Managing Multiple Projects

THE BRIEFCASE BOOKS SERIES Now translated into nine languages! This reader-friendly, icon-rich series is must reading for all managers at every level. All managers, whether brand new to their positions or well established in the corporate hierarchy, can use a little "brushing up" now and then. The skills-based Briefcase Books series is filled with ideas and strategies to help managers become more capable, efficient, effective, and valuable to their corporations. Today's workplace is often complex and unpredictable, yet most project management books address only the topic of managing individual projects and solving specific problems. Managing Multiple Projects presents a realistic method for developing the individual and group skills needed to cope with competing demands. It shows readers how to develop a reliable system for taking on multiple projects, work with others to allocate conflicting workloads, cope with the stress that comes from managing multiple projects, and more.

"Details time-efficient and cost-effective strategies to evaluate, select, prioritize, plan, and manage multiple projects. Presents proven methods and practical applications for the development of successful project portfolios and prosperous multiproject environments. Provides useful models and scheduling frameworks for increasecd quality and productivity."

"Details time-efficient and cost-effective strategies to evaluate, select, prioritize, plan, and manage multiple projects. Presents proven methods and practical applications for the development of successful project portfolios and prosperous multiproject environments. Provides useful models and scheduling frameworks for increasecd quality and productivity."

Dobson says that you must first have a strong foundation in time management and priority setting, then introduces the concept of Portfolio Management to timeline multiple projects, determine their resource requirements, and handle emergencies, putting you in charge for possibly the first time in your life! The Juggler's Guide to Managing Multiple Projects does not forget the paperwork. Dobson supplies examples of business-tested forms, charts, logs, tables, and worksheets-everything project managers need to crash, level, analyze, plan, and control tasks. Forms were never better explained or illustrated.

Let’s face it — who among us has only a single project? Multiple projects are the norm, not the exception, and there are very good reasons why this is so. A lot of projects simply aren’t big enough to justify the investment of a full-time project manager: having only one is impractical. Depending on the availability of resources, a multiple project environment can accomplish substantial work while lowering the overhead burden of project management by consolidating processes. In this book, you will learn how to recognize the characteristics and to manage effectively in each of these situations, how to plan and organize your work, how to influence other people who may not report to you in an official supervisory capacity, and how to get results. This is an ebook version of the AMA Self-Study course. If you want to take the course for credit you need to either purchase a hard copy of the course through amaselfstudy.org or purchase an online version of the course through www.flexstudy.com.

This book presents the techniques of multi-project management in a lively, approachable manner, covering budgets, cost control, planning problems and matrix management formulae.

Project management—it’s not just about following a template or using a tool, but rather developing personal skills and intuition to find a method that works for everyone. Whether you’re a designer or a manager, Project Management for Humans will help you estimate and plan tasks, scout and address issues before they become problems, and communicate with and hold people accountable.