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Project Manager: Mastering the Art of Delivery in Project Management
Learn how to be the safe pair of hands in your organisation, consistently delivering exceptional projects on time and to budget.
The steep rise in demand for good project managers in recent years has been mirrored by the publication of book after book setting out the formal processes and mechanics of project management. Whether they are
textbooks or books aimed at the practitioner, they all usually cover the same ground - the ABCs of project management, you might call it.
But anyone who has ever managed a project or overseen the management of a project in the real world knows that there is a significant difference between mastering the ABCs and mastering the practice of project management itself.
It's not that the formal methodologies don't work, but rather that it's only half of the picture. To go from good to great in project management, you need to shift your focus back to the real basics of management.
In this illuminating book, Richard Newton, a successful project manager with twenty years' experience, will show you several ways you can elevate your game.
Topics covered include:
* What is successful delivery?
* Communications - learning to understand who the customers are, what they want, and how best to communicate with them
* What actually is your project? Understanding the importance of scope and how best to define it
* How to get your project started
* Optimal personal styles for project managers
* Managing your project
* Getting the best out of your project team
* A quick survey of the most important tools and techniques
* When to constructively kill a project
Whether you are just starting out in project management, or have a few years under your belt and want to achieve real mastery, The Project Manager will deliver.
CONTENTS:
Preface
Introduction
The secret art
Why read this book?
A brief word on job titles
Work-streams, projects, programmes, and portfolios
A short overview of the contents
One - Some basics
What is a project? What is project management?
What is a project manager?
Who are projects for?
What is success?
Two - Listening and Talking
The most important chapter in the book
Your audience - who you must listen and talk to
Listening - learning to understand what the customer wants
Communicating with your audience
Three - What actually is your project?
The importance of understanding scope
The key scoping questions
Four - Some Key Traits
The sense of ownership and involvement
Good judgement - project management style
Project management judgements - summary
A touch of creativity
Five - Getting your project started
Planning
Resourcing
Budgeting
Thinking about contingency and risk
Mobilising
Projects in the real world - common practical issues to overcome
Six - Personal Styles
Styles to avoid
Styles to encourage
Seven - Managing your project
What should you manage?
How do you know to take management action?
How should you manage?
Change control and management
Decision making
Eight - The team
Getting the best from the project team
Nine - The limits of knowledge
The generalist vs. the specialist
What should project managers not do?
Specialist skills that should be recognised as not being the project manager's job
Ten - The mechanics of project management
The project manager's toolkit
What more can you learn?
Eleven - Knowing when to say no
When do you actually need a project manager?
Knowing the danger signals
Constructively killing projects off
Just say no
Twelve - Closing Thoughts
Quick reference guide - summary contents
Index
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