Project Management for Mere Mortals

by Baca, Claudia

• ISBN13: 9780321423450
• ISBN10: 0321423453
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-06-25
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional

Summary

The professional's guide to project management - 80,000 certified project manager professionals strong!

Author Biography

Claudia M. Baca, PMP, PMI OPM3 ^®, Certified Assessor and Consultant, has been active in the project management industry since 1984 and has project management experience in the information technology, telecommunications, and e-commerce industries. During her long and varied career, Claudia has managed multiple mission-critical projects for companies as varied as a major telecommunications company to an Internet start-up company. She most recently was the vice president of Consulting Services for a nationally known project management consulting firm. Currently, Claudia is an independent consultant focusing on project management consulting and training. She lectures for the Project Management Institute’s Denver chapter, as well as teaches for Colorado State University and Denver’s Front Range Community College.

 

Claudia was a member of the leadership team that produced the standard for Project Management Maturity,OPM3, and is currently working on the second edition of that standard. She has a Master’s Certificate in Program Management from Denver University and earned her PMP in 1995.

 

Claudia is also an experienced writer and technical editor. She coauthored the paper “Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3)”, presented at the PMI Global Congress Europe in 2003. She coauthored the paper “The Past, the Present and the Future of OPM3 ,” presented at the PMI Global Congress North America, 2004, and also coauthored “OPM3–The Path to Organizational Achievement of Strategic Business Improvement,” presented at the PMI North American Congress in October 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, she is the technical editor of the PMP Project Management Professional Study Guideand the IT Project + Study Guide , and is the coauthor of PMP Project Management Professional Workbook , all published by Sybex. In 2005, Claudia published the Project Management Spotlight on Change Managementin March and the PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide Deluxe Editionin August, both by John Wiley Publishing. Her first work for Addison-Wesley is Project Management for Mere Mortals , in 2007.

 

Claudia was the first person to be certified by PMI^® and Det Norske Veritas (DNV) as a PMI Certified OPM3 ^® Assessor and Consultant. She has assessed and improved project management maturity in organizations ranging in size from a nuclear power plant to a 50-employee telecommunication networking company.

 

