Yes, I have finished writing The Quickstart Guide to Project Management – it took a while, it’s 300 pages, 100,000 words, and it really does tell you everything you need to know. There are 9 ways in which it is different to all the other textbooks ever written on the subject – I will list them in a separate post soon.
Meanwhile, here are the contents:
This is the index for my book – no stone is left unturned!
1:4:1 method, 120–123
10 percent method, 119, 121
A
Abandoning of project, 248
Accountability, 295–296
Accounting, 222, 273
Accrual accounting, 222
ACP. See Agile Certified Practitioner
Actionable tasks, 70
Activities
critical path method, 94, 97, 98f
work packages versus, 262
Activity on arrow, 96
Activity on node, 94
Adamiecki, Karol, 140
ADM. See Arrow diagramming method
Agile
advantages of, 38–39
characteristics of, 40f–41f
for creative processes, 39
customer involvement, 39–40
definition of, 36
disadvantages of, 39–40
environments best suited to, 320
lack of plan with, 39
PMBOK Lite versus, 36
PMBOK versus, 35–36, 40f–41f
popularity of, 37–38
PRINCE2 versus, 35, 40f–41f
principles of, 36–38
qualifications for, 320
scrum in, 36
software development project use of, 37
success of, 38
terms for, 22f
values of, 36
waterfall, 25
Agile Certified Practitioner, 320
Agile Manifesto, 35–36
Agreements
in project brief, 57
in writing, 55–56
Andretti, Mario, 105
APM. See Association for Project Management
Approval levels
business case, 59–61
description of, 56
project brief, 57–59
project initiation document, 61–63
schematic diagram of, 57f
Approval route, 309
Arrow diagramming method, 96
Assertiveness, 53–54, 135
Association for Project Management
description of, 23, 319
history of, 25
purpose of, 24
B
Bad-news meeting, 53
Baifore, Bonnie, 320
Basecamp, 42
Behind-schedule projects, 247–248, 273
Bentley, Colin, 201
Best-case scenario, 18, 269–270
Bottlenecks, 184f, 191, 196–198
Bottom-up planning, 79–80
Brainstorm
of risk, 202
of tasks, 68–70, 74–75, 75f, 87
Breaking down tasks, 76, 78–79, 84, 133
Budget
increasing of, 132–134
overbudget projects, 221, 226f, 226–227, 249
in work package, 262
Burke, Rory, 18
Business
processes in, 16
project manager capability, 254
projects in, 16
risk planning for, 203f
Business case, 59–61, 255
Buy-in, of team, 69, 87, 150
C
CAPM. See Certified Associate in Project Management
Careers, 313–320
Cash accounting, 222
CCTA. See Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency
Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency, 29
Certified Associate in Project Management, 318–319
Change(s)
Agile and, 36
capability for, 11
challenges of, 14
documenting of, 80
Kübler-Ross Change Curve, 292–293, 293f
projects as cause of, 16, 21, 292
resistance to, 292
scope creep, 80
stakeholder approval of, 247
written agreements and, 55
Change request forms, 80, 246–247, 308–309
Churchill, Winston, 21
Cimmarrusti, Greg, 214
Clark, Wallace, 139
Coaching, 294
Collaboration, 37
Color-when-complete, 214–215
Colored-in Gantt chart, 18, 213, 216, 272–274, 284, 307
Commitments, in first kick-off meeting, 52
Communication
Gantt chart for, 141–142, 142f
methods of, 277–281
with people, 277–281
risk exposure, 205–208
software platforms for, 42
with stakeholders, 217–218
with team, 277–281
Communication meetings, 281
Communications plan, 217–218, 278, 309
Conditional formatting, 154, 154f
Contingency
1:4:1 method for, 120–123
10 percent method for, 119, 119f, 121
calculating of, 117–123
critical path addition of, 121–123, 122f, 129
description of, 108, 110
half the difference method for, 117–119, 118f
removal of, 136
speeding up plan by removal of, 136
success rates with, 124
Cost(s). See also Money
allocation of, 223
in business case, 60
