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

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
  A Word 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
  Linking Back to the Objectives......Page 56
  Start with an Outline Scope......Page 57
  Build Your Requirements from the Outline Scope......Page 58
  A Few Things to Consider If You Are the Person Specifying or Reviewing the Requirements......Page 60
  Now You Can Begin Work on the Solution......Page 63
  Testing the Requirements......Page 64
  Snags, Defects, and Missed Requirements......Page 65
  Why the Distinction?......Page 66
  Cost to Rectify......Page 67
  Requirements Failure versus Requirements Change......Page 68
  Scope Creep......Page 69
  Vigilance and Discipline......Page 71
  Scope Change – and How to Manage It......Page 72
  What Is Out of Scope?......Page 73
  You Now Have a Fully Defined Project......Page 74
  What Are You Lot Doing Here?......Page 76
  The Sponsor......Page 77
  There’s Only One Project Sponsor......Page 78
  The Project Manager......Page 79
  The Sponsor and the Project Manager......Page 82
  The Solution Designer or Subject Matter Expert (SME)......Page 84
  The Supplier/Implementer(s)......Page 85
  If You Are the Change Manager......Page 86
  And the Rest......Page 87
  Collective Responsibility......Page 88
  Bringing the Team Together......Page 89
  Stakeholders......Page 90
  The Illegitimate Senior Stakeholder......Page 91
  Having People inside the Tent......Page 92
  If You Are an Illegitimate Stakeholder......Page 93
  The RACI Matrix......Page 95
  The Numbers Game......Page 98
  The Process Is an End in Itself......Page 99
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