This text addresses the challenges posed by various levels of project complexity by introducing an approach to profiling projects and discussing the implications to project management. The text provides an overview of project management and uses the industry standard definitions of the divisions of project management knowledge as described by the Project Management Institute (PMI) to provide grounding in traditional project management concepts. Additionally, students learn a technique developed by the authors to assess the complexity level of a project. This overview and complexity profile provides a cognitive map to which the student can refer when they proceed to the second part of the book and learn more about the specific areas of project management knowledge.
Students learn more about specific topics in chapters devoted to scope, planning, budgeting, cost management, quality, risk management, procurement, and closeout. They learn about the knowledge, skills, and tools used in each of these areas. They learn that different subsets of this knowledge, skills, and tools are needed depending on the complexity of the project and how to make the appropriate selection based on a project’s complexity profile. They also learn that different subsets of knowledge, skills, and tools are used depending on the phase of the project. Because they already have an overview, students can appreciate how the topics in each chapter in this section relate to other topics.
Students also learn about the most complex part of project management—dealing with people. The project manager is often the factor that makes the difference between success and failure of a project and whether or not a project manager enjoys his or her job. Students learn about managing meetings, team development, and driving innovation in the project environment. Students also learn about managing client expectations, developing an appropriate project culture, and motivating the project team. Additionally, students learn about the different management approaches the project manager must use at different times in the project, including authoritarian, facilitator, counselor, collaborator, and partner. Students assess their own leadership abilities and identify which aspects of a project they are most likely to manage well and where they need to improve their skills or team with someone else who has those skills.
- 992 reads
