Often referred to as the “black art” because of its complexity and uncertainty, software estimation is not as difficult or puzzling as people think. In fact, generating accurate estimates is straightforward—once you understand the art of creating them. In his highly anticipated book, acclaimed author Steve McConnell unravels the mystery to successful software estimation—distilling academic information and real-world experience into a practical guide for working software professionals. Instead of arcane treatises and rigid modeling techniques, this guide highlights a proven set of procedures, understandable formulas, and heuristics that individuals and development teams can apply to their projects to help achieve estimation proficiency. Discover how to: Estimate schedule and cost—or estimate the functionality that can be delivered within a given time frame Avoid common software estimation mistakes Learn estimation techniques for you, your team, and your organization * Estimate specific project activities—including development, management, and defect correction Apply estimation approaches to any type of project—small or large, agile or traditional Navigate the shark-infested political waters that surround project estimates When many corporate software projects are failing, McConnell shows you what works for successful software estimation.

Demystifying Strategy provides you with not only the basic strategic tools and techniques but also a thorough understanding of the entire process of strategic thinking and management. Using tips, guidelines and exercises it helps you to assess your own strategic mind and covers key topics such as: the different perspectives on strategy, economic analysis, dynamic competitive positioning, designing and evaluating options, implementation, managing the strategy process and how to nurture your strategic mind. Aimed at executives, entrepreneurs and also students of management, it enables you to assess the teaching of strategy 'gurus', construct your own strategy audit and challenge thinking styles by assessing the cognitive processes involved in developing successful strategies.

Demystifying Outsourcing emphasizes the importance of building partnerships with consultants and vendors to achieve results. Training managers who utilize this resource will build their confidence and strengthen their outsourcing capabilities as they navigate complex outsourced projects. As a comprehensive toolkit, the book takes the reader step by step through an outsourced initiative. Numerous stories bring the challenges of outsourcing to light. Practical tips and tools, and worksheets on the accompanying CD can be tailored easily to any project. Topics include: Current trends and guiding principles in outsourcing A strategic sourcing decision model to help managers make wise choices about what to outsource and what to retain Identifying and selecting outsourcing partners The RFP process and contract negotiations Positioning consultants and vendors in the organization Design, delivery and program evaluation of outsourced initiatives Special situations such as dealing with conflict, inheriting a consultant and working with multiple consultants and vendors Debbie Friedman is Operating Vice President at Federated Department Stores, where she heads up the Federated Leadership Institute, a training function whose mission is to strengthen the leadership capabilities of the top 1,800 executives.

You CAN Turn Around A Failing Project! Poor project results are all too common and result in dissatisfied customers, users, and project staff. With countless people, goals, objectives, expectations, budgets, schedules, deliverables, and deadlines to consider, it can be difficult to keep projects in focus and on track. How to Save a Failing Project: Chaos to Control arms project managers with the tools and techniques needed to address these project challenges. The authors provide guidance to develop a project plan, establish a schedule for execution, identify project tracking mechanisms, and implement turnaround methods to avoid failure and regain control. With this valuable resource you will be able to: • Identify key factors leading to failure • Learn how to recover a failing project and minimize future risk • Better analyze your project by defining proper business objectives and goals • Gain insight on industry best practices for planning

Whether you are working in project control or indeed any other discipline, on a small or mega project, in any industry or type of organisation, in this book you will read almost everything you need to know about project control. You will be told about truths and issues that are not readily discussed and be given a large number of examples that are not always easily accessible. All this and more will be uncovered through:  Explaining what is Project Control.  Describing how the department should be structured, within projects or organisations.  Explaining how to go about setting up the processes, at project or organisational level.  Handling of interfaces with other disciplines and departments.  Looking at the support it should provide at all levels.  Describing the software systems used and how these are to be integrated.  Supporting the Knowledge Management process.  Talking about the expected outputs, how these should be delivered and the issues to be addressed.  Explaining the effects of complexity on the function as well as on one of its major outputs - reporting.

"In this book, you are taken through a pragmatic practitioner's journey of how to establish and run Project Control to give reliable management information enabling timely management intervention. The Project Control Manager Handbook is both informative and easy to read. It would sit comfortably in any Project Delivery professional's bookcase." - Jonathan Crone, Director of the Programme Management Office, High Speed 2 Ltd. Practical Project Control Manager Handbook: From Back-Office Manager to Trusted Project Strategist Project Control Managers when they exist in Projects are still too often focused on data-crunching and reporting. They do not deliver the potential immense value they could provide in terms of analysis, forecasting and strategic support. The ambition of this must-have handbook is to change this situation. It may well be the first ever Project Control Manager Handbook published. It 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 of Project Control Management over the entire lifecycle of Large or Complex Projects. In addition, the handbook details best practice roadmaps for Project start-up, monitoring and close-out. This handbook complements our trilogy of Advanced Handbooks on Project Control functions (Cost Control, Schedule and Project Risk).

Ethiopians had to wait over a thousand years to be able to use their waters for their own development. Ethiopian emperors and leaders have tried to build a dam on the Nile River as part of their development efforts. Unfortunately, due to varying reasons and circumstances, including external pressure from countries near and far, geo- and hydro-political balance shifts, and internal conflicts, they were not successful in realizing their wishes. Instead of giving up, though, each leader contributed to different extents, by laying the foundation for and addressing challenges faced in making this dream a reality. The masterplan for the dam designed in 1964 has been the seed in waiting ever since, waiting for the right opportunity to arise for construction to start. Following the decade long negotiation and an agreement on the equitable use of the Nile waters by most Nile riparian countries, and the subsequent Cooperative Framework Agreement, the Ethiopian government started the construction of the GERD in 2011. The waiting had finally ended ... It was time for the seed to grow. Twelve years later, the construction program is almost done. The reservoir already holds billions of cubic meters of water, and the country has produced power from the first two turbines as part of the early power generation milestone. The seed has sprouted, and the tree is on track to be the tallest in Africa. In this six-part book, Dereje Befekadu Tessema discusses events that started thousands of years ago, culminating in the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). He also shares a recount of his trip from the sources to the mouth of the Nile River.