Excel for monitoring, 151
forecasting of. See Cost forecasting
future, 233–234
Gantt chart addition of, 167–168, 168f
as key driver, 50, 133–134
overspending, 221
in plan, 308
time versus, 51
Cost forecasting
cost performance index, 235–236, 241
monthly monitoring form, 240–241
optimist view of, 233–234
pessimist view of, 233–234
schedule performance index, 237–241
Cost monitoring
data for, 222–223
delegation of, 286
progress monitoring and, 223–224, 273
Cost performance
description of, 224
disaster scenario, 225f, 225–226
good scenario, 230, 230f
over budget scenario, 226f, 226–227
slightly over budget scenario, 227–228, 228f
spot on scenario, 228–229, 229f
very good scenario, 231f, 231–232
Cost performance index, 235–236, 241, 244
Covey, Stephen, 48
CPI. See Cost performance index
Crash the plan
contingency in, 136. See also Contingency
critical path affected by, 131–132
definition of, 130
delegation of, 286
giving up on, 134
success in, 135–136
tasks, 130–135
time savings from, 132
Creep
project, 228
scope, 80
Critical chain project management, 22f
Critical path
benefits of using, 115–116
complexity of, 114
contingency added to, 121–123, 122f, 129. See also Contingency
crash the plan effects on, 131–132
crashing of tasks on, 130–135
creating of, 111–116
definition of, 27, 88, 111
examples of, 112f–115f
Gantt chart and, 148, 169–170, 170f
two, 116
Critical path analysis. See Critical path method
Critical path method
activities focus of, 94, 97, 98f
advantages of, 97–100, 102
author’s preference for, reasons for, 102
business project diagramming with, 95f, 95–96
dependencies in, 99, 99f
description of, 88
events added to diagrams in, 100, 101f, 102
history of, 94
overview of, 95
project evaluation review technique versus, 91–93, 94f, 97–99, 102, 102f
rectangle activity boxes in, 103, 103f
shapes used in, 102, 102f
Critical path tasks
on Gantt chart, 152, 152f, 155f, 155–156
risk identification and, 202
Critical tasks, 111–112
CRM. See Customer relationship management
Crystal Clear, 35–36
Cube, resources, 190f, 190–191
Customer(s). See also Stakeholders
in Agile, 39–40
assertiveness by, 54
changes by, 244–245
expectations of, 46–47, 136
introduction to team, 289
key drivers of, 50–53
in PMBOK, 39
project evaluation review technique preference of, 100
Customer relationship management, 14
Customer satisfaction, 36
D
Dates
on Gantt chart, 161–162, 162f
list of, 18, 271
Davis, Gordon, 23
Decision making
project brief in, 57
by project manager, 296
Delegation of tasks, 283f, 285–288, 301
Deliverable-based work breakdown structure, 70–72
Deliverables, 97
DeMarco, Tom, 298
Dependencies
in critical path method, 99, 99f
in project evaluation review technique, 100f
Dependency chart, 91
Detailing of task list, 75–79, 77f
Diagrams. See Network diagrams
Downward planning, 263
Drucker, Peter, 282
DSDM. See Dynamic systems development method
DuPont, 94
Dynamic systems development method, 35–36
E
Earned value analysis, 231
Einstein, Albert, 69
Elapsed time, 109–110
Endowment effect, 49, 69
Engman, E. A. “Ned,” 23
Escalation rules, 310
Estimates/estimations
average used to create, 105–108
bending of, 135
contingency in. See Contingency
delegation of, 286
errors in, 107
of money, 105, 108, 110–111
smart, 108–110
of time, 105, 108–110
EVA. See Earned value analysis
Events
in critical path method, 100, 101f, 102
on Gantt chart, 156, 156f
in project evaluation review technique, 96–97, 98f, 101
Excel
cost monitoring uses of, 151
description of, 23, 43
disadvantages of, 151
resource planning uses of, 151
Excel, for Gantt chart
busy times, 162, 163f–164f
conditional formatting, 154, 154f
costs, 167–168, 168f
critical path tasks, 155f, 155–156
dates, 161f, 161–162
