No-Drama Project Management [electronic resource] : Avoiding Predictable Problems for Project Success /
Gerardi, Bart.author.
No-Drama Project Management: Avoiding Predictable Problems for Project Success is a book for project managers who want or need to be more effective. Having a project crash and burn is never a great situation, author Bart Gerardi explains, but it's not a career buster-unless the failure appears on the short list of recurring, avoidable problems that can and will pop up during any project. If your project fails due to a lack of planning, for example, expect a trip to the woodshed. Why? Your "unexpected problem" was actually both predictable and avoidable. This book is an exploration of the preventable problems that cause project failures and how to steer clear of them. It includes far more than simple rookie mistakes like trying to please the wrong stakeholder or misunderstanding your role on the team. Those who have been around the block a few times will also find tips and insights that can help them reignite a stalled or meandering career. The sections on managing change adroitly or handling truly unexpected challenges, for example, can get veteran project managers back on track. There are plenty of books about the science of project management that cover such things as creating a work-breakdown structure or a Gantt chart. No-Drama Project Management is about the art of project management. It contains methods and techniques-illustrated with stories from Gerardi's rich store of experiences-that'll help project managers shine and become promotable. This book: Describes the common obstacles that all projects face, and how to defuse or avoid them Explains how project managers can hold a mirror to their own  performance and improve it Shows project managers how to become masters at expecting the unexpected and thereby ratcheting up their success rates.
Title page; Copyright page; Table of contents; About the Author; Acknowledgments; Preface; CHAPTER 1 The No-Drama Project Manager; Why We Run Projects; Why Roles Are Necessary; Role of the Project Manager; Role of the Project Team; Role of the Program Manager; Role of the PMO; Role of the Project Sponsor and/or Client; Summary; CHAPTER 2 Project Management Success; How to Irritate Your Program Manager; Failing at the Obvious; Being a Headache; Expected Problems in Client Management; Requirements; Prioritization; Change; Alignment; Assumptions; Identifying Stakeholders
Expected Problems in Team ManagementCommunication; Planning; Preparing; Establishing Metrics; Project Roles; Not All Problems Are Expected; No-Drama Project Management; CHAPTER 3 Identify Requirements; Customer Identification; Top-Down Thinking vs. Bottom-Up Thinking; Outside-In Requirements Gathering; The Value of Focus; Communication Strategy; Sign-off; Formal Sign-off; Informal Sign-off; Following up; Summary; CHAPTER 4 Prioritize; The Importance of Prioritization; The True Critical Path; Prioritization Games; Pairwise Prioritization; The Value of Deprioritization; How to Deprioritize
SummaryCHAPTER 5 Manage Change; The Importance of Change Management; Drivers of Change; The Business or Client Organization Has Changed; New Advances Make Your Project Obsolete; Changing Priorities of Your Client orOrganization; New Sales Channels; New Legislation; The Impact of Other Projects; Failure in Execution; Be Aware of the Situation; Be Aware of the People; Be Aware of the Project; Keeping Aligned; Summary; CHAPTER 6 Align with the Client; Why Alignment Is Important; Aligning with the Client; Aligning with the Team; Communicating Alignment; Understanding Differences
Amount of AggressivenessRemaining Aligned; Summary; CHAPTER 7 Testing Assumptions; What Is an Assumption?; The Importance of Assumptions; How to Identify Assumptions; Pre-Project Assumptions; Assumptions Made by the Project Team; Level of Confidence; Avoiding Standard or Implicit Assumptions; Assumptions vs. Risk; Continually Testing and Tracking Assumptions and Risks; What to Do When an Assumption Is Wrong; Summary; CHAPTER 8 Identify DecisionMakers; Who Is Paying the Bill?; Who Is the Customer?; Who Has Signature Authority?; Any Other Influencers?; Does Anyone Want This to Fail?
How to Manage StakeholdersSummary; CHAPTER 9 Communicate Effectively; The Importance of Communication; Differentiating Communication for Different Audiences; Communicating with the Internal Team; Communicating with the Extended Team; Communicating with Other Departments and Functions; Communicating with Executives and Clients; Challenges of Different Audiences; Treat Communication as a Project Deliverable; Communication Channels; Broadcast Communications; Individual Communications; Closed-Circuit Communication; Determining Whether You're Being Effective
Other Benefits of Effective Communication
Includes index.
No-Drama Project Management: Avoiding Predictable Problems for Project Success is a book for project managers who want or need to be more effective. Having a project crash and burn is never a great situation, author Bart Gerardi explains, but it's not a career buster-unless the failure appears on the short list of recurring, avoidable problems that can and will pop up during any project. If your project fails due to a lack of planning, for example, expect a trip to the woodshed. Why? Your "unexpected problem" was actually both predictable and avoidable. This book is an exploration of the preventable problems that cause project failures and how to steer clear of them. It includes far more than simple rookie mistakes like trying to please the wrong stakeholder or misunderstanding your role on the team. Those who have been around the block a few times will also find tips and insights that can help them reignite a stalled or meandering career. The sections on managing change adroitly or handling truly unexpected challenges, for example, can get veteran project managers back on track. There are plenty of books about the science of project management that cover such things as creating a work-breakdown structure or a Gantt chart. No-Drama Project Management is about the art of project management. It contains methods and techniques-illustrated with stories from Gerardi's rich store of experiences-that'll help project managers shine and become promotable. This book: Describes the common obstacles that all projects face, and how to defuse or avoid them Explains how project managers can hold a mirror to their own  performance and improve it Shows project managers how to become masters at expecting the unexpected and thereby ratcheting up their success rates.
Business.
Management science.
Business and Management, general.