Project Management for Mere Mortals

526 Pages·2007·2.511 MB·English

by  Baca, Claudia M

Project Management
for Mere
Mortals®
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Project Management
for Mere
Mortals®
Claudia M. Baca
PMP, PMI Certified OPM3®
Assessor and Consultant
Boston • San Francisco • New York • Toronto • Montreal
London • Munich • Paris • Madrid
Capetown • Sydney • Tokyo • Singapore • Mexico City
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Baca,Claudia.
Project management for mere mortals :the tools,techniques,teaming,and politics of project management /
Claudia M.Baca.
p.cm.
ISBN 0-321-42345-3 (pbk.:alk.paper) 1.Project management.I.Title.
HD69.P75B324 2007
658.4’04—dc22
2007011959
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education,Inc.
All rights reserved.Printed in the United States of America.This publication is protected by copyright,and permission
must be obtained from the publisher prior to any prohibited reproduction,storage in a retrieval system,or transmission
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Pearson Education,Inc.
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ISBN 0-321-42345-3
Text printed in the United States on recycled paper at Stoughton Courier in Stoughton,Massachusetts.
First printing,June 2007
To my husband, Doug—my partner in everything!
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Contents
Foreword xv
Preface xvii
Acknowledgments xxv
About the Author xxvii
CHAPTER 1 Setting the Project Management Context 1
Concepts 2
What Is Project Management? 2
Role of the Project Manager 3
The Hierarchy of Project Management 6
Organizational Structures 9
Life Cycle 11
Teaming 12
Empathy 13
Negotiation 13
Influencing 13
Walking the Talk 13
Ego in Check 13
Politics 14
Summary 15
Case Study 15
Review Questions 17
CHAPTER 2 You’ve Been Assigned a Project! 19
Chartering the Project 20
Formal Chartering 20
Informal Chartering 23
Measures of Performance 23
Defining MOPs 25
MOPs and the Triple Constraints 27
More about MOPs 29
Putting Together a MOP 31
vii
viii Contents
Preliminary Scope Statements 32
Project Costs 35
Starting the Project Plan 38
Teaming 41
Politics 43
What’s in it for Them? 43
How Much Power Do You Really Have? 45
Summary 47
Case Study 48
Review Questions 51
CHAPTER 3 How Big Is This Project? 53
Defining the Scope 54
Product Requirements 60
Setup Step 61
Requirements Gathering Step 68
Confirming the Requirements Step 80
Baseline and Control Step 83
Creating the WBS 86
Desk Testing 90
Teaming 91
Politics 92
Summary 94
Case Study 95
Review Questions 97
CHAPTER 4 Laying Out the Work 99
Defining Tasks 100
Creating the List of Tasks 100
Completion Criteria 104
Sequencing the Work 107
Dependencies 108
Dependency Relationships 109
Creating a Network Diagram 111
Contents ix
Teaming 117
Politics 122
Summary 124
Case Study 124
Review Questions 130
CHAPTER 5 The Art of Estimating 131
Estimating Definitions 132
Estimating Techniques 135
Analogous Estimating 135
Parametric Estimating 136
Bottom-Up Estimating 136
Three-Point Estimating 137
Reserve Analysis 137
Expert Judgment 140
What to Estimate 140
Resource Estimation 141
Duration Estimation 148
Cost Estimation 153
Teaming 161
Politics 163
Preset Duration 163
When the Boss Creates the Estimates 164
Summary 165
Case Study 165
Review Questions 168
CHAPTER 6 Quality—How Good Does It Have to Be? 169
Before You Plan 170
Quality Standards 171
Quality Policy 173
Planning Quality In 174
The Cost of Quality 180
The Cost of Conformance 180
The Cost of Nonconformance 181