events, 156, 156f
floating tasks, 152, 152f, 154–160, 155f, 157f–158f
load graph, 165, 166f
money, 167–168, 168f
names, 161–162, 163f
people added to tasks, 162, 163f
Post-its and, 160
project duration, 153, 153f
running order, 151, 151f
setting up, 151–158
tasks, 152, 152f
time, 154, 164–167, 165f–167f
workload calculations, 164, 165f
Expectations, 46–47, 136
Expert, 73–75, 75f
Extreme Programming, 35
F
Face-to-face interactions, 37
Failure, 118, 124
FDD. See Feature-driven development
Feature-driven development, 36
Feedback, 294
Fichtner, Cornelius, 277
Fifth Discipline, The, 297
Financial management, 146–147
First kick-off meeting
commitments made in, 52
key drivers established in, 50–52
stakeholders in, 48–50, 269
Five Whys, 297f, 298
Float
complications of, 158–160
definition of, 88, 157
floaters that share, 158–159
Floating tasks
delaying of, 182–183
description of, 131
float sharing by, 158–159
on Gantt chart, 152, 152f, 154–160, 155f, 157f–160f, 170–172, 181
gaps after, 182
hanging off other floating tasks, 159f, 159–160
mistakes with, 160
money and, 182
moving of, for resource shortfalls, 180–183, 181f, 187
overlapping of, 172
Flow diagrams, 89f–90f, 89–91
Ford, Henry, 243
Forecasting
of costs. See Cost forecasting
of project completion, 238–239
Future, vision of, 292–293
G
Gallagher, Susan C., 23
Gantt, Henry, 140
Gantt chart
accountability uses of, 142
advantages of, 27
benefits of, 140–147, 213
busy times, 162, 163f–164f
color-when-complete, 214–215
colored-in, 18, 213, 216, 272–274, 284, 307
coloring of, 214–217, 216f–217f
communication uses of, 141–142, 142f
conditional formatting of, 154, 154f
costs added to, 167–168, 168f
creation of, 147–169, 194
critical path and, 148, 169–170, 170f
critical path tasks added to, 152, 152f, 155f, 155–156
as cube, 190
dates added to, 161–162, 162f
definition of, 2, 140
delegation of, 283, 286
in disaster scenario, 225f, 225–226
events added to, 156, 156f
example of, 140, 142f
Excel for creating. See Excel, for Gantt chart
financial management uses of, 146–147
float complications, 158–160
floating tasks added to, 152, 152f, 154–158, 155f, 157f–160f, 170–172, 181
in good scenario, 230, 230f
history of, 25, 140
how to use, 147
for large projects, 259–261
linearity issues, 172f, 173
load graph, 165, 166f
messiness of, 171, 171f
Microsoft Project for creating, 148–151
money added to, 167–168, 168f
names added to, 161–162, 163f
neatness of, 171, 171f
nonlinear spend on, 227
one big task on, 171–172, 172f
in over budget scenario, 226f, 226–227
overlap on, 172–173, 173f
parallel issues, 173–174, 174f
people added to tasks, 162, 163f
pitfalls to avoid, 169–174
plan on, 278–279, 295, 307
Post-its for creating, 149, 156, 169–170
progress monitoring uses of, 144–146, 145f, 214–217, 224, 232
project duration added to, 153, 153f
proportional coloring of, 214–215
resource planning uses of, 143f, 143–144, 178
review use of, 254
roles and responsibilities on, 142
as sales tool, 141
simple, 140f
in slightly over budget scenario, 227–228, 228f
in software platform, 43
“spend profile,” 168
spend profile predictions using, 146–147
in spot on scenario, 229, 229f
stories versus, 18, 272–273
for sub-projects, 261
tasks on, 140, 144, 171–172, 172f, 295
time added to, 164–167, 165f–167f
unspecified overlap on, 172–173, 173f
vertical lines not added to indicate floating task constraints, 170–171
in very good scenario, 231f, 231–232
when to create, 147–148
workload calculations, 164, 165f
Gantt of Gantts
benefits of, 191, 193
bottleneck management using, 196–198
creating of, 194f–195f, 194–196
description of, 144–145, 272
example of, 195f, 196–197, 197f
guessing and, 196
illustration of, 145f, 192f
rough, 309
Goethe, 16
