The Essential Guide To Managing A Government Project

This covers everything you need to know to successfully manage a government technology services or development project. Mike uses an easy-to-read style of writing as opposed to the more typical business book mumbo jumbo. In other words, he makes project management simple and readable so PMs don't just put yet another book on their bookshelf. Most noteworthy, this book complements the material in the PMBOK and is consistent with CMMI. Topics include: project planning, project initiation, project execution, monitoring and control, project close-out, risk management, customer relationship management, quality assurance and contract growth. Over 150 pages of lessons learned, guidance, templates and checklists. Lisagor is the Chief Knowledge Officer at GovFlex.com -- the leading online freelance exchange for government contractors & agencies to acquire the services of independent experts. He also founded Celerity Works in 1999 to provide business development (BD) and project management advisory services where he advised over 70 contractors and agencies and coached over 500 executives, project managers and BD professionals. Prior to that, Mike was a business development and operations executive for IT contractors for 13 years and a project manager for 15 years. Mike presented numerous popular knowledge webinars and wrote hundreds of columns for government contractors magazines, blogs & news stations. Mike implemented the project management process and training program for several government contractors. He also developed the risk management process and training for GSA FEDSIM for their IT acquisition programs. Mike is the author of several popular books including Winning and Managing Government Business and, with GovFlex CEO Eric Adolphe, How to Develop a Winning Small Business Innovation Proposal. It's Mike's belief that while invaluable, PMI training is often too theoretical and complex for most new project managers to remember. Once they get thrown into their first project, all this knowledge falls by the wayside. The purpose of this Guide is to bridge this gap...to provide a useful reference for planning and managing a successful project to completion. In other words, the essentials and nothing but the essentials!

This realistic cross-section of the project management discipline in the federal arena will help anyone leading, working on, or affecting the direction of a project team. It covers the entire scope of project management from organization to methodology, technology to leadership. This volume focuses on the three project management organizational dimensions of culture, systems, and structure. Federal practices and successes in the areas of communication, project leadership, stakeholders, and key competencies are highlighted. The book offers clear and practical advice drawn from a variety of project management successes in the federal arena.

Managing Local Government: An Essential Guide for Municipal and County Managers offers a practical introduction to the changing structure, forms, and functions of local governments. Taking a metropolitan management perspective, authors Kimberly Nelson and Carl W. Stenberg explain U.S. local government within historical context and provide strategies for effective local government management and problem solving. Real-life scenarios and contemporary issues illustrate the organization and networks of local governments; the roles, responsibilities, and relationships of city and county managers; and the dynamics of the intergovernmental system. Case studies and discussion questions in each chapter encourage critical analysis of the challenges of collaborative governance. Unlike other books on the market, this text’s combined approach of theory and practice encourages students to enter municipal and county management careers and equips them with tools to be successful from day one.

Effective project decision making is recognised as a key feature of successful projects. Ineffective decision making leads to project delay and failure. Project Governance takes readers through the logical steps required for the establishment of a project governance framework for a project or organisation. Starting with problems typical of ineffective project governance, it develops a set of principles designed to overcome these problems and builds a framework based on these principles. This comprehensive guide explains how to populate the framework effectively, provides the accountabilities and responsibilities of the main roles , and describes how to integrate the project governance framework into the organisation. Whether you are a project management practitioner or a student of project management, the lessons learned in this valuable handbook make for essential reading.

This book is a novel treatment of Operations Management. It takes a fresh insight to this increasingly important topic, exploring fundamental principles equally applicable to service and manufacturing situations. The book adapts a strategic stance by providing a framework for effective decision making and is aimed at practising managers who need to design working processes, manage change and make decisions within a strategic framework. The framework and supporting case vignettes allow the practitioner to grasp essential concepts quickly in a range of different operational contexts. "Bamford and Forrester have done an excellent job in creating a concise, salient, and appealing approach - they have captured the essential elements of designing processes, products and work organizations; exploring approaches to operations planning and control; managing change through effective project management and technology transfer; and then managing quality and improvement strategies". —Professor Rob Handfield, Professor of Supply Chain Management, North Carolina State University, USA "This is an excellent concise text that introduces students to all of the key areas - it's an invaluable aid for students in understanding all of the major aspects of operations and their importance to the success of businesses". —Professor Steve Brown, Professor of Management, University of Exeter Business School, University of Exeter, UK "For today's or tomorrow's business leaders this text has well structured invaluable content ready for immediate adoption. Follow the guide, put it into practice, and the rewards will follow". —Mr Vernon Barker, Managing Director, First TransPennine Express, First Group Plc, UK "This book combines technical theory 'book smarts' with real life experience 'street smarts' in a flowing read". —Mr Stephen Oliver, Vice President Marketing & Sales, Vicor Corporation, Boston, USA

Losing top talent can cost businesses big money. The ability to identify and nurture talent is a trait that is shared by the market leading brands (such as Innocent and Virgin) featured as case studies in this book. A common misconception is that attracting and retaining talented staff is all about offering an attractive salary. But although pay is one of the leading motivators for choosing a job, learning and development opportunities and employer perceptions play an increasingly important role.As well as adding to the debate on the 'war on talent', Thorne and Pellant present the latest best-practice thinking about becoming an employer of choice. Written in an accessible easy-to-follow style, this essential guide is a comprehensive introduction to talent management. It enables readers to quickly make sense of the term 'employer branding' and demonstrates how to apply it in order to become an attractive employer.

Build on the Right Fundamentals for Project Management Success! To achieve success in any endeavor, you need to understand the fundamental aspects of that endeavor. To achieve success in project management, you should start with Project Management Fundamentals: Key Concepts and Methodology, Second Edition. This completely revised edition offers new project managers a solid foundation in the basics of the discipline. Using a step-by-step approach and conventional project management (PM) terminology, Project Management Fundamentals is a commonsense guide that focuses on how essential PM methods, tools, and techniques can be put into practice immediately. New material in this second edition includes: • A thorough discussion of agile project management and its use in real-life situations • Detailed explanations of the unique factors involved in managing service projects • An enhanced appendix on management maturity models • A new appendix on project communications and social networking • Expanded coverage of the triple constraints in PM, going beyond scope, schedule, and cost to include quality, resources, and risks As a refresher for the experienced project manager or as a comprehensive introductory guide for the new practitioner, Project Management Fundamentals: Key Concepts and Methodology, Second Edition, is the go-to resource that delivers.