PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR DUMMIES.

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
	About This Book
	Foolish Assumptions
	Icons Used in This Book
	Beyond the Book
	Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Getting Started with Project Management
	Chapter 1 Project Management: The Key to Achieving Results
		Determining What Makes a Project a Project
			Understanding the three main components that define a project
			Recognizing the diversity of projects
			Describing the four phases of a project life cycle
		Adopting a Principled Approach to Project Management
			Starting with stewardship and leadership
			Continuing with team and stakeholders
			Delivering value and quality
			Handling complexity, opportunities, and threats
			Exhibiting adaptability and resilience
			Thinking holistically and enabling change
		What Happened to Process Groups and Knowledge Areas?
		Do You Have What It Takes to Be an Effective Project Manager?
			Questions
			Answer key
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
	Chapter 2 I’m a Project Manager! Now What?
		Knowing the Project Manager’s Role
			Looking at the project manager’s tasks
			Staving off excuses for not following a structured project management approach
			Avoiding shortcuts
			Staying aware of other potential challenges
		Aligning with the Four Values that Comprise the Code of Ethics
			The price of greatness is responsibility
			R-e-s-p-e-c-t, find out what it means to. . .your project
			Maintaining fairness
			Honesty is the best policy
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
	Chapter 3 Beginning the Journey: The Genesis of a Project
		Gathering Ideas for Projects
			Looking at information sources for potential projects
			Proposing a project in a business case
		Developing the Project Charter
			Performing a cost-benefit analysis
			Conducting a feasibility study
			Generating documents during the development of the project charter
		Deciding Which Projects to Move to the Second Phase of Their Life Cycle
		Tailoring Your Delivery Approach
			For the organization
			For the project
		Identifying the Models, Methods, and Artifacts to Use
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
	Chapter 4 Knowing Your Project’s Stakeholders: Involving the Right People
		Understanding Your Project’s Stakeholders
		Developing a Stakeholder Register
			Starting your stakeholder register
				Using specific categories
				Considering stakeholders that are often overlooked
				Examining the beginning of a sample stakeholder register
			Ensuring your stakeholder register is complete and up-to-date
			Using a stakeholder register template
		Determining Whether Stakeholders Are Drivers, Supporters, or Observers
			Deciding when to involve your stakeholders
				Drivers
				Supporters
				Observers
			Using different methods to involve your stakeholders
			Making the most of your stakeholders’ involvement
		Displaying Your Stakeholder Register
		Confirming Your Stakeholders’ Authority
		Assessing Your Stakeholders’ Power and Interest
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
	Chapter 5 Clarifying What You’re Trying to Accomplish — And Why
		Defining Your Project with a Scope Statement
		Looking at the Big Picture: Explaining the Need for Your Project
			Figuring out why you’re doing the project
				Identifying the initiator
				Determining who is contributing funds to support the project
				Recognizing other people who may benefit from your project
				Distinguishing the project champion
				Considering people who’ll implement the results of your project
				Determining your project drivers’ real expectations and needs
				Confirming that your project can address people’s needs
				Uncovering other activities that relate to your project
				Emphasizing your project’s importance to your organization
				Being exhaustive in your search for information
			Drawing the line: Where your project starts and stops
			Stating your project’s objectives
				Making your objectives clear and specific
				Probing for all types of objectives
				Anticipating resistance to clearly defined objectives
		Marking Boundaries: Project Constraints
			Working within limitations
				Understanding the types of limitations
				Looking for project limitations
				Addressing limitations in your scope statement
			Dealing with needs
		Facing the Unknowns When Planning: Documenting Your Assumptions
		Presenting Your Scope Statement in a Clear and Concise Document
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
	Chapter 6 Developing Your Game Plan: Getting from Here to There
		Divide and Conquer: Breaking Your Project into Manageable Chunks
			Thinking in detail
			Identifying necessary project work with a work breakdown structure
				Asking four key questions
				Making assumptions to clarify planned work
				Focusing on results when naming deliverables
				Using action verbs to title activities
				Developing a WBS for large and small projects
				Understanding a project’s deliverables-activities hierarchy
			Dealing with special situations
				Representing conditionally repeating work
				Handling work with no obvious break points
				Planning a long-term project
				Issuing a contract for services you will receive
		Creating and Displaying Your Work Breakdown Structure
			Considering different schemes to create your WBS hierarchy
			Using one of two approaches to develop your WBS
				The top-down approach
				The brainstorming approach
			Categorizing your project’s work
			Labeling your WBS entries
			Displaying your WBS in different formats
				The organization-chart format
				The indented-outline format
				The bubble-chart format
			Improving the quality of your WBS
			Using templates
				Drawing on previous experience
				Improving your WBS templates
		Identifying Risks While Detailing Your Work
		Documenting What You Need to Know about Your Planned Project Work
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
Part 2 Planning Time: Determining When and How Much
	Chapter 7 You Want This Project Done When?