Goldratt, Eliyahu M., 303
Granularity, 75–79, 77f, 287
“Grip,” 288–289
Gumz, Joy, 12
H
Half the difference method, 117–119, 118f
Heisenberg, Werner, 74
Hours worked, 167
House, as project example
breaking down tasks for, 79
deliverable-based work breakdown structure for, 70–72
ongoing tasks for, 78
phase-based work breakdown structure for, 71–72
I
Ideal plan, 307–309
If-statements, 89–90
“I’ll try,” 18, 269
Industrial Revolution, 24
Information systems, 29
Investment assessment, in business case, 60
Iron triangle. See also Cost(s); Quality; Time
description of, 46–48, 50, 105
trades between elements in, 53
IT. See Information systems
J
Jenett, Eric, 23
K
Kanban, 36
Kelley, James E., 94
Key drivers
cost as, 50, 133–134. See also Cost(s); Money
description of, 50–53
money as, 133–134, 207. See also Cost(s); Money
quality as, 50, 134–135. See also Quality
time as, 50–52, 132–133, 184. See also Time
Kick-off meetings
agreements and outcomes in writing after, 55–56
description of, 47–48
first. See First kick-off meeting
second, 53–55, 135, 141–142, 207
with team, 299
Kübler-Ross Change Curve, 292–293, 293f
L
Large projects
Agile disadvantages for, 39
brainstorming of tasks for, 75
Gantt chart for, 259–261
planning of, 261–264, 309–310
sub-projects from, 260–261
work package, 261–263
Lean, 22f, 36
Learning options, 320
Lincoln, Abraham, 28
Line manager, 298
Linear projects
description of, 85f, 85–86, 149, 173
schedule performance index for, 237f, 237–238
Linear running order, 85f, 85–87
Linear spend rate, 238
LinkedIn Learning, 320
Listening, 278
Loops, in risk planning, 206–208
Luccock, H.E., 301
M
Manager. See Project manager
Managing Successful Programmes, 32
Manifesto for Agile Software Development, 35–36
Mantel, Samuel, 313
“Maybe,” 18, 52, 54, 269
Meetings
communication, 281
kick-off. See Kick-off meetings
problem-solving, 280–281
progress, 280–281
team, 279–280
Meredith, Jack, 313
Methodologies. See also specific methodology
list of, 22f
overview of, 21–23
purpose of, 26
Meyer, D., 111
Microsoft Excel. See Excel
Microsoft Office, 150
Microsoft Project, 144, 148–151
Minimum viable product, 36–38
Mission-critical tasks, 112
Mistake(s)
best-case scenario as, 18, 269–270
dates list as, 18, 271
floating tasks, 160
“I’ll try” as, 18, 269
list of, 18–19, 268–275
“maybe” as, 18, 52, 54, 269
not planning resources for all projects as, 18, 271–272
not reviewing as, 274–275
plan kept in your head as, 18, 268–269
positive response to, 293
rescheduling too late as, 19, 274
review of, 252
task lists as, 18, 271
team not involved enough as, 18, 270–271
underspending as ok as, 18, 273
Modification of plan. See Plan modification
Moltke, Helmuth von, 28
Monday.com, 42
Money. See also Cost(s)
asking for more, 245–246, 249
estimates of, 105, 108, 110–111
floating tasks and, 182
Gantt chart addition of, 167–168, 168f
as key driver, 133–134, 207
for overbudget projects, 249
sources of, 308
Monitoring
of costs. See Cost monitoring
of progress. See Progress monitoring
of team work, 288–289
Monthly monitoring form, 240–241
Monthly reports, 308
More, Thomas, 49
Motivation
Agile and, 37–38
of team, 289–291
MSP. See Managing Successful Programmes
Multiple projects
Gantt of Gantts for. See Gantt of Gantts
resource management for, 188–189
Murphy’s law, 202
MVP. See Minimum viable product
N
Negative feedback, 294
Network diagrams
advantages of, 88
communication uses of, 278–279
critical path method for creating. See Critical path method
definition of, 83–84
dependency chart, 91
flow diagrams versus, 89f–90f, 89–91
Post-its as, 83–88, 139
precedence diagram, 91
project evaluation review technique for creating. See Project evaluation review technique
tasks on, 139
time as focus of, 139
