The all-inclusive guide to exceptional project management The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management is the comprehensive guide to real-world project management methods, tools, and techniques. Practical, easy-to-use, and deeply thorough, this book gives you answers you need now. You'll find the cutting-edge ideas and hard-won wisdom of one of the field's leading experts, delivered in short, lively segments that address common management issues. Brief descriptions of important concepts, tips on real-world applications, and compact case studies illustrate the most sought-after skills and the pitfalls you should watch out for. This new fifth edition features new case studies, new information on engaging stakeholders, change management, new guidance on using Agile techniques, and new content that integrates current events and trends in the project management sphere. Project management is a complex role, with seemingly conflicting demands that must be coordinated into a single, overarching, executable strategy all within certain time, resource, and budget constraints. This book shows you how to get it all together and get it done, with expert guidance every step of the way. * Navigate complex management issues effectively * Master key concepts and real-world applications * Learn from case studies of today's leading experts * Keep your project on track, on time, and on budget From finding the right sponsor to clarifying objectives to setting a realistic schedule and budget projection, all across different departments, executive levels, or technical domains, project management incorporates a wide range of competencies. The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management shows you what you need to know, the best way to do it, and what to watch out for along the way.

PPP/PFI contracts often share a number of features: they run over a very long period of time; they are conceived without a complete understanding of how requirements may change and despite the rhetoric they tend to create a context where dispute and litigation rather than partnership are the norm. In this environment, effective auditing is essential to ensure that projects are delivering what the end-user requires. Audits are both a public sector right, and a matter of good management sense. Performance Auditing of Public Sector Property Contracts is a practical guide to performance auditing for public sector property managers with a series of guidelines for auditors of public sector property contracts. The book concentrates on Facilities Management contracts. Lori Keating explains the basis for the process; how to retain balance, independence and rigour and how to audit intangible performance measures and other tricky areas. The book follows an audit process from commencement to conclusion, and contains a discussion of factors that contribute to the success of any audit. It is essential reading for public sector auditors, PPP project managers and contractors.

This book bridges the gap between knowledge management and technology. It embraces the complete lifecycle of knowledge, information, and data from how knowledge flows through an organization to how end users want to handle it and experience it. Whether your intent is to design and implement a single technology or a complete collection of KM systems, this book provides the foundations necessary for success. It will help you understand your organization's needs and opportunities, strategize and prioritize features and functions, design with the end user in mind, and finally build a system that your users will embrace and which will realize meaningful business value for your organization. The book is the culmination of the authors' collective careers, a combined sixty years of experience doing exactly what is detailed in this book. Their guidance has been honed by their own successes and failures as well as many others they have researched in order to provide a comprehensive study on KM transformations and the technologies that help to enable them. They have successfully applied this knowledge as the founders and leaders of the world's largest dedicated knowledge management consultancy, which runs these projects for many of the world's most complex organizations. They are writing as practitioners directly to other practitioners with the intent to enable them to apply and benefit from their knowledge and experience. "Compelling reading for KM practitioners looking to ensure their technology decisions support their business and organizational objectives." - Margot Brown, Director of Knowledge Management, World Bank Group "We are two years into our KM Transformation and if I'd had this book beforehand, it would have made the journey smoother and faster! This is a great playbook for how to plan, organize, and execute a KM transformation." - Stephanie Hill, Senior Director, Global Customer Services, PayPal

Although complexity is a phenomenon that confounds and challenges program managers across industry sectors, there is little information available that identifies the set of competencies managers need to complete their program successfully and deliver the benefits desired by stakeholders. Program Management Complexity: A Competency Model fills this void. Written by two of the first professionals to obtain the Program Management Professional (PgMP (R)) certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI), this book begins with a literature review of program and project management complexity. Next, it presents a competency model, based on the authors' seven decades of collective experience in the field, which follows the framework of PMI's model for project managers. Useful for corporate and government organizations, universities, executives, PMO directors and human resources professionals who need to determine program management training needs, this unique model is divided into performance competencies and personal competencies. The performance competencies are organized according to the six domains of program management, while the eight personal competencies are based on research plus a survey of PgMPs (R) worldwide. After presenting the model, along with detailed plans and guidelines for its implementation in a real-world setting, the book presents three questionnaires designed to help organizations, existing program managers, and aspiring program managers assess their own development plans. Supplying you with the insight to recognize the elements of complexity during the defining and initiating stages, this book includes detailed guidelines to help you recruit, train, and develop program managers capable of delivering stated program benefits, services, and results. Check out a video of Ginger Levin discussing her book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6YPwEhYDlc