		Picture This: Illustrating a Work Plan with a Network Diagram
			Defining a network diagram’s elements
				Milestone
				Activity
				Duration
			Drawing a network diagram
		Analyzing a Network Diagram
			Reading a network diagram
			Interpreting a network diagram
				The importance of the critical path
				The forward pass: Determining critical paths, noncritical paths, and earliest start and finish dates
				The backward pass: Calculating the latest start and finish dates and slack times
		Working with Your Project’s Network Diagram
			Determining precedence
				Looking at factors that affect predecessors
				Choosing immediate predecessors
			Using a network diagram to analyze a simple example
				Deciding on the activities
				Setting the order of the activities
				Creating the network diagram
		Developing Your Project’s Schedule
			Taking the first steps
			Avoiding the pitfall of backing in to your schedule
			Meeting an established time constraint
			Applying different strategies to arrive at your picnic in less time
				Performing activities at the same time
		Estimating Activity Duration
			Determining the underlying factors
			Considering resource characteristics
			Improving activity duration estimates
		Displaying Your Project’s Schedule
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
	Chapter 8 Establishing Whom You Need, How Much of Their Time, and When
		Getting the Information You Need to Match People to Tasks
			Deciding what skills and knowledge team members must have
			Representing team members’ skills, knowledge, and interests in a skills matrix
		Estimating Needed Commitment
			Using a human resources matrix
			Identifying needed personnel in a human resources matrix
			Estimating required work effort
			Factoring productivity, efficiency, and availability into work-effort estimates
			Reflecting efficiency when you use historical data
			Accounting for efficiency in personal work-effort estimates
		Ensuring Your Project Team Members Can Meet Their Resource Commitments
			Planning your initial allocations
			Resolving potential resource overloads
			Coordinating assignments across multiple projects
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
	Chapter 9 Planning for Other Resources and Developing the Budget
		Determining Non-Personnel Resource Needs
		Making Sense of the Dollars: Project Costs and Budgets
			Looking at different types of project costs
			Recognizing the three stages of a project budget
			Refining your budget as your project progresses
			Determining project costs for a detailed budget estimate
				The bottom-up approach
				The top-down approach
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
	Chapter 10 Venturing into the Unknown: Dealing with Risk
		Defining Risk and Risk Management
		Focusing on Risk Factors and Risks
			Recognizing risk factors
			Identifying risks
		Assessing Risks: Probability and Consequences
			Gauging the likelihood of a risk
				Relying on objective info
				Counting on personal opinions
			Estimating the extent of the consequences
		Getting Everything under Control: Managing Risk
			Choosing the risks you want to manage
			Developing a risk management strategy
			Communicating about risks
		Preparing a Risk Management Plan
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
Part 3 Group Work: Putting Your Team Together
	Chapter 11 Aligning the Key Players for Your Project
		Defining Three Organizational Environments
			The functional structure
				Advantages of the functional structure
				Disadvantages of the functional structure
			The projectized structure
				Advantages of the projectized structure
				Disadvantages of the projectized structure
			The matrix structure
				Advantages of the matrix structure
				Disadvantages of the matrix structure
		Recognizing the Key Players in a Matrix Environment
			The project manager
			Project team members
			Functional managers
			The project owner
			The project sponsor
			Upper management
		Working Successfully in a Matrix Environment
			Creating and continually reinforcing a team identity
			Getting team member commitment
			Eliciting support from other people in the environment
			Heading off common problems before they arise
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
	Chapter 12 Defining Team Members’ Roles and Responsibilities
		Outlining the Key Roles
			Distinguishing authority, responsibility, and accountability
			Understanding the difference between authority and responsibility
		Making Project Assignments
			Delving into delegation
				Deciding what to delegate
				Recognizing the six degrees of delegation
				Supporting your delegations of authority
				Delegating to achieve results
			Sharing responsibility
			Holding people accountable — even when they don’t report to you
		Picture This: Depicting Roles with a Responsibility Assignment Matrix
			Introducing the elements of a RAM
			Reading a RAM
			Developing a RAM
			Ensuring your RAM is accurate
				Including a legend that defines all terms and acronyms
				Developing a hierarchy of charts
				Getting input from everyone involved
				Putting your RAM in writing
				Keeping your RAM up-to-date
		Dealing with Micromanagement
			Realizing why a person micromanages
			Gaining a micromanager’s trust
			Working well with a micromanager
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
	Chapter 13 Starting Your Project Team Off on the Right Foot
		Finalizing Your Project’s Participants
			Are you in? Confirming your team members’ participation
			Assuring that others are on board
			Filling in the blanks
		Developing Your Team
			Reviewing the approved project plan
			Developing team and individual goals
			Specifying team member roles
			Defining your team’s operating processes
			Supporting the development of team member relationships
			Resolving conflicts
				Minimizing conflict on your team
				Acting out conflict resolution with a simple example
			All together now: Helping your team become a smooth-functioning unit
		Laying the Groundwork for Controlling Your Project
			Selecting and preparing your tracking systems
			Establishing schedules for reports and meetings
			Setting your project’s baseline
		Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Announcing Your Project
