Stanley E. Portny - Project Management For Dummies

You can read this book in many ways, depending on your own project management knowledge and experience and your current needs. However, we suggest you first take a minute to scan the table of contents and thumb through the parts of the book to get a feeling for the topics we cover.

If you’re new to project management and are just beginning to form a plan for a project, first read Parts 1and 2, which explain how to plan outcomes, activities, schedules, and resources. If you want to find out how to identify and organize your project’s team and other key people, start with Part 3. If you’re ready to begin work or you’re already in the midst of your project, you may want to start with Part 4. Or feel free to jump back and forth, hitting the chapters with topics that interest you the most.

The most widely recognized reference of project management best practices is A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), published by the Project Management Institute (PMI). The seventh and most recent edition of PMBOK (PMBOK 7) was published in 2021. The Project Management Professional (PMP) certification — the most recognized project management credential throughout the world — includes an examination (administered by PMI) with questions based on PMBOK 7.

Because we base this book on best practices for project management activities, the tools and techniques we cover are in accordance with PMBOK 7. However, if you’re preparing to take the PMP examination, use this book as a companion to PMBOK 7, not as a substitute for it.

As you read this book, keep the following points in mind:

PMBOK 7 identifies what best practices are but doesn’t address in detail how to perform them or deal with difficulties you may encounter as you try to perform them. In contrast, this book focuses heavily on how to perform these project management techniques and processes.

We’ve revised and updated the book so that all the tools and techniques discussed and all the terminology used to describe those tools and techniques are in agreement with those used in PMBOK 7 and, when possible, prior PMBOK editions.

Where appropriate, we include a section at the end of each chapter that specifies where the topics in the chapter are addressed in PMBOK 7.

PMBOK 7 often contains highly technical language and detailed processes, which people mistakenly dismiss as being relevant only for larger projects. This book, however, deliberately frames terms and discussions to be user-friendly. As a result, people who work on projects of all sizes can understand how to apply the tools and techniques presented.

No matter how you make your way through this book, plan on reading all the chapters more than once — the more you read a chapter, the more sense its approaches and techniques will make. And who knows? A change in your job responsibilities may create a need for certain techniques you’ve never used before. Enjoy and good luck!

Part 1

IN THIS PART …

Discover what project management is all about and whether you have what it takes to be a successful project manager.

Learn about the changes to A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 7th Edition ( PMBOK 7 ) from the prior edition and the rationale for the substantial overhaul.

Check out the documents you need to assess a project’s feasibility and desirability, including the business case, the project charter, the preliminary stakeholder register, and the preliminary assumptions list. Consider how the data generated from a preliminary needs assessment, a feasibility study, and a cost-benefit analysis generate information needed to support the decision of whether to consider a proposed project further.

Find out how to identify people who may need to be involved in your project, and decide whether, when, and how to involve them. After you know who should be involved, determine who has the authority, power, and interest to make critical decisions along the way.

Think about the big picture of what your project is trying to accomplish (and why). Then get the scoop on writing a scope statement to confirm the results your project will produce and the constraints and assumptions under which everyone will work.

Outline the work you have to do to meet the expectations for your project, and find out how to break that work down into manageable chunks.

Chapter 1

IN THIS CHAPTER

Defining a project and its four phases

Breaking down project management

Shifting from process-based to principles-based project management

Determining whether you have what you need to be successful

Successful organizations create projects that produce desired results in established timeframes with assigned resources. As a result, businesses are increasingly driven to find individuals who can excel in this project-oriented environment.

Because you’re reading this book, chances are good that you’ve been asked to manage a project (or multiple projects!). So, hang on tight — you’re going to need a new set of skills and techniques to steer that project to successful completion. But not to worry! This chapter gets you off to a smooth start by showing you what projects and project management really are and by helping you separate projects from non-project assignments. This chapter also offers rationale for why projects succeed or fail and gets you into the project management mindset.

We are hopeful that you read this book’s Introduction but, if not, don’t worry, we can bring you up to speed. Whether you read the Introduction or not, keep in mind as you’re reading that one of our intentions with this book is to help you navigate the Project Management Institute (PMI)-published A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, 7 thEdition (we use the abbreviation PMBOK 7 throughout the book) and prepare you for the PMI-administered Project Management Professional (PMP) certification exam.

Since PMI’s first edition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) in 1987, The Standard for Project Management included in and explained by the PMBOK Guide has remained a process-based standard aimed at enabling consistent and predictable outcomes…until now. PMBOK 7 introduces a fundamental shift from the process-based standard of the previous versions to the now principles-based approach of PMBOK 7 , with a newly refined focus on intended outcomes rather than project phases and deliverables.

PMI has ensured that nothing in PMBOK 7 negates any of the processes, terminology, or concepts of PMBOK 6 and prior, but rather complements the content of the previous versions, with an updated and more holistic view of project management and its ability to deliver valuable outcomes to stakeholders. A few of the most fundamental concepts from the prior PMBOK editions (Editions 1 through 6), discussed in earlier editions of this For Dummies book (Editions 1 through 5), will always be true even if not explicitly referenced by name in PMBOK 7. We review those in the next few sections. You’ll know that we’ve transitioned to PMBOK 7 concepts and terminology when you reach the “ Adopting a Principled Approach to Project Management” section of this chapter.