The everyday project manager

دانلود کتاب The everyday project manager: a primer for learning the principles of successful project management 

The best organizations, and even the best departments within organizations, have a roadmap: a clear vision of where they would like to be and the means by which they will get there. This roadmap drives the everyday activity of the company as well as any change it makes both internally and externally. And it is what drives projects.
In fact, it is arguable that success in business is almost wholly reliant on an ability to implement change effectively – whether it is a computer system that gives you the edge on your competitor, bringing a new product to market, adopting new ways of working, or completely redefining the approach your company takes. Success and survival in business relies on change and the way that business implements change is through projects. Therefore, if you work in the world of business, sooner or later the chances are that you will be involved in a project, as a stakeholder, advisor, sponsor or possibly running it – as the project manager.

Table of content:

Cover……Page 1
Half Title……Page 2
Title Page……Page 4
Copyright Page……Page 5
Table of Contents……Page 6
Acknowledgments……Page 14
About the Author……Page 16
What Is The Everyday Project Manager?……Page 18
Who Is This Book For?……Page 19
The Structure of This Book……Page 20
What This Book Is and What It Isn’t……Page 21
Projects, Programs, and Portfolios……Page 22
Waterfall vs Agile Project Management……Page 23
Phase 1 Project Start-Up……Page 26
Is This a Project I See Before Me?……Page 28
Do You Know Where You’re Going?……Page 29
The Vision……Page 30
Benefits: The Why……Page 32
Objectives: The What……Page 33
Objectives Relating to Time, Cost, or Quality……Page 37
Linking the Chain……Page 38
So Now You Have the Why and the What……Page 39
The Holy Trinity……Page 40
about Quality and Scope……Page 41
What Is Fixed and What Is a Priority?……Page 42
And I Want It Yesterday………Page 43
How to Go Faster, Cost Less, or Improve Quality……Page 44
The Cost of Change……Page 49
And That’s About It……Page 50
The Final Link in the Chain……Page 52
How Does It Feel?……Page 53
Not All Requirements Are Created Equal……Page 54

I Must Have Everything……Page 55

Phase 2 Design and Planning……Page 102

If You Fail to Plan………Page 104
Planning Forward versus Planning Backward……Page 105
Fixed Date or Fixed Timeline……Page 106
The First Pass – Identifying the Tasks……Page 107
Getting the Level of Detail Right……Page 108
The Second Pass – Assigning the Tasks……Page 109
The Third Pass – Scheduling the Tasks……Page 111
Increasing Schedule Maturity……Page 113
The Critical Path……Page 115
Putting the Float Back……Page 117
Broadly Right vs Precisely Wrong……Page 118
Planning Horizons……Page 119
Pitons and Firebreaks – Putting in Your Failsafe Mechanisms……Page 120
Go/No-Go Decisions……Page 124
Milestones and Milestone Management……Page 126
Managing – and Adapting – the Plan……Page 129
Put It All into a Cost Plan……Page 132
A Good Cost Plan Tells a Story……Page 133
Building Your Budget……Page 135
Contingency versus Risk……Page 141
Sacrificing Contingency and Risk……Page 145
Road trip! A Worked Example of a Cost Plan……Page 146
Change under Control versus Controlling Change……Page 158
Setting Your Baselines……Page 159
Change Management and Re-Baselining……Page 161
Tolerances……Page 167
Governance Gateways……Page 169
The Project Management Office (PMO)……Page 170
Reporting……Page 172

RAG Statuses……Page 173

Reporting on Your Schedule……Page 174
Reporting on Your Costs……Page 176
General Reporting Principles……Page 178
Organizational Governance……Page 179
Steering Groups and Terms of Reference……Page 180
Everything’s Fine Until It’s Not……Page 181
Phase 3 Build and Execute……Page 184
Considering the Team……Page 186
Where Is the Friction?……Page 189
Is There Someone Who Dislikes the Group Environment?……Page 190

The Project First-Timer……Page 191
Matrix Management……Page 192
Being a (Good) Manager……Page 194
Your Focus: You Are Not the Expert – Focus on Time, Cost, and Quality……Page 195
Finding Your Own Voice……Page 196
Who Has Authority?……Page 197
Who Invokes Authority?……Page 198
Tricky Team Members……Page 199
The Show-Boater……Page 200
The Over-Involved Sponsor/Control Freak Stakeholder……Page 201
The Keyboard Warrior……Page 202
The One Who Actively Seeks Your Untimely Demise……Page 203
Other Behaviors to Watch Out For……Page 204

It’s All about the People……Page 211

Phase 4 Project Closure and Lessons Learned……Page 212
What on Earth Could Go Wrong?……Page 214
Defining a Risk……Page 215
The Risk Management Process……Page 216
Analyzing the Risk……Page 217
Mitigating the Risk……Page 219
Reviewing and Monitoring the Risks……Page 221
Budgeting for Risk……Page 222
Risks That Are Not Risks……Page 223
First and Last……Page 226
Projects That Are Already Failing When You Take Over……Page 227

Which Ships Have Already Sailed?……Page 228
What Aren’t We Talking About?……Page 229
Getting the Message Out……Page 230
What’s the Morale Like?……Page 231
Leave the Firefighting to the Firefighters……Page 233
Who’s Doing What?……Page 234
JFDI Projects……Page 235
Managing a Project That Cannot Now Succeed……Page 236
Lessons Learned……Page 237
Appendices……Page 240
In Summary: Delivering a Project in Three Pages……Page 242
Key Information for Every (Everyday) Project……Page 246
Index……Page 248