Project Management for Mere Mortals The Tools, Techniques, Teaming, and Politics of Project Management

Project Management For Mere MortalsTM strips away the myths and mysteries of effective project management, giving you the skills, tools, and insights to succeed with your next project and every project after that. Long-time project manager and PMI? teacher Claudia Baca walks you through all five phases of project management: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring, and closing. Baca examines each phase from the perspectives of the working project manager and team member, highlighting the organizational issues most likely to arise and offering proven solutions. For each phase, she presents tools you can start using right now and demonstrates those tools at work in a realistic running case study. Using the clear, concise, and friendly style thats a hallmark of the For Mere MortalsTM series, Baca takes you from the absolute basics through advanced techniques, such as baselining and change control. Youll learn how to Accurately scope projects and build workable timetables Create trustworthy budgets and use them to manage your project Organize work assignments for maximum efficiency Build project teams, and keep them motivated Intelligently assess quality goals, and decide how good it has to be Identify and mitigate the real risks your project will encounter Control changes and stay on track, no matter what surprises occur Close projects successfully, and learn lessons for future projects Gain crucial skills youll need for PMI certification This book has been crafted to support professionals who are new (or almost new) to project management, as well as experienced project managers who want to handle complex projects and organizational politics more effectively. Whatever your role or assignment, its your fastest route to deep project management mastery. Contents Foreword Preface Chapter 1 Setting the Project Management Context Chapter 2 Youve Been Assigned a Project! Chapter 3 How Big Is this Project? Chapter 4 Laying Out the Work Chapter 5 The Art of Estimating Chapter 6 Quality How Good Does It Have To Be? Chapter 7 Communications What Do You Think About My Project? Chapter 8 Risk What Should You Worry About? Chapter 9 Creating the Schedule Chapter 10 Budgeting How Much? Chapter 11 The Rhythm of Project Execution Chapter 12 Keeping the Project on Track Chapter 13 Controlling Changes Chapter 14 Success! Closing the Project Appendix Answers to the Review Questions Glossary Bibliography IndexBaca, Claudia M. is the author of 'Project Management for Mere Mortals The Tools, Techniques, Teaming, and Politics of Project Management', published 2007 under ISBN 9780321423450 and ISBN 0321423453.