Project Management For Dummies - UK by Nick Graham (English) Paperback Book

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Stay on track and within budget with this accessible guide to project planning Project Management For Dummies guides you to a thorough understanding of how to successfully manage projects—and the people who work on them—even if you're brand new to the project management field. You'll learn the basic concepts, key tips and tricks for making things go smoothly, and updated information relevant to today's UK business practices. Even if you aren't entering a project management role, you'll need to learn project planning skills to stay competitive in today's employment market. Now revised with fresh content on everything from a project's start to its finish, this friendly Dummies title will teach you to manage projects large and small. Learn the must-know concepts in project managementDiscover planning techniques that will enhance your effectivenessManage projects with in-person or virtual teamsAvoid common mistakes and know what to do when the unexpected happensThis guide is excellent for anyone in a project management role, students with an eye toward a career in project management, and anyone who needs to organize and complete large tasks.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Author Biography

Nick Graham is an experienced project practitioner, trainer and author, with his clear explanations helped by also being a qualified teacher. His training work has taken him worldwide, and he has worked with the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Nick is also the author of Project Management Checklists For Dummies.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1 About This Book 2 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 4 Where to Go from Here 4 Part 1: Understanding Projects and What You Want to Achieve 5 Chapter 1: Success in Project Management 7 Taking on a Project 7 Avoiding the Pitfalls 8 Deciding Whether the Job is a Project 10 Understanding the four control areas 10 Recognising the diversity of projects 12 Understanding the four stages of a project 13 Defining the Project Manager's Role 15 Looking at the Project Manager's tasks 16 Opposing opposition 17 Avoiding 'shortcuts' 18 Deciding On Your Approach 19 Chapter 2: Thinking Through the Life of Your Project 21 Using a Set Approach 21 Breaking the Project Down into Stages 22 Appreciating the advantages of stages 23 Deciding on the number of delivery stages 24 Understanding the Four Main Stages 25 Starting the project 25 The planning stage – organising and preparing 28 The delivery stages – carrying out the work 32 The closure stage 36 Chapter 3: Defining the Scope and Producing a Business Case 37 Defining the Scope 38 Managing expectations and avoiding disappointment 39 Challenging the scope 39 Understanding the dimensions of scope 40 Being clear 40 Considering the requirements 41 Producing a Business Case 41 Getting to grips with the basic contents 42 Keeping the Business Case up to date 42 Figuring out why you're doing the project 43 Understanding project justification 44 Understanding benefits 45 Writing the Business Case 49 Complying with organisational standards 50 Going Back to the Scope 50 Challenging the existing scope 51 Going the second mile 51 Getting to Grips with Techniques 52 Calculating return on investment 52 Understanding cost–benefit analysis 52 Chapter 4: Knowing Your Project's Stakeholders 55 Managing Stakeholders 56 Identifying stakeholders – the 'who' 57 Analysing the stakeholders – the 'where' 60 Understanding positions – the 'why' 62 Deciding action – the 'what' 63 Working with stakeholders – the 'how' 65 Planning the work – the 'when' 66 Handling Opposition 67 Solving the problems 67 Focusing on the common areas 67 Understanding that you're a threat 67 Spotting facts and emotions 69 Overriding the opposition 70 Handling Multiple-Stakeholder Projects 71 Getting multiple approvals 71 Developing management strategies 71 Part 2: Planning Time: Determining What, When and How Much 73 Chapter 5: Planning with Deliverables First 75 Seeing the Logic of Product Planning 76 Thinking 'product' before thinking 'task' 76 Understanding the problems of an activity focus 78 Knowing What a Product Is – and Isn't 79 Finding Good Product Names 80 Using a Business Project Example 81 Identifying the products 81 Developing a sequence 82 Defining the products 87 Using a Structured Product List 88 Unleashing the Power of the Work Flow Diagram 91 Using the Work Flow Diagram for risk 92 Using the Work Flow Diagram for control 92 Using the Work Flow Diagram to show stages 93 Using the Work Flow for progress reporting 93 Getting a picture of the project 95 Chapter 6: Planning the Activities 97 Moving From Products to Activities 98 Having multiple tasks to build a product 98 Listing the activities or tasks 99 Drawing Up a First Activity Network 101 Seeing how you build up an Activity Network 101 Using the Work Flow Diagram 103 Putting in the time durations 105 Calculating the length of the project 107 Understanding Float and Its Impact 109 Identifying the Critical Path 111 Watching the critical path 112 Finding a split critical path 113 Being More Precise with Dependencies 114 Understanding dependency types 114 Staying in touch with reality 117 Thinking a bit more about sequences 118 Working with the Activity Network 120 Working back to meet end dates 121 Avoiding backing into your schedule 122 Going for Gantt 123 Estimating Activity Durations 125 Getting the best information 126 Using estimating techniques 127 Putting a health warning on estimates 128 Chapter 7: Looking At Staff Resources 131 Seeing Why You Need to Plan Staff Use 132 Dealing with resource conflicts 132 Making sure that people are available 133 Monitoring use of staff on the project 135 Matching People to Tasks 135 Working out the skill sets and knowledge that you need on the teams 135 Growing your people 136 Identifying skills sets 137 Honing Your Task Duration Estimates 138 Documenting your estimates 138 Factors in activity timing and estimates 139 Estimating required work effort 140 Factoring in productivity 141 Taking care with historical data 144 Accounting for availability 145 Smoothing the Resource 146 Checking for resource conflict 146 Resolving resource conflicts – the steps 147 Co-ordinating assignments across multiple projects 149 Chapter 8: Planning for Other Resources and Developing the Budget 151 Determining Physical Resource Needs 152 Identifying resource needs 152 Understanding physical resources 154 Thinking a bit more about timing 155 Preparing a Budget 156 Looking at different types of project costs 157 Developing a project budget at three levels 159 Creating a detailed budget estimate 160 Refining your budget through the stages 162 Avoiding drowning people in detail 164 Chapter 9: Planning at Different Times and Levels 165 Putting the Main Structure in Place 166 Deciding on the stages 166 Holding a Stage Gate 168 Working with Planning Levels 169 Drawing up new plans 170 Keeping higher level plans up to date 172 Planning at more than one level at once 172 Chapter 10: Dealing with Risk and Uncertainty 175 Understanding Risks and Risk Management 176 Seeing why you need risk management 177 Managing, not necessarily avoiding, risk 177 Keeping people informed 178 Keeping risk in focus throughout the project 180 Working Through the Risk Cycle 180 Identifying a risk and its trigger event(s) 182 (Re)analyse the risk and check existing actions 183 Deciding risk management action(s) 189 Add/modify risk management in the plans 193 Take planned action(s) and monitor the risk 194 Documenting Risk 195 Risk Plan 195 Risk Log 196 Getting Some Help from Techniques 197 Ishikawa (fishbone) diagram 197 Work Flow Diagram 198 Risk Checklist 198 Decision tree 198 Chapter 11: Controlling Quality 201 Understanding the Effects of Getting Quality Wrong 203 Understanding the impact of poor quality 203 Avoiding the cost of unnecessarily high quality 204 Defining Quality 205 Striking the Quality Balance 205 Balancing quality against project effort (and more) 205 Thinking through what quality level you need 206 Identifying when quality levels are mandatory 208 Spotting Quality Game-Playing and Working to Prevent It 208 The quality level game and a guilty conscience 209 When formality and auditing means nothing 210 Typical game players 211 Achieving a Culture of Quality 211 Communicating quality requirements