Contents
Contents at a Glance
Preface
Introduction
1 Project Management in a World of Overload
Success, to What End?
The World as We Found It
Overwhelmed and Underserved
Balance Begins with the Basics
The Quest for Work-Life Balance
A Brave New World
Quick Recap
2 Industry Norms—Should You Conform?
Quiz Question
Modern Origins
Ensnarled by Jargon?
The Agile Attitude
Institutional Pitfalls
Underlying Concepts Count
Fundamentals Matter
Dependency Is Not Pretty
Interpersonal and Technological Skills
Quick Recap
3 So, You’re Going to Manage a Project?
The Elements of a Project
Project Planning
Project Implementation
Command
Players and Their Roles
Quick Recap
4 What Makes a Good Project Manager?
A Doer, Not a Bystander
Many Hats, All the Time
Principles to Steer You
Ways to Succeed as a Project Manager
Ways to Fail as a Project Manager
Quick Recap
5 What Do You Want to Accomplish?
The Technical Side and the People Side
Key Questions
What Are We Attempting to Do?
Tasks Versus Outcomes
Telling Questions
The Wide Application of Project Management
Quick Recap
6 Laying Out Your Plan
No Surprises
From Nothing to Something
A Journey of 1,000 Miles
You and Me against the World?
The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
In Many Forms
Maintaining a Project Outline
The Functional WBS
More Complexity, More Help
What Should We Deliver?
It’s Results That Count
Supporting Tools
Bounce Your Plan off Others
Quick Recap
7 Assembling Your Plan
The Critical Path for Completing the WBS
The Chicken or the Egg?
Is Planning Itself a Task?
What about Your Own Hours?
Internal Resources Versus External Resources
Helping Your Staff When It’s Over
What Kinds of Tasks Constitute the WBS?
Keeping the Big Picture in Mind
The Big Picture Versus Endless Minutiae
From Planning to Monitoring
Quick Recap
8 Keeping Your Eye on the Budget
Money Still Doesn’t Grow on Trees
Distorted Expectations
Hidden Costs
Crises Will Happen
Traditional Approaches to Budgeting
Traditional Measures
Predictable Reverberations
Systematic Budgeting Problems
Estimation Sand Traps
Quick Recap
9 Gantt
Charts
Chart Your Progress
Variations on a Theme
Embellishments Offer Detail
Your Project, Back on Track
Thinking Ahead
Quick Recap
10 Critical Path Method
Complexity Happens
Enter the CPM and PERT
Great Utility
What If Things Change?
I Feel the Need, the Need for Speed
Let’s Network
Me and My Arrow
Don’t Fall in Love with the Technology
Quick Recap
11 Choosing Project Management Software
With the Click of a Mouse
Leave a Good Thing Alone
Whose Choice and Whose Job Is It?
What’s Your Pleasure?
Dedicated PM Software
How Will You Use PM Software?
Checklists and Choices
Making a List, Checking It Twice
Quick Recap
12 A Sampling of Popular Programs
Swiftly Flow the Days
Armed and Online
Low-Cost Options
No Perfect Matches
Quick Recap
13 Reporting Results
More Communications Channels, Less Accessibility
In-Person Communications
Informal Person-to-Person Meetings
Telephone Contact
E-mail
Memos and Informal Notes
Formally Composed Documents
Teleconferencing
Web-Based Presentations
Oh, Them Golden Bullets
Incorporate the Thoughts of Others
Quick Recap
14 Multiple Bosses and Multiple Projects, and Staying Balanced
Multiple Projects at a Time
Complexity Happens
A Tale of Two Offices
Extravagance Not Required
Reporting to More than One Boss at a Time
Workaholic for Hire
Stand Up for Yourself
Asserting Yourself in Dire Situations
Quick Recap
15 Real-World Project Management Results
Helping Site Managers to Be More Effective
Let’s Assign It to a Project Manager
Armchair Analysis Versus Onsite Observation
Tower of Babel
Slowly but Surely
After the Handout
Quick Recap
16 Learning from Your Experience
Life Is for Learning
Master the Software
Keep Your Eyes Open
Preparing for the Next Project
Quick Recap
Glossary
Further Reading
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Author