Project Management JumpStart

Prepare for a Project Management Career-Fast!Project Management JumpStart gives you the solid grounding you need to approach a career in project management with confidence. The basic skills of a successful project manager Creating project schedules and determining project budgets Winning the support of department managers Monitoring project progress, resources, and budgets Communication and negotiation skills Tips for motivating people who don't work for you Effective documentation skills for essential project management documents

Kim Heldman, PMP, has over ten years of project management experience, with a recent emphasis on IT. She is the Applications Development Manager for the Department of Revenue, State of Colorado, and is a 2001 PMI Colorado state chapter delegate.

Introduction

xiii

Building the Foundation

1

(30)

The Project Management Journey

2

(11)

Is It a Project?

2

(2)

Where Are We Going?

4

(1)

A Bird's-Eye View

4

(3)

Know the Structure of Your Organization

7

(6)

Benefiting from Project Management Practices

13

(9)

Tools of the Trade

15

(3)

Understanding Project Life Cycles

18

(4)

Twenty-first Century Project Management

22

(4)

What's Old Is New Again

22

(1)

Constraints

23

(3)

Where Do We Go from Here?

26

(5)

Becoming PMP Certified

27

(1)

Certifying with CompTIA's IT Project+

28

(1)

Formal Education Programs

29

(2)

Developing Project Management Skills

31

(24)

A Little Bit of Everything

32

(9)

Communication Is the Key

33

(1)

Organizing Techniques

33

(6)

General Management Skills

39

(2)

People Management Skills

41

(1)

Communicating Your Style

41

(14)

Exchanging Information

43

(5)

Active Listening

48

(1)

How Many Connections Are There?

49

(2)

Ten Tips for Communicating Effectively

51

(4)

Initiating the Project

55

(28)

Selecting Projects for Success

56

(17)

How Projects Come About

56

(3)

Project Requests

59

(2)

Selecting and Prioritizing Projects

61

(6)

Feasibility Study

67

(2)

Meeting the Stakeholders

69

(1)

Working with the Project Sponsor

69

(1)

Documenting Stakeholder Roles and Responsibilities

70

(2)

Competing Needs of Stakeholders

72

(1)

Creating the Project Charter

73

(5)

Purposes for the Charter

73

(2)

Essential Elements of a Project Charter

75

(3)

Holding the Project Kickoff Meeting

78

(5)

Creating the Agenda

79

(4)

Defining the Project Goals

83

(22)

Agreeing on the Deliverables

84

(5)

Goals and Objectives

84

(3)

Deliverables

87

(2)

Discovering Requirements

89

(5)

Requirements-Gathering Process

89

(3)

Critical Success Factors

92

(2)

Identifying Assumptions and Constraints

94

(3)

Defining Assumptions

94

(2)

Defining Constraints

96

(1)

Creating the Scope Statement

97

(5)

Contents of the Scope Statement

98

(3)

Obtaining Sign-Off

101

(1)

Creating the Scope Management Plan

102

(1)

Creating the Communications Plan

102

(3)

Breaking Down the Project Activities

105

(20)

Defining Tasks and Activities

106

(2)

Managing the Work

106

(2)

Task Sequencing

108

(1)

Determining Milestones

108

(2)

Constructing the Work Breakdown Structure

110

(6)

Organizing the WBS Levels

110

(2)

Work Packages

112

(2)

Identification Codes

114

(1)

Outline View

114

(2)

Constructing the Responsibility Assignment Matrix

116

(1)

Estimating Activity Durations

117

(1)

Expert Judgment

117

(1)

Quantitatively Based Durations

117

(1)

Establishing Dependencies

118

(1)

Constructing a Network Diagram

119

(6)

Precedence Diagramming

120

(1)

Activity on Node

121

(1)

Arrow Diagramming Method--Activity on Arrow

122

(3)

Planning and Acquiring Resources

125

(20)

Planning the Project Team

126

(7)

Skills Assessment

127

(1)

Deciding Who's Needed

128

(2)

Negotiating for Team Members

130

(1)

Staffing Assignments

131

(2)

Acquiring Materials, Supplies, and Equipment

133

(4)

Questions to Ask

133

(2)

Make or Buy

135

(1)

Procurement Plan

136

(1)

Resource Plan

136

(1)

Contracting for Resources

137

(8)

Request for Proposal and More

138

(1)

Soliciting Bids

139

(1)

Choosing a Supplier

140

(2)

Awarding the Contract

142

(3)

Assessing Risk

145

(26)

Identifying Risks

146

(12)

Types of Project Risks

147

(1)

Common Project Risks--Where Are They Hiding?

