There are those who make things happen, those who let things happen, and those who wonder what happened.
We hope that Successful Project Management will help you have an enjoyable, exciting, and successful experience as you grow through future project endeavors, and that it will be the catalyst for enabling you to make things happen!
Best wishes for enjoyment, satisfaction, and success in all that you do.
Jack Gido Jim Clements Rose Baker
Our Approach
Project management is more than merely parceling out work assignments to indivi- duals and hoping that they will somehow accomplish a desired result. In fact, projects that could have been successful often fail because of such take-it-for-granted approaches. Individuals need hard information and real skills to work successfully in a project environment and to accomplish project objectives. Successful Project Man- agement is written to equip its users with both by explaining concepts and techni- ques and by using numerous examples to show how they can be skillfully applied.
Although the focus of the book is squarely on the practical things readers absolutely need to know to thrive in project environments, the book does not forsake objective learning; it simply challenges readers to think critically about project management principles and to apply them within the context of the real world. We capture lessons learned from years of managing projects, teaching project management, and writing extensively about it.
Successful Project Management is intended for students as well as for working
professionals and volunteers. The book is designed to present the essential skills readers need to make effective contributions and to have an immediate impact on the accomplishment of projects in which they are involved. It prepares stu- dents with marketable and transferable skills and sends them into the workforce ready to apply project management knowledge and skills. The book also supports employer talent development and lifelong learning programs to develop and train employees to work effectively in multifunctional teams and apply project management tools and techniques to successfully accomplish project objectives.
Successful Project Management is written for everyone involved in projects,
not just project managers. Projects with good or even great project managers still may not succeed, as the best efforts of all involved are essential. All the
xi
people on the project team must have the knowledge and skills to work effec- tively together in a project environment. People do not become project managers by reading books; they become project managers by first being effective project team members. This book provides the foundation individuals need to be effec- tive members of project teams and thereby boosts everyone s potential to rise to the challenge of managing teams and projects.
The book is written in an easy-to-understand, straightforward style with a min- imum of technical terms. Readers acquire project management terminology grad- ually as they read the text. The mathematics is purposely kept simple. The text does not use complex mathematical theories or algorithms to describe scheduling techniques and does not include highly technical projects as examples. An overtly technical approach can create a barrier to learning for individuals who lack deep understanding of advanced mathematics or technical backgrounds. Separate appendixes are provided for those readers who want more in-depth coverage of probability considerations and time-cost trade-offs. Our book includes a broad range of easily understood examples based on projects encountered in everyday situations. For example, real-world applications include conducting a market sur- vey, building an information system, and organizing a community festival.
Enhancements to the Seventh Edition
Based on the excellent and supportive comments we received from our reviewers, we are pleased to incorporate the following enhancements in the sev- enth edition of Successful Project Management:
Revised the chapter concepts and contents to support the Project Manage- ment Knowledge Areas of the Project Management Institute s A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), Sixth Edition, as shown in the table on the following page.
Replaced all Real World Project Management vignettes (two in each chapter) with more up-to-date vignettes that discuss a variety of applications and industry sectors, both North American and International.
Made minor edits in the chapters to support the Project Management Knowledge Areas of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) and to provide consistency of concepts and terminology among the chapters.
Distinctive Features
Successful Project Management has many distinctive features to enhance learning and build skills.
Supports PMBOK Guide Concepts in the chapters support the project man- agement knowledge areas of the Project Management Institute s A Guide to the
Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide).
Learning Outcomes The beginning of each chapter identifies specific outcomes
the learner should be able to accomplish after studying the material.
Chapter PMBOK® Project Management Knowledge Areas
Integration Scope Schedule Cost Quality Resource Communications Risk Procurement Stakeholder
1. Project Management Concepts
2. Identifying and Selecting Projects
3. Developing Project Proposals
4. Defining Scope, Quality, Responsibility, and Activity Sequence
5. Developing the Schedule
6. Resource Utilization
7. Determining Costs, Budget, and Earned Value
8. Managing Risk
9. Closing the Project
10. The Project Manager
11. The Project Team
12. Project Communication and Documentation
Real-World Vignettes Each chapter contains two real-world vignettes that illustrate the topics in the chapter. These vignettes not only reinforce chapter concepts but also draw readers into the discussion and pique their interest in applications of project management.
