Successful Project Management: Apply Tried and Tested Techniques Develop Effective PM Skills and Plan Implement and Evaluate

Project management has become an area of interest in all types of organisation and the skills required are recognised as highly desirable at all levels. The role of project manager requires maintaining a balance between the demands of the customer, project, team and the organisation. This provides a real challenge in the fields of time management and prioritisation. Successful Project Management will enable any manager to significantly raise the probability of success with their projects and contains practical and well-tested techniques. This step-by-step guide will help you with: project conception and start-up; managing project stakeholders; managing risks; project planning; project launch and execution; closure and evaluation. Complete with checklists and specific guidance notes, this essential book covers the entire project management process and will improve your chances of success.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 What is success?: what happens to the project?; defining success; your view of success; success depends on who is measuring; what are the perceived causes of failure?; reduce the probability of failure. Part 2 The climate for success: why do initiatives appear to fail?; some definitions; projects - are they just an accident?; what's the current climate?; what influences the climate?; the operating climate for projects; defined roles and responsibilities - the key players. Part 3 The project process - key steps for success: the project phases; the phase gates; the phase gate - a constraint?; the key steps to success. Part 4 Project conception and start-up: selecting the right project; the start-up process; customer needs and expectations; identifying the project constraints; assumptions; the kick-off meeting; recording essential information. Part 5 The definition phase: the project brief and specification; defining the project; getting your project definition approved. Part 6 Managing the stakeholders: what is a stakeholder?; the two most important stakeholders; who are the other stakeholders?; who will use the results?; stakeholder influence; gathering information about stakeholders. Part 7 Managing the risks: why bother?; understanding constraints; identifying the risks; assessing the risks; ranking of risks; what do I do now?; monitoring risks. Part 8 Planning the project: a common misconception; who needs to be involved?; where does planning start?; identifying the key stages; allocating responsibility; estimating the critical path of your project; analyse resource requirements; optimising your schedule; review the project; risk log; review the project; budget freezing; the baseline schedule; seeking approval to launch. Part 9 Launching and executing the project: preparing for project execution; establish a milestone schedule; have a communication plan; handling project changes; hold a launch meeting; the control environment; monitoring the progress; managing the issues arising; tracking your project; control the costs. Part 10 Closure and post-project evaluation: project drift; set the completion criteria; the acceptance process checklist; the closeout meeting; post-project evaluation; and finally.