Project Management For Dummies, 6th Edition

Project Management For Dummies, 6th Edition

by Jonathan L. Portny, Stanley E. Portny
Released April 2022
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781119869818

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Book description

Improve your project management skills and accomplish more in no time at all 

In these days when projects seem to be bigger and more challenging than ever before, you need to make sure tasks stay on track, meet the budget, and keep everyone in the loop. Enter Project Management For Dummies. This friendly guide starts with the basics of project management and walks you through the different aspects of leading a project to a successful finish. After you’ve navigated your way through a couple of projects, you’ll have the confidence to tackle even bigger (and more important) projects! 

In addition to explaining how to manage projects in a remote work environment, the book offers advice on identifying the right delivery approach, using social media in project management, and deploying agile project management. You’ll also discover:

  • What’s new in project management tools and platforms so you can choose the best application for your team 
  • How to perfect your project management business document with an emphasis on strategy and business knowledge 
  • Details on the shift from process-based approaches to more holistic, principle-based strategies focused on project outcomes 
  • Examples of how to turn the strategies into smooth-flowing processes 
  • Best practices and suggestions for dealing with difficult or unexpected situations 

If you’re planning to enroll in a project management course or take the Project Management Professionals Certification exam, Project Management For Dummies is the go-to resource to help you prepare. And if you simply want to improve your outcomes, this handy reference will have you and your team completing project goals like ninjas!  

