Books about project management are plentiful. The best of those books are too comprehensive for the person faced for the first time with managing a small and relatively straightforward project, or for the student studying for a degree or business qualification in which project management is only one of several modules. But, at the other extreme too many of the simpler books treat project management lightly, gloss over or ignore some essential processes, and even get the facts wrong and give incorrect examples. Naked Project Management is an introductory guide to the world of project management from one of the world's most accomplished project management authors. Lock has stripped project management down to its bare facts - simplifying everything but trivializing nothing - leaving sound practical advice on how to organize and manage a small or medium sized project. The book is written in the direct jargon-free style that has become Dennis Lock's hallmark. Everything is carefully explained and supported with clear diagrams. It covers all the essential aspect of project management in astonishingly few words and provides further instruction with an entertaining case study project that flows logically through the chapters from beginning to end. Degree and other students for whom project management is an elective or small part of their course will love this compact time-saving and reasonably priced study resource.

The Net Present Value (NPV) forecast lies at the heart of the business case on many projects. Martin Hopkinson's guide explains when, why and how NPV models should be built for projects and how this approach can be integrated with the risk management process. NPV models tend to be used during the earliest phases of a project as the business case is being developed. Typically, these are the stages when uncertainty is at its highest and when the opportunities to influence the project's plan are at their greatest. This book shows how project financial forecasting and risk management principles can be used to both improve NPV forecasts and to shape the project solution into one that is risk-robust. The text is sufficiently broad to be practicable for first-time users to employ the methods described. But it also contains insights into the process that are likely to be new to the majority of experienced practitioners. All users should find that the models used in this book will help to provide useful templates for exploiting the techniques that are used.

In recent years organizations of all kinds have learned that project working, once considered significant only for engineering and construction companies, can help to ensure that the intended benefits of business change will be realized in full and on time. This development means that more people than ever before need to understand the basic process, language and purpose of project working. That awareness is important not only for those actually engaged in project work, in all sectors of industry and commerce, but also for senior managers, project sponsors and the other stakeholders. The fourth edition of Essentials of Project Management is the junior complement to Dennis Lock's comprehensive, successful and encyclopaedic textbook, Project Management (now in its Tenth Edition). Essentials provides a concise, straightforward account of the principles and techniques of project management, designed to meet the needs of the business manager or student. Using examples and illustrations, the author introduces the key project management procedures and explains clearly how and when to use them. The Essentials of Project Management remains the ideal first text for anyone new to project working or students studying project management as part of a wider business qualification or degree.

There has been a sea-change in the focus of organizations - whether private or public - away from a traditional product- or service-centricity towards customer-centricity and projects are just as much a part of that change. Projects must deliver value; projects must involve stakeholders, and Elizabeth Harrin and Phil Peplow demonstrate convincingly that stakeholders are the ones who get to decide whatvalue actually means. Customer-Centric Project Management is a short guide explaining what customer-centricity means in terms of how you work and its importance for project performance; using tools and processes to guide customer-centric thinking will help you see the results of engagement and demonstrate how things can improve, even on difficult projects. The text provides a straightforward implementation guide to moving your own business to a customer-centric way of working, using a model called Exceed and provides some guidance for ensuring that customer-centricity is sustainable and supported in the organization. This is a practical, rigorous and well-researched text. It draws on established models and uses the example of project implementation in a healthcare environment to demonstrate the impact of this significant way of thinking about value. The authors can't guarantee that the Exceed process will radically improve project success rates, and no process can. Adopting a customer-centric mindset and using the Exceed process to measure and monitor customer satisfaction will, however, help you move towards working with happier, more engaged stakeholders.

The concept of sustainability has grown in recognition and importance. The pressure on companies to broaden their reporting and accountability from economic performance for shareholders, to sustainability performance for all stakeholders is leading to a change of mindset in consumer behaviour and corporate policies. How can we develop prosperity without compromising the life and needs of future generations? Sustainability in Project Management explores and identifies the questions surrounding the integration of the concepts of sustainability in projects and project management and provides valuable guidance and insights. Sustainability relates to multiple perspectives, economical, environmental and social, but also to responsibility and accountability and values in terms of ethics, fairness and equality. The authors will inspire project managers to be aware of these considerations, and to apply them to the role they play in projects, not just 'doing things right' but 'doing the right things right'.

