Project Skills

Project Skills

by Sam Elbeik, Mark Thomas
Released June 2007
Publisher(s): Routledge
ISBN: 9781136370984

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Book description

Project Skills describes the best of the accepted project management techniques, taking the guesswork out of deciding which ones to apply at which stage.

The subject of project management has developed over the ages into a fairly precise set of techniques, definitions and practices that are applicable to running projects. More and more projects are being handled by non-specialist project managers. Elbeik and Thomas present a practical and accessible guide to managing projects of all sizes, not just large scale ones.

It also presents essential 'people' skills that are vital to making a project succeed. These include leadership skills, motivating others to deliver, communicating, holding meetings and how to manage change.

The New Skills Portfolio is a groundbreaking new series, published in association with the Industrial Society, which re-defines the core management skills managers and team leaders need to be competitive. Each title is action-focused blending 20th century management initiatives/trends with a new flexible skills portfolio for managers constantly experiencing and managing organizational and marketplace change.

The Industrial Society is one of the largest public training providers in the UK. It has over 10,000 corporate members.

Table of contents

  1. Front Cover
  2. Half Title
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. Contents
  7. Series editor's preface
  8. Acknowledgements
  9. 1 Real world project management
    1. Why is this book different?
    2. People make the project team
    3. Leading and motivating the team
    4. Project team structures
    5. Small project structures
    6. Larger project structures
    7. Roles and responsibilities
    8. Essential project activities
  10. 2 Understanding projects
    1. What is a project?
    2. Three main project dimensions
    3. The functional expert
    4. Rapid change governs how projects are managed
    5. Key to successful projects
    6. Main stages and activities of any project
  11. 3 Project stage 1 define
    1. Building a good sponsor relationship
    2. Recording project objectives in the terms of reference
    3. Terms of reference
  12. 4 Project stage 2 plan
    1. Creating a work breakdown structure
    2. Creating the team structure and individual responsibilities
    3. Estimating effort and duration for each task
    4. Preparing the schedule
    5. Allocating resource to tasks
    6. Determining the budget
    7. Risk analysis and contingency
    8. How to measure risk
    9. The complete plan
  13. 5 Project stage 3 team building
    1. But what is a team
    2. Team development the classic phases
    3. High performance teams
    4. Team roles and functions
    5. Belbins team types
    6. Belbins team roles questionnaire
    7. Applying the Belbin approach to project teams
  14. 6 Project stage 3 leading
    1. Behaviours and emotions
    2. Managing performance and setting team objectives
    3. Overall project objectives
    4. Leading projects what good project managers do
    5. Project leadership a quick checklist of behaviours
    6. Managing projects self analysis
    7. Stakeholder analysis
  15. 7 Project stage 3 motivitation
    1. The three basic motivators
    2. Getting project sponsors on side
    3. Motivation issues within the project team
    4. Identifying someone’s motivational profile
  16. 8 Project stage 4 control
    1. Maintaining control
    2. Process control
    3. Environmental control
  17. 9 Project stage 5 communications
    1. Communication templates
  18. 10 Project stage 6 review and exit
    1. Signalling the end
    2. The review process
    3. Planning what information to gather
    4. Conducting interviews
    5. Presenting the review report
  19. 11 Assessing your skills
    1. Skills needed to manage projects
    2. Eight project management skills dimensions
    3. Part 1 checklist of questions
    4. Part 2 preparing and analysing your score
    5. Personal development your task now
  20. Further reading
  21. Index

Product information

  • Title: Project Skills
  • Author(s): Sam Elbeik, Mark Thomas
  • Release date: June 2007
  • Publisher(s): Routledge
  • ISBN: 9781136370984