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Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management, 2nd Edition
- By Greg Horine
- Published Jan 16, 2009 by Que. Part of the Absolute Beginner's Guide series.
Book
- Sorry, this book is no longer in print.
Description
- Copyright 2009
- Edition: 2nd
- Book
- ISBN-10: 0-7897-3821-X
- ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-3821-9
Why learn project management the hard way?
Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Project Management, Second Edition will have you managing projects in no time! Here’s a small sample of what you’ll learn:
- Key concepts and fundamentals behind best-practice project management techniques
- The mindset and skill set of effective project managers
- Project techniques that work in any industry, with any tools
- The common elements of successful projects
- Lessons from failed projects
- The value and importance of project leadership versus project management
- How to manage growing project trends and tough project types that first-time project managers are likely to encounter
- How to make better use of Microsoft Project
- How to respond when project reality does not match textbook scenarios
- Expert insight on key project management concepts and topics
You’ve just been handed your department's biggest project. Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management will show you exactly where to start–and walk you step by step through your entire project! Expert project manager Gregory Horine shows you exactly what works and what doesn’t, drawing on the field’s proven best practices. Understand your role as a project manager...gain the skills and discover the personal qualities of great project managers...learn how to organize, estimate, and schedule projects effectively...manage deliverables, issues, changes, risks, quality, vendors, communications, and expectations...make the most of technology...manage virtual teams...avoid the problems that trip up new project managers! This new edition jumpstarts your project management expertise even faster, with all-new insights on Microsoft Project, challenging project situations and intriguing project management topics of the day.
Sample Content
Online Sample Chapter
Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management: Essential Elements for Any Successful Project
Sample Pages
Download the sample pages (includes Chapter 3 and Index)
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Who Should Read This Book? 3
How This Book Is Organized 3
Conventions Used in This Book 4
PART I PROJECT MANAGEMENT JUMPSTART 5
Chapter 1 Project Management Overview 7
What Is Project Management…Exactly? 8
What Is the Value of Project Management? 12
Why Are Projects Challenging? 13
Growing Demand for Effective Project Managers? 15
Trends in Project Management 16
Chapter 2 The Project Manager 21
One Title, Many Roles 22
Key Skills of Project Managers 23
Qualities of Successful Project Managers 25
15 Common Mistakes of Project Managers 27
Chapter 3 Essential Elements for Any Successful Project 29
What Exactly Is a “Successful” Project? 30
Learning from Troubled Projects 31
Learning from Successful Projects 34
Essential Project Manager Toolkit 36
PART II PROJECT PLANNING 41
Chapter 4 Defining a Project 43
Setting the Stage for Success 44
How Does Defining a Project Relate to Project Planning? 44
Project Definition Document 45
Project Definition Checklist 49
Chapter 5 Planning a Project 55
Key Project Planning Principles 56
Important Questions Project Planning Should Answer 58
Building a Project Plan 59
Summary of Supplemental Project Plan Components 66
Project Plan Checklist 69
Chapter 6 Developing the Work Breakdown Structure 71
What Is a WBS Exactly? 72
Why Is the WBS Important? 78
The Process of Building a WBS 79
Chapter 7 Estimating the Work 85
Next Step in the Schedule Development Process 86
Managing the Risk, Managing the Estimates 88
Reasons for Estimating Woes 88
Powerful Estimating Techniques and Methods 90
Best Practices 92
Chapter 8 Developing the Project Schedule 97
The Impact of the Project Schedule 98
The Goal of the Schedule Development Process 100
Key Inputs for Building a Schedule 101
Creating a Schedule 102
Chapter 9 Determining the Project Budget 113
The Impact of the Project Budget 114
Principles of an Effective Budget 115
Creating a Project Budget 116