In "Large-Scale Scrum," Craig Larman and Bas Vodde offer the most direct, concise, actionable guide to reaping the full benefits of agile in distributed, global enterprises. Larman and Vodde have distilled their immense experience helping geographically distributed development organizations move to agile. Going beyond their previous books, they offer today's fastest, most focused guidance: "brass tacks" advice and field-proven best practices for achieving value fast, and achieving even more value as you move forward. Targeted to enterprise project participants and stakeholders, "Large-Scale Scrum" offers straight-to-the-point insights for scaling Scrum across the entire project lifecycle, from sprint planning to retrospective. Larman and Vodde help you:

• Implement proven Scrum frameworks for large-scale developments
• Scale requirements, planning, and product management
• Scale design and architecture
• Effectively manage defects and interruptions
• Integrate Scrum into multisite and offshore projects
• Choose the right adoption strategies and organizational designs

The current, second edition of this book reflects the 15 years of practical experience with the Six Sigma+Lean toolbox. It is a comprehensive collection of all the tools necessary for project work and running workshops when improving processes. All tools have been illustrated in a clear and comprehensible structure with examples and tips for applying the tools included. The chronology corresponds to the procedure of an improvement project comprising the steps D(efine), M(easure), A(nalyze), I(mprove) and C(ontrol). The most important innovation of this edition is the fact that it guides the user to select the appropriate tool using questions. The paradigm change from a Toolset to a Mindset has proven worthwhile in project work and ensures that corporate problems are addressed with the goal of achieving efficient solutions rather than having a large quantity of perfect tools to choose from. The efficiency factor of work in projects and workshops will therefore improve significantly. Through this paradigm change, connected with its unique structure, this book provides an effective tool not only for project and workshop leaders but also for the executives/sponsors involved who will be guided to solve the given task formulation quickly and in a sustainable way.

The issue of what defines project success (or failure) is complex and often elusive, and dependent on the perceptions of different stakeholders. In this enlightening book Emanuel Camilleri examines the key factors bearing on perceived success or failure. This book is not just about project management, it goes much deeper into the topic of project success by prescribing a project success framework. In chapters dedicated to factors such as leadership, teams, communication, information management and risk management, the author shines a light on the key behaviours in which project managers and others engage and how those behaviours predict success or failure. Practising project managers, project board members and sponsors, struggling to manage conflicting stakeholder expectations, complexity and ambiguity, will learn which factors are vital to determining successful outcomes. Finally, having highlighted the particular skills, abilities and attributes identified by the research, Dr Camilleri offers a diagnostic model for assessing an organization's preparedness for undertaking and successfully managing major projects. Project Success provides a valuable contribution to the literature on this subject, and its application delivers practical guidance that will be welcomed by project professionals at all levels.

The publication of this book "Project Knowledge Management - Systematic Lea- ing with the Project Comparison Technique" by Erwin v. Wasielewski lls me with a special joy. It is a translation of the author's German book "Projektvergleic- technik" which I edited in 2003 in the GPM Deutsche Gesellschaft fur ] Proje- management e.V. series in Germany. I have closely watched the author's work on Project ComparisonTechnique since his rst publicationin 1978, and I have always admired the analytical exactness of his investigations. Unfortunately, as I have to admit in retrospect, v. Wasielewski's ideas were too far advanced. Maybe the fact that parametric analyseswere rarely used in Germanyalso hinderedthe propagation of the method at the time. Duringthe 1970sand early1980s, there was notalk about projectcharacteristics, project benchmarking, or project evaluation. The only exception was an evaluation model presented by Bruce Baker in 1979 during the world congress in Garmisch- Partenkirchen, but this can hardlybe comparedto the approachin this book.Almost nobody re ected on evaluation of project experiences, although in the USA for several years cost data of completed projects were being used to get parametric estimation equations. A chapter "Project Close-out" did not yet exist, and even later was to be found only in advanced technical literature."

