Program Managers Handbook

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO PROGRAM MANAGEMENT--FULLY UPDATED AND REVISED Program managers must strike a balance between operations and project implementations in order to develop and maintain a culture in which the components of success are repeatable. The Handbook of Program Management is designed to help you do exactly that. This go-to guide supplies you with the insight and tools you need to establish processes that ensure the success of your project managers--and increase the profitability of your products and services. Fully updated and heavily revised, this new edition helps you incorporate new technologies and people into your processes while delivering improved products and services that continually outpace your competition. The Handbook of Program Management provides critical information from a trusted expert. In addition to the classic chapters on Attributes of the Effective Program Manager, Stakeholder Management, and Portfolio Management Essentials, this updated edition is packed with brandnew material covering: Change management Interfaces How bad projects are stopped or postponed How consultants and subcontractors should be used Program performance analysis The role of governance Avoiding the complicated theories and phantom quick-fixes you'll find in other books, The Handbook of Program Management offers straightforward, actionable methods for establishing a highly effective project management culture: one with integrity, energy, and full stakeholder support. Nowhere else will you find such comprehensive, authoritative information on creating successful program management outcomes. The author takes you on the entire journey, from strategically creating a program culture, to building effective relationships, and to analyzing ways of accomplishing your program objectives. The Handbook of Program Management is essential reading for program managers of all levels, whether you're a novice seeking certification in the field or an executive looking to build a flexible organization that can support dynamic on-going product development. Praise for the previous edition of The Handbook of Program Management: "Brown's book captures the essential skills of program and project management. It serves as a 'how to' guide for those entering the business, as well as a refresher on the skills and attributes for those ready to take the next step. The book effectively defines the leader’s role in creating the team culture and environment for success." -- Eugene F. Kranz, Apollo 13 Flight Director, author of Failure Is Not an Option, and retired Director NASA Space Operations "Program management is one of the toughest jobs a person can hold...and James Brown knows Program Management. Here's a chance to learn from the scar tissue of others rather than your own." -- Norman R. Augustine, retired Chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation "Finally, a pragmatic book that shares the secrets behind successful program management. If I was giving one book to program managers, this would be it! Any business leader in today's environment of accelerating change will benefit from this book." -- Jack Cooper, former CIO, Bristol-Myers Squibb

This practical handbook offers a comprehensive guide to efficient project management. It pursues a broad, well-structured approach, suitable for most projects, and allows newcomers, experienced project managers and decision-makers to find valuable input that matches their specific needs. The Project Management Compass guides readers through various sections of the book; templates and checklists offer additional support. The handbook’s innovative structure combines concepts from systems engineering, management psychology, and process dynamics. This international edition will allow to share the authors' experience gained in many years of project work and over 2,000 project management and leadership seminars conducted for BWI Management Education in Zurich, Switzerland. This is an excellent handbook for practical project management in today’s world. Prof. Dr. Heinz Schelle, Honorary Chairman of the GPM (German Project Management Association)The authors’ many years in practical experience in setting up, implementing and managing projects shines through in this book. The book also reflects the current trend towards increased social competence. I am therefore pleased to recommend this book as a basis for certification in project management. Dr. Hans Knöpfel, Honorary President of the SPM (Swiss Project Management Association)

Software project managers and their team members work individually towards a common goal. This book guides both, emphasizing basic principles that work at work. Software at work should be pleasant and productive, not just one or the other. This book emphasizes software project management at work. The author's unique approach concentrates on the concept that success on software projects has more to do with how people think individually and in groups than with programming. He summarizes past successful projects and why others failed. Visibility and communication are more important than SQL and C. The book discusses the technical and people aspects of software and how they relate to one another. The first part of the text discusses four themes: (1) people, process, product, (2) visibility, (3) configuration management, and (4) IEEE Standards. These themes stress thinking, organization, using what others have built, and people. The second part describes the software management principles of process, planning, and risk management. Part three discusses software engineering principles, the technical aspects of software projects. The fourth part examines software practices giving practical meaning to the individual topics covered in the preceding chapters. The final part of this book continues these practical aspects by illustrating a sample project through seven distinctive documents.

The Definitive Guide to the Field's Best PracticesIn recent years, project management has become a profession unto itself. And with a membership numbering in the tens of thousands, the Project Management Institute is the organization that's setting the profession's standards. In this authoritative handbook, more than twenty-five top experts from academia, consulting, and private industry define the current state of project management and detail for readers all of the practical elements that constitute a superior practice. In clear, accessible language, these experts provide a comprehensive overview of the technical, organizational, administrative, and interpersonal elements of successful project management. They detail the essentials of project planning--from risk management to resource allocation to scheduling. They describe the team-building, motivational, and conflict-management challenges that project leaders face. And they delineate critical success factors as well as major pitfalls to avoid. At last, project managers across all industries can readily reference the best practices of their profession and benchmark their skills against those of their most accomplished colleagues.

