Introduction: A Successful Future Depends on Successful Projects p. xxiii
Visualizing Project Management: Realizing Success
Why Is Project Management a Critical Issue? p. 3
The Future of Most Organizations Depends on Successful Projects p. 3
It's Alarmingly Commonplace for Project Teams to Fail--Some Do Well, But Most Do Not p. 4
Why Do Projects Have a Dismal Performance Record? p. 4
Why Is Project Management So Difficult? p. 5
Exercise: Project Successes and Failures p. 13
Why Model Project Management? p. 14
Why Model Anything? p. 14
The Essentials of a Project Management Model p. 17
The Limitations of Current Models p. 18
Exercise: Project Management Models p. 24
Visualizing Project Management p. 25
The Four Essentials for Every Project p. 25
A Common Vocabulary--Conspicuous by Its Absence p. 28
Project Teamwork p. 29
The Sequential Project Cycle p. 30
The Situational Project Management Elements p. 35
Visualizing the Project Management Process p. 43
Exercise: Project Management Techniques p. 45
The Essentials of Project Management
Project Vocabulary p. 49
To Succeed at Project Management, You First Have to Communicate Clearly p. 49
We All Speak English, Don't We? p. 51
Each Project Needs Its Own Terminology Baseline p. 52
Some Critical Control Gates Have Critically Confused Titles p. 56
A Few Words for the Book (This Book, That Is) p. 57
You Can Lead a Horse to Water... p. 58
Exercise: Vocabulary p. 58
Teamwork p. 59
Why Do So Many Teams Fail? p. 59
The Fundamentals of an Effective Teamwork Environment p. 60
Techniques for Building and Sustaining Teamwork: The Work of Teamwork p. 67
When Is Your Group Really a Team? p. 72
Exercise: Teamwork p. 73
Team Structure Exercise p. 74
The Project Cycle p. 75
Define a Project Cycle or Wander through the Institutional Forest p. 76
The Study Period Yields a High Return on Investment p. 80
The Implementation Period Is for Acquisition or Development p. 83
The Operations Period Is for Fulfilling the Users' Needs p. 83
The Importance of Control Gates p. 84
The Three Aspects of the Project Cycle: Business, Budget, and Technical p. 87
System Engineering Is Vitally Important to the Technical Aspect p. 89
The Vee Model: A Tool for Managing the Technical Aspect p. 91
Applications of the Technical Aspect p. 96
Baseline Management p. 98
Tailoring the Project Cycle p. 101
Shortening the Project Cycle Time p. 105
Project Cycle Exercise p. 108
The Project Management Elements p. 110
Project Requirements p. 112
The Potential for Low-Risk Hardware and Software Solutions p. 131
Requirements Element Exercise p. 133
Organization Options p. 134
Organization Options Exercise p. 145
The Project Team p. 146
Project Team Exercise p. 160
Project Team Exercise Answer p. 162
Project Planning p. 162
Planning Element Exercise p. 185
Risks and Opportunities p. 188
Opportunity and Risk Element Exercise p. 209
Project Control p. 210
Project Control Element Exercise p. 230
Project Visibility p. 231
Project Visibility Exercise p. 244
Project Status p. 245
Using TPMs and Margin Management to Obtain Technical Status p. 254
Corrective Action p. 265
Project Leadership p. 274
Leadership Element Exercise p. 296
The Implications for a Successful Future p. 297
The Future Waves and Undercurrents p. 298
Exposing the Undertow--the Hidden Enemies of Project Management p. 301
So Much to Learn--So Little Time p. 306
The Payoff p. 312
Applying the Process p. 313
"Better, Faster, Cheaper" p. 315
Clementine p. 317
Mars Pathfinder p. 321
The Buyer Project p. 322
The Therac-25 Project p. 323
General Observations p. 325
Back to Basics p. 330
Notes p. 333
Acronyms p. 338
Index p. 343