PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR MERE MORTALS

Praise for Project Management for Mere Mortals®

"Project Management for Mere Mortals is a must read for all project managers with responsibilities for large or small projects, regardless of industry or product. Baca has cleverly taken the (sometimes) difficult lexicon of project management and distilled it into easy-to-read, understandable concepts. Her case study examples lead Project Managers from Project Initiation through Project Close-and those between-with ease. In today''s growing discipline of Project Management, we must understand the potential hurdles and where to capitalize on prior knowledge. Baca is a Project Management guru. No person involved with the execution of projects should be without this book...ever."

-Lisa Marie Jacobsen, CAPM, Project Manager, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania

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"Project Management for Mere Mortals is an excellent book for the beginning as well as the experienced project manager. At the elementary level, the concepts are clearly explained, and at the advanced level, hints and tips are explained that give new insight to the concepts. I especially liked the case studies that applied each chapter''s lessons."

-Kaaren A. Walsh, PMP

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"This book is an excellent learning tool for beginning Project Managers and a terrific resource for experienced Project Managers."

-Janene A. Luders, PMP

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Project Management for Mere Mortals® strips away the myths and mysteries of effective project management, giving you the skills, tools, and insights to succeed with your next project-and every project after that.

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Long-time project manager and trainer, Claudia Baca, walks you through all five process groups of project management: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing. Baca examines each process group from the perspectives of the working project manager and team member, highlighting the organizational issues most likely to arise and offering proven solutions. For each process group, she presents tools you can start using right now-and demonstrates those tools at work in a realistic running case study.

This guide takes you from the absolute basics through advanced techniques, such as measures of performance and change control. You''ll learn how to

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* Accurately scope projects and build workable timetables

* Create trustworthy budgets and use them to manage your project

* Organize work assignments for maximum efficiency

* Build project teams, and keep them motivated

* Intelligently assess quality goals, and decide "how good it has to be"

* Identify and mitigate the real risks your project will encounter

* Control changes and stay on track, no matter what surprises occur

* Close projects successfully, and learn lessons for future projects

* Gain crucial skills you''ll need for PMI certification

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This book has been crafted to support professionals who are new (or almost new) to project management, as well as experienced project managers who want to handle complex projects and organizational politics more effectively. Whatever your role or assignment, it''s your fastest route to deep project management mastery.

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Contents

Foreword by Kim Heldman, PMPnbsp; xv

Prefacenbsp; xvii

Acknowledgmentsnbsp; xxv

About the Authornbsp; xxvii

Chapter 1nbsp;nbsp; Setting the Project Management Context nbsp;1

Chapter 2nbsp;nbsp; You''ve Been Assigned a Project! nbsp;19

Chapter 3nbsp;nbsp; How Big Is This Project? nbsp;53

Chapter 4nbsp;nbsp; Laying Out the Work nbsp;99

Chapter 5nbsp;nbsp; The Art of Estimating nbsp;131

Chapter 6nbsp;nbsp; Quality-How Good Does It Have to Be? nbsp;169

Chapter 7nbsp;nbsp; Communication-What Do You Think About My Project? nbsp;207

Chapter 8nbsp;nbsp; Risk-What Should You Worry About? nbsp;257

Chapter 9nbsp;nbsp; Creating the Schedule nbsp;291

Chapter 10 Budgeting-How Much? nbsp;331

Chapter 11 The Rhythm of Project Execution nbsp;369

Chapter 12 Keeping the Project on Track nbsp;397

Chapter 13 Controlling Changes nbsp;421

Chapter 14 Success!-Closing the Project nbsp;441

Answers to the Review Questionsnbsp; 457

Glossarynbsp; 471

Bibliographynbsp; 477

Index nbsp;479

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