The one primer you need to launch, lead, and sponsor successful projects. We're now living in the project economy. The number of projects initiated in all sectors has skyrocketed, and project management skills have become essential for every leader and manager. Still, project failure rates remain extremely high. Why? Leaders oversee too many projects and have too little visibility into them. Project managers struggle to translate their hands-on, technical knowledge up to senior management. The result? Worthy projects are starved of time and resources and fail to deliver benefits, while too much investment goes into the wrong projects. To compete in the project economy, you need to close this gap. The HBR Project Management Handbook shows you how. In this comprehensive guide, project management expert Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez presents a new and simple framework that will increase any project's likelihood of success. Packed with case studies from many industries worldwide, it will teach you how to manage your organization's projects, strategic programs, and agile initiatives more effectively and push the best ones ahead to completion. Timeless yet forward-looking, this book will help you win in the project-driven world. In the HBR Project Management Handbook you'll find: Everything you need to know about project management in practical, nontechnical language A definitive taxonomy of project types, from product launches to digital transformations to megaprojects A road map for becoming an effective project leader and executive sponsor A new, simple, and universal project framework, the Project Canvas, that breaks down any project into essential building blocks that can be easily understood by all project stakeholders Original concepts and exclusive case studies from public- and private-sector organizations worldwide You'll learn: A common language for project managers and executives to run successful projects across your organization When to use agile, traditional, or hybrid methods in your projects The twelve principles of successful projects, including purpose, agility, and a focus on outcomes Techniques for selecting and advancing the best projects and managing a strategic and balanced project portfolio How today's projects will help address some of the most pressing global trends, including automation, sustainability, diversity, and crisis management Why project management needed to be reinvented and what the future holds HBR Handbooks provide ambitious professionals with the frameworks, advice, and tools they need to excel in their careers. With step-by-step guidance, time-honed best practices, and real-life stories, each comprehensive volume helps you to stand out from the pack—whatever your role.

Deliver “Exceptional Business Value” aligned to “Organizational Strategy” through structured program management and stand out from the crowd by attaining the elite PgMP credential Programs are vehicles for organizations to realize their strategic objectives and goals. As the industry shifts from just delivery of projects and programs to a more value-driven and benefits-oriented model, program management acts as a key piece in the puzzle that allows organizations to extract the most business value & benefits from a group of related initiatives that are managed as one program. The biggest reason why strategic programs fail is due to the strategy execution gap, where the people executing the strategy don’t understand “Why” we are doing this or “Where” we are going with this. The Program Manager is a key role that bridges this strategy execution gap, who leads the program towards success by keeping the team focused on the end goals that are aligned to the organizational strategy and direction. This book will help you: • Understand the program management performance domains as per the Standard for Program Management by PMI • Overcome commonly faced challenges as a program manager, and successfully deliver benefits and business value • Support your organization’s pursuit of strategic objectives and goals through effective program management • Understand the PgMP exam syllabus & contents easily, with pictures, charts, and examples to aid learning • Submit the PgMP Application as well as prepare for the PgMP exam • Learn Tips & Tricks that will help you take the PgMP exam with confidence The demand for competent program managers who can help organizations achieve their strategic objectives is growing, and holding the PMI-PgMP credential helps you demonstrate strong subject matter knowledge & expertise in this area and become an invaluable asset to any organization.

The Aerospace Project Management Handbook focuses on space systems, exploring intricacies rarely seen in land-based projects. These range from additional compliance requirements from Earned Value Management requirements and regulations (ESA, NASA, FAA), to criticality and risk factors for systems where repair is impossible. Aerospace project management has become a pathway for success in harsh space environments, as the Handbook demonstrates. With chapters written by experts, this comprehensive book offers a step-by-step approach emphasizing the applied techniques and tools, and is a prime resource for program managers, technical leads, systems engineers, and principle payload leads.

Every organization, business, and manager is unique, and each demands an individually tailored management style. Supposedly universal management strategies must be tailored to suit the specific situations that each individual faces daily in the work environment. This book provides a theoretical and practical foundation for the adaptation and tailoring of a universal management style into a specific, effective style with the power to produce the desired results. It assists the manager, or would-be manager, in the development of a management style that meets the needs of any kind of business. Each chapter begins with a case study illustrating a typical problem followed by questions and answers about the presented challenges. The chapters also contain thought provoking one-sentence suggestions that can be immediately immplemented, enabling the reader to produce results and succeed in today's rapidly-evolving economic and technological environments. This work combines the best and latest in management theory with tested practical applications, making it a useful tool for managers not only in technically-orientated industries, but in any kind of company. Based upon the author's more than 25 years of experience in management consulting, writing, lecturing, and teaching, this work is designed to help readers handle the demanding responsibilities of technical management. It features important information in dealing with international firms, contracts, TQ, ISO 9000, and CAD management. It also provides essential details on personal liability and ethics in decision making, motivating employees, leadership, and creating teams. The Technical Manager's Handbook serves as a valuable, cross-method reference for engineers, scientists, researchers, and students who are or soon will be involved in technical management operations. Managers in quality assurance, manufacturing, administration, and computer manufacturing will also benefit from this volume's accessible and applicable exploration of pertinent issues.