Project Planning, Scheduling, and Control: The Ultimate Hands-On Guide to Bringing Projects in On Time and On Budget: The Ultimate Hands-On Guide to Bringing Projects in On Time and On Budget - Hardcover

Lewis, James P.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0071746528 ISBN 13: 9780071746526

Verlag: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2010

Inhaltsangabe

All you need to execute a project perfectly
A new edition of the classic project management book is here, revised and updated with even more guidelines and real-world examples. This expanded fifth edition provides an applications-oriented understanding of the issues you must confront and important tips for passing the Project Management Professional exam.
The standard guidebook in the Project Management field for over 20 years Project Planning Scheduling and Control now offers more strategies for dealing effectively with team members, clients, senior managers and other key stakeholders and is the perfect prescription for project success.
NEW TO THIS EDITION:
Chapters on Full-spectrum Project Management and how to manage a virtual project team
Managing and facilitating project meetings
Techniques for dealing with contractors
Guidelines for setting up a project office

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Author Profile
James P. Lewis, Ph.D., is the founder of The Lewis Institute, Inc., a training and consulting company specializing in project management, and an adjunct professor at the University of Management and Technology. Over the past two decades, Dr. Lewis has trained more than 30,000 supervisors and managers in the United States, Europe, Asia, and throughout the world. He has written 12 influential books on project management, including Project Leadership, The Project Manager's Desk Reference, The Project Manager's Survival Guide, and others.

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PROJECT PLANNING, SCHEDULING & CONTROL

THE ULTIMATE HANDS-ON GUIDE TO BRINGING PROJECTS IN ON TIME AND ON BUDGETBy JAMES P. LEWIS

McGraw-Hill

Copyright © 2005 James P. Lewis
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-07-174652-6

Contents

Chapter One

An Introduction to Project Management

The news traveled from the palace to the Valley of the Kings with incredible speed—Nefertari, the beloved wife of Ramses the Great, Nineteenth Dynasty pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt, had just borne him another son. The messenger was out of breath as he entered the murky darkness of the burial chamber and greeted Ashahebsed, builder of the tombs for the family of the great king.

"The new child has just arrived," he announced breathlessly, "a son." Ashahebsed was well aware of who he meant by "the new child." The pregnancy of Nefertari, one of two royal wives of Ramses, was well known throughout the kingdom.

Ashahebsed shook his head. Another tomb would have to be added. How many was this now? At last count, the king had sired 30 sons and as many daughters. With two royal wives, two Hittite princesses acquired through diplomatic marriage, and four of his own daughters whom he had married, following Egyptian tradition, Ramses was more than prolific. At 60 years of age, he was still fathering children at an alarming rate.

"By the great god Amun," Ashahebsed exclaimed, "at this rate, I'll never finish this project!"

"You're right," said the messenger. "I have been instructed to inform you that Isetnofret is pregnant again."

"The second royal wife of Ramses," thought Ashahebsed. "And so are the two Hittite princesses," he groaned.

"Don't forget Bant-Anat," the messenger offered.

This was Isetnofret's child, one of the four daughters that the pharaoh had married.

"It is clear that I will be on this project until the pharaoh dies," said Ashahebsed.

"It looks that way," agreed the messenger, as he turned to go out into the blinding Egyptian sun.

Ashahebsed may very well have endured the most scope changes, over the most extended period, of any project manager in history. Ramses the Great had more than 100 sons and daughters over his 90 years. He was pharaoh for nearly 65 years, and no doubt the building of tombs for his progeny extended over much of that time. The best that can be said is that Ashahebsed had job security. The worst is that the project just kept on going and going and going ...

WHAT IS A PROJECT?

The Project Management Institute (PMI®) is the professional association for project managers (more about them later). In the latest edition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge, or PMBOK® GUIDE (2008), the PMI defines a project as "a temporary endeavor undertaken to produce a unique product, service, or result." Temporary means that every project has a definite beginning and end. Unique means that this product, service, or result is different from others that may have preceded it.

Unfortunately, textbook definitions often don't reflect the real world. Ashahebsed's project definitely was not temporary; as the scope kept changing, the ultimate completion date slid out ever further until it disappeared over the horizon. And of course the budget had to change accordingly.

So this was certainly no textbook project. (In fact, if any of you know of a project that conforms to the textbook definition, please e-mail me about it so that I can write a case study!)

In reality, the only part of the definition that fits all projects is that all of them are jobs that produce something unique. Perhaps it would be better to say that they are intended to be temporary in nature, meaning a one-time job. A repetitive job is not a project. Neither is performing a single task. Nevertheless, a substantial number of jobs do qualify as projects, and there are many people managing them (or at least trying to).

Tom Peters (1999) has argued that as much as 50 percent of the work done in organizations can be thought of as projects. I believe that in many organizations, this number is far greater. This means that, even though not everyone who is running these operations is called a project manager, these people are de facto managing projects anyway. And, while they may not need the formality of critical path schedules and earned value analysis, they do need some skills in project planning and control.

Dr. J. M. Juran has also said that a project is a problem that is scheduled for solution. I like this definition because it makes us realize that a project is conducted to solve a problem for the organization. However, the word problem almost always conveys something negative. When someone says, "We have a problem," that is usually bad news. Environmental cleanup projects might be thought of as solving the "bad" kind of problem. But developing a new product or software program is also a problem—a positive problem. So problem is being used here in a very broad sense, and projects deal with both kinds of problems, positive and negative.

WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?

The 2008 edition of the PMBOK® GUIDE defines project management as "application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities to meet project requirements. Project management is accomplished through the application and integration of the project management processes of initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing" (p. 6). These processes are further defined in the PMBOK® GUIDE, and the objective of this book is to explain how all of these are accomplished in practice.

I think it is important to mention that these processes do not fully capture the essence of project management. Much of project management consists of dealing with political issues, trying to get team members to perform at the required level, and negotiating for scarce resources. These activities are not really captured by the PMBOK® GUIDE processes, and no single document can do justice to the true complexity of project management.

"Instant-Pudding" Project Management

In December 1999, I met with a project manager in Germany, and we discussed whether project management in Germany was the same as it is in the United States. I showed him my model of project management, which I call The Lewis Method®, and compared it to his process. We found that his method and mine were nearly identical.

"I have been trying to explain project management to senior management here, but I'm afraid with very little success," he said sadly. "In one meeting, one of our vice presidents got very frustrated and said, "I don't understand why we don't just buy Microsoft Project® and do it!'" He added, "Meaning, of course, why don't we do project management."

I almost laughed. "It's the same in the United States," I assured him. "Senior managers there also assume that project management is just scheduling and that if they buy a scheduling tool for everyone, they will have instant project managers."

He looked a bit relieved.

"I think we should put the scheduling software in a box and rename it "Instant Project Manager,'" I said. "On the side of the box, the instructions would say, "Just add water, stir, shake, bake, and you will have instant project managers'—sort of an "instant-pudding' approach to project management."

He thought for a moment. "That's actually what we are doing now, isn't it? Practicing instant-pudding project management!"

"Yes," I agreed. "And I can tell you that...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: McGraw-Hill Professional
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2010
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0071746528
• ISBN 13: 9780071746526
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Auflage: 5
• Anzahl der Seiten: 592
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar