Project Management For Dummies

Improve your project management skills and accomplish more in no time at all

In these days when projects seem to be bigger and more challenging than ever before, you need to make sure tasks stay on track, meet the budget, and keep everyone in the loop. Enter Project Management For Dummies. This friendly guide starts with the basics of project management and walks you through the different aspects of leading a project to a successful finish. After you've navigated your way through a couple of projects, you'll have the confidence to tackle even bigger (and more important) projects!

In addition to explaining how to manage projects in a remote work environment, the book offers advice on identifying the right delivery approach, using social media in project management, and deploying agile project management. You'll also discover:
* What's new in project management tools and platforms so you can choose the best application for your team
* How to perfect your project management business document with an emphasis on strategy and business knowledge
* Details on the shift from process-based approaches to more holistic, principle-based strategies focused on project outcomes
* Examples of how to turn the strategies into smooth-flowing processes
* Best practices and suggestions for dealing with difficult or unexpected situations

If you're planning to enroll in a project management course or take the Project Management Professionals Certification exam, Project Management For Dummies is the go-to resource to help you prepare. And if you simply want to improve your outcomes, this handy reference will have you and your team completing project goals like ninjas!

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: Getting Started With Project Management 7
Chapter 1: Project Management: The Key to Achieving Results 9
Determining What Makes a Project a Project 10
Understanding the three main components that define a project 11
Recognizing the diversity of projects 12
Describing the four phases of a project life cycle 14
Adopting a Principled Approach to Project Management 16
Starting with stewardship and leadership 17
Continuing with team and stakeholders 18
Delivering value and quality 19
Handling complexity, opportunities, and threats 20
Exhibiting adaptability and resilience 22
Thinking holistically and enabling change 23
What Happened to Process Groups and Knowledge Areas? 25
Do You Have What It Takes to Be an Effective Project Manager? 26
Questions 27
Answer key 27
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 28
Chapter 2: I'm a Project Manager! Now What? 31
Knowing the Project Manager's Role 31
Looking at the project manager's tasks 32
Staving off excuses for not following a structured project management approach 32
Avoiding shortcuts 33
Staying aware of other potential challenges 35
Aligning with the Four Values that Comprise the Code of Ethics 36
The price of greatness is responsibility 36
R-e-s-p-e-c-t, find out what it means to your project 37
Maintaining fairness 37
Honesty is the best policy 38
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 39
Chapter 3: Beginning the Journey: The Genesis of a Project 41
Gathering Ideas for Projects 42
Looking at information sources for potential projects 43
Proposing a project in a business case 43
Developing the Project Charter 45
Performing a cost-benefit analysis 46
Conducting a feasibility study 48
Generating documents during the development of the project charter 49
Deciding Which Projects to Move to the Second Phase of Their Life Cycle 50
Tailoring Your Delivery Approach 51
For the organization 52
For the project 53
Identifying the Models, Methods, and Artifacts to Use 54
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 60
Chapter 4: Knowing Your Project's Stakeholders: Involving the Right People 63
Understanding Your Project's Stakeholders 64
Developing a Stakeholder Register 64
Starting your stakeholder register 65
Ensuring your stakeholder register is complete and up-to-date 70
Using a stakeholder register template 71
Determining Whether Stakeholders Are Drivers, Supporters, or Observers 73
Deciding when to involve your stakeholders 75
Using different methods to involve your stakeholders 78
Making the most of your stakeholders' involvement 78
Displaying Your Stakeholder Register 79
Confirming Your Stakeholders' Authority 80
Assessing Your Stakeholders' Power and Interest 82
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 84
Chapter 5: Clarifying What You're Trying to Accomplish - And Why 85
Defining Your Project with a Scope Statement 86
Looking at the Big Picture: Explaining the Need for Your Project 90
Figuring out why you're doing the project 90
Drawing the line: Where your project starts and stops 100
Stating your project's objectives 101
Marking Boundaries: Project Constraints 106
Working within limitations 106
Dealing with needs 109
Facing the Unknowns When Planning: Documenting Your Assumptions 109
Presenting Your Scope Statement in a Clear and Concise Document 110
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 111
Chapter 6: Developing Your Game Plan: Getting from Here to There 113
Divide and Conquer: Breaking Your Project into Manageable Chunks 114
Thinking in detail 114
Identifying necessary project work with a work breakdown structure 116
Dealing with special situations 124
Creating and Displaying Your Work Breakdown Structure 127
Considering different schemes to create your WBS hierarchy 128
Using one of two approaches to develop your WBS 129