Nonlinear project, 239f
Nonlinear spend, 227
Nonlinear spend rate, 238
O
Objectives, 48–49
Ongoing, tasks as, 78–79
Optimist, 233–234, 237, 240
Options appraisal, 307
Outcomes, 37, 55–56, 298
Overbudget projects, 226f, 226–227, 249
Overestimating, 61
Overlapping
of tasks, 76–78, 133–134, 139, 172, 186, 186f, 248
unspecified, on Gantt chart, 172–173, 173f
Overspending, 221
Overspent, 146, 227, 229, 234
P
Parallel project, 85f, 85–87, 149, 174
Parallel running order, 85f, 85–87
Past projects, 202
PBS. See Product breakdown structure
PDM. See Precedence diagram method
People. See also Team
coaching of, 294
communication with, 277–281
delegating tasks to, 283f, 285–288
Gantt chart, 162, 163f
meetings with, 279–281
motivating of, 289–291
praising and thanking of, 290–291
as project constraints, 272
as resource, 178–179, 181
stretching of, 301
Personal calendar, 190, 197
PERT. See Project evaluation review technique
Pessimism/pessimist, 54, 233–234, 238, 240
PFQ. See Project Fundamentals Qualification
Phase-based work breakdown structure, 71–72
PID. See Project initiation document
PINO, 34
Plan. See also Planning
assumptions in, 308
bare minimum elements of, 307
benefits of, 19, 213
confidence in, 54
cover all bases in, 309–310
crashing of. See Crash the plan
deal-breakers in, 308
elements of, 306–310
exclusions from, 308
on Gantt chart, 278–279, 295
in head, 18, 268–269
ideal, 307–309
importance of, 18
parallel, 85–87, 86f
request for, 304–305
second kick-off meeting after, 53–54
showing of, 303–305
speeding up, 136
tasks in. See Task(s); Task list
writing down of, 268–269
Plan modification
asking for more money than you need, 245–246
for behind-schedule projects, 247–248
change request forms, 246–247, 308–309
delegation of, 286
description of, 243–244
documenting of, 246
five golden rules for, 244–247
frequency of, 244
at last minute, 244–245
for overbudget projects, 249
for running late, 247–248
stakeholder request for, 246
team involvement in, 247
timing of, 244
Planning. See also Plan
bottom-up, 79–80
large projects, 261–264, 309–310
linear, 85f, 85–87
loops in, 206–208
parallel, 85–87, 86f
by project manager, 284
resources. See Resource planning
risk. See Risk planning
sharing of, 284
strength from, 53, 135, 207
team involvement in, 282, 290
top-down, 79–80, 264
upward, 263–264
PMBOK
advantages of, 26–27
Agile versus, 35–36, 40f–41f
“body of knowledge,” 24
characteristics of, 40f–41f
client time minimization benefits of, 27
confusions regarding, 25–26
contingency, 29
customer involvement, 39
dependencies accounted for by, 27
disadvantages of, 28–29
editions of, 24
history of, 24
inflexibility of, 28, 35
PRINCE2 versus, 34, 40f–41f
task lists and, 28–29
as time-consuming, 28
tools included in, 22f
PMBOK Lite
advantages of, 26–27
Agile versus, 36
definition of, 26
indications for, 41f–42f
planning in, 34
when to use, 41f–42f
PMI. See Project Management Institute
PMO. See Project management office
PMP. See Project Management Professional
Positivity, 293–294
Post-its
critical path created using, 114–115
Gantt chart created using, 149, 156, 169–170
network diagram created from, 83–88, 139
running order created using, 83–88, 150, 151f, 170, 179
team participation with, 87, 150
Post-project review, 253–254, 309
PPQ. See Project Professional Qualification
Precedence diagram, 91
Precedence diagram method, 94
Premises, 135
PRINCE, 29
PRINCE2
advantages of, 32–33
Agile versus, 35, 40f–41f
bureaucratic nature of, 34
characteristics of, 40f–41f
components of, 30f, 30–32
definition of, 29–30
disadvantages of, 33–35
expensiveness of, 34
indications for, 41f–42f
inflexibility of, 34–35
ownership of, 30
PMBOK versus, 34, 40f–41f
popularity of, 30
principles of, 30–31
