Practical Project Management: Your Guide to Successful Projects

A SIMPLE AND EASY TO READ INTRODUCTION TO PRACTICAL (& PROFESSIONAL) PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Contents include topics covering the entire profession of project management; real world examples, full glossary, and many many blank templates (240 pages at A4 size).

I’m delighted that you picked up this book. I’m particularly delighted because of what I know will come out of it. Mastering the art and science of practical project management isn’t just about increased efficiency or improved bottom line—although, of course, those are benefits. It is also about effectiveness, about feeling like the work you do directly contributes to the outcomes and about avoiding the frustrations that are so common to projects. This book will help you be more effective at your job.

This book isn’t necessarily meant to be read all at once, end to end, although you can certainly do that if you have the time or the inclination. Its primary purpose is to be a quick, accessible guide giving you the most practical project management tools for you and your project, presented in no-nonsense language to make them easy to understand and apply.

If you are starting from scratch, you can go through the book and pick out those bits that will actually add value to your project. You may be an experienced project manager with a great methodology in place who just wants to improve certain areas. On the other hand, if you’re having problems with an existing project and approach being used, you can use this book to address just those issues you need to resolve.

If you do have the time to read more than one chapter you’ll find that many sections are interrelated and even depend on each other. You may spot problems in cost estimating that actually originate in scope definition, or you may have a problem with managing changes that actually has its roots in risk management (or the lack of risk management). Be open to exploring these interrelations between different parts of the project.

Each chapter starts with a general description, and then presents some processes, tools and techniques you can choose to use if appropriate. Please take from this book only those processes, tools and techniques that are appropriate to your project. Think of this as an opportunity to pick and mix just the right ingredients for your project. You may need a particular mix for one project and perhaps a slightly different mix for another project. As a rule, the smaller the project the fewer processes and tools you will need. Conversely, the larger the project, the more processes and tools you’re likely to need.

This book is written to be used by a wide variety of people involved in managing projects. Because it’s all about scalable, practical and appropriate project management, it can be used for any sized project from any industry. It doesn’t matter if you work in construction, IT, health, agriculture, government, telecommunications, software development or any other industry; you can use the tools and tips in this book to increase your chances of project success.

You’ll also find this book useful if you own a small business that does projects, or even if you’re about to start a small project around the home or neighbourhood. This book is also useful for students of project management not just for the technical information it contains but also for the emphasis on adaptability and customizing your approach to project management.

There are some limitations to this book though and it’s worthwhile mentioning them. First, it is aimed at those relatively new to project management and a lot of the material is offered at introductory level. This will give you both an awareness of the possible tools, and then the chance to apply them. It serves best as a broad and general overview to the profession of project management with a focus on selectively choosing those tools and techniques that actually work for you. In order to achieve this there are some areas that are not explained in depth. You should pursue your own research if there is an area you wish to know more about. You can also contact me and I will steer you in the right direction.

Second, it is conversational in style and this means it should be easy for everyone to understand. I have written text book style books and they are great for formal study and tuition but if you haven’t been in a formal study setting for some time then they appear dry and boring. The conversational tone of this book should make it easier to understand the content.

Much of the book content is based upon what is generally considered best practice in project management plus my own experience. At points in the book you will find my opinion pieces, in italics, which started out as blogs on my website. These are purely my opinion and I would be more than happy to hear your opinion about the same issues.