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xv
Preface	p. xvii
Acknowledgments	p. xxv
About the Author	p. xxvii
Setting the Project Management Context	p. 1
Concepts	p. 2
What Is Project Management?	p. 2
Role of the Project Manager	p. 3
The Hierarchy of Project Management	p. 6
Organizational Structures	p. 9
Life Cycle	p. 11
Teaming	p. 12
Empathy	p. 13
Negotiation	p. 13
Influencing	p. 13
Walking the Talk	p. 13
Ego in Check	p. 13
Politics	p. 14
Summary	p. 15
Case Study	p. 15
Review Questions	p. 17
You've Been Assigned a Project!	p. 19
Chartering the Project	p. 20
Formal Chartering	p. 20
Informal Chartering	p. 23
Measures of Performance	p. 23
Defining MOPs	p. 25
MOPs and the Triple Constraints	p. 27
More about MOPs	p. 29
Putting Together a MOP	p. 31
Preliminary Scope Statements	p. 32
Project Costs	p. 35
Starting the Project Plan	p. 38
Teaming	p. 41
Politics	p. 43
What's in it for Them?	p. 43
How Much Power Do You Really Have?	p. 45
Summary	p. 47
Case Study	p. 48
Review Questions	p. 51
How Big Is This Project?	p. 53
Defining the Scope	p. 54
Product Requirements	p. 60
Setup Step	p. 61
Requirements Gathering Step	p. 68
Confirming the Requirements Step	p. 80
Baseline and Control Step	p. 83
Creating the WBS	p. 86
Desk Testing	p. 90
Teaming	p. 91
Politics	p. 92
Summary	p. 94
Case Study	p. 95
Review Questions	p. 97
Laying Out the Work	p. 99
Defining Tasks	p. 100
Creating the List of Tasks	p. 100
Completion Criteria	p. 104
Sequencing the Work	p. 107
Dependencies	p. 108
Dependency Relationships	p. 109
Creating a Network Diagram	p. 111
Teaming	p. 117
Politics	p. 122
Summary	p. 124
Case Study	p. 124
Review Questions	p. 130
The Art of Estimating	p. 131
Estimating Definitions	p. 132
Estimating Techniques	p. 135
Analogous Estimating	p. 135
Parametric Estimating	p. 136
Bottom-Up Estimating	p. 136
Three-Point Estimating	p. 137
Reserve Analysis	p. 137
Expert Judgment	p. 140
What to Estimate	p. 140
Resource Estimation	p. 141
Duration Estimation	p. 148
Cost Estimation	p. 153
Teaming	p. 161
Politics	p. 163
Preset Duration	p. 163
When the Boss Creates the Estimates	p. 164
Summary	p. 165
Case Study	p. 165
Review Questions	p. 168
Quality-How Good Does It Have to Be?	p. 169
Before You Plan	p. 170
Quality Standards	p. 171
Quality Policy	p. 173
Planning Quality In	p. 174
The Cost of Quality	p. 180
The Cost of Conformance	p. 180
The Cost of Nonconformance	p. 181
Teaming	p. 188
Decision Log	p. 190
Forcing Conflict	p. 191
Politics	p. 191
Scenario: The Climber	p. 193
Scenario: The Digger	p. 194
Summary	p. 194
Case Study	p. 195
Review Questions	p. 206
Communication-What Do You Think About My Project?	p. 207
Communication 101	p. 208
Who Are the Recipients?	p. 210
Timing Is Everything	p. 216
Why Do This Communication?	p. 223
What to Communicate?	p. 226
Know Your Recipients-General	p. 229
Know Your Recipients-Special Handling	p. 236
Teaming	p. 248
Politics	p. 249
Summary	p. 251
Case Study	p. 251
Review Questions	p. 256
Risk-What Should You Worry About?	p. 257
What Is Your Risk Strategy?	p. 258
Identifying Risk	p. 260
How Do You Gather Risks?	p. 260
Not All Risks Are Created Equal	p. 266
Impact	p. 266
Probability	p. 267
Response Planning	p. 272
Getting Ready for Risks to Occur	p. 276
Teaming	p. 279
Politics	p. 281
Summary	p. 283
Case Study	p. 284
Review Questions	p. 289
Creating the Schedule	p. 291
Pulling the Work Together	p. 292
Calculating Critical Path	p. 293
Calculating Critical Path for the TTR Project	p. 298
Applying PERT Estimates	p. 302
Assigning and Leveling Resources	p. 304
Schedule Compression	p. 314
Crashing	p. 314
Fast-Tracking	p. 316
Descoping	p. 317
Understanding the Flow of the Work	p. 322
Teaming	p. 324
Politics	p. 326
Summary	p. 327
Case Study	p. 327
Review Questions	p. 330
Budgeting-How Much?	p. 331
Budgeting 101	p. 332
Building the Budget	p. 332
Reserves	p. 344
Fees	p. 346
Reconciling the Budget	p. 347
Budget Crashing	p. 347
Descoping	p. 348
Cost Baseline	p. 349
Teaming	p. 350
Politics	p. 352
Summary	p. 353
Case Study	p. 353
Review Questions	p. 366
The Rhythm of Project Execution	p. 369
All About Execution	p. 370
Creating the Baselines	p. 370
Getting into a Rhythm	p. 373
Status Meetings	p. 374
Issues Management	p. 374
The Work of Project Execution	p. 376
Types of Work	p. 376
Quality Audits	p. 378
Teaming	p. 380
Politics	p. 382
Summary	p. 383
Case Study	p. 384
Review Questions	p. 395
Keeping the Project on Track	p. 397
Monitoring and Controlling Variance	p. 398
Variance Analysis	p. 400
Earned Value Technique	p. 403
Determining the Impact	p. 406
Corrective Action	p. 408
Other Monitoring and Controlling Activities	p. 410
Controlling and Monitoring Project Risks	p. 410
Controlling and Monitoring the Product of the Project	p. 411
Monitoring the Implementation of Changes from Change Control	p. 411
Teaming	p. 412
Politics	p. 413
Summary	p. 415
Case Study	p. 415
Review Questions	p. 419
Controlling Changes	p. 421
The Concept of Change Control	p. 422
The Process of Change Control	p. 423
The Change Control Process Step by Step	p. 424
Change Tracking	p. 431
Teaming	p. 433
Politics	p. 434
Summary	p. 436
Case Study	p. 436
VNLE Activities Going Well	p. 437
VNLE Activities Needing Improvement	p. 438
Review Questions	p. 440
Success!-Closing the Project	p. 441
Preparing for Implementation	p. 442
Readiness Review	p. 442
Scope Verification	p. 445
Turnover	p. 446
Closing the Project	p. 446
Lessons Learned	p. 447
Celebrate!	p. 449
Teaming	p. 449
Politics	p. 451
Summary	p. 452
Case Study	p. 452
Review Questions	p. 456
Answers to the Review Questions	p. 457
Glossary	p. 471
Bibliography	p. 477
Index	p. 479
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Project Management for Mere Mortals Preface Whether you think you can or think you can't: either way you are right. --Henry Ford I started my career in project management many years ago, when a wise woman I worked for said she had heard about a new discipline called project management and thought I should go to a class and check it out. I signed up for the class, called "Government Project Management." On the first day, I walked into a room of 19 men in military uniform. I was the only woman and the only person from the private sector. When I was finished with the class, my organization decided that I was now a project manager and gave me a very complex project to run that included changing more than 500 software modules from all parts of the organization. I delivered the project three months late and well over budget. My career continued on, with me learning from the school of hard knocks until 1995. In 1995, I attained my Project Management Professional designation from the Project Management