Common Budget Challenges 120
PART III PROJECT CONTROL 123
Chapter 10 Controlling a Project 125
What Is Project Control? 126
Management Fundamentals for Project Control 129
Powerful Techniques for Project Control 130
Performance Reporting 133
Variance Responses 135
Leveraging Earned Value Management Concepts 136
Common Project Control Challenges 139
Lessons from Project Recoveries 141
Chapter 11 Managing Project Changes 145
What Exactly Is a Project Change and What’s the
Big Deal Anyway? 146
Fundamentals for Managing Project Change 149
What Causes Unplanned Scope Changes? 150
Essential Elements of a Project Change Control System 151
Powerful Techniques for Minimizing Project Changes 154
Common Project Change Control Challenges 156
Chapter 12 Managing Project Deliverables 159
“Managing Project Deliverables” Means What Exactly? 160
Why Do This? It’s Too Much Work 161
Identify, Protect, and Track: The Principles of Managing
Work Products 162
Best Practices 163
Configuration Management Plan 167
Common Challenges and Pitfalls 169
Chapter 13 Managing Project Issues 171
The Goals, Objectives, and Principles of Project Issue Management 172
Key Features of Issue Management System 173
Options for Issue Log 175
Best Practices 176
Some Special Situations 178
Chapter 14 Managing Project Risks 181
Key Risk Management Principles 182
The Essential Process for Managing Project Risks 183
The Common Sources of Project Risk 187
Typical Problems 190
Powerful Risk Control Strategies 192
Are You Sure It’s a Risk? 193
Chapter 15 Managing Project Quality 197
What Is “Project Quality”? 198
Unique Aspects of Managing Project Quality 199
Principles of Managing Project Quality 199
Powerful Tools and Techniques for Project Quality 201
Powerful Quality Strategies 203
Typical Quality-Related Challenges 205
PART IV PROJECT EXECUTION 209
Chapter 16 Leading a Project 211
More Than Managing 212
Where Is Leadership Needed on a Project? 214
Twelve Keys to Better Project Leadership 215
Power of Servant Leadership Approach 218
Chapter 17 Managing Project Communications 223
What Are Project Communications? 224
The Importance of Project Communications 225
Why Communicating Can Be Tough 226
Seven Powerful Principles 227
Best Practices of Effective Project Communicators 230
Chapter 18 Managing Expectations 239
Value of Reviewing Stakeholder Expectation Management 240
Critical Aspects of Expectations 240
Seven Master Principles of Expectation Management 245
Essential Elements of Managing Expectations 246
Chapter 19 Keys to Better Project Team Performance 255
High-Performing Teams 256
Ten Key Principles 256
Proven Techniques 259
Special Situations 263
Chapter 20 Managing Differences 267
Five Key Principles 268
Proven Techniques for Leading Cross-Functional Projects 271
Proven Techniques for Leading Cross-Cultural Projects 273
Proven Techniques for Leading Virtual Projects 274
Chapter 21 Managing Vendors 279
First, Let’s Clarify a Few Terms 280
Ten Proven Principles of Vendor Management 280
Twelve Tips for Buyers 283
Seven Tips for Sellers 285
Twelve Key Project Management Skills for Better
Vendor Management 286
Stuff You Need to Know About Contracts 286
Chapter 22 Ending a Project 293
Three Key Principles 294
Project End Checklist–13 Important Steps 294
Common Project Closing Challenges 296
Methods for Ending a Contract or a Project 297
PART V ACCELERATING THE LEARNING CURVE...EVEN MORE 301
Chapter 23 Making Better Use of Microsoft Project 303
Understand This …and It All Becomes Easier 304
Need-to-Know Features 306
New Project Best Practices 313
Keys to Making Resource Leveling Work 316
Powerful Reporting Secrets 318
More Insights to a Better Project Schedule 323
Chapter 24 When Reality Happens 327
What If I’m in a Project Management “Lite” Culture? 328
What If I Can’t Develop a Detailed Schedule? 330
What If I Must Manage to a Hard Milestone Date? 331
What If I Have Difficult Resources? 333
What Can I Do About Turnover? 334
Tips for Managing a Selection Process 335
Tips for Managing a Testing Process 340
Chapter 25 Intriguing Project Management Concepts and Topics 345
Agile Approaches 346
Project Management Offices 348
Portfolio Project Management 351
Governance Processes 353
Critical Chain Project Management 353
Web-Based Project Management Software 356
Mind Mapping Tools 357
Value of Certifications 358
Project Management Training 359
Index 363