Managing Projects E-Book

Lou Russell

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 285

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

Managing Projects offers a hands-on resource for building practical competencies for anyone who must manage one or more small- to mid-size projects. The book is filled with targeted processes, tools, techniques, and influencing skills that address the more difficult "people" side of project management. The author shows how to: influence stakeholders 360 degrees around you; encourage accountability from others who do not work for you and have plenty of projects to juggle without adding your priority; negotiate time, cost, quality, and scope with executives; and courageously tell the truth and get the help you need early enough. Praise for Managing Projects "No one knows more about project management than Lou Russell. Her easy coaching style paired with specific methods makes this book a real winner. This is one book all leaders, managers, supervisors, and project leads will use as their essential 'go to' resource." --Elaine Biech, ebb associates inc.; bestselling author, The Business of Consulting "Lou Russell has done it again! Managing Projects is comprehensive, practical, and easy to understand and apply to your projects, big or small. The book gives helpful tips and definitions that will enable the reader to move through the project management process with ease. Thanks, Lou, for creating such a great resource." --Amy L. Dinning, manager of Leadership and Talent Development, Saint-Gobain North America "Managing Projects is more than a book. It is a workshop between the covers, with one of the finest learning facilitators as your guide. If you find yourself dealing with projects in your work (and whether you know it or not, this is you), using the techniques in this book will make you less stressed and more successful." --Kevin Eikenberry, bestselling author, Remarkable Leadership "As the leader of an international logistics company, I know how critical project management is to meeting the needs of our customers. To hit their due dates we have to hit our own, with no excuses. Lou's practical approach to project management fits well into our time-constrained, date-focused workplace. It's simple, it's real, and it works." --Cathy Langham, CEO, Langham Logistics

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

More Praise for Managing Projects

About This Book

Why is this book important?

What can you achieve with this book?

How is this book organized?

About Pfeiffer

Title Page

Copyright

List of Exhibits

Preface

Hard and Soft Skills in One Book

Let's Get Going

Advice at the Start

Chapter 1: Start Well to End Well

A Brief History of Project Management

What Is a Project?

What Is a Process?

The Checklist (Overview)

Project Management Is Different from a Development Process

The Roles of Project Management

Summary Checklist

Chapter 2: Define

Creating a Project Charter (Definition) in 45 Minutes

Establishing the Business Goals

Determining the Project Scope

Determining the Project Objectives

Determining Risk and Mitigation

Establishing the Starting Constraints

Creating a Communications Strategy

Creating a Governance Plan (Change Management)

Completing a Draft Project Charter

Summary Checklist

Chapter 3: Plan

Creating the Project Plan

Determining the Milestones and Their Due Dates

Identifying the Project Tasks

Determining the Task Dependencies

Determining the Resource (People) Dependencies

Finalizing Task Due Dates

Picking the Best Tool

Summary Checklist

Chapter 4: Manage

How to Get Projects Started

You Cannot Control a Project

Projects Today

Building a Status Report to Kick Off the Project

Building a Process to Communicate Early and Often

Managing Project Change

Ways to Create Stress

Conflict and Project Success

Creating Personal Resiliency

Summary Checklist

Chapter 5: Review

Reviewing a Completed Project

Emotion-Based Review

Standard Survey

Learning Histories

Causal Loop Diagrams (Systems Thinking)

Leveraging the Knowledge Gained

Summary Checklist

Chapter 6: Organizational Change

The Hero's Journey

Project Leadership Group Dynamics

A Process for Organizational Change

Summary Checklist

Chapter 7: Organizational Project Management

Differentiate Between Personal and Organizational Project Management

Define the Roles and Processes of a Project Management Office

Create a Project Plan to Migrate to a Project Management Office

Identify Options for an Organizational Project Dashboard

Identify Technology Options for Implementing a Strong Project Portfolio Process

Summary Checklist

Chapter 8: Insanity Is Just a Project Constraint

About the Author

Bibliography

Index

More Praise for Managing Projects

“Successfully managing projects takes more than good task- and time-management skills. In Managing Projects, Lou Russell discusses the all-important role that influencing plays in getting things done—on time, on spec, and on budget—and weaves this into a rock-solid walkthrough of the principal steps of a project. This is a must-read for anyone with project responsibility—in other words, everyone.”

— Martin Delahoussaye, vice president publishing, HRDQ

“The book converts the usually boring and intimidating world of project management into easy steps and practical approaches. The ideas are useful and immediately applicable.”

— Ray Jimenez, PhD, Vignettes Learning

“Lou Russell is the perfect expert on project management productivity and engagement to write this substantive book. Whether you are a fledgling project manager or a twenty-year veteran, this book will give you the tools to help you manage through constraints and communication. I highly recommend her work.”

— Teresa Conroy-Roth, senior vice president, Technology Partnership Group, Inc.

“Workload, complexity, and pressure have increased dramatically. For companies to achieve their strategic goals all staff must be competent in basic project management. Lou's book provides just enough to build a baseline but not so much that it overwhelms.”

— Jane Niederberger, former senior vice president and chief information officer, Anthem Inc.; former vice president operations, WellPoint; investor and consultant, Healthcare Technology and Operations, Neiderberger Ventures, Inc.

“Anyone who feels overloaded and distracted will benefit from Lou's new book, Managing Projects. Lou's book provides hands-on tools to sort through the complexity of a work world that is constantly changing and understaffed. Today's world requires different project-management skills than even five years ago. Thank you, Lou, for this easy-to-read update!”

— Karen Valencic, Spiral Impact

“In Managing Projects, Lou Russell takes you through a practical journey of immediate project management implementation. She structured the book in a unique fashion, in which I was able to learn, reflect, and implement the principles of project management then and there. Very useful and clever.”