Categorizing your project's work 130
Labeling your WBS entries 132
Displaying your WBS in different formats 133
Improving the quality of your WBS 136
Using templates 137
Identifying Risks While Detailing Your Work 138
Documenting What You Need to Know about Your Planned Project Work 140
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 141
Part 2: Planning Time: Determining When and How Much 143
Chapter 7: You Want This Project Done When? 145
Picture This: Illustrating a Work Plan with a Network Diagram 146
Defining a network diagram's elements 146
Drawing a network diagram 148
Analyzing a Network Diagram 149
Reading a network diagram 150
Interpreting a network diagram 151
Working with Your Project's Network Diagram 156
Determining precedence 156
Using a network diagram to analyze a simple example 160
Developing Your Project's Schedule 164
Taking the first steps 165
Avoiding the pitfall of backing in to your schedule 166
Meeting an established time constraint 167
Applying different strategies to arrive at your picnic in less time 167
Estimating Activity Duration 172
Determining the underlying factors 173
Considering resource characteristics 174
Improving activity duration estimates 174
Displaying Your Project's Schedule 176
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 179
Chapter 8: Establishing Whom You Need, How Much of Their Time, and When 181
Getting the Information You Need to Match People to Tasks 182
Deciding what skills and knowledge team members must have 183
Representing team members' skills, knowledge, and interests in a skills matrix 187
Estimating Needed Commitment 189
Using a human resources matrix 189
Identifying needed personnel in a human resources matrix 191
Estimating required work effort 192
Factoring productivity, efficiency, and availability into work-effort estimates 193
Reflecting efficiency when you use historical data 194
Accounting for efficiency in personal work-effort estimates 196
Ensuring Your Project Team Members Can Meet Their Resource Commitments 198
Planning your initial allocations 198
Resolving potential resource overloads 200
Coordinating assignments across multiple projects 202
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 205
Chapter 9: Planning for Other Resources and Developing the Budget 207
Determining Non-Personnel Resource Needs 208
Making Sense of the Dollars: Project Costs and Budgets 210
Looking at different types of project costs 210
Recognizing the three stages of a project budget 212
Refining your budget as your project progresses 213
Determining project costs for a detailed budget estimate 215
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 219
Chapter 10: Venturing into the Unknown: Dealing with Risk 221
Defining Risk and Risk Management 222
Focusing on Risk Factors and Risks 223
Recognizing risk factors 224
Identifying risks 226
Assessing Risks: Probability and Consequences 229
Gauging the likelihood of a risk 230
Estimating the extent of the consequences 232
Getting Everything under Control: Managing Risk 234
Choosing the risks you want to manage 235
Developing a risk management strategy 236
Communicating about risks 237
Preparing a Risk Management Plan 239
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 240
Part 3: Group Work: Putting Your Team Together 243
Chapter 11: Aligning the Key Players for Your Project 245
Defining Three Organizational Environments 246
The functional structure 246
The projectized structure 248
The matrix structure 250
Recognizing the Key Players in a Matrix Environment 253
The project manager 253
Project team members 255
Functional managers 255
The project owner 256
The project sponsor 256
Upper management 257
Working Successfully in a Matrix Environment 258
Creating and continually reinforcing a team identity 258
Getting team member commitment 259
Eliciting support from other people in the environment 259
Heading off common problems before they arise 260
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 261
Chapter 12: Defining Team Members' Roles and Responsibilities 263
Outlining the Key Roles 264
Distinguishing authority, responsibility, and accountability 264
Understanding the difference between authority and responsibility 265
Making Project Assignments 265
Delving into delegation 266
Sharing responsibility 271
Holding people accountable - even when they don't report to you 272
Picture This: Depicting Roles with a Responsibility Assignment Matrix 276
Introducing the elements of a RAM 277
Reading a RAM 278
Developing a RAM 280
Ensuring your RAM is accurate 281
Dealing with Micromanagement 284
Realizing why a person micromanages 284
Gaining a micromanager's trust 285
Working well with a micromanager 286
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 286
Chapter 13: Starting Your Project Team Off on the Right Foot 287
Finalizing Your Project's Participants 288
Are you in? Confirming your team members' participation 288
Assuring that others are on board 291
Filling in the blanks 292
Developing Your Team 293
Reviewing the approved project plan 294
Developing team and individual goals 295
Specifying team member roles 295
Defining your team's operating processes 296
Supporting the development of team member relationships 297
Resolving conflicts 297
All together now: Helping your team become a smooth-functioning unit 300
Laying the Groundwork for Controlling Your Project 303
Selecting and preparing your tracking systems 303
Establishing schedules for reports and meetings 304
Setting your project's baseline 305
Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Announcing Your Project 305
Setting the Stage for Your Project Retrospective 306
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 306
Part 4: Steering the Ship: Managing Your Project to Success 309
Chapter 14: Tracking Progress and Maintaining Control 311
Holding On to the Reins: Monitoring and Controlling 312
Establishing Project Management Information Systems 314
The clock's ticking: Monitoring schedule performance 315
All in a day's work: Monitoring work effort 322
Follow the money: Monitoring expenditures 327
Putting Your Control Process into Action 330
Heading off problems before they occur 330
Formalizing your control process 331
Identifying possible causes of delays and variances 333
Identifying possible corrective actions 334
Getting back on track: Rebaselining 334
Reacting Responsibly When Changes Are Requested 335
Responding to change requests 336
Creeping away from scope creep 337
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 338
Chapter 15: Keeping Everyone Informed 339
I Meant What I Said and I Said What I Meant: Successful Communication Basics 340
Breaking down the communication process 341
Distinguishing one-way and two-way communication 341
Can you hear me now? Listening actively 342
Choosing the Appropriate Medium for Project Communication 344
Just the facts: Written reports 345
Moving it along: Meetings that work 346
Preparing a Written Project Progress Report 350
Making a list (of names) and checking it twice 350
Knowing what's hot (and what's not) in your report 351
Earning a Pulitzer, or at least writing an interesting report 352
Holding Key Project Meetings 355
Regularly scheduled team meetings 356
Ad hoc team meetings 357
Executive leadership progress reviews 357
Preparing a Project Communications Management Plan 358
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 359
Chapter 16: Encouraging Peak Performance by Providing Effective Leadership 361
Exploring the Differences between Leadership and Management 362
Recognizing the Traits People Look for in a Leader 363
Developing Personal Power and Influence 365
Understanding why people do what you ask 365
Establishing the bases of your power 367
You Can Do It! Creating and Sustaining Team Member Motivation 368
Increasing commitment by clarifying your project's benefits 369
Encouraging persistence by demonstrating project feasibility 370
Letting people know how they're doing 371
Providing rewards for work well done 372
Leading a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Project Team 373
Diversity is an asset worthy of inclusion 374
Equity is a choice - choose it 375
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 375
Chapter 17: Bringing Your Project to Closure 377
Staying the Course to Completion 378
Planning ahead for your project's closure 379
Updating your initial closure plans when you're ready to wind down the project 380
Charging up your team for the sprint to the finish line 380
Handling Administrative Issues 381
Providing a Smooth Transition for Team Members 381
Surveying the Results: The Project Retrospective Evaluation 384
Preparing for the evaluation throughout the project 384
Setting the stage for the evaluation meeting 386
Conducting the evaluation meeting 387
Following up on the evaluation 389
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 389
Part 5: Taking Your Project Management to the Next Level 391
Chapter 18: Using Newer Methods and Resources to Enhance Your Project Management 393
Taking a Look at the Agile Approach to Project Management 394
Understanding what drives the Agile approach 394
Taking a look at the elements of Agile when implemented through Scrum 396
Comparing the Agile and traditional (Waterfall) approaches 397
Using Computer Software Effectively 398
Looking at your software options 399
Helping your software perform at its best 404
Introducing project management software into your organization 406
Using Social Media to Enhance Project Management 407
Defining social media 408
Exploring how social media can support your project planning and performance 409
Using social media to support your project communications 411
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 412
Chapter 19: Monitoring Project Performance with Earned Value Management 413
Defining Earned Value Management 414
Getting to know EVM terms and formulas 414
Looking at a simple example 418
Determining the reasons for observed variances 420
The How-To: Applying Earned Value Management to Your Project 421
Determining a Task's Earned Value 425
Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7 429
Part 6: The Part of Tens 431
Chapter 20: Ten Questions to Ask Yourself as You Plan Your Project 433
What's the Purpose of Your Project? 433
Whom Do You Need to Involve? 434
What Results Will You Produce? 434
What Constraints Must You Satisfy? 435
What Assumptions Are You Making? 435
What Work Has to Be Done? 435
When Does Each Activity Start and End? 436
Who Will Perform the Project Work? 436
What Other Resources Do You Need? 437
What Can Go Wrong? 437
Chapter 21: Ten Tips for Being a Better Project Manager 439
Be a "Why" Person 439
Be a "Can Do" Person 440
Think about the Big Picture 440
Think in Detail 440
Assume Cautiously 440
View People as Allies, Not Adversaries 441
Mean What You Say and Say What You Mean 441
Respect Other People 441
Acknowledge Good Performance 442
Be a Manager and a Leader 442
Appendix: Combining the Techniques Into Smooth-Flowing Processes 443
Index 449