If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got, and if it's not good enough, you need to do something else. As project complexity increases, so too does the need to do new things. The existing Project Management tools - examples being Earned Value Management, PRINCE2, Lifecycle Management, PMBOK- are incredibly useful; but they were designed for linear project development in a stable, understood environment. We term them 'First Order'. Second Order Project Management (PM) goes beyond, addressing the issues of a complex, unstable, uncertain environment with all its associated difficulties. Second Order PM has to address four major issues: the conspiracy of optimism, inappropriate contracting models, the application of methods and tools capable of dealing with complexity, and the need for creative, inspirational, adhocratic leadership. These problems are compounded by the need to convince executive sponsors from different disciplines to invest in the necessary process improvement - this book is designed to help alleviate the frustration that every member of the profession has experienced when trying to gain such approval. Illustrated by interviews with an international group of very senior managers responsible for managing highly complex projects, Michael Cavanagh explains why there is nothing magical, or even complicated, about Second Order PM. The techniques discussed include aspects of System Thinking, Experiential Learning and its application, Ethics and Governance, Stakeholder Relationships, Appropriate Contracting Models, Outcome-driven Management and Leadership Behaviour, all recognised as increasingly necessary in direct proportion to the complexity of the project at hand.

All project stakeholders have different needs, objectives, responsibilities and priorities. For many project managers it is disturbing to realise that, for any number of personal or professional reasons, some of their stakeholders may not be as co-operative and helpful as they expect. It could be a negative and powerful sponsor (the 'Anti-sponsor'), a demotivated team, low-maturity or unrealistic external clients, maliciously compliant gatekeepers and finance teams, or uninterested internal customers. The reality of project management is that stakeholders can be difficult! Jake Holloway, Professor David Bryde and Roger Joby bring their years of project management experience and combine it with research and insight from social psychology to delve into how and why project stakeholders can be difficult. The book describes some of the common stakeholder types - such as Sponsors, the Team, Gatekeepers, Clients and Contractors - and associated unhelpful or difficult behaviour profiles that you will often come across on projects. It then provides practical ideas, techniques and methods that will help the project manager to effectively manage the impact of these stakeholders on the project. As projects get larger and more complicated, the role and influence of stakeholders grows too. A Practical Guide to Dealing with Difficult Stakeholders will provide your project teams with the basis for a more sophisticated and resilient approach to stakeholder management.

This fast-paced business novel does for project management what The Goal and It's Not Luck have done for production and marketing. Goldratt's novels have traditionally slain sacred cows and delivered new ways of looking at processes which seem like common sense once you read them. Critical Chain is no exception. In perhaps Eli's most readable book yet, two of the established principles of project management, the engineering estimate and project milestones, are found wanting and dismissed, and other established principles are up for scrutiny - as Goldratt once more applies his Theory of Constraints. The approach is radical, yet clear, understandable and logical. New techniques are introduced, and Project Buffers, Feeding Buffers, Limit Multitasking, Improved Communications and Correct Measurements make them work. Goldratt even handles the complicated statistics of dispersed variability versus accumulated variability so deftly you won't even be aware of learning about them - they ll just seem like more common sense! Critical Chain is critical reading for anyone who deals with projects. If you use block diagrams, drawings or charts to keep track of your activities, you are managing a project - and this book is for you.

Enterprise-Scale Agile Software Development is the collective sum of knowledge accumulated during the full-scale transition of a 1400-person organization to agile development-considered the largest implementation of agile development and Scrum ever attempted anywhere in the world. Now James Schiel, a certified Scrum trainer and member of the Scrum Alliance, draws from his experience at the helm of that global four-year project to guide you and your organization through the transition. He lends his insight on how you can use Scrum as an organizational framework and implement XP practices to define how software is written and tested. He provides key information and tools to assess potential outcomes and then make the best corresponding choices in any given situation. Schiel sequences chapters to match typical developmental progression, and in addition to practical guidance, he provides a tool kit from which you can take ideas and select what works for you. Covering quality development practices based on ISO 9001, which help you create consistently high-quality software in a cost-efficient manner, this invaluable resource shows you how to- Improve project management practices and product quality assurance Adopt new management methods and requirements Involve your current customers in development, while inviting new ones Much more than a mere "body of knowledge," this volume goes beyond standardizing agile and Scrum practices. It breaks up the process into manageable tasks, illustrating how to set the stage for the change, plan it, and then initiate it. Using the methods and information presented, any organization should be able to achieve a nearly seamless transition to agile.

