Making It Happen A Non-Technical Guide to Project Management

by Kyle, Mackenzie

• ISBN13: 9780471642343
• ISBN10: 0471642347
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-11-18
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Making It Happen: A Non-Technical Guide to Project Management provides a fresh and clear approach to project management. Written in the form of a novel, it covers the basics of project management in a friendly, interesting, and memorable way.Will Campbell, a reasonably competent middle manager, is suddenly thrust into managing a high-profile project that could make or break his career. With no project management experience, and armed only with the guidance of his eccentric menror, Martha, Will learns the hard way. As Will navigates the rough seas of company politics, treacherous competition, and a project swirling out of control, he narrowly evades many pitfalls, and masters some indispensable project management tools along the way.Against the backdrop of this personal drama, a simple, rational approach to project management unfolds. Will's ability to grasp these principles is the key to his survival, and could be the key to yours. Making It Happen enables the reader to transform risky, real-life situations into success. Provides a simple, non-technical approach, useful to any business person involved in teams or managing projects Offers practical tools and principles that will make any project a success: from office moves to product roll-outs, systems implementations to training program delivery, and everything in between Boxes, definitions, and charts highlight key points and practical project management tips.

Author Biography

Mackenzie Kyle is the Principle of the Beringer Group and an associate at Manageering, a firm specializing in project management consulting and training. He has spent the last 15 years working on a variety of project management related assignments at organizations in Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
PART ONE: Genesis	1	(80)
Chapter 1: Sink or Swim	3	(10)
The Company	4	(2)
The New Product	6	(4)
The Project Manager	10	(3)
Chapter 2: Grasping the Scope	13	(10)
The First Cost Estimate	15	(1)
Gathering Courage	16	(2)
What is the Problem?	18	(5)
Chapter 3: What is a Project?	23	(8)
Discovering Perspective	25	(6)
Chapter 4: The Team Meets	31	(12)
Trying to Set Goals	34	(5)
A Variety of Answers	39	(4)
Chapter 5: Sifting Through the Mess	43	(6)
Chapter 6: Asking the Right Questions	49	(12)
Chapter 7: Writing the Objective Statement	61	(12)
Chapter 8: The Project Manager Faces the Board	73	(8)
The Board Has Questions	74	(2)
The Project Has a Sponsor	76	(2)
Setting the Schedule	78	(3)
PART TWO: The Project Team	81	(18)
Chapter 9: The Team's Roles	83	(12)
The Sponsor	84	(2)
The Feasibility Analyst	86	(1)
The Project Manager	86	(1)
The Designer, Implementer, User's Representative, and Project Administrator	87	(1)
A Contest of Convictions	88	(3)
Assigning the Roles	91	(4)
Chapter 10: Company Politics	95	(4)
Keeping the Sponsor Happy	97	(2)
PART THREE: The Design Phase	99	(46)
Chapter 11: What is Design, and How Long Does it Take?	101	(6)
Chapter 12: Organizing the Design Process	107	(14)
Design Steps and the Schedule	108	(6)
When is the Design Complete?	114	(3)
Keeping the Sponsor Informed	117	(4)
Chapter 13: The User's Needs	121	(10)
The Revised Objective Statement	127	(4)
Chapter 14: Charts, Costs, and Other Puzzles	131	(6)
Coping with Delays	134	(1)
Making Adjustments	135	(2)
Chapter 15: More Problems with Schedules	137	(8)
Completing the Design	140	(5)
PART FOUR: Execution Planning	145	(40)
Chapter 16: Tasks	147	(10)
A Simple Set of Tasks	151	(3)
Grasping the Logic	154	(3)
Chapter 17: A Dependency Chart	157	(18)
Changing Perspective	162	(5)
A Float	167	(3)
The Critical Path	170	(1)
When is a Task a Task?	171	(1)
As Complicated as it Needs to Be	172	(3)
Chapter 18: Finding and Fixing Mistakes	175	(10)
Delivering What's Wanted	178	(2)
Rearranging the Information	180	(2)
Signing Off the Execution Plan	182	(3)
PART FIVE: Execution	185	(30)
Chapter 19: Altering Plans	187	(10)
Scope, Schedule, Costs, and Quality	192	(3)
Crashing	195	(2)
Chapter 20: On a Crash Course	197	(10)
The New Schedule, the New Budget	198	(3)
A Contractor with an Opinion	201	(3)
Who Gets Rewarded?	204	(3)
Chapter 21: A New Assignment	207	(8)
Doing this One Right	209	(2)
The Launch	211	(4)
PART SIX: The Review Process	215	(12)
Chapter 22: Assessing Assignments	217	(10)
Another Assignment?	222	(2)
The Team Wraps Up	224	(3)
PART SEVEN: The Project Manager's Survival Manual	227	(10)
Chapter 23: Recording the Fundamentals	229	(8)
This is a Manual?	233	(2)
The Survival Manual for Project Managers	235	(2)
PART EIGHT: New Frameworks	237	(10)
Chapter 24: Checking Assumptions	239	(8)
Defining Quality	242	(3)
Other Techniques	245	(2)
Epilogue	247