Project Management that Works: Real-World Advice on Communicating, Problem Solving, and Everything Else You Need to Know to Get the Job Done

Table of contents

1. Contents
2. List of Tables and Figures
3. Acknowledgments
4. Introduction
5. Chapter 1 – Understanding Yourself
   1. DISC Profile
   2. Fostering Communication
   3. Responding to Types
   4. Working Through Weakness
6. Chapter 2 – Communicating on All Levels
   1. Determining Sponsor Styles
   2. Delivering Information
   3. Crafting the Message
   4. Team DISC Profiles
   5. Adjusting the Message
   6. Proper Communications Management
   7. Communications Documents
7. Chapter 3 – Be Trustworthy
   1. Coping with Questions
   2. Qualifying the Question
   3. Don’t Lie!
   4. Dealing with Fear
   5. Admitting You Are Wrong
   6. How to Fix Things If You Haven’t Told the Truth
   7. Sometimes It Can’t Be Fixed
8. Chapter 4 – Turning Around Failing Projects
   1. How to Spot a Project That Is on Its Way Down
   2. Someone Isn’t Being Heard
   3. Watch the Ego
   4. When It’s Wrong, It’s Wrong
   5. Stopping a Project Before It Starts
   6. “It Is What It Is”
   7. How to Assess the Current Situation and Create an Action Plan That Works
9. Chapter 5 – Defining the Word Done
   1. Definition of Done in Project Management
   2. Team Building with the Word Done
   3. How Done Can Set Proper Expectations
   4. Lack of Historical Information
   5. Creating Lessons Learned
10. Chapter 6 – Application of the Iron Triangle (Triple Constraint)
    1. What Is the Iron Triangle?
    2. Why the Triangle Works
    3. How to Implement the Triangle
    4. Use the Triangle for Discovery and Scoping
    5. Why the Triangle Shouldn’t Be Used for Project Success
11. Chapter 7 – PERT Methodology in Project Planning
    1. What Is PERT?
    2. PERT for Time Estimation
    3. How to Factor Risk into the Equation
    4. Create a Work Breakdown Structure for PERT
    5. Examples of PERT in Action
12. Chapter 8 – Customer Focus Starts with Great Requirements
    1. Characteristics of Good Requirements
    2. Functional Requirements Versus Technical Requirements
    3. Who Is the Real Customer?
    4. Work Breakdown Structure Dictionary
13. Chapter 9 – Do Not Sacrifice Your Team at Any Cost!
    1. The Importance of the Team Relationship
    2. How to Build an Effective Team Relationship
    3. Internal Team Satisfaction
    4. Team Building and Conflict Resolution
    5. 100 Percent/10 Percent Rule
    6. How a Team Can Become Overburdened
    7. Interacting with Requestors to Avoid Overburdening
    8. Dealing with Mandated Dates
14. Chapter 10 – Myths About Status Meetings
    1. Understanding the Purpose of Meetings
    2. Should There Be a Meeting?
    3. Are Your Meetings Effective?
    4. Setting Up a Successful Meeting
    5. Important Rules for Meetings
    6. How to Get a Meeting Back on Track
    7. A Big Meeting Faux Pas and Myth
    8. The Team Morale Killer
    9. How to Close a Meeting Successfully
15. Chapter 11 – Patriots and Scuds
    1. Dealing with Patriots and Scuds
    2. Understand Your Own Missiles
    3. Understanding Missiles
    4. Using Patriots
    5. Using Scuds
    6. Missiles in Public
    7. Missiles in Corporate Culture
    8. Always Have an Escape Strategy
16. Chapter 12 – A Real Risk Assessment
    1. Why Risk Is Important
    2. The Risk Process
    3. Why People Are Opposed to Risk Management
    4. Dynamic Risk Assessment
    5. The Beginning of the Transformation
    6. The Evolution of the Risk Assessment
    7. The Final Product
    8. Involving the Team
17. Chapter 13 – How to Put Risk in a Project Plan
    1. Thirteenth Floor Principle
    2. Parkinson’s Law
    3. Murphy’s Law
    4. Putting Risk in a Project Plan
    5. Presenting Risk to the Sponsor
    6. Presenting Risk to the Team
    7. Using Risk
18. Chapter 14 – Data Rules All!
    1. Collecting Data
    2. Mining Data from Lessons Learned
    3. Making Emotional Conversations Unemotional
    4. “Drop Everything” Does Not Mean Drop Everything!
    5. Using Data in Conflict Situations
    6. Countering Data That Is Harmful to the Project
19. Chapter 15 – Project Manager: The Strategic Resource
    1. Needing the Data
    2. Strategic Positioning of Project Management
    3. What CIOs Need to Know
    4. What PMs Need to Provide
    5. Software Assistance with Governance
    6. The Proactive Approach
20. Chapter 16 – Making Positive Change to Your Corporate Culture
    1. How Corporate Culture Affects Project Management
    2. Understanding and Analyzing Corporate Culture
    3. What to Do When You Can’t Change or Affect Corporate Culture
    4. How to Obtain Executive Sponsorship
    5. What to Do When Executive Sponsorship Is Not as You Hoped
    6. How to Get Your Sponsor Motivated and Interested in Your Project
21. Chapter 17–Conclusion
22. Glossary
    1. A
    2. B
    3. C
    4. D
    5. F
    6. G
    7. H
    8. I
    9. L
    10. M
    11. N
    12. O
    13. P
    14. Q
    15. R
    16. S
    17. T
    18. W
23. Index
    1. A
    2. B
    3. C
    4. D
    5. E
    6. F
    7. G
    8. H
    9. I
    10. J
    11. K
    12. L
    13. M
    14. N
    15. O
    16. P
    17. Q
    18. R
    19. S
    20. T
    21. U
    22. W
    23. Y
24. About the Authors