Ebook Lessons in Project Management (2e): Part 1

Ebook Lessons in Project Management (2e): Part 1 presents the following content: Understand the Characteristics of a Project; Always Have an Identified and Committed Sponsor; Report Status on All Projects; Focus on Deadline Dates; Apply Some Level of Project Management Discipline; Define and Plan the Work First; Don’t “Microbuild” or Micromanage the Workplan; Hire a Diverse Project Team; Define the Many Aspects of What Is In Scope and Out of Scope; Use the “Big Three” Documents;...
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Ebook Lessons in Project Management (2e): Part 1 LESSONS IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT Tom Mochal and Jeff Mochal Lessons in Project Management Copyright © 2011 by Tom Mochal and Jeff Mochal All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, record- ing, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher. ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4302-3834-8 ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4302-3835-5 Trademarked names may appear in this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, we use the names only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringe- ment of the trademark. Lead Editor: Jeffrey Pepper Editorial Board: Steve Anglin, Mark Beckner, Ewan Buckingham, Gary Cornell, Jonathan Gennick, Jonathan Hassell, Michelle Lowman, James Markham, Matthew Moodie, Jeff Olson, Jeffrey Pepper, Frank Pohlmann, Douglas Pundick, Ben Renow-Clarke, Dominic Shakeshaft, Matt Wade, Tom Welsh Coordinating Editor: Jennifer L. Blackwell Copy Editor: Mary Behr Compositor: Mary Sudul Indexer: SPi Global Cover Designer: Anna Ishschenko Distributed to the book trade worldwide by Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., 233 Spring Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10013. Phone 1-800-SPRINGER, fax 201-348- 4505, e-mail orders-ny@springer-sbm.com, or visit www.springeronline.com. For information on translations, please contact us by e-mail at info@apress.com, or visit www.apress.com. Apress and friends of ED books may be purchased in bulk for academic, corporate, or promotional use. eBook versions and licenses are also available for most titles. For more information, reference our Special Bulk Sales–eBook Licensing web page at www.apress.com/bulk-sales. The information in this book is distributed on an “as is” basis, without warranty. Al- though every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author(s) nor Apress shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the infor- mation contained in this work. My work on this book is dedicated to my wife Pam and my (now grown) children Lindsay, Sean, and Ashley. Without their love, support, and good humor, none of my work would be possible. —Tom Mochal For my wife Erika and our two amazing kids Emelia and Samuel. Thank you so much for your constant support and unconditional love. Special thanks to my brother and co-author, Tom, for allowing me to help tell these great stories and lessons on project management. —Jeff Mochal Contents About the Authors ...........................................................................................................vii Introduction .........................................................................................................................viii The Year Begins—On a Slippery Note ................................................................. 1 Chapter 1: Understand the Characteristics of a Project........................................... 3 Chapter 2: Always Have an Identified and Committed Sponsor ............................. 7 Chapter 3: Report Status on All Projects ................................................................... 11 Chapter 4: Focus on Deadline Dates ........................................................................... 15 Chapter 5: Apply Some Level of Project Management Discipline ......................... 19 Chapter 6: Define and Plan the Work First ............................................................... 23 Chapter 7: Don’t “Microbuild” or Micromanage the Workplan ........................... 27 Chapter 8: Hire a Diverse Project Team .................................................................... 31 Chapter 9: Define the Many Aspects of What Is In Scope and Out of Scope ... 35 Chapter 10: Use the “Big Three” Documents ............................................................. 41 Chapter 11: Use Scope Change Management .............................................................. 45 Chapter 12: Collect Metrics ............................................................................................. 49 Chapter 13: Give Performance Feedback Routinely................................................... 53 Chapter 14: Ensure Issues Management Is Everyone’s Responsibility .................... 57 Chapter 15: Shorten Long Meetings to Sharpen the Focus ...................................... 63 Chapter 16: Identify the Root Cause of Problems...................................................... 67 Chapter 17: Use Quality Assurance to Validate Project Status ............................... 71 Chapter 18: Cancel Projects That Lose Business Support........................................ 77 Chapter 19: Use Risk Management to Discover Potential Problems ..................... 81 Chapter 20: Focus Quality Management on Processes, Not People ...................... 85 Chapter 21: Don’t Use Your Estimating Contingency for Scope Changes ........... 89 Chapter 22: Develop a Communcation Plan for Complex Projects....................... 93 Chapter 23: Scale Your Processes Based on Project Size ......................................... 97 v Chapter 24: Plan the Project Even If You Start the Work at the Same Time ... 101 Chapter 25: Identify the Critical Path and How This Path ...