Practical Project Management – Tips, Tactics and Tools – Harvey A. Levine

Acknowledgments ix
Preface xi
1. Setting Up the Project Management Operation 1
1.1 About Projects and Project Management 2
1.2 Organizing for Project Management 13
1.3 Does Your Company Need a CPO? 24
1.4 Implementing a Computer-based Project
Management Capability 29
2. Getting Started 39
2.1 Project Initiation Techniques 41
2.2 Do You Weebis? Clarifying WBS, OBS, and RBS 60
2.3 Project Life Cycles 65
3. Scheduling 73
3.1 Critical Path Scheduling 76
3.2 Critical Path, Critical Chain, and Uncertainty:
Exploring Concepts of Shared Contingency 84
3.3 Estimating Task Durations 93
3.4 How Important Are Schedules and Time Compression? 100
3.5 Practical Scheduling 107
4. Resource and Workforce Management 117
4.1 An Overview of the Different Elements of
Resource Management 119
4.2 Role-based Needs for Managing Resources in a
Project-driven Organization 123
4.3 Resource Leveling and Games of Chance 139
4.4 Practical Resource Scheduling 150
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5. Budgeting and Cost Control 159
5.1 Concepts and Issues of Project Budgeting and
Cost Control 162
5.2 Software Support for Cost Management 172
6. Risk Management and Contingency 177
6.1 Using and Managing Contingency 180
6.2 Risk Management for the Sigmaphobic: 197
Managing Schedule, Cost, and Technical
Risk and Contingency
6.3 Some Computer-based Approaches to Schedule
Risk Analysis 205
7. Maintaining the Plan 215
7.1 Change Control and Scope Management 218
7.2 Real-time Status versus Period Data 234
7.3 Automatic Project Management: A Classic Oxymoron 240
8. Performance Measurement 247
8.1 Measuring the Value of Work Accomplishment 249
9. Project Portfolio Management 261
9.1 Defining and Implementing Project
Portfolio Management 263
9.2 Bridging the Gap between Operations
Management and Projects Management: 271
The Important Role of Project Portfolio
Management
9.3 Project Selection and Risk: 276
Risk Management Is an Essential Part of Project
Portfolio Management
10. Project Management, Enterprise Project Management,
and Enterprise Resource Planning 281
10.1 The Search for Automated, Integrated,
Enterprise-wide Project Management: 283
Minnesota Smith and the Temple of
Unrealized Dreams
10.2 Integrating PM and ERP 288
11. Project Management and Professional Services Automation 297
11.1 Defining the PSA Market 299
11.2 Building PSA Solutions 303
12. Tools of the Trade 307
12.1 A Simplified and Balanced Approach to PM
Software Selection 309
12.2 New Names for Old Games: 320
Rebadging Sound and Proven PM Concepts
12.3 The e Revolution: Collaboration Services,
B2B, Gateways 327
13. Making Project Management Work 335
13.1 Implementing Project Management: 337
Commitment and Training Ensure Success
13.2 Making Project Communication Work: 344
Everything You Need to Know about
Project Communication
13.3 Why Project Management Implementation
Programs Fail 352
13.4 Teams, Task Forces, and Bureaucrats 357
13.5 The Psychological Contract: How to Stimulate
Initiative and Innovation in Any Organization 362
13.6 Shared Rewards 371
Index 375