— Maha Khatib, principal, Learnactive, Dubai

“If it suddenly seems like you are in charge of everything and even multitasking at the speed of light isn't cutting through the chaos, Lou's book helps you rein in the madness and complete more projects with less help, time, and money. You'll learn how to give up control and actually start managing things so you can finally end the day feeling like you've accomplished something.”

— Leah Nelson, senior conference program manager, Training magazine Events

“Among those things you can count on are death, taxes, and Lou Russell's ability to transform complex ideas into interesting and immediately usable insights. Managing Projects is yet another example of Lou's gift of making even the most mundane and tedious aspects of project management a captivating and enlightening read. If you spend any of your time trying to run a project you'd be crazy not to invest the time in reading this book.”

— Dan Brandon, associate director, Financial Services Industry

“Lou Russell demystifies project management with simple yet incredibly effective steps and tools that any project manager can understand and use. Lou provides a good dose of team building to the process that gets everyone on board … and in most cases that has been the missing element.”

— Deb George, The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

“This book should be titled The Missing Links of Managing Projects. From her deep understanding and project management experience, Lou Russell shares unique insights on often overlooked yet highly critical issues that greatly impact the outcomes of our initiatives. An essential volume that will benefit project managers at every level.”

— Gary VanAntwerp, vice president, Implementation, Training magazine Network, SMMConnect, VFTNetworks

“In Chapter One of Managing Projects, Lou Russell contends that ‘project management is … a required competency for all business workers.’ I couldn't agree more, and there is no greater blessing to the full-time, professional project manager than leading a team made up of individuals with an understanding and competency in project management. Lou's accessible approach to project management makes that ideal closer to reality.”

— Kevin Weston, vice president, IT Planning, OneAmerica companies

“Managing Projects is a practical and relevant book for anyone engaged in today's crazy work world. Lou describes the situation facing us so accurately I felt like she must have been following me around! Finally, I now have a guide to help me manage the chaos and feel good about myself in the process.”

— Lori Miller, alumna, Lou's Project Management certificate program

About This Book

Why is this book important?

There are three forces combining to create an unmanageable workload and work life for people: staffing, technology, and fear. Reduced staff in the workplace means that most people are asked to juggle multiple jobs that were previously done by other people. People are universally juggling multiple projects while playing multiple roles, all while doing their real job. Technology helps us work more quickly, but it follows us 24/7, triggering constant interruption and driving inefficient multitasking. Fear is rampant because layoffs are continuing, and it is evident that each of us can only scale so far before we break. Fear drives stress, which drives poor-quality projects. This book helps clarify how these three factors drive unreasonable project expectations, poor quality, and constant rework, which in turn increases fear. It's a negative reinforcing loop. To escape this new triple constraint requires that we bite the bullet and change the way we do projects.

What can you achieve with this book?

First, this book challenges the way you look at your workload. You will learn quick, simple ways to work on the most important projects while keeping your interruptions at bay. Next, this book helps you communicate with others more effectively through a 30-minute Project Charter, creating realistic expectations when a project starts and facilitating bad news early—when you can still do something about it. Then, as you plan and manage each of your projects, you'll learn how to influence others and manage yourself so that the stress doesn't destroy your ability to adapt. Finally, you'll learn how to take small bits of time to capture lessons learned and grow your own ability to manage a flexible structure on every project. Best of all, at least a couple of times a week, you will leave work feeling like you actually accomplished something.

How is this book organized?

You can approach this book in different ways. If you are on a project right now and you have a specific question about how to manage a particular issue, you can skip right to Chapters 2 (Define), 3 (Plan), 4 (Manage), or 5 (Review) and find tools and techniques that are immediately applicable. If you are new to project management, focus on Chapters 2–5 for a primer that gets you through the entire project management process. Do a project while reading these chapters for maximum value. If you are a more experienced project manager, consider skimming Chapters 2–5 and focusing on Chapters 6–7 to grow your ability to manage a portfolio of projects for your organization. Finally, Chapter 8 is designed to celebrate your success and review the whole book. You can start there if you'd like, wait until the end, or save it for a rainy day.

Copyright © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Acquiring Editor: Matthew Davis

Production Editor: Robin Stephanie Lloyd

Editor: Jeffrey Wyneken

Editorial Assistant: Michael Zelenko

Manufacturing Supervisor: Becky Morgan

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Russell, Lou, 1957-

Managing projects : a practical guide for learning professionals / Lou Russell. - 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-118-02203-0 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-1-118-28214-4 (ebk.)

ISBN 978-1-118-28298-4 (ebk.)

ISBN 978-1-118-28433-9 (ebk.)

1. Project management. I. Title.

HD69.P75R873 2012

658.4′04-dc23

2012003659

List of Exhibits

Exhibit 1.1

DPMR: “Dare to Properly Manage Resources”

Exhibit 1.2

Overview of Project Flow

Exhibit 1.3

Building a House

Exhibit 1.4

Project Sponsor Checklist

Exhibit 2.1

Dare to Properly Manage Resources: Define

Exhibit 2.2

Business Objectives

Exhibit 2.3

Business Objectives: Who Should Be Involved?

Exhibit 2.4

Scope Brainstorming Table

Exhibit 2.5

Scope Diagram

Exhibit 2.6

ARCI* Scope Table

Exhibit 2.7

Phases of New Development

Exhibit 2.8

ARCI* Project Objectives

Exhibit 2.9

Project Objectives

Exhibit 2.10

Learning Objective: Day of Caring Project

Exhibit 2.11

ARCI* Risk Mitigation

Exhibit 2.12

Quick and Dirty Risk Assessment: Day of Caring Project

Exhibit 2.13