		Setting the Stage for Your Project Retrospective
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
Part 4 Steering the Ship: Managing Your Project to Success
	Chapter 14 Tracking Progress and Maintaining Control
		Holding On to the Reins: Monitoring and Controlling
		Establishing Project Management Information Systems
			The clock’s ticking: Monitoring schedule performance
				Defining the schedule data to collect
				Analyzing schedule performance
				Collecting schedule performance data
				Improving the accuracy of your schedule performance data
				Choosing a vehicle to support your schedule tracking system
			All in a day’s work: Monitoring work effort
				Collecting work-effort data
				Choosing a vehicle to support your work-effort tracking system
				Improving the accuracy of your work-effort data
				Analyzing work effort expended
			Follow the money: Monitoring expenditures
				Analyzing expenditures
				Collecting expenditure data and improving its accuracy
				Choosing a vehicle to support your expenditure tracking system
		Putting Your Control Process into Action
			Heading off problems before they occur
			Formalizing your control process
			Identifying possible causes of delays and variances
			Identifying possible corrective actions
			Getting back on track: Rebaselining
		Reacting Responsibly When Changes Are Requested
			Responding to change requests
			Creeping away from scope creep
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
	Chapter 15 Keeping Everyone Informed
		I Meant What I Said and I Said What I Meant: Successful Communication Basics
			Breaking down the communication process
			Distinguishing one-way and two-way communication
			Can you hear me now? Listening actively
		Choosing the Appropriate Medium for Project Communication
			Just the facts: Written reports
			Moving it along: Meetings that work
				Planning for a successful meeting
				Conducting an efficient meeting
				Following up with the last details
		Preparing a Written Project Progress Report
			Making a list (of names) and checking it twice
			Knowing what’s hot (and what’s not) in your report
			Earning a Pulitzer, or at least writing an interesting report
		Holding Key Project Meetings
			Regularly scheduled team meetings
			Ad hoc team meetings
			Executive leadership progress reviews
		Preparing a Project Communications Management Plan
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
	Chapter 16 Encouraging Peak Performance by Providing Effective Leadership
		Exploring the Differences between Leadership and Management
		Recognizing the Traits People Look for in a Leader
		Developing Personal Power and Influence
			Understanding why people do what you ask
			Establishing the bases of your power
		You Can Do It! Creating and Sustaining Team Member Motivation
			Increasing commitment by clarifying your project’s benefits
			Encouraging persistence by demonstrating project feasibility
			Letting people know how they’re doing
			Providing rewards for work well done
		Leading a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Project Team
			Diversity is an asset worthy of inclusion
			Equity is a choice – choose it
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
	Chapter 17 Bringing Your Project to Closure
		Staying the Course to Completion
			Planning ahead for your project’s closure
			Updating your initial closure plans when you’re ready to wind down the project
			Charging up your team for the sprint to the finish line
		Handling Administrative Issues
		Providing a Smooth Transition for Team Members
		Surveying the Results: The Project Retrospective Evaluation
			Preparing for the evaluation throughout the project
			Setting the stage for the evaluation meeting
			Conducting the evaluation meeting
			Following up on the evaluation
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
Part 5 Taking Your Project Management to the Next Level
	Chapter 18 Using Newer Methods and Resources to Enhance Your Project Management
		Taking a Look at the Agile Approach to Project Management
			Understanding what drives the Agile approach
			Taking a look at the elements of Agile when implemented through Scrum
			Comparing the Agile and traditional (Waterfall) approaches
		Using Computer Software Effectively
			Looking at your software options
				Standalone specialty software
				Integrated project management software
			Helping your software perform at its best
			Introducing project management software into your organization
		Using Social Media to Enhance Project Management
			Defining social media
			Exploring how social media can support your project planning and performance
			Using social media to support your project communications
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
	Chapter 19 Monitoring Project Performance with Earned Value Management
		Defining Earned Value Management
			Getting to know EVM terms and formulas
				Spelling out some important terms
				Defining the formulas of EVM performance descriptors
				Last but not least: Projecting total expenditures at completion
			Looking at a simple example
			Determining the reasons for observed variances
		The How-To: Applying Earned Value Management to Your Project
		Determining a Task’s Earned Value
		Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
Part 6 The Part of Tens
	Chapter 20 Ten Questions to Ask Yourself as You Plan Your Project
		What’s the Purpose of Your Project?
		Whom Do You Need to Involve?
		What Results Will You Produce?
		What Constraints Must You Satisfy?
		What Assumptions Are You Making?
		What Work Has to Be Done?
		When Does Each Activity Start and End?
		Who Will Perform the Project Work?
		What Other Resources Do You Need?
		What Can Go Wrong?
	Chapter 21 Ten Tips for Being a Better Project Manager
		Be a “Why” Person
		Be a “Can Do” Person
		Think about the Big Picture
		Think in Detail
		Assume Cautiously
		View People as Allies, Not Adversaries
		Mean What You Say and Say What You Mean
		Respect Other People
		Acknowledge Good Performance
		Be a Manager and a Leader
Appendix 
Combining the Techniques into Smooth-Flowing Processes
	Preparing Your Project Plan
	Controlling Your Project during Performance
Index
EULA