Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management (2nd Edition)

Why learn project management the hard way?

Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Project Management, Second Edition will have you managing projects in no time! Here’s a small sample of what you’ll learn:

• Key concepts and fundamentals behind best-practice project management techniques
• The mindset and skill set of effective project managers
• Project techniques that work in any industry, with any tools
• The common elements of successful projects
• Lessons from failed projects
• The value and importance of project leadership versus project management
• How to manage growing project trends and tough project types that first-time project managers are likely to encounter
• How to make better use of Microsoft Project
• How to respond when project reality does not match textbook scenarios
• Expert insight on key project management concepts and topics
  

You’ve just been handed your department's biggest project. Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management will show you exactly where to start–and walk you step by step through your entire project!

Expert project manager, Gregory Horine, shows you exactly what works and what doesn’t, drawing on the field’s proven best practices. Understand your role as a project manager...gain the skills and discover the personal qualities of great project managers...learn how to organize, estimate, and schedule projects effectively...manage deliverables, issues, changes, risks, quality, vendors, communications, and expectations...make the most of technology...manage virtual teams...avoid the problems that trip up new project managers!

This new edition jumpstarts your project management expertise even faster, with all-new insights on Microsoft Project, challenging project situations and intriguing project management topics of the day.

Franklincovey Projectsplus For Microsoft Outlook

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PERFECTION FOR EVERYONE

Each day, professionals at every level perform key duties as part of a group effort to complete an important project. That's why equipping yourself with robust resources that increase your efficiency and help you meet deadlines is a surefire way to career longevity and prosperity. To that end, the brilliant new Franklincovey Projectsplus For Microsoft Outlook offers simple, intuitive project management for everyday professionals-and it runs inside your existing Microsoft Outlook application. Franklincovey Projectsplus For Microsoft Outlook makes it a cinch to set up a project and its associated subtasks, and its simple outline-style interface lets you nest tasks in multiple levels. Project management has never been easier, simpler, or more integrated with proven solutions.

Key functional features:

• Familiar outline format uses drag-and-drop functionality and enables easy definition of milestones and tasks
  
• Project tasks automatically appear in Outlook's TaskPad
  
• Progress view lets you track accountability by showing the status of individual elements or the entire project
  
• Facilitates easy creation and e-mailing of detail and summary reports
  
• Allows you to save projects as templates for future use
  
• Microsoft Exchange Server compatibility lets you delegate to team task lists and see automatic progress updates

Microsoft Project 2007 Training Course

This training CD is ideal for self-study of Microsoft Project 2007. Finding time to attend classes is difficult for most people. This Microsoft Project 2007 Training Course lets you start and stop as time permits. Bookmarking features let you mark the place you left off and come back to it hours, days, or even months later. If you need to review a section, you can re-watch the videos at any time. For engaging, dynamic, and effective alternative to instructor-led classes, choose CD training at its finest.

Course Outline for Microsoft 2007 Basic:
1.0 Reviewing the Workspace
2.0 Getting started
3.0 Adding Project Detail
4.0 Editing Text
5.0 Editing Tasks
6.0 Reviewing the Projects
7.0 Reporting

Speical Bonus: PowerPoint 2007 Training CD

Quantum Project Manager

Quantum Project Manager produces estimates, completes contract documents, generate payment applications, prints certified payroll reports and tracks all of your communications. You can purchase one or more of the 5 integrated programs included as needed. The price listed for this item is for all 5 programs. The Contractor Billing program completes the application for payment, continuation page, schedule of values, remaining balance worksheet, and other project reports and forms. Print to our plain paper formats or to pre-printed forms.

The Certified Payroll program collects weekly hourly time card information, does all your taxes and deductions automatically and then prints the certified payroll reports. It can generate the U.S. Department of Labor WH-347 and WH-348 formats as well as many state formats. The Communications program will allow you to enter basic company contact information and track project communications including RFIs, Notices, Transmittals, Submittals, Proposals, Letters, Waivers and Releases, Insurance and Insurance Notices, Punch Lists, Meeting Minutes, Schedules and Gantt charts, Daily Reports, Telephone Log, Correspondence Sent Log, and Correspondence Received Log. There is also a program for estimating and one for contract documents.

EasyProjectPlan (Excel Project Plan)

EasyProjectPlan tasks can be synchronized with Microsoft Project and Outlook. EasyProjectPlan simulates an enterprise task management system using a low cost Excel template that requires no installation program or add-ins. EasyProjectPlan is designed to distribute, share and collect project task information using a user-friendly and intuitive Excel template. Version 11.8 is compatible with all versions of Excel including Excel 2007.

• Are you having problems distributing and communicating tasks to your project team?
• Are your team members having problems updating their tasks?
• Are you having problems collecting and merging tasks?
• Are you having problems managing project information with teams in remote locations?
  

