Managing Projects Large and Small: The Fundamental Skills for Delivering on Cost and On Time When it comes to project management, success lies in the details. This book walks managers through every step of project oversight from start to finish. Thanks to the book's comprehensive information on everything from planning and budgeting to team building and after-project reviews, managers will master the discipline and skills they need to achieve stellar results without wasting time and money. The Harvard Business Essentials series is for managers at all levels but is especially relevant for new managers. It offers on-the-spot guidance, coaching, and tools on the most relevant topics in business. Each book includes the critical information that managers need on a given topic-from budgeting to hiring to communication to strategy-and offers interactive tools and worksheets that translate advice into action. Providing ready answers to day-to-day issues, these guides make sound, trusted mentoring advice available whenever managers need it. Other Books in the HBE Series: Managing Change and Transition Hiring and Keeping the Best People Finance for Managers Business Communications Innovation Negotiation

When it comes to project management, success lies in the details. This book walks managers through every step of project oversight from start to finish. Thanks to the book's comprehensive information on everything from planning and budgeting to team building and after-project reviews, managers will master the discipline and skills they need to achieve stellar results without wasting time and money.

In this third edition of Managing Projects in Organizations, J. Davidson Frame updates and expands on his classic book to provide an accessible introduction to the field of project management. Drawing on more than twenty-five years of consulting and training experience, Frame's most current edition of his landmark book includes a wealth of new topics, including: Managing virtual teams The evolving concept of the project manager's role Comanaged project teams The project office Project portfolios Web-based project management International project management

THE BRIEFCASE BOOKS SERIES Now translated into nine languages! This reader-friendly, icon-rich series is must reading for all managers at every level. All managers, whether brand new to their positions or well established in the corporate hierarchy, can use a little "brushing up" now and then. The skills-based Briefcase Books series is filled with ideas and strategies to help managers become more capable, efficient, effective, and valuable to their corporations. Today's workplace is often complex and unpredictable, yet most project management books address only the topic of managing individual projects and solving specific problems. Managing Multiple Projects presents a realistic method for developing the individual and group skills needed to cope with competing demands. It shows readers how to develop a reliable system for taking on multiple projects, work with others to allocate conflicting workloads, cope with the stress that comes from managing multiple projects, and more.

For organizations to thrive, indeed to survive, in today's global economy, we must find ways to dramatically improve the performance of large-scale projects. Applying the concepts of complexity theory can complement conventional project management approaches and enable us to adapt to the unrelenting change that we ignore at our own peril. Managing Complex Projects: A New Model offers an innovative way of looking at projects and treating them as complex adaptive systems. Applying the principles of complexity thinking will enable project managers and leadership teams to manage large-scale initiatives successfully. • Explore how complexity thinking can be used to find new, creative ways to think about and manage projects • Diagnose complexity on a wide range of projects — from small, independent, short projects to highly complex, longer projects • Understand and manage the complexity of the business problem, opportunity, solution, and other dimensions that come into play when managing large-scale efforts Use the Project Complexity Model to determine the most effective approach to managing all aspects of a project based on the level of complexity involved.