processes of, 31–32
project managers and, 35
for public-sector projects, 33
roles and responsibilities in, 33
themes of, 31
three-level approval technique of, 56–62, 57f
time requirements for, 34
when to use, 41f–42f
PRINCE2 Foundation, 319–320
PRINCE2 Practitioner, 319–320
Problem-solving meeting, 280–281
Process(es)
in businesses, 16
continuum of, 15f
definition of, 15
moving as, 15
in PMBOK, 36
in PMBOK Lite, 36
of PRINCE2, 31–32
project versus, 12f, 13, 15–16
Product breakdown structure, 97
Progress meetings, 280–281
Progress monitoring
communicating to stakeholders as, 217–218
cost monitoring and, 223–224, 273
delegation of, 286
Gantt chart for, 144–146, 145f, 213–217, 224, 232
PMBOK’s benefit for, 27
Progress visibility, 310
Project(s)
abandoning of, 248
agreements and outcomes in writing, 55–56
assessment of, 52–53
behind-schedule, 247–248, 273
benefit delivered by, 16, 255
in businesses, 16
change from, 16, 21, 292
characteristics of, 12–16
continuum of, 15f
deadline for, 13
defining/definition of, 14, 18, 45–64, 135, 285, 310
details of, 59
duration of. See Project duration
ending of, 13
everyday examples of, 11, 14
finish line for, 13
justification for, 307
large. See Large projects
life span of, 13
linear. See Linear projects
for making something new, 14, 67
multiple. See Multiple projects
new house as, 14
novelty of, 16
objectives for, 48–49, 59, 67, 260
as one-offs, 314
overbudget, 226f, 226–227, 249
parallel, 85f, 85–87, 149, 174
prioritizing of, 191
process versus, 12f, 13, 15–16
quality of, 47
resource-limited, 188
running late, 247–248, 273
scope of, 47
size of, 310
source of, 45
time-limited, 188
tradeoffs in, 47f
variety in, 13–14
Project approach, 59
Project brief
business case versus, 60
description of, 57–59
in plan, 307
Project control form, 309
Project creep, 228
Project duration
extending of, for resource shortfalls, 184–185, 185f
forecasting of, 239
on Gantt chart, 153, 153f
Project evaluation review technique
advantages of, 100–101
business project diagramming with, 96f, 96–97
critical path method versus, 91–93, 94f, 97–99, 101–102, 102f
customer preference for, 100
dependencies in, 100f
description of, 88
events focus of, 96–97, 98f, 101
history of, 96
shapes used in, 102, 102f
time estimations used by, 100
Project Fundamentals Qualification, 319
Project idea, 57–58
Project initiation document, 61–63, 307–308
Project management
12 steps of, 2–6, 323–324. See also specific step
advantages of, 314
capability for, 19
careers in, 313–320
Certified Associate in Project Management, 318–319
demand for, 314
description of, 267
disadvantages of, 314–315
float in, 88
getting started, 315–317
goal of, 26
history of, 24f
importance of, 12
informal approach to, 23–24
methodologies of. See Methodologies
mistakes in. See Mistake(s)
need for, 17–18
qualifications in, 317–320
stress associated with, 315
success of, 303
as transferable skill, 12, 19, 314
twentieth-century emergence of, 24
variety in, 13, 314
Project Management Body of Knowledge, A Guide to. See PMBOK
Project Management Institute
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. See PMBOK
Agile findings from, 37–38
Certified Associate in Project Management, 318–319
description of, 23
founding of, 24–25
membership of, 23
Project Management Professional certification from, 317–328
purpose of, 24
Project management knowledge, 24f
Project management office, 74
Project management process
delegation of, 285–286
PMBOK as. See PMBOK
Project Management Professional, 317–318
Project Management Simplified, 2
Project management test, 17, 17f
Project manager
accountability of, 295–296
assertiveness of, 53–54, 135
commitments by, 52
communication by, 277–281
control by, 282–289