The ability of individuals to work together to facilitate the delivery of a project can be a major factor in determining its success. By misinterpreting or even missing the signs of underlying political issues a project manager will struggle to deliver projects successfully. Project Politics provides a framework for solving political concerns through the effective management of complex relationships. Nita Martin's structured approach will raise awareness and improve your ability to manage issues in the workplace. She shows that once you recognize the problems, and take politics in your stride, you can successfully manage such environments. The first part of Project Politics presents theoretical concepts of human behaviour as a basis for structuring observations and understanding why people behave the way they do. The second follows the familiar project life cycle. Each project stage is considered in turn, and numerous case studies are presented with analyses that draw upon the concepts presented in Part I. Nita Martin uses psychology, influence, behaviour and communication models, gives guidance on putting theory into practice and points out typical political situations throughout. For all management professionals who recognize the importance of politics in the workplace and wish to be armed with the tools to make a difference, Project Politics will provide the foundation.

The role of project sponsor is critical in large projects during the development of the business case, for governance and assurance and as the person who decides that the project should continue or close at any stage. Yet in many organizations the skills of the sponsor are often assumed; he or she will be a senior manager who may well have no practical project experience at all. David West explains the roles and skills that lie at the heart of effective sponsorship. The sponsor acts as a lynch-pin between the Board and the Project Manager, communicating and translating requirements downwards and resource needs, progress and constraints back upwards. An over-zealous sponsor may be tempted to assume some of the project manager's responsibilities, whilst an ineffective sponsor may be invisible, leaving the project manager uninformed by, and unrepresented to, the Board. Project Sponsorship includes exercises, examples and case histories from the real world of projects. It is an essential guide for anyone assuming the important role of managing the business case of the project and will help you ensure that the organization is 'doing the right things' as well as 'doing things right'.

The project management secrets that experts and top professionals use. Get results fast with this quick, easy guide to the fundamentals of Project Management. Includes how to: * Deliver a successful project from start to finish * Communicate effectively with people at all levels * Manage changes and control scope creep * Identify and deal with risks * Work with common project management methodologies

From the perspective of delivering successful projects, the value of a skilled project sponsor and project manager outweighs many other factors. Projects need leaders who can give them vision, identity, keep the stakeholders and the project team on board and make the difficult decisions that will enable the project to continue (or, if necessary, be terminated). These are human skills that don't necessarily feature large in the project management bodies of knowledge. Ralf MA1/4ller and Rodney Turner's Project-Oriented Leadership explains the key leadership models of managerial, intellectual and emotional leadership and shows how they can be applied within projects to lead processes, functions and people, and ensure an ethical and inclusive approach within projects and programs.

Business managers have long known the power of the Balanced Scorecard in executing corporate strategy. Implementing the Project Management Balanced Scorecard shows project managers how they too can use this framework to meet strategic objectives. It supplies valuable insight into the project management process as a whole and provides detailed explanations on how to effectively implement the balanced scorecard to measure and manage performance and projects. The book details a tactical approach for implementing the scorecard approach at the project level and investigates numerous sample scorecards, metrics, and techniques. It examines recent research on critical issues such as performance measurement and management, continuous process improvement, benchmarking, metrics selection, and people management. It also explains how to integrate these issues with the four perspectives of the balanced scorecard: customer, business processes, learning and innovation, and financial. Filled with examples and case histories, the book directly relates the scorecard concept to the major project management steps of determining scope, scheduling, estimation, risk management, procurement, and project termination. It includes a plethora of resources on the accompanying downloadable resources-including detailed instructions for developing a measurement program, a full metrics guide, a sample project plan, and a set of project management fill-in forms.

'This book distills the learning from practical experience and academic research...and represents a significant contribution to the challenges we face in transforming government and public services in an environment of ever-tighter finances' " John Suffolk, UK Government Chief Information Officer Major public sector IT-enabled business change programmes are designed to realize benefits in terms of more efficient services, services tailored to the need of citizens, and improved outcomes, but in practice such benefits often fail to materialize or we are unable to demonstrate their delivery - Transforming Government and Public Services provides proven tools, techniques and processes to reverse this trend. Stephen Jenner explores a number of key themes that are fundamental to an approach to project portfolio management built on value. He explains how to: develop a business case to achieve a desired intent rather than justify a particular solution; create project documentation that is both technically rigorous and gives users a clear understanding of where you are going; treat projects as investments rather than costs; include stage gates with teeth that are closely linked to real performance; plan for success rather than holding people to account for failure; use a single version of the truth principle so there are no arguments about different data. In a complex, confusing and often highly politicized environment, Stephen Jenner's Transforming Government and Public Services provides a clear, definitive and highly applied guide for all involved in selecting the right projects and doing them right so that they achieve the intended investment objectives.

Most construction projects are large and costly. Collaborative working involves two or more stakeholders sharing their efforts and resources to complete the project more effectively and efficiently.