Dealing effectively with uncertainty requires today's project manager to be familiar with a broad spectrum of strategies, encompassing both 'hard' and 'soft' methods. This theme of unified thinking (i.e. the need to selectively draw upon a wide range of strategies in any given situation) will differentiate the book from its contemporaries. By picking up where traditional risk management techniques begin to fail, it brings together leading-edge thinking from a variety of disciplines and shows how these techniques can be used to conquer uncertainty in projects. The ability to make good decisions when faced with uncertainty is the real challenge. It is a universal truth that a decision is only as good as the information it is based on. But good information is often hard to come by, and all projects are vulnerable to the unknown and the unknowable. Thus, uncertainty becomes the sworn enemy of the project manager. Wherever we try to analyse, quantify, plan and act, uncertainty lies in wait to surprise us with its ambiguity and unpredictability. It lurks in every stage of the project lifecycle: in the planning (how long will this really take?), the initiation (this isn't the situation I expected!), the execution (who could have foreseen that happening?), and even the completion of a project (where are the expected benefits?). But managing uncertainty is a lot more than just applying risk management techniques. It requires a deep appreciation of how uncertainty arises and, by recognising its different guises, the appropriate strategies can be formulated. If we can learn how to reduce uncertainty, we can make better management decisions and increase the chances of the project succeeding. This book addresses five key questions: ¢ Why is there uncertainty in projects? ¢ How do you spot the symptoms of uncertainty, preferably at an early stage? ¢ What can be done to avoid uncertainty? ¢ What strategies can be used to deal with project uncertainty? ¢ How can both the individual and the organisation learn to cope more effectively in the future? The reader is assumed to be a either a project management professional, or a senior manager looking for ways to improve project management strategy within their organisation. As such, a foundation in project management basics is assumed, although not essential. The book then builds on this by exposing new ideas and concepts, and shows how these can be harnessed to tackle uncertainty in its many guises.

Master the basics of project management. You've been asked to manage a key project—or perhaps you've volunteered for an assignment that could advance your career. So how do you make sure the project succeeds? Managing Projects walks you quickly through the basics, including: Drawing up a realistic schedule and project plan Monitoring key tasks and benchmarks Communicating with stakeholders Bringing the project to a close Don't have much time? Get up to speed fast on the most essential business skills with HBR's 20-Minute Manager series. Whether you need a crash course or a brief refresher, each book in the series is a concise, practical primer that will help you brush up on a key management topic. Advice you can quickly read and apply, for ambitious professionals and aspiring executives—from the most trusted source in business.

Get your projects done without having a Master's Degree in Project Management There is no shortage of books on project management, yet most of those guides are weighed down with tiresome project management-speak and heavy process. This easy-to-use, step-by-step, plain English guide to project management shows readers how to hit ground running and nail the completion of projects. For beginners who find themselves in charge of a project but have no clue where to start or those who are struggling or feel overwhelmed, Project Management Lite focuses less on the theory and more on the action with simple worksheets and checklists. Author Juana Clark Craig, PMP, draws on over twenty-five years of project management experience gained while working in Fortune 500 companies to deliver a minimalistic approach to managing your projects without the mumbo-jumbo of traditional project management techniques.

As an industry, interactive is different. The work entails elements of software development, marketing, and advertising, yet it’s neither purely technical nor traditional “agency” work. Delivery methods are different, and because the industry is relatively new, the gap in understanding between the clients buying the work and the teams building it is often wide. Enter the geek girls guide. Nancy Lyons and Meghan Wilker don’t just tell you how to deliver digital work, they demonstrate how to think about it. Interactive Project Management: Pixels, People, and Process helps clients, agencies, and industry professionals better understand the critical role of interactive project management, and presents a collaborative, people-focused approach to delivering high-quality digital work. In this book, the authors: Define the unique characteristics of interactive projects Explain the importance of emotional intelligence in the workplace Discuss communication techniques that help teams work together more efficiently Outline a process and specific deliverables that clarify how to think about critical aspects of a project Provide questions, tasks, tips, and advice that effectively move teams from initiation to launch

MEET YOUR GOALS—ON TIME AND ON BUDGET. How do you rein in the scope of your project when you’ve got a group of demanding stakeholders breathing down your neck? And map out a schedule everyone can stick to? And motivate team members who have competing demands on their time and attention? Whether you’re managing your first project or just tired of improvising, this guide will give you the tools and confidence you need to define smart goals, meet them, and capture lessons learned so future projects go even more smoothly. The HBR Guide to Project Management will help you: Build a strong, focused team Break major objectives into manageable tasks Create a schedule that keeps all the moving parts under control Monitor progress toward your goals Manage stakeholders’ expectations Wrap up your project and gauge its success