Project Management Tools And Techniques For Success

Emphasizing that it's much easier and more cost effective to make changes in the planning phases of a project rather than later on, Project Management Tools and Techniques for Success provides an accessible introduction to project management fundamentals. Highlighting approaches for avoiding common pitfalls, it begins with an introduction to p

Emphasizing that it's much easier and more cost effective to make changes in the planning phases of a project rather than later on, Project Management Tools and Techniques for Success provides an accessible introduction to project management fundamentals. Highlighting approaches for avoiding common pitfalls, it begins with an introduction to p

This book explains the many techniques which have been developed to help you manage projects successfully using very clear objectives within a commercial environment. Examples are drawn from construction, civil engineering, product launches, publishing, computer hardware and software, scientific projects and aerospace.

Does your organization want to achieve success in prioritizing projects systematically, deliberately, and logically? Project Portfolio Management Tools and Techniques is written to demonstrate how to elevate your organization's project management thinking to the level beyond managing individual projects in a standalone fashion. This book is for those executives and other project professional who strive to have a formalized system of authorizing the right projects and abandoning the wrong projects, who desire to spend resources in the most efficient manner, and who want to have an actionable strategic plan for improving organizational project management sophistication. Project Portfolio Management Tools and Techniques deals with the full spectrum of project portfolio management (PPM) functions, from selecting projects through formalized portfolio management processes to facilitating the successful execution of projects through creating a formalized, project-friendly environment. This book will aid you in the implement of a PPM system, assist in gaining the necessary commitment from executive management, and provide guidelines for the modification of operational practices. Get ahead of the game by seeing a comprehensive project portfolio model that can help you establish yours successfully

Effective managers now recognize that most operational activities aimed at achieving key team objectives can and should be considered projects and managed accordingly. Typically these projects will range from: complex operational tasks, one-off initiatives such as moving offices or installing a new IT system, to the development of new products and services. However, while many of the traditional project management principles still apply, most tools and techniques need to be adapted and simplified to make them relevant to modern businesses. For those that master these new skills, exciting career opportunities lie ahead that will accelerate functional managers into new areas.

"The authors' technical skill and work-environment experience are abundantly apparent in the real-world methodology they bring to the study and understanding of the importance of project management to the success of any organization."-From the Foreword by Norman R. Augustine. Chairman of the Executive Committee, Lockheed-Martin Corporation Effective project management is an essential skill in virtually every professional and technical setting and, like any skill, it is best mastered through the right combination of in-depth, expert training and hands-on experience. Visualizing Project Management, Second Edition is today's best resource for both. Delivered by a trio of authors whose combined project management experience is unequaled in the field-a team that has been an integral part of the development of project management from the 1950s to the present-the processes and techniques in this landmark book have been confirmed through the experiences of over 30,000 working project managers and over 100 corporations. Profound in its simplicity yet unique in its completeness, the integrated approach presented in Visualizing Project Management focuses on the four essential elements of project management: 1. Common Vocabulary: Terms and jargon are defined as they are introduced, minimizing the vocabulary problems that can lead to conflict and undermine otherwise successful teamwork. 2. Teamwork: Each of the fundamentals of real teamwork-from common conduct to shared rewards-is discussed, along with strategies to strengthen this vital component. 3. The Sequential Project Cycle: Valuable lessons are provided to enable you to develop a template for project-unique tactics as well as achieve project-to-project continuity. 4. Management Elements: The authors provide all the techniques and tools you need to guide a project to its successful conclusion-the achievement of stated objectives, within budget and time constraints. Visualizing Project Management shows you how to breathe life into each of these inanimate project elements. The result is a working guidebook for total project management success-and a tangible model for moving your organization and career forward into the exciting new millennium. An Integrated Approach to Results-Oriented Project Management Better . . . Faster . . . Cheaper . . . Today's take-no-prisoners competitive environment has made this the project management mantra for 2000 and beyond. Enlightened project managers know: Unless you can identify accurately the correct benchmark and correctly isolate how to surpass it, your organization will succeed only in producing a better, faster, cheaper failure. The bestselling Visualizing Project Management first set the standard for effective project management in 1996, and introduced models that have been adopted by over 100 leading government and private organizations. In this Second Edition, the authors have revised the tools and techniques that changed the foundations of project management in order to help you better understand, compete, and win in today's lightning-fast global business arena. A few short years ago, the insights and ideas in Visualizing Project Management invented the wheel. Now, its pioneering authors refine your understanding of the project management wheel, as they simplify and clarify the complexities of project management and system engineering. Also includes a dynamic CD-ROM-Visual Project Management (Visual PM)-providing an interactive software version of the book's revolutionary process model, a guided tour of a commercial project cycle, vocabulary definitions, sample document templates, and more.

When Fortune Magazine estimated that 70% of all strategies fail, it also noted that most of these strategies were basically sound, but could not be executed. The central premise of Strategic Project Management Made Simple is that most projects and strategies never get off the ground because of adhoc, haphazard, and obsolete methods used to turn their ideas into coherent and actionable plans. Strategic Project Management Made Simple is the first book to couple a step-by-step process with an interactive thinking tool that takes a strategic approach to designing projects and action initiatives. Strategic Project Management Made Simple builds a solid platform upon four critical questions that are vital for teams to intelligently answer in order to create their own strong, strategic foundation. These questions are: 1. What are we trying to accomplish and why? 2. How will we measure success? 3. What other conditions must exist? 4. How do we get there? This fresh approach begins with clearly understanding the what and why of a project - comprehending the bigger picture goals that are often given only lip service or cursory reviews. The second and third questions clarify success measures and identify the risky assumptions that can later cause pain if not spotted early. The how questions - what are the activities, budgets, and schedules - comes last in our four-question system. By contrast, most project approaches prematurely concentrate on the how without first adequately addressing the three other questions. These four questions guide readers into fleshing out a simple, yet sophisticated, mental workbench called "the Logical Framework" - a Systems Thinking paradigm that lays out one's own project strategy in an easily accessible, interactive 4x4 matrix. The inclusion of memorable features and concepts (four critical questions, LogFrame matrix, If-then thinking, and Implementation Equation) make this book unique.

A combination of art and skill that results in the balancing of project objectives against restraints of time, budget, and quality, effective project management requires skill and experience as well as many tools and techniques. Project Management Tools and Techniques: A Practical Guide describes these tools and techniques and how to use them, givi