Effective Project Management in easy steps

by John Carroll

Overview

Effective Project Management in easy steps will show you how to make sure your project is successful. It focuses on the key skills a manager needs to develop for a smooth running project, and a timely arrival at the finishing line.

It includes examples for most key documents such as the terms of reference, business case and project plan. It addresses team building and good communications. It covers the typical project stages with helpful lists of applicable tasks and deliverables, which effectively provides a blueprint for planning an entire project.

This up-to-date primer covers all key trends in project management including a chapter on Agile Project Management.

If you're a first time project manager, let this book take you through the essential project stages in easy steps, and take note of the applicable tasks and deliverables.

If you're an experienced project manager, this book provides a valuable source of inspiration for making projects run smoothly and satisfactorily. Covering risk-management together with insights on how to plan, lead, organize and control a project - simply a fountain of knowledge!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781840784466
Publisher:	In Easy Steps Limited
Publication date:	03/20/2012
Series:	In Easy Steps
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	7.30(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

John Carroll is a project management consultant with many years’ experience of managing large and small projects, programs and portfolios. Now based in South West England, he has run projects and programs across Europe and the United States. His experience covers most types of organizations including government, higher education, manufacturing industries, pharmaceuticals, software development and the emergency services. He has worked on most types of projects and trained project managers in many different organizations.

John is also the author of Effective Project Management in easy steps, Effective Time Management in easy steps, Agile Project Management in easy steps, and all editions of (MS) Project in easy steps.

Table of Contents

1 The Basics 7

Introduction 8

What is a Project? 9

Project Management 10

Managing a Project 12

4 Steps to Success 14

Responsibility & Authority 15

Good Project Managers 16

Project Management Style 18

Summary 20

2 Getting Started 21

Starting a Project 22

Assembling the Team 24

The Project Organization 26

Why Projects Go Wrong 28

Getting it Right 30

Terms of Reference 32

Creating the Terms of Reference 34

Project Planning 36

Summary 38

3 The Business Case 39

Feasibility 40

The Business Case 42

Example Business Case 43

Developing the Costs 44

Investment Appraisal 46

Cash Flow Model 48

Reviewing the Business Case 50

Summary 52

4 Planning 53

Objectives 54

Constraints 56

Starting the Plan 58

Structuring the Plan 60

Work Breakdown Structure 62

Estimating 64

Task Size 66

Summary 68

5 Scheduling 69

Work Effort & Duration 70

Contingency 72

Applying Contingency 74

Scheduling 76

Project Schedule 78

Gantt Charts 80

Scheduling Tools 82

Critical Path 84

Developing the Schedule 85

Agile Projects 86

Summary 88

6 Risk Management 89

Types of Risk 90

Managing Risk 92

Risk Identification 94

Risk Estimation 96

Risk Evolution 98

Countermeasures 100

Risk Log 102

Risk Management 104

Summary 106

7 Organizing 107

Getting Organized 108

Resources 110

The Stage Plan 112

Organizing Activities 114

Activity Schedules 116

Software Development 118

Documentation 119

Summary 120

8 Leading 121

Stakeholders 122

The Change Process 124

Teamwork 126

Team Building 128

End Users 130

The Leadership Role 132

Effective Communications 134

Communications Plan 136

Difficult People 138

Summary 140

9 Control 141

Keeping Control 142

Project Meetings 144

Measuring Progress 146

Project Reports 148

Change Control 150

Dealing with Change 152

Stage Boundaries 154

Summary 156

10 Project Stages 157

Project Life Cycle 158

Project Road Map 159

Why Five Stages? 160

The Early Stages 162

Initiation Stage 164

Project Initiation Document 166

Strategy Stage 168

Analysis Stage 170

Design & Build Stage 172

The Build Process 174

Implementation Stage 176

Summary 178

11 Project Closure 179

Closing the Project 180

Project Closure 182

and finally 184

Summary 186

Index 187