EasyProjectPlan solves all of the above issues with an easy-to-use Excel Project Plan with the following powerful features:

• NO INSTALLATION PROGRAM – Implement EasyProjectPlan in any company immediately.
• Distribute to anyone using Excel.
• Easy-to-use: Team members can immediately open, understand and edit the Excel file.
• Sync with Microsoft Project
• Sync with Outlook Tasks
• Sync with Outlook CalendarSync with Outlook Email
• Create and Print Gantt Charts directly from Excel – Microsoft Project NOT required.
• Compatible with SharePoint
• Compatible with Microsoft WorkspaceCompatible with Seavus Project Viewer.
• EasyProjectPlan file is only 2MB - the entire project plan can be emailed as a single 2MB file attachment.
  

Compulink Earned Value Management (EVM)

Earned Value Management (EVM) is a project management system that combines schedule performance and cost performance to answer the question,

“What did we get for the money we spent?”

Earned Value has been used since the 1960’s by the Department of Defense as a central part of the Cost/Schedule Control Systems Criteria. Recently, the DOD revised the 35 criteria contained in the C/SCSC and produced the 32 criteria for EVMS (Earned Value Management Systems).

These criteria have since been accepted by the American National Standards Institute/Electronic Industry Association as a new standard, called ANSI/EIA 748. Now, EVM is being used in a wider variety of government contracts, and is spreading through the private sector as a valuable tool for project managers.

Monitor the Health of your Project through Compulink Earned Value Management (EVM) is a systematic approach to the integration and measurement of cost, schedule, and technical (scope) accomplishments on a project or task. It provides both the seller and buyer the ability to examine detailed schedule information, critical program and technical milestones, and cost data.

It helps reducing guesswork in “Measuring performance & Forecasting”. It is an industry standard way to measure a project’s progress, forecast its completion date and final cost while providing schedule and budget variances along the way. By integrating three fundamental measures it provides consistent numerical indicators with which you can evaluate and compare projects.

This Computer-Based Training (CBT) helps the user to describe the benefits of Earned Value Management (EVM), detail the pre-requisite of using Earned Value Management (EVM), demonstrate how a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is essential for Earned Value Management (EVM), apply tools and techniques of Earned Value Management (EVM) to plan, schedule and budget a project, apply Earned Value Management (EVM) parameters to assess project’s progress and generate reports based on the Earned Value Management (EVM) parameters to explain project status. PLUS, can earn 6 PDUs after learning this CBT.

Project Management Professional Certification Practice Exam

Project Management Professional Certification Practice Exam products are industry-best exam simulations that provide realistic simulations of IT certification exams. The PMI PMP4ED practice exam prepares you for your PMP certification in confidence with our 100% pass guarantee. The Project Management Professional exam measures the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques that are utilized in the practice of project management.

Project Management Professional Certification Practice Exam measures the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques that are utilized in the practice of project management. Before taking the PMP exam, individuals must meet specific education and experience requirements and agree to adhere to a code of professional conduct. This product prepares individuals for the PMP exam (PMBOK Fourth Edition).

PMP Certifications
PMP candidates include those who are typically responsible for leading a project within the constraints of schedule, budget and resources. Candidates must be able to demonstrate sufficient knowledge and experience to appropriately apply a methodology to projects that have reasonably well-defined project requirements and deliverables. The PMP designation following your name tells current and potential employers that you have demonstrated a solid foundation of knowledge from which you can competently practice project management.

PMP Certification Preparation
Count on Transcender for your successful PMP certification training. It offers a range of PMP certification training products that include practice exams, online training, e-learning courses and study guides. Gain your IT training in confidence with Transcender certification prep products.

Compulink Project Risk Management

"Control your projects instead of having them control you!"

Managing risks is definitely one of the major features —but avoiding the mistakes others have made is key to overall project success. Compulink Project Risk Management CD, seeks to anticipate and address uncertainties that threaten the goals and timetables of a project. Compulink Project Risk Management provides project teams and managers with a step-by-step process for managing innovation risk in an effective cross-functional manner.

In addition to providing an inside view of the risk management framework as outlined in the Project Management Body of Knowledge [PMBOK Guide], this CD illuminates the rationale of managing project risks allowing project and product development managers to successfully adapt the process to their projects and organizations. Compulink Project Risk Management stands apart from much of the other literature on Project Risk Management in its practical, easy-to-use, case study approach to managing majority of the risks associated with a project. The depth of actual how-to information and techniques provided here are UNIQUE! PLUS, can earn 6 PDUs after learning this CBT.

TurboProject 4.0 Standard

TurboProject 4.0 Standard is the feature-rich project management software that rivals Microsoft Project, but for a fraction of the cost. TurboProject 4.0 Standard has the ability to create project schedules and resource plans that can be used on projects as complex as launching a satellite to projects as small as organizing an office move. Its versatility is unparalleled. Sharing information is made simple with TurboProject 4.0 Standard's reports and web publish feature. Hi-quality graphics allow you to present your project with professional flair.