Examples and Applications Specific relevant real-world examples and applica- tions are incorporated throughout this text to reinforce the concepts presented. Reinforce Your Learning Questions Brief questions appear alongside the text
to ensure that learners retain key concepts and that the fundamentals are not
ignored. These in-the-margin questions pop up throughout the text to provide positive reinforcement and to help learners to gauge their comprehension of the material.
Critical Success Factors Each chapter contains a concise list of the important factors that project managers and team members need to know to help make their projects successful.
Chapter Outlines Each chapter opens with an outline of the key topics that will be covered. These outlines clarify expectations and allow readers to see the flow of information at a glance.
Graphics and Templates Numerous exhibits and templates appear in the text to illustrate the application of important concepts and project management tools.
Chapter Summaries At the end of each chapter is a concise summary of the material presented in the chapter a final distillation of core concepts.
Review Questions and Problems Each chapter has a set of questions and pro- blems that test and apply chapter concepts, support the learning outcomes, and reinforce understanding and retention.
Case Studies End-of-chapter case studies provide critical-thinking scenarios for either individual or group analysis. Variety in case format ensures that all lear- ners can relate to the scenarios presented. The cases are fun and are intended to spark interesting debates. By fostering discussion of various viewpoints, the cases provide opportunities for participants to expand their thinking about how to operate successfully when differing views arise in the work environment. Thus students gain valuable insight into what teamwork is all about.
Case Study Animations Animated videos are provided of selected case studies. Each case study includes embedded questions at intervals during the animation for students to answer as well as discussion uestions at the end of the video.
Organization and Content
Successful Project Management comprises 12 chapters plus appendixes with an opening foundation chapter on project management concepts and the remaining 11 chapters divided into three parts:
Part 1, Initiating a Project, discusses identifying and selecting projects, and developing project proposals.
Part 2, Planning, Performing, and Controlling the Project, covers defining scope, quality, responsibility, and activity sequence; developing the schedule; resource utilization; determining costs, budget, and earned value; managing risk; and closing the project.
Part 3, People: The Key to Project Success, discusses the project manager; the project team; project communication and documentation.
Chapter 1, Project Management Concepts, is a foundation chapter that dis- cusses the definition of a project and its attributes; managing a project within the constraints of scope, quality, schedule, budget, resources, risks, and customer satisfaction; the project life cycle of initiating, planning, performing, and closing a project, as well as monitoring and controlling the project and managing changes; the definition of project management and the steps of the project man- agement process; stakeholder engagement; implications of global project manage- ment; project management associations; and the benefits of project management. The concepts in this chapter support two PMBOK Guide project management knowledge areas: project integration and stakeholder management.
Part 1, Initiating a Project, discusses identifying and selecting projects, and developing project proposals. It includes two chapters:
Chapter 2, Identifying and Selecting Projects, covers how projects are iden- tified, selected, authorized, and outsourced. The project charter is also dis- cussed. The concepts in this chapter support two PMBOK Guide project management knowledge areas: project integration and procurement management.
Chapter 3, Developing Project Proposals, deals with building effective rela- tionships with customers and partners; proposal marketing strategies; deci- sion making to go forward with a proposal; creating winning proposals; proposal preparation and contents, including simplified project proposals; pricing considerations; customer evaluation of proposals; types of contracts; and measuring success of proposal efforts. The concepts in this chapter support the PMBOK Guide project management knowledge area of project procurement management.
Part 2, Planning, Performing, and Controlling the Project, covers project man- agement techniques and tools. It includes six chapters:
Chapter 4, Defining Scope, Quality, Responsibility, and Activity Sequence, discusses clearly defining the project objective; preparing a project scope document; the importance of planning for quality; creating a work break- down structure; assigning responsibilities for work elements; and defining specific activities and creating a network diagram. The concepts in this chapter support five PMBOK Guide project management knowledge areas: project integration, scope, quality, resource, and schedule management.