decision making by, 296
delegating tasks to others by, 283f, 285–288
detail obsession by, 54
expectations management by, 136
first kick-off meeting by, 48–52
“I’ll try” by, 18, 269
interviewing of, 316–317
“maybe” by, 18, 52, 54, 269
micromanaging of, 305
motivation by, 289–291
as optimist, 233–234, 237, 240
pessimism by, 54, 233–234, 240
positivity of, 293–294
PRINCE2 and, 35
questions to ask, 305–306
request for plan from, 304–305
roles and responsibilities of, 47, 49, 54, 213
second kick-off meeting by, 53–55
skills of, 281
title of, 313
Project owner. See also Customer(s)
expectations of, 46–47, 136
key drivers of, 50–53
Project plan. See Plan
Project Professional Qualification, 319
Project Resource Organization Management and Planning Techniques. See PROMPT II
Project team. See Team
PRojects IN Controlled Environments. See PRINCE2
PROMPT II, 29
PROMPT II IN the CCTA Environment. See PRINCE
Proportional coloring, of Gantt chart, 214–215
Public-sector projects, 33
Q
Qualifications
for Agile, 320
project management, 317–320
Quality
as key driver, 50, 134–135
reducing of, 133–134, 187, 187f, 247–248
time versus, 51
R
RAD. See Rapid application development
Rapid application development, 35
Reflection, Agile and, 37
Reiss, Geoff, 46, 245
Remington Rand, 94
Rescheduling, 19, 274
Resource(s)
bottlenecks, 184f, 191, 196–198
increasing of, 183–184, 247
internal, 184
people as, 178–179, 181
in plan, 308
shortfalls in. See Resource shortfalls
Resource-limited projects, 188
Resource planning
case study of, 177–178
compromises in, 179
delegation of, 286
Excel for, 151
Gantt chart for, 143f, 143–144, 178
levels of, 178–179
mistakes in, 18, 271–272
for multiple projects, 188–189
people as resource, 178–179
PMBOK’s benefit for, 27
Resource shortfalls
floating task movement for, 180–183, 181f, 187
more resources for, 183–184, 247
moving other projects for, 187–188
overlapping of tasks for, 186, 186f
project duration extension for, 184–185, 185f
quality reductions for, 187, 187f
splitting of tasks for, 185–186, 186f
Resources cube, 190f, 190–191
Review
avoiding of, reasons for, 251–253, 274
delegation of, 286
Gantt chart for, 254
importance of, 19
lack of review as mistake, 274–275
lack of time for, 251
of mistakes, 252
performing of, 253–254
in plan, 307
PMBOK’s benefit for, 27
post-project, 253–254, 309
questions to ask, 253
success in, 254
Risk
in business case, 60
identification of, 202–204
mitigation of, 204–205
from parallel running order of tasks, 86
in plan, 308
reluctance to engage with, 201
in work package, 263
Risk assessment, 202–204, 203f
Risk exposure
communication of, 205–208
description of, 202
identification of, 205–208
Risk planning
benefits of, 201
loops in, 206–208
Rose, Doug, 320
Running late on project, 247–248, 273
Running order, of tasks
benefits of, 88
delegation of, 296
description of, 83
linear, 85f, 85–86
network diagrams for. See Network diagrams
parallel, 85f, 85–87
Post-its for setting, 83–88, 150, 151f, 170, 179
S
Sayles, L.R., 295
Schedule performance index, 237–241, 244
Scope
as key driver, 51
quality and, 133
reducing of, 247–248
Scope creep, 80
Scrum, 36
ScrumBan, 36
Seagull management, 294
Second kick-off meeting, 53–55, 135, 141–142, 207
Self-managing teams, 36
Self-organizing teams, 37
Senge, Peter, 297
Sharp, Peter Hendrick, 14
Shaw, George Bernard, 278
Simplicity, of Agile, 37
Six Sigma, 22f
Smart estimates, 108–110
Snyder, James, 23
Software
Gantt chart created using, 148–149
platforms for, 42–43
Software development projects, 37
Spending, 308
Spending profile, 224
SPI. See Schedule performance index
Splitting of tasks, 185–186, 186f
Sprint, 36
Stakeholders
approval levels. See Approval levels
bad-news meeting with, 53
