The Project Workout The Ultimate Guide to Directing and Managing Business-Led Projects

Projects are an important strategic management tool and a way of life in every business. But how do you get started and ensure you realize the benefits you need? Now in its 5th edition, the Project Workout is the definitive book on business-led project management. It is a valuable companion for every executive and project manager as well as a comprehensive resource for students of project management.

Projects are a way of life in every business and an important strategic management tool. But how do you ensure a project realizes the benefits you need? The Project Workout provides practical advice and techniques to direct and manage a project. Aimed at both project sponsors and project managers, it works through the life cycle of a project from initial idea to successful result. The practical approach is enhanced throughout with a series of "Workouts": exercises, techniques and checklists to help you put the book?s advice into practice. The Workouts are supported by an on-line resource of tools, including MS project views, project logs and templates. This expanded edition contains a wealth of new information, including how to work with standards and methods, such as ISO 21500, BS6079 and PRINCE2 and PMBoK.

The companion to this book, The Programme and Portfolio Workout, deals with directing and managing whole portfolios of projects, making sure everyone in your organization is working towards the same goals; together these books give you what you need to ensure all your projects succeed.

List of Project Workouts, Foreword by Robert Heller, Acknowledgments, About the Author, Introduction, Part One: Challenges to be faced, Chapter 1 Challenges we need to face, Chapter 2 Advice the best organisations give us, Chapter 3 Projects in the context of businesses, portfolios and programmes, Part Two: A walk through the project lifecycle, Chapter 4 The Project Framework: an overview of its gates and stages, Chapter 5 Who does what? Chapter 6 The Proposal: identify the need! Chapter 7 The Initial Investigation Stage: Have a quick look at it! Chapter 8 The Detailed Investigation Stage: Promising . . . Let’s have a closer look, Chapter 9 The Develop and Test Stage: Do it! Chapter 10 The Trial Stage: Try it out, Chapter 11 The Release Stage: Let’s get going! Chapter 12 The Post-Implementation Review: How did we do? Chapter 13 Applying the staged framework, Chapter 14 A Few Related Projects: Simple programmes, Part Three: The essentials you need to know, Chapter 15 Project teams and style, Chapter 16 Project governance, Chapter 17 Project setup, Chapter 18 Monitoring and controlling your project, Chapter 19 Managing benefits, Chapter 20 Managing the schedule, Chapter 21 Managing resources, Chapter 22 Managing the finances, Chapter 23 Managing what might go wrong (or right): Risks, Chapter 24 Managing what has gone wrong (or right!): Issues, Chapter 25 Let’s do it differently: Change control, Chapter 26 Keeping your stakeholders engaged, Chapter 27 Reviews and more reviews, Chapter 28 Coping with all that documentation, Chapter 29 Closing the project, Part Four: Making project management work for you, Chapter 30 Being a project manager, Chapter 31 Project management method, Appendix A: Glossary, Appendix B: Document outlines, Appendix C: Method and standards commentary, Appendix D: Good meetings, Appendix E: Brainstorming, Index

Robert Buttrick has a successful track record for building project management excellence in major organizations and is a contributor to project management methods, best practice and international standards. He currently works as a consultant and is a Visiting Teaching Fellow at the University of Warwick.