Chapter 5, Developing the Schedule, deals with estimating the resources and durations for activities; developing a schedule that indicates the earliest and latest start and finish times for each activity; and determining slack and identifying the critical path of activities. It also explains the project control process, including monitoring and controlling progress; the effects of actual performance; updating the schedule; approaches to controlling the schedule; and agile project management. This chapter also includes an appendix on using probabilistic activity durations. The concepts in this chapter support three PMBOK Guide project management knowledge areas: project inte- gration, resource, and schedule management.
Chapter 6, Resource Utilization, addresses taking resource constraints into account when developing a network plan and project schedule; preparing a resource requirements plan; leveling the use of resources within the required time frame for a project; and determining the shortest project schedule when the number of available resources is limited. The concepts in this chapter support two PMBOK Guide project management knowledge areas: project resource and schedule management.
Chapter 7, Determining Costs, Budget, and Earned Value, covers estimating the costs of activities; creating a time-phased budget; cumulating actual costs; determining the earned value of work actually performed; analyzing cost per- formance; estimating project cost at completion; approaches to controlling costs; and managing cash flow. This chapter also includes an appendix on time- cost trade-off. The concepts in this chapter support two PMBOK Guide project management knowledge areas: project integration and cost management.
Chapter 8, Managing Risk, includes identifying and categorizing risks and their potential impact; assessing the likelihood of occurrence and degree of
impact; prioritizing risks; preparing risk response plans; creating a risk assessment matrix; and controlling and monitoring risks. The concepts in this chapter support the PMBOK Guide project management knowledge area of project risk management.
Chapters 4 8 include several continuing multichapter integrated examples and case studies that apply the concepts and tools discussed in the chapters. The examples and case studies are introduced in Chapter 4 and continue and build through Chapters 5, 6, 7, and 8. Chapters 4 through 7 also include appendixes on Microsoft Project that illustrate how to use and apply Micro- soft Project to one of the multichapter integrated examples.
The last chapter in Part 2 is Chapter 9, Closing the Project. It discusses what actions should be taken when closing a project; conducting a postproject evaluation; the importance of documenting and communicating lessons learned; organizing and archiving project documents; obtaining feedback from customers; and early termination of projects. The concepts in this chapter support two PMBOK Guide project management knowledge areas of project integration and procurement management.
Part 3, People: The Key to Project Success, focuses on the importance of the peo- ple involved in a project. It includes four chapters:
Chapter 10, The Project Manager, discusses the responsibilities of the project manager; the skills needed to manage projects successfully; ways to develop project manager competence; approaches to effective delegation; and how the project manager can manage and control changes to the project. The con- cepts in this chapter support three PMBOK Guide project management knowledge areas: project integration, resource, and stakeholder management.
Chapter 11, The Project Team, covers the development and growth of teams; the project kickoff meeting; effective teams including characteristics of effec- tive project teams, barriers to team effectiveness, effective team members, team building, and valuing team diversity; ethical behavior; sources of con- flict during the project and approaches to handling conflict; problem solving, including brainstorming; and effective time management. The concepts in this chapter support the PMBOK Guide project management knowledge area of project resource management.
Chapter 12, Project Communication and Documentation, addresses the importance of effective verbal and written communication, including sug- gestions for enhancing personal communication; effective listening; types of project meetings and suggestions for productive meetings; project presenta- tions and suggestions for effective presentations; project reports and sugges- tions for preparing useful reports; controlling changes to project documents; creating a project communication plan; and collaborative communication tools. The concepts in this chapter support four PMBOK Guide project management knowledge areas: project communications, integration, resource, and stakeholder management.
Appendix A provides a list of websites that are good resources for additional information, applications, tools, and research about project management. Appendix B is a list of common project management acronyms. The book also includes answers to the Reinforce Your Learning questions for each chapter.