Institute, and also received a Master's Certificate in Program Management from Denver University. These two accomplishments changed my career and my outlook on project management. Since I've received those two designations, I have never missed a triple constraint on a project for which I was the project manager. Now, I can't say that I didn't negotiate a new date, a new MOP, or a new budget since then. But my client or sponsor willingly agreed to the change based on what was best for the business and the project. What Is This Book About? This book contains my knowledge gained over the years, as well as the knowledge of my friends who are great project managers. It covers the basics of good project management built on the good practices in The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge( PMBOK#xAE; Guide). It also covers tried-and-true techniques for making projects work--and work well. The book is organized by chapters that cover specific topics of project management. For example, Chapter 6 is all about project quality. But each chapter also has five sections for you to use. The first several parts of every chapter explore the mechanics of project management specific to the topic at hand. You will encounter processes, tools, and techniques that you can use to successfully deal with that topic on your projects. The next section in each chapter deals with the human resources on your project. How do you get your project team to work with you to create the objectives of the project? How do you build an atmosphere of success in which people want to work? Following the human resources section is a section that covers project politics. Throughout my career, I have worked very hard to deliver good projects. But I always had the feeling of being a salmon trying to swim upstream. It was never easy because of the politics in my organizations. In the politics section, you'll investigate techniques for establishing a good offense for project politics, as well as learn what to do when a good offense is not enough. Each chapter has a case study section. This case study introduces our project manager hero, Chris Williams. You'll watch as Chris uses the tools and techniques introduced in the chapter, as well as those you learned about in previous chapters. Finally, each chapter includes a set of review questions that cover the most important tools and techniques covered in that chapter. You'll find the answers to the review questions in the Appendix. A unique feature of this book is the collaboration between this book and Microsoft Project for Mere Mortals,by Patti Jansen. These books were developed in conjunction with each other. Based on that collaboration, when you read about a topic described in this book, you can go to Patti's book and see how you would handle the same topic in MS Project. With the two books, you'll have everything you need to manage your next project using sound tools and techniques and MS Project. Who Should Read This Book? The original intent of this book was to be a beginning project management book. Through the development, though, I've come to realize that facets of it apply to many different levels of experienced project managers. My reviewers have confirmed that they learned about new tools and techniques, even though they have been project managers for many years. Here's a synopsis of what is available for each of you. New Project Managers As a new project manager, you will find the basics of your craft covered in the pages of this book. As you get deeper into your newly chosen profession, you'll that some projects need more rigor than others. I have noted throughout this book where you should apply the different processes described. You'll find techniques that you can use now and some that you will probably decide to use later in your career, as you get better at your craft. Intermediate Experienced Project Managers You've managed a few projects, and things are getting better with each one. You are looking for a way to make a quantum leap to completely successful project management. This is the book for you. Here you have the opportunity to review what you do against the processes of this book. You can refine your own processes based on what you find here. Besides, with the time it takes to manage a successful project, you probably haven't had the time to spend on the politics that are surrounding you. Here's your opportunity to tackle some of those tough subjects in one book. Experienced Professionals As an experienced project management professional, you have honed your craft and grown to be a really good project manager. However, you might find a few areas of your profession that need a little work. You'll find a myriad of sound techniques in this book to warrant your time. Also, the book has been organized to enable you to find exactly the topic you are looking for, with specific ideas on how to handle that situation. How This Book Is Organized The book is structured around project management topics. I start with a chapter defining some of the concepts of project management. But from the next chapter on, the book covers the topics in the order of planning activities: executing, monitoring, controlling, and closing. It looks as if the structure is sequential and that you must read the book start to finish. However, you can zone in on a specific topic and read about, for example, how to handle project risks from a planning perspective. Here's what each chapter covers: Chapter 1, "Setting the Project Management Context."This chapter establishes the structure of project management. I cover some of the fundamental definitions you should know. In the "Teaming" section, I cover the fundamental skills you should possess to effectively manage your team. And in "Politics," you explore the overarching political environment in which a project manager works. Chapter 2, "You've Been Assigned a Project!"This chapter is all about starting a project successfully. You'll explore project initiation and the preliminary documentation that must be produced at the start of the project. A new concept, Measures of Performance, is introduced here. MOPs are a terrific way to get clear about the results of the project. In "Teaming," you investigate how to get the best people assigned to your project. "Politics" covers planning for the politics that lie ahead. Chapter 3, "How Big Is This Project?"You start this chapter by defining the scope of the project. Basically, that means asking this multipart question: How do you progressively elaborate the MOP to create the scope, the work breakdown structure, and the order of