best-case scenario for, 269–270
changes by, 56
communicating to, 217–218
communications plan, 278
decision-making communication with, 218
first kick-off meeting with, 48, 269
impatience of, 269
modification of plan by, 246
objectives of, 48–49
plan approval from, 207
project manager’s interactions with, 48–50
roles and responsibilities of, 54–55
second kick-off meeting with, 53–55
written agreements with, 56
Standard deviation, 118
Stories, colored-in Gantt chart versus, 18, 272–273
Stress, 315
Stretching others, 301
Sub-projects, 260–261
Surowiecki, James, 68
Sustainable development, 37
System thinking, 297–298
T
“Taking the monkey,” 296
Task(s)
actionable, 70
assuming of, 296
brainstorming of, 68–70, 74–75, 75f, 87
breaking down, 76, 78–79, 84, 133
crashing of, 130–135
critical, 111–112
critical path. See Critical path tasks
delaying of, 182–183
delegation of, 283f, 285–288
detailing of, 75–79, 77f
expert’s involvement with, 73–75, 75f
floating. See Floating tasks
on Gantt chart, 140, 144, 171–172, 172f
maximum number of, 84
mission-critical, 112
on network diagrams, 139
number of, 78–79, 84, 259
as ongoing, 78–79
ordering of, 183
overlapping of, 76–78, 133–134, 139, 172, 186, 186f, 248
past projects used to create, 74
prioritization of, 263
running order of. See Running order, of tasks
splitting of, 185–186, 186f
too big, 76
work breakdown structure for capturing. See Work breakdown structure
Task list
brainstorm for, 68–70, 74–75, 75f
completeness of, 68–75, 75f
delegating of, 285
description of, 28–29
detailing of, 75–79, 77f
expert’s involvement, 73–75, 75f
granularity of, 75–79, 77f, 287
as mistake, 18, 271
past projects used to create, 74
work breakdown structure for. See Work breakdown structure
Team. See also People
brainstorming with, 68–70, 87
buy-in of, 69, 87, 150
coaching of, 294
customer introduced to, 289
delegating tasks to, 283f, 285–288, 301
involvement of, 18, 270–271, 290
kick-off meeting with, 299
lack of involvement as mistake, 18, 270–271
line manager of, 298
meetings with, 279–280
members of, 298–300, 299f
monitoring of work by, 288–289
motivating of, 289–291
network diagram benefits for building, 88
personalities on, 299f, 299–300
plan modification participation by, 247
planning involvement of, 282, 290
positive approach with, 293–294
Post-it note diagram participation by, 87, 150
praising and thanking of, 290–291
safety of, 290
stretching others on, 301
Team meetings, 279–280
TeamGantt, 144
Thought experiment, 69
Time
asking for more, 264
cost versus, 51
crash the plan effects on, 132
elapsed, 109–110, 167
estimates of, 105, 108–110
Gantt chart addition of, 164–167, 165f–167f
hours worked, 167
as key driver, 50–52, 132–133, 184
network diagram’s focus on, 139
project evaluation review technique estimations of, 100
quality versus, 51
Time-critical path, 111
Time-limited projects, 188
Time worked, 109–110, 167
Timescales, 60
Top-down planning, 79–80, 264
Trello, 42
U
Udemy, 320
Underestimating, 61
Underspent/underspending, 18, 146, 234, 273
Unified process, 35
UP. See Unified process
Upward planning, 263–264
US Navy Special Projects Office, 96
V
Vision of future, 292–293
Volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. See VUCA
Volunteering, 316
VUCA, 11
W
Waitley, Denis, 11
Walker, Morgan R., 94
Walsh, Basil S., 45
Waterfall, 25
WBS. See Work breakdown structure
“What-if experiments,” 149
Williams, Woody, 291
Wisdom of Crowds, The, 68
Work breakdown structure
characteristics of, 72–73
definition of, 69
deliverable-based, 70–72
description of, 69–70, 75f
phase-based, 71–72
timing of, 75
wording of, 73, 73f
work package on, 261–262
Work packages, 261–263
Wrike, 42
Written agreements, 55–56
X
XP (Extreme Programming), 35