As the world becomes increasingly globalized, today's companies expect to hire engineers who are effective in a global business environment. Although you can find many books covering globalization, most of them are aimed at business, management, or social sciences. Developed with engineers in mind, Global Engineering: Design, Decision Making, and Communication covers the theory, models, and decision making tools for incorporating globalization into engineering work. Written by a multidisciplinary team of experts in industrial, mechanical, and manufacturing engineering and organizational communications, this book is a primer on how to improve designs, make better decisions, and communicate more effectively in an international working environment. The contents of the book reflect the authors' multidisciplinary perspective and their experience in working on projects around the world. The book presents globalization as a phenomenon affecting the way companies operate and their engineering functions. It uses a case study format based on system improvement projects and real industrial projects, ranging from design to supply chain and logistics problems. This case study format allows for a natural presentation of critical technical and non-technical concepts and their complex interactions. The challenge that engineers face in a global environment results from the need to be aware of interdependencies and to be able to determine which ones are most important in each situation. Unique in its focus on engineering, this book provides a framework for how to better design, make decisions, and communicate in the new era of global competition.

Written by Chitram Lutchman, a project management professional with more than 20 years of field and business experience, Project Execution: A Practical Approach to Industrial and Commercial Project Management gives you a more optimistic view of this exciting and challenging area. The book focuses on the essential requirements for successful execution of commercial and industrial projects. It differs from other project management books by focusing exclusively on the Execution Stage of the project, leveraging this opportunity for value maximization for the organization. Lutchman identifies people, process, and systems readiness as key components of an overall Milestone Readiness Process. When managed properly, this readiness approach to project management greatly increases the ability of project leaders to deliver on budget and on schedule. The author highlights practical measures and tools that can be used by Project Leaders to promote smooth and controlled execution of a project, rewarding all stakeholders through a collective value maximization effort. He also pinpoints safety as a priority, strong leadership behaviors and stakeholder relations and management as key requirements for success. Lutchman draws on his in-the-trenches know-how and frontline experiences to provide practical recommendations for project execution requirements that, while intuitive, are very likely to be forgotten given the many competing priorities of project leaders. Whether you are a seasoned professional with years of experience or a novice just getting your feet wet, this book enhances your preparedness, skills, and capabilities in project execution or project support roles. This easy-to-follow road map is well equipped with practical tools, ideas, and concepts that enhances your ability to keep projects on budget and on schedule.

This book is written for all managers, in any function, who are tasked with delivering projects at work. It is of particular interest to those managers who have to deal with small- to medium-sized projects in addition to their usual responsibilities. Straightforward and user friendly, this book takes the reader through a series of steps which results in the effective delivery of a project. Managing Projects at Work breaks down into two stages. By the end of stage one the reader will know how to build a 'Defensible Plan' for successful project implementation. This process, which follows a step-by-step sequence, draws out in a unique way all the resources and support needed for an effective project delivery. The outcome is a confident project manager who can justify and secure what is needed for the stress-free implementation of the project. Stage two deals with implementing the 'Defensible Plan' under proper control, through motivated and well-led people. Gordon Webster's approach suits projects as diverse as introducing new systems or procedures, launching a new product, opening a new branch, factory or department; even organizing a conference or moving offices. Its practical methodology has been developed as a result of working over many years with managers whose projects had gone off track, usually for the same reasons. From these observations the unique and entirely effective 'Defensible Plan' and its implementation were born. By adopting this approach readers can build in success from the beginning and see consistent project delivery, along with control of their working life.

This book provides a clear, easy to digest overview of Quality Management Systems (QMS). Critically, it offers the reader an explanation of the International Standards Organization's (ISO) requirement that in future all new and existing Management Systems Standards will need to have the same high-level structure, commonly referred to as Annex SL, with identical core text, as well as common terms and definitions. In addition to explaining what Annex SL entails, this book provides the reader with a guide to the principles, requirements and interoperability of Quality Management System standards, how to complete internal and external management reviews, third-party audits and evaluations, as well as how to become an ISO Certified Organisation once your QMS is fully established. As a simple and straightforward explanation of QMS Standards and their current requirements, this is a perfect guide for practitioners who need a comprehensive overview to put theory into practice, as well as for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying quality management as part of broader Operations and Management courses.