and procedures 212 Explaining the attitude to error 212 Celebrating when errors are found 213 Getting On Top of Quality in Your Project 214 Drawing up an effective Quality Plan 214 Building the foundation with good product definition 216 Using powerful yet simple logs 217 Auditing quality effectively 218 Delivering At the Right Level 218 Specifying the right sort of testing 219 Using the right people 219 Reviewing Products 220 Using informal review (peer level checking) 220 Using formal review 221 Part 3: Putting Your Management Team Together 225 Chapter 12: Organising the Project 227 Designing the Project Organisation 227 Understanding it's about roles, not jobs 229 Getting to grips with project roles 230 Looking at the roles 230 Influencing the selection of PSG roles 239 Defining Organisational Structures 239 The projectised structure 239 The matrix structure 240 Taking note of the structure 241 Chapter 13: Working With Teams and Specialists 243 Looking At the Team in Context 245 Working with Team Leaders 246 Accepting That People Are Different 248 Using the Controller–Analyst Matrix 248 Building in or avoiding team conflict 249 Using the model on the fly 250 Thinking About Suitable Team Members 251 Considering Performance 252 Identifying the performance progression 252 Monitoring performance 253 Maximising performance 253 Working with Senior Staff 254 Being secure in your role 255 Calling in the heavy guns 255 Working with Technical Specialists 256 Finding a translator 256 Admitting your ignorance 257 Being on-side 257 Working with Supplier Teams 258 Supporting supplier staff 258 Choosing suppliers carefully 259 Thinking 'time', not just 'initial cost' 259 Dealing With Discipline 259 Maintaining some distance 260 Owning the problem 260 Avoiding jumping to conclusions 261 Resolving problems – or trying to 261 Treading the disciplinary trail 262 Changing Staff 262 Chapter 14: Being an Effective Leader 263 Practising Management and Leadership 264 Understanding what makes a good leader 264 Developing personal authority 266 Knowing What Motivates and What Demotivates 268 Taking a lesson from Fred Herzberg 268 Understanding points of demotivation 270 Ensuring that others are on board 271 Developing Your Teams 272 Defining your project procedures 272 Helping your teams to function well 273 Stoking the Boilers 275 Letting people know how they're doing 276 Motivating people when they leave 276 Keeping your finger on the pulse 277 Part 4: Steering the Project to Success 279 Chapter 15: Tracking Progress and Staying in Control 281 Understanding What Underpins Effective Progress Control 282 Having a reliable plan 282 Having clear and frequent milestones 283 Having an effective reporting mechanism 284 Harnessing Product Power for Progress Control 284 Compiling a Work Checklist 285 Getting visual with the Work Flow Diagram 286 Monitoring at project, stage and Work Package levels 286 Taking Action When Things Go Off Track 286 Finding out why the project is off track 287 Thinking about what you can do to get back on track 289 Deciding what you'll do 290 Taking action 290 Monitoring the effectiveness of the action 290 Monitoring Work Effort and Costs 291 Keeping an eye on work effort 291 Follow the money: Monitoring expenditure 295 Dealing with Change and Avoiding Scope Creep 299 Understanding different types of change 300 Looking at impacts – the four dogs 302 Responding to change requests 304 Eliminating scope creep – well, almost 305 Handling Bad News 306 Chapter 16: Keeping Everyone Informed 307 Looking At Communications Failure 308 Communications breakdown – the big project killer 308 Identifying causes of communications problems 309 Communicating Effectively 311 Distinguishing between one-way and two-way communication 312 Can you hear me? Listening actively 312 Choosing the Appropriate Medium 314 Writing reports 315 Meeting up 318 Setting up a project website 321 Making a business presentation 321 Preparing a Communications Plan 323 Identifying the communications 324 Writing a Communications Plan 326 Chapter 17: Closing Your Project 329 Staying the Course to Completion 330 Thinking ahead about project closure 330 Dealing with a crash stop 331 Planning Closure 332 Outlining closure activities 