Preface to the Fourth Edition
Sending a satellite to Mars? Planning a conference or implementing
new software? You have chosen the right book. The great
value of project management is that it can be applied across industries
and situations alike, on multiple levels. It would be difficult
to find a more nimble organizational discipline. Whether or
not your title says project manager, you can benefit from the practical
applications presented in this book, which is intended as a
brief overview of the tools, techniques, and discipline of project
management as a whole. Three notable topics have been expanded
for this edition, with new chapters on the project manager
as leader, managing project risk, and the change control
process. Although each topic is important individually, together
they can establish the basis for project success or failure.
Projects are often accomplished by teams, teams are made up
of people, and people are driven by . . . project leaders. Conspicuously
absent from the preceding is the term "manager," as in
"project manager." If project managers manage projects, what do
they do with the people who make up their teams or support networks
in the absence of a formal team? Successful project leaders
lead the people on their teams to consistent goal attainment and
enhanced performance. They combine a command of project
tools and technical savvy with a real understanding of leadership
and team performance. Consistently successful projects depend
on both. It is a balancing act of execution and skilled people management.
Ignoring one or the other is inviting project failure and
organizational inconsistency regarding project performance.
Risk is an element inherent in every project. The project
manager must consider several variables when determining how
much to invest in the mitigation and management of that risk.
How experienced is my team or support personnel? Do I have
the appropriate skill sets available? Can I count on reliable data
from previous projects, or am I wandering in the wilderness?
Whatever the assessment, project risk is something that needs
to be addressed early in the life of the project. As with any other
process you will be introduced to in this book, risk must be managed
formally, with little deviation from the template, while allowing
for some flexibility. Project managers cannot afford to
wait for bad things to happen and then fix them. Reactive management
is too costly. The practical Six-Step process presented
in the book can and should be applied to any project. How
it is applied directly depends on the variables that confront that
project.
Death, taxes, and change. Project managers need to expand
the list of certainties in life. To paraphrase James P. Lewis, author
of the first three editions this book, in Chapter 3, project failures
are caused primarily by the failure to plan properly. I often tell my
seminar attendees that planning is everything and that most proj -
ects succeed or fail up front. This is not an overstatement. But
what often gets lost in project execution is the absolute necessity
to keep the plan current based on the changes that have affected
the project from day one. Have the changes affected the scope of
the project? Has the schedule or budget been impacted in any significant
way? These are the questions that must be asked and answered
when applying effective change control to the project.
Failure to manage and communicate change results in serious misalignment
and probably failure. Chapter 10 presents the reader
with a practical change control process that can help ensure project
success.
As a former Global Practice Leader for project management
at the American Management Association, I had the luxury of
benchmarking multiple organizations worldwide and identified
several project-related best practices. The applications discussed
here represent some of those practices, as well as those presented
in the latest version of PMBOK®. With this expanded
edition of Fundamentals of Project Management, I hope to enhance
your chances of bringing projects in on time, on budget
with an excellent deliverable--every time.
Joseph J. Heagney
Sayville, NY
February, 2011