Table of Contents

PROJECT IS MORE THAN ITS TECHNICAL DELIVERABLES
Provisioning ISDN
How Did We Do?
The Project in Context
The Big Thirteen
Discovery Techniques
Interviewing Techniques


LEARNING REQUIREMENTS IS OUR FIRST PRIORITY
The Trouble with Requirements
ISDN Case Study Requirements
How Requirements Are Derived
An Airport Is Born
Applying the Big Thirteen
Develop an Issues List
Eliminate as Many Issues as Possible
Assign Real Issues to the Right Party
Why You Assign Issues
Turning Issues into Assumptions
Socialize Your Assumptions
Analyze and Incorporate Feedback
Get Universal Signoff on Requirements
Address the Feasibility of Implementing Requirements
Turning Requirements into Specifications
Mapping Requirements to the Project Plan
Work Flow Analysis


USING TECHNOLOGIES TO MEET REQUIREMENTS
Why Technologies Should Be Used
How Technologies Really Get Used
How Technologies Fail
How to Determine if It Is Going to Work
Understand Your Technologies
Review Validation Plan
Review Risk
Review Potential Integration Issues
Review with Customer and Beneficiaries
Submit to Technology Review Board if Required
Commence Validation Processes, and Adjust as Required
Proceed with Rollout, Invoking Your Plan Bs as Required

DEVISING AN IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY PRECEDES SCHEDULING
What Is an Implementation Strategy?
That Was an Implementation Strategy
Why Do I Need an Implementation Strategy?
How Do I Use This Implementation Strategy?
Building Your Implementation Strategy
Finding Gaps with the Implementation Strategy
Implementation Strategy Components
An IT Implementation Strategy Example
A Vendor Management Implementation Strategy


PLAN B IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE PROJECT PLAN
What Is a Plan B?
A Word About Risk
When Is Risk Risk?
Identifying Risk
Murphy's Law
Uncovering Project Risk
Uncovering Beneficiary Risk
Uncovering Corporate Risk
What to Do with These Questions
The Cost of Risk Management
Next Steps in Risk Planning
Plan B Strategies
Plan B Triggers
Sample Trigger
Pulling Your Plan B Together
Sample Plan B: A Not So Wide Area Network


Writing The Plan
Planning Process Objectives
Six Steps towards Successful Planning
Starting the Schedule Build
The Project Pyramid
How to Use the Pyramid
Getting Serious about Your Schedule
Drafting the First Master Schedule
Selling the Critical Path
Getting Ready for the Detail
Finally, Your Project Calendar
Managing Team Lead Plan Detail
Pulling It All Together

HOW TO STATUS YOUR PROJECT
Rules of Engagement
The Politics of Bad News and Escalation
The Shell Answer Man
Raising a Project "Jeopardy"
Checking Status against the Project Plan
Status Report: Smooth Sailing
Status Report: Rough Waters Ahead
Handling Challenges to the Schedule
Generic Reactions
Adjusting Your Schedule
Issues List
When Late Matters
Quality of Deliverables


MANAGING PROJECT INFORMATION
Documentation Guidelines
What You Should Document
Communications Strategy
Meetings


MANAGE YOUR DOLLARS
Where Did the Number Come From?
Budgetary Assumptions
Budgetary Source Data
Creating Estimates
Budget Laundry List
Things Can Look Odd under the Budgetary Microscope
Handling Prospective Shortfalls
Service Delivery and Cost Recovery
When Is an Approved Expenditure Approved?
Where Does the Money Go?
Tracking Expenditures
Overruns


UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING VENDORS
About Vendors
Existing Vendors
New Vendors
Vendor Selection Process
Doing RFPs Right
Thirteen Steps of Vendor Management


MANAGE YOUR TURNOVER
The Handoffs
Production Support Models
Understanding the Model
Support Requirements
Runbooks
Negotiating Support


HANDLING YOUR TEAM
Working with People as a Manager
Leadership
Your Role versus Theirs
Decision Making
Infighting
Coaching and Mentoring
Ownership
Follow the Bouncing Ball
Project Team Table Manners


MANAGING CUSTOMERS AND BENEFICIARIES
How It Is Supposed to Work
The Customer May Not Always be Right ...
Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way
Speeds and Feeds
The Dynamics of Public Presentations
Managing Objections
You Can Run but You Cannot Hide
Evaluating Beneficiary Risk
Recognizing Scope Creep
Reacting to Scope Creep
Joint Planning with Beneficiaries
Roles and Responsibilities
User Acceptance Testing
Service Levels
Through the Looking Glass from the Other Side
Bearing Bad News
Negotiations


HANDLE YOUR MANAGEMENT
How Much Autonomy do Project Managers Have?
Management Traits to be on the Lookout For
Management Style
Problem Solving
Your Manager's Political Tendencies
Procrastination
Conflict Avoidance
Risk Aversion
Grasp of Theory and Details
Communications Skills
Basic Rules of Boss Management


LESSONS LEARNED
How Do People Learn?
Setting the Goals for Your Lessons Learned
How Well Was Scope Implemented?
Positive Contributing Factors
Negative Contributing Factors
Gathering the Team Together
Samples
Example: SouthPointe Lessons Learned


BECOMING THE PROJECT ADULT
A Day in the Life
Becoming the Project Adult
What Makes a Great Project Manager?
Experience and Training
Professional Skills
Personal Attributes
About Consulting Project Managers
And Finally…