective reporting mechanism
          2. Harnessing Product Power for Progress Control
            1. Compiling a Work Checklist
            2. Getting visual with the Work Flow Diagram
            3. Monitoring at project, stage and Work Package levels
          3. Taking Action When Things Go Off Track
            1. Finding out why the project is off track
            2. Thinking about what you can do to get back on track
            3. Deciding what you’ll do
            4. Taking action
            5. Monitoring the effectiveness of the action
          4. Monitoring Work Effort and Costs
            1. Keeping an eye on work effort
            2. Follow the money: Monitoring expenditure
          5. Dealing with Change and Avoiding Scope Creep
            1. Understanding different types of change
            2. Looking at impacts – the four dogs
            3. Responding to change requests
            4. Eliminating scope creep – well, almost
        2. Chapter 15: Keeping Everyone Informed
          1. Looking Underneath Communications Failure
            1. Communications breakdown – the big project killer
          2. Communicating Effectively
            1. Distinguishing between one-way and two-way communication
            2. Can you hear me? Listening actively
          3. Choosing the Appropriate Medium
            1. Writing reports
            2. Meeting up
            3. Setting up a project website
            4. Making a business presentation
          4. Preparing a Communications Plan
            1. Identifying the communications
            2. Writing a Communications Plan
        3. Chapter 16: Bringing Your Project to Closure
          1. Staying the Course to Completion
            1. Thinking ahead about project closure
            2. Dealing with a crash stop
          2. Planning Closure
            1. Outlining closure activities
            2. Motivating teams to the finish line
          3. Providing a Good Transition for Team Members
          4. Reviewing the Project
            1. Beginning with the end in mind
            2. Recording project information
            3. Learning lessons – and passing them on
            4. Measuring benefits
          5. Planning for Things After the Project
      6. Part V: Taking Your Project Management to the Next Level
        1. Chapter 17: Managing Multiple Projects
          1. Talking the Talk
            1. Defining a programme
            2. Defining a portfolio
          2. Deciding on a Programme
            1. Understanding programme roles
            2. Fitting in with Programme Plans
            3. Mapping interdependencies by product
            4. Controlling a programme
          3. Managing a Portfolio
            1. Understanding the project implications
            2. Maintaining the portfolio
        2. Chapter 18: Using Technology to Up Your Game
          1. Using Computer Software Effectively
            1. Seeing what software you need
            2. Understanding where to use software
          2. Having Your Head in the Clouds
          3. Getting Really Good Stuff for Free
          4. Supporting Virtual Teams with Communication Technology
          5. Saving Time With Software
        3. Chapter 19: Monitoring Project Performance with Earned Value Management
          1. Understanding EVM Terms and Formulas
            1. Looking at a project example (1)
            2. Looking at a project example (2)
            3. Looking at a project example (3)
            4. Getting the three key figures
          2. Working with Ratios and Formulas
          3. Investigating Variances
          4. Deciding What to Measure for EVM
        4. Chapter 20: Project Governance and Why It’s Really Important
          1. Seeing Why It’s a No-brainer
          2. Looking At Other Guidance
          3. Understanding What’s Involved
          4. Understanding the Organisational Level
            1. Standards and approaches
            2. Reviewing governance and standards
          5. Checking an Individual Project
            1. Checking the project’s Outline Charter
            2. Checking the Charter and PMP
            3. Checking the project while it’s running
            4. Evaluating the project at the end
          6. Maintaining the ‘Big Divide’
          7. Coordinating Your Project Training
        5. Chapter 21: ISO 21500:2012
          1. Seeing the Place of ISO Standards
          2. Knowing What ISO 21500 Covers
          3. Understanding the Structure of 21500
            1. Getting into the subject areas
            2. Drilling deeper into the processes
          4. Minding the Gap
          5. Boggling Your Mind . . . Just a Bit
      7. Part VI: The Part of Tens
        1. Chapter 22: Ten Questions to Ask Yourself as You Plan Your Project
          1. What Are the Objectives of Your Project?
          2. Who Do You Need to Involve?
          3. What Results Will You Produce?
          4. What Constraints Must You Satisfy?
          5. What Assumptions Are You Making?
          6. What Work Has to Be Done?
          7. When Does Each Activity Start and End?
          8. Who Will Perform the Project Work?
          9. What Other Resources Do You Need?
          10. What Can Go Wrong?
        2. Chapter 23: Ten Tips for Writing a Convincing Business Case
          1. Starting with a Bang
          2. Spelling out the Benefits Clearly
          3. Pointing Out the Non-quantifiables
          4. Being Prudent
          5. Considering Three-point Estimating
          6. Making Sure Benefits Aren’t Features
          7. Avoiding Benefits Contamination
          8. Making Sure You Can Deliver Benefits
          9. Supplying Evidence or Referencing It
          10. Using Appendices
        3. Chapter 24: Ten Tips for Being a Better Project Manager
          1. Being a ‘Why’ Person
          2. Being a ‘Can Do’ Person
          3. Thinking about the Big Picture
          4. Thinking in Detail
          5. Assuming Cautiously
          6. Viewing People as Allies Not Adversaries
          7. Saying What You Mean, and Meaning What You Say
          8. Respecting Other People
          9. Acknowledging Good Performance
          10. Being a Manager and a Leader
      8. About the Authors
      9. Cheat Sheet
      10. More Dummies Products

    Product information

    • Title: Project Management for Dummies, 2nd UK Edition
    • Author(s): Nick Graham
    • Release date: April 2015
    • Publisher(s): For Dummies
    • ISBN: 9781119025733