The Essentials of Managing Risk for Projects and Programmes is an indispensable, practical guide to the steps that lead to success in managing risk. Risk management is particularly important for projects and programmes, since they all carry varying degrees of risk. The combination of uniqueness, constraints, assumptions, stakeholder expectations, changing environment, and human behaviour all conspire to make projects and programmes risky ventures. Rather than presenting new theories or techniques or tools, John Bartlett offers down-to-earth guidelines and proven methods to respond to risk appropriately. Pick up and use this concise, intensely practical guide to develop a shared understanding, shared language and shared purpose across project managers, programme managers, sponsors, risk managers, project and programme board members and associated stakeholders in all your projects and programmes.

Selling and delivering a project to a satisfied client, and making a profit, is a complex task. Project manager and author Robin Hornby believes this has been neglected by current standards and is poorly understood by professionals in the field. Commercial Project Management aims to rectify this deficiency. As a unique 'how-to' guide for project and business managers, it offers practical guidance, and a wealth of explanatory illustrations, useful techniques, proven checklists, real life examples, and case stories. It will give project managers a needed confidence boost and a head start in their demanding role as they go 'on contract'. At the heart of Robin's approach is a vendor sales and delivery lifecycle that provides a framework for business control of projects. Unique elements include the integration of buyer and vendor project lifecycles, the recasting of project management as a cyclic set of functions to lead the work of the project, and the elevation of risk assessment from a project toolkit to a fundamental control process. Beyond project management, the book proposes a comprehensive template for the firm whose business is delivering projects. This is a how-to book for project and business managers working in a commercial environment looking for practical guidance on conducting their projects and organizing their firm.

This book provides techniques for offshore center managers and head office managers to motivate and manage globally distributed teams, which are spread across the offshore center and the head office, and thereby achieve higher productivity. Readers learn how to integrate the offshore center with the head office to make the offshore team an extension of the head office. While integrating teams with the head office, offshore center managers can still retain independence and authority to meet team aspirations. The book provides insight into devising new organizational structures to balance the authority and responsibilities of offshore center and head office managers. Head office managers responsible for managing globally distributed projects learn how to achieve a higher success rate on their projects and be better rewarded for their efforts in offshoring. Head office managers also learn techniques to make more significant contributions in their expatriate assignments to the offshore center. This book guides both the offshore center managers and the head office managers to fully realize the potential of the offshore center, which can result in higher revenues and profitability.

The field of project management has developed over the past 40 years; however, the recent increase in computer power has greatly accelerated its theoretical and computational developments. Advanced Models for Project Management is an expository treatment of the recent developments in project modeling. These advances and their treatment in the book are as follows: Chapters 2 and 3 broaden the concept of precedence and the description of activities to produce a wide range of realistic representation of projects. Chapters 4 and 5 explore the stochastic study of project features through several analytical and numerical models - using simulation and risk analysis - which provide experimental and forecasting analyses. Chapter 6 examines the allocation of resources in complex situations and restrictions, and also studies the financial aspects of projects and optimization of financial elements. Chapter 7 assesses and evaluates projects within the framework of multi-criteria decision theory. Chapter 8 concludes with an analysis of new models based on synthetic indicators, helping the operations manager select the most convenient solutions. Hence, the book provides a number of original advances, including: an assessment of the complexity and hardness of a project network; a description of the network's morphology; a new approach to simulate project networks; development of models based on continuous variables to optimize project schedules; and the development of a three-dimension model (MACMODEL) to assess and to evaluate projects and a new synthetic indicator to support the process of scheduling. Finally, several software products are presented that help the project manager to use new tools suchas RISKNET and MACMODEL.

Leading Extreme Projects explores the challenges, obstacles and techniques associated with running large projects in some of the most challenging environments and economies in the world. From an oil and gas program in the Amazon with a background of drug trafficking, delicate indigenous communities and some of the most challenging logistics; to a mining project in West Africa involving a consortium of state and private contractors plus a global supply chain. From a shipping efficiency project involving two joint venture programs with stakeholders from the European, North and South American and Asian continents; to a hostile gold project stakeholder management process in Central America involving substantial cultural differences between the north and the south. The authors' insights and advice will help the reader understand the global context of leadership in these extreme projects as well as the nature of the structures and teams required to create, design, operate and transfer global capital programs. In particular, they provide perspectives on the issues of leading cross-cultural teams, working amongst sensitive indigenous people and transferring knowledge to build local capacity. This is an important reference text for senior executives involved in both the strategy and the delivery side of extreme projects, as well as for those researching and studying the field.