Collaborative, integrative and multi-disciplinary teams can tackle the complex issues involved in creating a viable built environment. This tends to be looked at from three interrelated perspectives: the technological, organizational, and social; and of these the key issue is to improve productivity and enable innovation through the empowerment and motivation of people.

This book provides insights for researchers and practitioners in the building and construction industry as well as graduate students, written by an international group of leading scholars and professionals into the potential use, development and limitations of current collaborative technologies and practices. Material is grouped into the themes of advanced technologies for collaborative working, virtual prototyping in design and construction, building information modelling, managing the collaborative processes, and human issues in collaborative working.

Managers are faced with complex tasks all the time. Completing these tasks may require setting up and running a project or on other occasions it may need a short, structured action plan. A huge amount of approaches exist, in thousands of books, to help managers complete tasks. Occasionally, a manager has the time to go off and read a text on a topic like how to manage a project, but often they have an immediate requirement to do something now. There isn't time to plough through a project management book. Usually, all that is needed is a simple list of steps, a checklist that the manager can read to kick start them into action. The core contents of this book will follow a standard project management process - starting in initial concept identification, and going through to complete implementation. At each stage there are tasks and problems that face project managers, and for each identified task or problem there will be a checklist. Unlike normal project management texts, which are written to be read end-to-end, this book is designed to act as an everyday reference source that will be picked up and used every time the question "how do I ....." comes into the readers mind. The book will sit on a manager's desk at work and be referenced regularly. It will become as much an important supporting tool as a book to read.

While the project management body of knowledge is embraced by disciplines ranging from manufacturing and business to social services and healthcare, the application of efficient project management is of particularly high value in science, technology, and engineering undertakings. STEP Project Management: Guide for Science, Technology, and Engineering Projects presents an integrated, step-by-step approach to managing projects in these complex areas, using the time-tested concepts, tools, and techniques of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK (R)). STEP is an acronym for Science, Technology, and Engineering Projects, and also serves as a mnemonic reference to the step-by-step approach of the book. This volume takes an approach that combines managerial, organizational, and quantitative techniques into a logical sequence of project implementation steps. The book begins by exploring the special methodology imperative for managing these types of sophisticated projects. It then delineates the major steps involved in project integration. The author discusses the management of scope, time, cost, quality, human resources, communications, risk, and procurement. Then, using a compelling case study that profiles the errors leading to the 1986 Challenger disaster, the book examines how flaws in decision-making, failure to consider all factors, lack of communication, and inappropriate priorities can lead to catastrophe. In today's fast-changing IT-based, competitive global market, success can be even more elusive and hard won. Effective project management in all facets of operations can give an enterprise the advantage it seeks. In this book, the author's direct writing style, designed to appeal to busy professionals, conveys the complex concepts of high-stakes project management in a simple, efficient manner. He provides a general framework that shows what needs to be done to manage complex projects, using steps that are flexible, expandable, and modifiable.

This new edition of Risk Management: Concepts and Guidance supplies a look at risk in light of current information, yet remains grounded in the history of risk practice. Taking a holistic approach, it examines risk as a blend of environmental, programmatic, and situational concerns. Supplying comprehensive coverage of risk management tools, practices, and protocols, the book presents powerful techniques that can enhance organizational risk identification, assessment, and management-all within the project and program environments. Updated to reflect the Project Management Institute's A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK (R) Guide), Fifth Edition, this edition is an ideal resource for those seeking Project Management Professional and Risk Management Professional certification. Emphasizing greater clarity on risk practice, this edition maintains a focus on the ability to apply "planned clairvoyance" to peer into the future. The book begins by analyzing the various systems that can be used to apply risk management. It provides a fundamental introduction to the basics associated with particular techniques, clarifying the essential concepts of risk and how they apply in projects. The second part of the book presents the specific techniques necessary to successfully implement the systems described in Part I. The text addresses project risk management from the project manager's perspective. It adopts PMI's perspective that risk is both a threat and an opportunity, and it acknowledges that any effective risk management practice must look at the potential positive events that may befall a project, as well as the negatives.Providing coverage of the concepts that many project management texts ignore, such as the risk response matrix and risk models, the book includes appendices filled with additional reference materials and supporting details that simplifying some of the most complex aspects of risk management.