148

(5)

Identification Techniques

153

(5)

Risk Analysis Techniques

158

(4)

Risk Probability and Impact

159

(3)

Risk Tolerance

162

(1)

Planning for Risks

162

(1)

Responding to Risks

163

(2)

Accepting

164

(1)

Avoiding

164

(1)

Transferring

164

(1)

Mitigating

165

(1)

Contigency Planning

165

(2)

Residual and Secondary Risks

166

(1)

Risk Management Plan

167

(4)

Developing the Project Plan

171

(22)

Creating the Project Schedule

172

(15)

Project Schedule Components

172

(1)

Program Evaluation and Review Technique

173

(4)

Calculating the Critical Path

177

(3)

Working with the Project Schedule

180

(5)

Schedule Display Options

185

(2)

Quality Management Plan

187

(6)

Documenting the Plan

188

(2)

Cost of Quality

190

(3)

Budgeting 101

193

(22)

What Makes Up a Budget?

194

(6)

Project Costs

194

(1)

Direct Costs versus Indirect Costs

195

(1)

Gather the Docs

196

(1)

Budgeting Process

196

(1)

Budget Items

197

(1)

Budget Woes

198

(1)

Following the Processes

199

(1)

Estimating Techniques

200

(2)

Top-Down Estimating

200

(1)

Bottom-Up Estimating

200

(1)

Computerized Tools

201

(1)

Ask the Experts

201

(1)

Ask the Vendors

201

(1)

Estimating Costs and Finalizing the Budget

202

(6)

Questions to Ask

203

(1)

Finalizing the Budget

204

(2)

Down Memory Lane

206

(1)

Are You in Control?

206

(1)

What's the Cost?

207

(1)

Budget Approvals

208

(1)

Establishing a Cost Baseline

208

(1)

Call It a Plan

209

(6)

How Big Is It?

211

(1)

Obtaining Approvals

212

(3)

Executing the Project

215

(30)

Assembling the Team

216

(6)

Project Team Kickoff Meeting

217

(1)

Four Stages of Team Development

218

(2)

Effective Team Characteristics

220

(2)

Negotiation and Problem-Resolution Techniques

222

(5)

Start at the Beginning

223

(1)

The Five Approaches to Problem Resolution

224

(3)

Project Manager's Role in Team Development

227

(11)

Rewarding Experiences

227

(4)

Leadership Power

231

(1)

Gaining Trust and Respect from Team Members

232

(3)

Professional Responsibility

235

(3)

Progress Reporting

238

(3)

Who Gets What?

238

(1)

Status Reports and Action Logs

238

(3)

Taking Corrective Action

241

(4)

Controlling the Project Outcome

245

(22)

Change Happens

246

(2)

How Changes Come About

246

(2)

Establishing Change Management Control Procedures

248

(5)

Forming a Change Management Plan

249

(1)

Establishing a Change Control Board

250

(1)

Tracking Changes

251

(2)

Assessing the Impacts of Change

253

(5)

Calling in Reinforcements

253

(1)

Adjusting for Scope and Schedule Changes

254

(3)

Managing and Revising Costs

257

(1)

Measuring and Controlling Project Processes

258

(3)

Performance-Reporting Tools

258

(3)

Risk Monitoring

261

(1)

Is the Project in Trouble?

261

(6)

Just Say No

262

(1)

Early Warning Signs

262

(5)

Closing the Books

267

(18)

Happy Endings

268

(6)

Details, Details

268

(6)

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

274

(3)

Training and Warranty Period

275

(1)

Implementing the Project

276

(1)

Documenting Lessons Learned

277

(2)

Obtaining Project Sign-off

279

(1)

Is the Customer Happy?

280

(2)

Archiving Project Documents

282

(1)

It's Party Time!

282

(3)

Appendix A Answers to Review Questions

285

(12)

Chapter 1

286

(1)

Chapter 2

286

(1)

Chapter 3

287

(1)

Chapter 4

288

(1)

Chapter 5

289

(1)

Chapter 6

290

(1)

Chapter 7

291

(1)

Chapter 8

292

(1)

Chapter 9

293

(1)

Chapter 10

294

(1)

Chapter 11

295

(1)

Chapter 12

296

(1)

Appendix B Sample Project Management Forms

297

(14)

Appendix C Sample Project Management Checklists

311

(10)

Glossary

321

(6)

Index

327

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Project Management JumpStart

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials