This is the most complete guide to all the principles and techniques you need to successfully schedule projects and control their costs. Not a broad project management guide, it offers focused coverage of every essential aspect of scheduling and cost control -- including key issues ignored by typical PM guides. Expert project manager and long-time instructor Randal Wilson makes scheduling and cost control intuitive through the extensive use of graphs, charts, and case studies, and provides all the formulas and worked examples you need to succeed. Writing for both newcomers and working project managers, Wilson covers all this, and more: Project structures, including differences between projects and programs, and how those differences affect costing and scheduling Initiation: how projects start, how to develop project charters and stakeholder registers, and how to manage stakeholders Planning, in depth: what costs must be addressed, and what schedule constraints must be considered Project schedule analysis: activity definition, WBS, and work packages; activity sequencing and diagramming; proven methodologies for estimating resources and activity durations; and schedule development Project cost analysis: gathering and estimating all project costs, including labor, materials, vendor bids, subcontractors, contracts, equipment, facilities, and direct/indirect costs. Budgeting via top-down, bottom-up, and activity-based methods Project monitoring and control: earned value, tracking Gantt, S-Curves, performance reviews, milestone analysis, change control systems, estimate at completion, forecasting, and much more.

Keep Control of your Large, Complex Projects. Proper Cost Control and Forecasting must support the Project Manager's decision making; unfortunately, that is still rarely the case. This handbook explains how to improve significantly the odds of maintaining projects under control and taking the right decisions at the right time.

Keep Control of your Large, Complex Projects! Already more than 1,000 copies sold to leading global project-driven companies! This must-have practical handbook for Large, Complex Projects originated in the trenches of actual project execution. It is not a heavy and detailed bible, but rather a practical reference for project practitioners to understand the principles and traps of Cost Control and Forecasting and be able to raise the right challenges to their teams. Proper Cost Control and Forecasting must support the Project Manager's decision making; unfortunately, that is still rarely the case. This handbook explains how to better implement these key processes, thereby improving significantly the odds of maintaining projects under control and taking the right decisions at the right time.

The practical approach that Colin Dobie prescribes is as applicable to the experienced project manager as it is anyone entering the field.' Ernest J. Nielsen, Brigham Young University, USA A no-nonsense approach to project management. Essential reading for all project managers and project team members.' Peter Dechaineux, Inaugural Chairman, Australian Institute of Project Management, Australia Excellent coverage of all the material required in easy to follow steps. It places activities in logical context. Essential reading for China's many project managers.' Professor Yuan, Chairman, Asia-Pacific Federation of Project Management.' Colin Dobie has very comprehensively detailed out the intricacies needed to manage projects. Well done.' Adesh Jain, President, PM Guru Inc. and President, IPMA Whether you are creating a new product or building a power station, you need to know how to manage the myriad elements in a project to ensure it is completed on time, on budget and to a high standard. A Handbook of Project Management is a practical and comprehensive guide for project managers working on small and large projects in any field. Colin Dobie systematically maps the four phases in the project lifecycle: initiation, planning, implementation and finalisation. He outlines the processes and techniques of the nine functions of project management, and how they are applied during the project lifecycle. He also explains what a project manager is expected to deliver, and the roles of team leaders and team members. Drawing on international standards and bodies of knowledge, as well as Colin Dobie's extensive industry and training experience in several countries, A Handbook of Project Management is an indispensable guide for anyone who wants to develop their skills in project management. It is extensively illustrated with examples, templates, exercises and checklists, making it valuable resource for experienced project managers.

This fifth edition provides a comprehensive resource for project managers. It describes the latest project management systems that use critical path methods.

A must-read for any project management professional or student. Projects are the life blood of any organization. Revised to reflect the latest changes to A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK(R)) and the Project Management Professional Exam(R), the fourth edition of The AMA Handbook of Project Management provides readers with a clear overview of a complex discipline. Covering everything from individual projects to programs and strategic alignment, it addresses: Project initiation and planning Communication and interpersonal skills Scheduling, budgeting and meeting business objectives Managing political and resource issues Implementing a PMO Measuring value and competencies. The book compiles essays and advice from the field's top professionals and features new chapters on stakeholder management, agile project management, program management, project governance, knowledge management, and more. Updated with fresh examples, case studies and solutions to specific project management dilemmas, it remains an essential reference to the critical concepts and theories all project managers must master.

When Fortune Magazine estimated that 70% of all strategies fail, it also noted that most of these strategies were basically sound, but could not be executed. The central premise of Strategic Project Management Made Simple is that most projects and strategies never get off the ground because of adhoc, haphazard, and obsolete methods used to turn their ideas into coherent and actionable plans. Strategic Project Management Made Simple is the first book to couple a step-by-step process with an interactive thinking tool that takes a strategic approach to designing projects and action initiatives. Strategic Project Management Made Simple builds a solid platform upon four critical questions that are vital for teams to intelligently answer in order to create their own strong, strategic foundation. These questions are: 1. What are we trying to accomplish and why? 2. How will we measure success? 3. What other conditions must exist? 4. How do we get there? This fresh approach begins with clearly understanding the what and why of a project - comprehending the bigger picture goals that are often given only lip service or cursory reviews. The second and third questions clarify success measures and identify the risky assumptions that can later cause pain if not spotted early. The how questions - what are the activities, budgets, and schedules - comes last in our four-question system. By contrast, most project approaches prematurely concentrate on the how without first adequately addressing the three other questions. These four questions guide readers into fleshing out a simple, yet sophisticated, mental workbench called "the Logical Framework" - a Systems Thinking paradigm that lays out one's own project strategy in an easily accessible, interactive 4x4 matrix. The inclusion of memorable features and concepts (four critical questions, LogFrame matrix, If-then thinking, and Implementation Equation) make this book unique.