There are many books on project management and many on embedded systems, but few address the project management of embedded products from concept to production. Project Management of Complex and Embedded Systems: Ensuring Product Integrity and Program Quality uses proven Project Management methods and elements of IEEE embedded software development techniques, to explain how to deliver a reliable complex system to market. This volume begins with a general discussion of project management, followed by an examination of the various tools used before a project is underway. The book then delves into the specific project stages: concept, product development, process development, validation of the product and process, and release to production. Finally, post-project stages are explored, including failure reporting, analysis, corrective actions, and product support. The book draws heavily on information from Department of Defense sources as well as systems developed by the Automotive Industry Action Group, General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford to standardize the approach to designing and developing new products. These automotive development and production ideas have universal value, particularly the concept of process and design controls. The authors use these systems to explain project management techniques that can assist developers of any embedded system. The methods explored can be adapted toward mechanical development projects as well. The text includes numerous war stories offering concrete solutions to problems that might occur in production. Tables and illustrative figures are provided to further clarify the material. Organized sequentially to follow the normal life cycle of a project, this book helps project managers identify challenges before they become problems and resolve those issues that cannot be avoided.

This book builds on the authors' previous title Understanding and Managing Risk Attitude but this time looks exclusively at the challenges of understanding and managing those attitudes adopted by groups of people when faced with making decisions that they perceive as risky and important. The book makes the link between risk management and decision-making explicit, building on existing work from the economic and risk psychology schools but taking a pragmatic, practitioner-focused approach that is relevant to all decision-making groups in any situation. The insights in Managing Group Risk Attitude are derived from the authors' own applied research. Details of the research methods and findings are included in the book in support of a practical model and steps to manage risk attitude using applied emotional literacy. Ruth Murray-Webster and David Hillson have written a practical book for all decision-makers, supported by actual research by practitioners and underpinned by the seminal research of leading academics.

Examining the experiences of Africans setting up businesses back home, the main focus of this book is to establish the economic, social and psychological reasons for such 'home direct investment'. Despite the personal sacrifices that are often needed in order to set up new ventures, the diaspora invests relentless effort and motivations in the pursuit of home ventures. The authors explore critical areas such as the social and psychological pressures that African Diasporas experience when investing in their home countries, as well as the management of diaspora businesses and the impact of such investment to local economies.

Executives should not necessarily know the intricacies of project management, but they should know how project management, as a discipline, can benefit the organization in implementing its strategies and realizing its vision. The only way that executives can effectively apply project management to realize these goals is to have sound knowledge of the project management discipline. The purpose of this book is to provide executives with a comprehensive overview of the discipline of project management. It focuses on the benefits of project management to an organization. The goal is to provide executives with a view as to how project management can deliver organizational strategies. The various chapters focus on specific aspects within the project management discipline and how each aspect should be managed from a business perspective. The book covers the entire spectrum of project management from a management and leadership perspective. The focus is not necessarily on what needs to be done from a project management perspective, but on what organizations and senior executives can do to facilitate projects. The book covers: The value of project management Project management as a strategic enabler Project, program, and portfolio management The role of the project management office in the successful delivery of projects, programs, and portfolios The benefits of project deliverables bring Sustainability of the organization Governance and the role of the project sponsor. The book concludes with a comprehensive portfolio, program, and project management framework. This holistic framework enables organizations to achieve value from project management and realize strategic goals.

We are all faced with projects going off the rails, veering far from what we initially set out to do, costing ten times as much and taking far too long to complete - this is just part of everyday working life. Honing our general skills in project management seems like the obvious answer, but Fast Projects promises a quicker and easier solution - cutting the time to get projects done in the first place. Learning to operate within a short schedule not only cuts costs and improves revenue and cash flow, but it also sets you aside as a sharper and slicker operation. How to build, shorten and execute a realistic plan in the shortest time possible is covered in detail along with a specific focus on ensuring you have clearly defined goals and are making accurate project predictions with a successful tracking progress. Using worked examples and tried and tested techniques, Fast Projects is your practical guide to ensuring projects not only succeed, but are delivered early. If you want to get the most out of your team and take control of your workload, resources and time, this book is for you.

Contemporary organisations proliferate with projects. Managing projects, working with project managers and delivering project excellence have become fundamental skills in the world of business, resulting in an array of approaches, tools and techniques that can bewilder. This shortform text homes in on the absolute essential elements of the field. With practical insights throughout, the book provides readers with a concise understanding of key concepts, techniques and outcomes such as ownership, execution, success, quality, budgets and risks. Features include essential summaries and expert guides to further reading. Authored by an experienced project and change management practitioner, consultant and educator, this unique resource will be essential reading for students of project management looking to excel in employment.