This indispensable handbook details the practical steps that can lead to success in programme management. Accelerating change has demanded that companies and organisations use programme management methods and techniques to effect it. John Bartlett provides the benefit of his deep involvement in managing large-scale change, where his advice and guidance have proved successful for both the private and public sectors of commerce and industry. The book is compatible with several existing frameworks, not least the UK government's Managing Successful Programmes approach. It is arranged without cumbersome theory but presents just the essentials needed for good practice. The Essentials of Managing Programmes is recommended reading in many universities and the Association for Project Management. Pick up and use this concise, intensely practical guide to develop a shared understanding, shared language and shared purpose in all your programmes; across project managers, sponsors, programme board members and all those involved in or affected by organizational transformation.

Going where no book on software measurement and metrics has previously gone, this critique thoroughly examines a number of bad measurement practices, hazardous metrics, and huge gaps and omissions in the software literature that neglect important topics in measurement. The book covers the major gaps and omissions that need to be filled if data about software development is to be useful for comparisons or estimating future projects. Among the more serious gaps are leaks in reporting about software development efforts that, if not corrected, can distort data and make benchmarks almost useless and possibly even harmful. One of the most common leaks is that of unpaid overtime. Software is a very labor-intensive occupation, and many practitioners work very long hours. However, few companies actually record unpaid overtime. This means that software effort is underreported by around 15%, which is too large a value to ignore. Other sources of leaks include the work of part-time specialists who come and go as needed. There are dozens of these specialists, and their combined effort can top 45% of total software effort on large projects. The book helps software project managers and developers uncover errors in measurements so they can develop meaningful benchmarks to estimate software development efforts. It examines variations in a number of areas that include: Programming languages Development methodology Software reuse Functional and nonfunctional requirements Industry type Team size and experience Filled with tables and charts, this book is a starting point for making measurements that reflect current software development practices and realities to arrive at meaningful benchmarks to guide successful software projects.

Construction Contract Administration for Project Owners is aimed at public and private owners of real estate and construction projects. The book is intended to assist owners in their contractual dealings with their designers and their contractors. Most owners are not primarily in the business of designing and building facilities. The fact that their primary business is not design and construction places them at a disadvantage when negotiating, drafting, and administering design agreements and construction contracts because their designers and contractors use these documents every day. This book is intended to assist owners to redress this imbalance by equipping owners to draft and administer contracts so as to protect their interests. The book is aimed at owner personnel with all levels of knowledge in the business of managing projects. It can serve as a comprehensive introduction to drafting and administering design agreements and construction contracts for beginners. For intermediate level personnel, it can serve as a manual to be read to enhance the reader's skills in this area. For the sophisticated project management professional, it can serve as a resource to be consulted in connection with very specific issues as they arise on a project.

This book focuses on the activities involved in initiating, planning, implementing and completing a project successfully. As well as covering the tools and techniques of project management, it also pays attention to the soft issues involved - how to manage the people side of project management.

First Published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

"This well-organized reference presents complete and explicit instructions on exactly what to do to manage multiple small projects -- using limited resources -- in any industry. The hands-on methods -- derived from proven successes in every type of business -- specifically address the needs of the nonspecialist project manager, and are highly effective for professionals who coordinate multiple projects of any kind. "

Projects are ubiquitous to modern society, yet, concerns around successful delivery, value realisation, resilience and making change stick force a significant re-evaluation of the scope and extent of the 'normal' project discourse. The common thread for all of this is around capabilities, skills, attitudes, values and perspectives that are needed for successful delivery and the sustained realisation of interest, relationships, benefit, value and impact. The chapters collated in this volume bring together leading authorities on topics that are relevant to the management, leadership, governance and delivery of projects. Topics include people, communication, ethics, change management, value realisation, benefits, complexity, decision-making, project assurance, communication, knowledge management, big data, project requirements, business architecture, stakeholder engagement, strategy, users, systems thinking and resilience. The main aims of the collection are to reflect on the state of practice within the discipline; to propose new extensions and additions to good practice; to offer new insights and perspectives; to distil new knowledge; and to provide a way of sampling a range of the most promising ideas, perspectives and styles of writing from some of the leading thinkers and practitioners in the discipline.