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Introduction
    1. About This Book
    2. Foolish Assumptions
    3. Icons Used in This Book
    4. Beyond the Book
    5. Where to Go from Here
  5. Part 1: Getting Started with Project Management
    1. Chapter 1: Project Management: The Key to Achieving Results
      1. Determining What Makes a Project a Project
      2. Adopting a Principled Approach to Project Management
      3. What Happened to Process Groups and Knowledge Areas?
      4. Do You Have What It Takes to Be an Effective Project Manager?
      5. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
    2. Chapter 2: I’m a Project Manager! Now What?
      1. Knowing the Project Manager’s Role
      2. Aligning with the Four Values that Comprise the Code of Ethics
      3. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
    3. Chapter 3: Beginning the Journey: The Genesis of a Project
      1. Gathering Ideas for Projects
      2. Developing the Project Charter
      3. Deciding Which Projects to Move to the Second Phase of Their Life Cycle
      4. Tailoring Your Delivery Approach
      5. Identifying the Models, Methods, and Artifacts to Use
      6. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
    4. Chapter 4: Knowing Your Project’s Stakeholders: Involving the Right People
      1. Understanding Your Project’s Stakeholders
      2. Developing a Stakeholder Register
      3. Determining Whether Stakeholders Are Drivers, Supporters, or Observers
      4. Displaying Your Stakeholder Register
      5. Confirming Your Stakeholders’ Authority
      6. Assessing Your Stakeholders’ Power and Interest
      7. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
    5. Chapter 5: Clarifying What You’re Trying to Accomplish — And Why
      1. Defining Your Project with a Scope Statement
      2. Looking at the Big Picture: Explaining the Need for Your Project
      3. Marking Boundaries: Project Constraints
      4. Facing the Unknowns When Planning: Documenting Your Assumptions
      5. Presenting Your Scope Statement in a Clear and Concise Document
      6. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
    6. Chapter 6: Developing Your Game Plan: Getting from Here to There
      1. Divide and Conquer: Breaking Your Project into Manageable Chunks
      2. Creating and Displaying Your Work Breakdown Structure
      3. Identifying Risks While Detailing Your Work
      4. Documenting What You Need to Know about Your Planned Project Work
      5. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
  6. Part 2: Planning Time: Determining When and How Much
    1. Chapter 7: You Want This Project Done When?
      1. Picture This: Illustrating a Work Plan with a Network Diagram
      2. Analyzing a Network Diagram
      3. Working with Your Project’s Network Diagram
      4. Developing Your Project’s Schedule
      5. Estimating Activity Duration
      6. Displaying Your Project’s Schedule
      7. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
    2. Chapter 8: Establishing Whom You Need, How Much of Their Time, and When
      1. Getting the Information You Need to Match People to Tasks
      2. Estimating Needed Commitment
      3. Ensuring Your Project Team Members Can Meet Their Resource Commitments
      4. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
    3. Chapter 9: Planning for Other Resources and Developing the Budget
      1. Determining Non-Personnel Resource Needs
      2. Making Sense of the Dollars: Project Costs and Budgets
      3. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
    4. Chapter 10: Venturing into the Unknown: Dealing with Risk
      1. Defining Risk and Risk Management
      2. Focusing on Risk Factors and Risks
      3. Assessing Risks: Probability and Consequences
      4. Getting Everything under Control: Managing Risk
      5. Preparing a Risk Management Plan
      6. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
  7. Part 3: Group Work: Putting Your Team Together
    1. Chapter 11: Aligning the Key Players for Your Project
      1. Defining Three Organizational Environments
      2. Recognizing the Key Players in a Matrix Environment
      3. Working Successfully in a Matrix Environment
      4. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
    2. Chapter 12: Defining Team Members’ Roles and Responsibilities
      1. Outlining the Key Roles
      2. Making Project Assignments
      3. Picture This: Depicting Roles with a Responsibility Assignment Matrix
      4. Dealing with Micromanagement
      5. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
    3. Chapter 13: Starting Your Project Team Off on the Right Foot
      1. Finalizing Your Project’s Participants
      2. Developing Your Team
      3. Laying the Groundwork for Controlling Your Project
      4. Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Announcing Your Project
      5. Setting the Stage for Your Project Retrospective
      6. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
  8. Part 4: Steering the Ship: Managing Your Project to Success
    1. Chapter 14: Tracking Progress and Maintaining Control
      1. Holding On to the Reins: Monitoring and Controlling
      2. Establishing Project Management Information Systems
      3. Putting Your Control Process into Action
      4. Reacting Responsibly When Changes Are Requested
      5. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
    2. Chapter 15: Keeping Everyone Informed
      1. I Meant What I Said and I Said What I Meant: Successful Communication Basics
      2. Choosing the Appropriate Medium for Project Communication
      3. Preparing a Written Project Progress Report
      4. Holding Key Project Meetings
      5. Preparing a Project Communications Management Plan
      6. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
    3. Chapter 16: Encouraging Peak Performance by Providing Effective Leadership
      1. Exploring the Differences between Leadership and Management
      2. Recognizing the Traits People Look for in a Leader
      3. Developing Personal Power and Influence
      4. You Can Do It! Creating and Sustaining Team Member Motivation
      5. Leading a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Project Team
      6. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
    4. Chapter 17: Bringing Your Project to Closure
      1. Staying the Course to Completion
      2. Handling Administrative Issues
      3. Providing a Smooth Transition for Team Members
      4. Surveying the Results: The Project Retrospective Evaluation
      5. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
  9. Part 5: Taking Your Project Management to the Next Level
    1. Chapter 18: Using Newer Methods and Resources to Enhance Your Project Management
      1. Taking a Look at the Agile Approach to Project Management
      2. Using Computer Software Effectively
      3. Using Social Media to Enhance Project Management
      4. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
    2. Chapter 19: Monitoring Project Performance with Earned Value Management
      1. Defining Earned Value Management
      2. The How-To: Applying Earned Value Management to Your Project
      3. Determining a Task’s Earned Value
      4. Relating This Chapter to the PMP Exam and PMBOK 7
  10. Part 6: The Part of Tens
    1. Chapter 20: Ten Questions to Ask Yourself as You Plan Your Project
      1. What’s the Purpose of Your Project?
      2. Whom Do You Need to Involve?
      3. What Results Will You Produce?
      4. What Constraints Must You Satisfy?
      5. What Assumptions Are You Making?
      6. What Work Has to Be Done?
      7. When Does Each Activity Start and End?
      8. Who Will Perform the Project Work?
      9. What Other Resources Do You Need?
      10. What Can Go Wrong?
    2. Chapter 21: Ten Tips for Being a Better Project Manager
      1. Be a “Why” Person
      2. Be a “Can Do” Person
      3. Think about the Big Picture
      4. Think in Detail
      5. Assume Cautiously
      6. View People as Allies, Not Adversaries
      7. Mean What You Say and Say What You Mean
      8. Respect Other People
      9. Acknowledge Good Performance
      10. Be a Manager and a Leader
  11. Appendix: Combining the Techniques into Smooth-Flowing Processes
    1. Preparing Your Project Plan
    2. Controlling Your Project during Performance
  12. Index
  13. About the Author
  14. Connect with Dummies
  15. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Project Management For Dummies, 6th Edition
  • Author(s): Jonathan L. Portny, Stanley E. Portny
  • Release date: April 2022
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9781119869818