Cover -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Part I Understanding Projects -- 1 What Are Projects and Why Do They Fail? -- WHAT IS A PROJECT? -- WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT? -- WHY IS IT VITAL TO MANAGE PROJECTS WELL? -- PROJECT KILLERS -- 2 Dead Project Walking - Why some projects must be killed -- WHY DEAD PROJECTS LIVE ON -- Part II Where Are We? -- 3 Diagnosing an Existing Project -- WHY DOING A DIAGNOSTIC MAKES SENSE -- GETTING TO THE TRUTH -- DIGGING INTO THE PLAN -- DIAGNOSING A MULTI-COMPANY PROGRAMME -- Part III Getting the Right Initial Plan -- 4 Leading Projects -- THE WRONG KIND OF PROJECT MANAGERS -- BEING THE RIGHT KIND OF PROJECT MANAGER -- GIVE THE TEAM RESPONSIBILITY -- MANAGING IN A MATRIX -- BEING A TEAM PLAYER -- OVERCOMING 'IT CAN'T BE DONE' -- FOCUSING YOUR ATTENTION IN THE RIGHT PLACES -- 5 Project Scope and Initiation -- INTRODUCTION -- PROJECT INITIATION -- THE PROJECT CHARTER -- CREATING THE PROJECT CHARTER -- GET IT RIGHT EARLY ON - IT'S CHEAPER -- 6 Agreeing Objectives -- WHY OBJECTIVES ARE IMPORTANT -- DEVELOPING WELL-DEFINED OBJECTIVES -- GOOD AND BAD OBJECTIVES - SOME EXAMPLES -- 7 Milestones -- THE PROBLEM WITH BAD MILESTONES -- HOW TO WRITE A GOOD MILESTONE -- WRITING MILESTONES -- DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MILESTONES AND GATES -- 8 Refining Milestones -- DO YOU HAVE THE RIGHT MILESTONES? -- HOW RESULT PATHS HELP -- SETTING UP RESULT PATHS -- ASSESSING RESULT PATHS -- DEVELOPING THE DETAIL FOR EACH MILESTONE -- BEYOND MILESTONES -- 9 Activities/Work Breakdown Structure -- WHAT IS A WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE? -- THE WORK BREAKDOWN STRUCTURE UNDERPINS MUCH OF THE PLANNING? -- THE ROLLING WAVE APPROACH -- THE IMPACT OF ROLLING WAVE ON ESTIMATION AND CONTINGENCY -- 10 Assigning Resources -- IDENTIFYING THE RESOURCES YOU NEED -- 11 Time Estimation -- WHY ESTIMATION GOES WRONG.

WHY MANAGING USING 'PERCENTAGE COMPLETE' DOESN'T WORK -- A BETTER APPROACH FOR ESTIMATION - WORK CONTENT -- PRODUCING GOOD ESTIMATES -- RECORD ANY ASSUMPTIONS USED IN ESTIMATION -- 12 Resource Availability -- ESTIMATING TASK DURATIONS FROM THE WORK CONTENT -- 13 Dependencies -- DIFFERENT TYPES OF DEPENDENCIES -- LAG -- PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS -- TASKS AND SUB-TASKS -- CRITICAL PATH -- SLACK/FLOAT -- 14 Risk and Mitigation -- THE PROBLEMS WITH SIMPLE RISK/CONTINGENCY PLANNING -- IDENTIFYING AND MANAGING RISKS -- RISK IDENTIFICATION -- RISK ASSESSMENT -- RISK REDUCTION -- RISK MANAGEMENT -- Part IV Getting the Plan Right -- 15 Optimizing the Plan -- Part V Staying on Track -- CREATE MORE REALISTIC RESOURCE USAGE -- IMPROVE RESOURCE USAGE TO SHORTEN THE DURATION OF KEY TASKS -- REDUCING TASK DURATIONS ON THE CRITICAL PATH -- WORKING IN PARALLEL -- OPTIMIZATION AND RISK -- PROJECT CRASHING -- DEVELOPING THE PROJECT BUDGET -- WHERE YOU END UP IS WHERE YOU START -- 16 Roles, Responsibilities and Communication -- PROJECT MANAGER -- WORK PACKAGE OR MODULE MANAGERS -- PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS -- PROJECT SPONSOR -- PROJECT OFFICE -- STEERING GROUP -- COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE ROLES -- PROJECT MANAGER'S WEEKLY CHECKLIST -- 17 Updating the Plan -- THE UPDATE INFORMATION YOU NEED FROM TEAM MEMBERS -- INTEGRATING THE UPDATES -- UPDATING THE PLAN IN PRACTICE -- HOW OFTEN? -- 18 Monitoring Progress -- INTRODUCTION -- HOW TO MONITOR PROGRESS WITHIN A PROJECT -- EARNED VALUE ANALYSIS (EVA) -- USING EVA TO MONITOR PROGRESS -- LIMITATIONS OF EVA -- 19 Handling Issues -- INTRODUCTION -- WHAT IS AN ISSUE? -- PRIORITIZING ISSUES -- MANAGING ISSUES -- 20 Controlling Change -- 21 Reporting -- REPORTING DOWN -- REPORTING UP -- 22 Project Closure -- Appendix 1: The Changing Nature of Projects -- Appendix 2: Project Management Software.

Appendix 3: Project Management Approaches and Methodologies -- Appendix 4: Problem-solving Techniques -- Appendix 5: References and Resources -- Index.