 | 101 Project Management Problems and How to Solve Them: Practical Advice for Handling Real-World Project Challenges |
| List Price: | $19.95 |
| Price: | $10.86 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details |
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com
37 new or used available from $9.50
Average customer review:
Product Description
Even with a terrific project management program in place, problems can arise to derail your team's hard work. The last thing you need in the heat of battle is academic theory. You need field-proven fixes, practical answers to urgent questions, and simple strategies for navigating around obstacles. "101 Project Management Problems and How to Solve Them" explores a wide range of these real-world challenges, including how to: keep a project on track despite unavoidable interruptions; prevent unreliable outside collaborators from jeopardizing the entire project; manage project teams who have little or no project management experience; make up for lost time without cutting corners; and succeed in the face of threatened budget cuts. Filled with plan-ahead strategies as well as on-the-fly solutions, this helpful guide is the ultimate project adviser and on-the-job troubleshooter in one!
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #140886 in Books
- Published on: 2010-12-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Paperback
- 272 pages
Editorial Reviews
From the Back Cover
When you're responsible for a project, large or small, things will go wrong. Even if you're a skilled project veteran with a solid plan, things will happen that you least expect. And if you're less experienced, there are a startling number of ways that your project can get into trouble. Despite your best efforts and intentions, there are plenty of problems and challenges that can—and often will—arise at any step and from any angle to derail your team's hard work.
What you need—right away—are field-proven fixes, practical answers to urgent questions, and simple strategies for navigating around the unforeseen obstacles you'll encounter throughout your project.
You can put that dry, unhelpful tome of academic theory back on the shelf. 101 Project Management Problems and How to Solve Them shows you how to:
• Keep your project on track despite unavoidable interruptions
• Prevent unreliable outside collaborators from jeopardizing the entire project
• Manage project teams who have little or no project management experience
• Make up for lost time without cutting corners
• Succeed in the face of threatened budget cuts
You'll find out how to ensure good project management practices during organizational process changes . . . successfully deal with contributor hostility or reluctance during start-up . . . handle undependable contributors . . . bring new people up to speed on already-started projects . . . respond to increased demands from management after the project baseline has been set . . . work with limited resources . . . minimize potential late project testing failures and deliverable evaluation issues . . . manage a project through reorganizations, market shifts, and other external changes . . . and much more.
Arming you with immediately usable fixes to a wide range of real-world project challenges, this one-of-a-kind, on-the-job troubleshooter will help you deal effectively with whatever unexpected problems come your way—and get your project on track for success.
TOM KENDRICK is a project management consultant and former project management executive for Hewlett-Packard and for Visa Inc. He is the author of Identifying and Managing Project Risk, Results Without Authority, and The Project Management Tool Kit.
About the Author
TOM KENDRICK is an internal project management consultant for Visa Inc., and a former project management executive for Hewlett-Packard. He is the author of Identifying and Managing Project Risk, Results Without Authority, and The Project Management Tool Kit.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction
''It depends.'' Project management problems frequently arise as questions, and most good project management questions have the same answer: ''It depends.'' By definition, each project is different from other projects, so no specific solution for a given problem is likely to work exactly as well for one project as it might for another. That said, there are general principles that are usually effective, especially after refining the response with follow-up questions, such as ''What does it depend on?'' For many of the project management problems included in this book, the discussion begins with some qualifications describing what the response depends on and includes factors to consider in dealing with the issue at hand. This book is based on questions I have been asked in classes and workshops, and in general discussions on project management regarding frequent project problems. The discussions here are not on theoretical matters (''What is a project?''), nor do they dwell on the self-evident or trivial. The focus here is on real problems encountered by project managers working in the trenches, trying to get their projects done in today's stress-filled environment. These responses are based on what tends to work, at least most of the time, for those of us who lead actual projects.
Some problems here relate to very small projects. Others are about very large projects and programs. Still others are general, and include some guidance on how you might go about applying the advice offered in a particular situation. In all cases, your judgment is essential to solving your particular problems. Consider your specific circumstances and strive to ''make the punishment fit the crime.'' Adapt the ideas offered here if they appear helpful. Disregard them if the advice seems irrelevant to your project. Several general themes recur throughout. Planning and organization are the foundations for good project management. Confront issues and problems early, when they are tractable and can be resolved with the least effort and the fewest people. Escalate as a last resort, but never hesitate to do so when it is necessary. People will treat you as you treat them, so act accordingly. Good relationships and trust will make solving any problem easier—you really do get by with a little help from your friends.
Given the broad spectrum of project types and the overwhelming number of ways that they can get into trouble, it's unlikely that this (or any) book will effectively resolve all possible problems. Nonetheless, I hope that this book will help you to successfully complete your projects, while retaining some of your sanity in the process.
Good luck!
Tom Kendrick
San Carlos, CA
Customer Reviews
Bite size pragmatic advice
This isn't a book that you read cover to cover, but I found it a handy tool to help me weigh alternatives when I have reached a crucial point in my project. The problems presented are real world issues and the approaches outlined are pragmatic and digestible. This is a nice tool for any project manager to have on their belt.
No comments:
Post a Comment