Managing Projects A Practical Guide for Learning Professionals

Managing Projects offers a hands-on resource for building practical competencies for anyone who must manage one or more small- to mid-size projects. The book is filled with targeted processes, tools, techniques, and influencing skills that address the more difficult "people" side of project management. The author shows how to: influence stakeholders 360 degrees around you; encourage accountability from others who do not work for you and have plenty of projects to juggle without adding your priority; negotiate time, cost, quality, and scope with executives; and courageously tell the truth and get the help you need early enough.

Praise forManaging Projects

"No one knows more about project management than Lou Russell. Her easy coaching style paired with specific methods makes this book a real winner. This is one book all leaders, managers, supervisors, and project leads will use as their essential 'go to' resource."
—Elaine Biech, ebb associates inc.; bestselling author, The Business of Consulting

"Lou Russell has done it again! Managing Projects is comprehensive, practical, and easy to understand and apply to your projects, big or small. The book gives helpful tips and definitions that will enable the reader to move through the project management process with ease. Thanks, Lou, for creating such a great resource."
—Amy L. Dinning, manager of Leadership and Talent Development, Saint-Gobain North America

"Managing Projects is more than a book. It is a workshop between the covers, with one of the finest learning facilitators as your guide. If you find yourself dealing with projects in your work (and whether you know it or not, this is you), using the techniques in this book will make you less stressed and more successful."
—Kevin Eikenberry, bestselling author, Remarkable Leadership

"As the leader of an international logistics company, I know how critical project management is to meeting the needs of our customers. To hit their due dates we have to hit our own, with no excuses. Lou's practical approach to project management fits well into our time-constrained, date-focused workplace. It's simple, it's real, and it works."
—Cathy Langham, CEO, Langham Logistics

About This Book iii

About Pfeiffer v

List of Exhibits xi

Preface xiii

Chapter 1: Start Well to End Well 1

Chapter 2: Define 21

Chapter 3: Plan 63

Chapter 4: Manage 97

Chapter 5: Review 133

Chapter 6: Organizational Change 151

Chapter 7: Organizational Project Management 171

Chapter 8: Insanity is Just a Project Constraint 191

About the Author 195

Bibliography 197

Index 199

LOU RUSSELL, CEO of Russell Martin & Associates is an executive consultant, speaker, and author whose passion is to create growth in companies by guiding the growth of their people. She is author of six popular and practical books includingLeadership Training and 10 Steps to Successful Project Management.