333 Motivating teams to the finish line 334 Providing a Good Transition for Team Members 334 Reviewing the Project 336 Beginning with the end in mind 336 Recording project information 338 Learning lessons and passing them on 338 Measuring benefits 338 Planning for Things After the Project 340 Part 5: Taking Your Project Management to the Next Level 343 Chapter 18: Outlining the Cyclical (Agile) Approach 345 Understanding the Difference Between Linear and Cyclical Approaches 346 Seeing Beyond the Hype 347 Unravelling misnomers 347 Separating fact from over-enthusiastic fiction 348 Implementing a Cyclical Approach 349 Understanding roles and functions 350 Running development cycles 350 Choosing The Right Approach for Your Project 352 Basing your decision on the project's characteristics 352 Seeing the gaps in cyclical approaches 352 Getting it right, cyclical or not 353 Chapter 19: Managing Multiple Projects 357 Talking the Talk 358 Defining a programme 358 Defining a portfolio 360 Deciding on a Programme 360 Understanding programme roles 361 Fitting in with Programme Plans 362 Mapping interdependencies by product 362 Controlling a programme 364 Managing a Portfolio 365 Understanding the project implications 366 Maintaining the portfolio 366 Chapter 20: Using Technology to Up Your Game 369 Using Computer Software Effectively 370 Seeing what software you need 371 Understanding where to use software 371 Having Your Head in the Cloud 377 Getting Really Good Stuff for Free 379 Supporting Virtual Teams with Communication Technology 380 Saving Time with Software 381 Being Artificially Intelligent 381 Chapter 21: Monitoring Project Performance with Earned Value Management 383 Understanding EVM Terms and Formulas 384 Looking at a project example (1) 384 Looking at a project example (2) 385 Looking at a project example (3) 385 Getting the three key figures 386 Working with Ratios and Formulas 388 Investigating Variances 389 Deciding What to Measure for EVM 390 Chapter 22: Project Governance and Why It's Really Important 393 Seeing Why It's a No-brainer 394 Looking At Other Guidance 395 Understanding What's Involved 395 Understanding the Organisational Level 396 Standards and approaches 397 Reviewing governance and standards 397 Checking an Individual Project 398 Checking the project's Outline Charter 399 Checking the Charter and PMP 399 Checking the project while it's running 400 Evaluating the project at the end 401 Maintaining the 'Big Divide' 402 Coordinating Your Project Training 403 Part 6: The Part of Tens 405 Chapter 23: Ten Questions to Ask Yourself as You Plan Your Project 407 What Are the Objectives of Your Project? 407 Who Do You Need to Involve? 408 What Will You Produce? 408 What Constraints Must You Satisfy? 409 What Assumptions Are You Making? 409 What Work Has to Be Done? 410 When Does Each Activity Start and End? 410 Who Will Perform the Project Work? 410 What Other Resources Do You Need? 411 What Can Go Wrong? 411 Chapter 24: Ten Tips for Writing a Convincing Business Case 413 Starting with a Bang 413 Spelling out the Benefits Clearly 414 Pointing Out the Non-quantifiables 414 Being Prudent 415 Considering Three-point Estimating 415 Making Sure Benefits Aren't Features 415 Avoiding Benefits Contamination 416 Making Sure You Can Deliver Benefits 416 Supplying Evidence or Referencing It 416 Using Appendices 417 Chapter 25: Ten Tips for Being a Better Project Manager 419 Being a 'Why' Person 420 Being a 'Can Do' Person 420 Thinking about the Big Picture 420 Thinking in Detail 420 Assuming Cautiously 421 Viewing People as Allies Not Adversaries 421 Saying What You Mean, and Meaning What You Say 421 Respecting Other People 422 Acknowledging Good Performance 422 Being a Manager and a Leader 422 Index 423

Details ISBN1394201885 Author Nick Graham Year 2023 ISBN-13 9781394201884 Format Paperback Imprint For Dummies Audience General Language English ISBN-10 1394201885 UK Release Date 2023-10-31 Pages 448 Publisher John Wiley & Sons Inc Edition Description 3rd UK Edition Edition 3rd Publication Date 2023-10-31 Country of Publication United States Replaces 9781119025733 US Release Date 2023-10-31 AU Release Date 2023-07-26 We've got this

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