A solid, cost-effective alternative to Microsoft Project. Anybody who needs to produce project schedules, Gantt charts, resource calendars and progress reports will find this program quick to learn, easy to use and incredibly versatile. Project work breakdown structures (WBS) are easy to create with the outline tools. Activities can be duration or resource driven depending on whether you want to create a top-down, or bottom-up project schedule.


Resources can be assigned based upon skill types, fixed work, fixed duration, or fixed units. Resource allocations can even be distributed unevenly as in front-loading or back-loading work effort. Table columns can be customized to support any view of project data. Schedule updates and progress posting are made easy with the tracking tools. Work can be baselined and then compared to a current or proposed plan to determine specific areas of concern. Full support of critical path method and earned value. Projects can export to MS-Project.

Full-featured project control with superior resource management

For anyone who spends time scheduling work, TurboProject 4.0 Standard cuts scheduling time in half. Create project calendars in minutes, then assign resources and tasks, and check them off as they get completed. Import from Microsoft Project, Word, Excel and more.

PlanBee Pro Project Management

Do you ever need to create a schedule or a project management plan? Do you need to ensure that your projects stay on track and on time? Do you need to calculate and include time line information in a business plan? Do you need graphical, as well as text, output in bar (Gantt) chart or PERT format output for your CPM (Critical Path Method) plan? Do you find most PERT chart software hard to use? Do you want to avoid spending hundreds of dollars for one of the "big name/big buck" project management software like Microsoft Project, full of features that 99% of people will never use?

If you are looking for a simple project management software, then you come to the right place.

PlanBee Pro Project Management is a critical Path project management planning tool, an inexpensive alternative to Microsoft Project. Calculates Early Start, Late Start, Early Finish, Late Finish, Float (Slack) and identifies Critical Path activities. Calculates and summarizes resource costs. Shows all project data in a "spreadsheet" pattern for ease of understanding. Data may be manually entered or imported from a file or the clipboard. Independent re-sizeable and hideable windows show PERT views and Gantt (bar chart) views of the project in addition to the "spreadsheet" view. Activities and links may be set up and edited in either spreadsheet or PERT views or both at once, since all views are kept synchronized. Up to 1,000 activities. No limit on links per activity (within total of 2,000 links). Links may be Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Start or Finish-to-Finish to handle overlapping activities. Links may have minimum time lags specified. Individual activities may have their dates "fixed".

Pop up "working day" calendar with 200 year range. Easy to change working/non-working days. Activity durations and lags may be specified as either "working days" or "calendar days" - both types may be used in the same plan. Scale of PERT and Gantt charts are adjustable both on-screen and for printing (to make best use of pages). Reports, PERT charts and Gantt charts may be either printed, or copied to the clipboard for pasting into other programs. Each project may have its own resources list, or master resource lists may be maintained for use across projects. Activities may be grouped into up to three levels, with resource cost summaries available at each level.

On a network other users may have read-only access while one user has a file open for exclusive update. Includes features for use with larger plans and in a corporate environment, including resource leveling, costing, administrative detail and enhanced export facilities including the generation of HTML (web page) reports.


PlanBee Pro Project Management is easy to use because it's intuitive. If you can use a computer, you can set up a project in PlanBee Pro Project Management. It's even easier than most spreadsheet applications, yet with a similar interface. All you have to do is enter the task names, task durations and linkages in the grid and the project is created for you - with the program assuming the most prevalent values about task and linkage characteristics. By following the Quick Start Guide beginners can set up simple project plans in no time at all, yet skilled users can create plans of great complexity by using the advanced features available.

Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0

Aimed at those who won't put up with limits in their project management software, Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0 provides an excellent all-around package for getting control of time, resources, and budget. With excellent built-in Web and collaborative capabilities, this is a program that can simplify any busy manager's life.

To get started, Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0 bundles the KickStart tool, which lets even those new to project management software get going productively. In testing, this wizard asked us a series of questions about project phases, goals, people, potential obstacles, and the like, with extensive help from a built-in library of sample entries for many different industries. (If you have been using Microsoft Project, Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0 supports importing and exporting to .MPJ files, which is another way to start.)

Communicate with professional-quality reports and graphics. Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0 combines ease of use, power, and affordability. With Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0, you can create schedules graphically, as well as point and click to create relationships between activities. It is ideal for resource planning and control on small- to medium-sized projects.

Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0 features extensive support for the two traditional views for tracking a project: Gantt charts, which show a time line of various tasks, and PERT charts, which show logically connected diagrams of tasks along with dependencies. We liked the support for distributing a variety of reports over the Web using HTML. The product also allows managers to e-mail reports to other team members, plus you can add hyperlinks to any report or view.

Another notable feature included here is the ability to define custom resources (for instance, costs per employee, based on skill sets and project roles), "activity codes," and even specialized calendars. The control over costs in Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0 is certainly one of the product's strengths. You can track every cost associated with a project and see exactly where you are with your budget at any point within the project cycle.

Finally, at a time when most printed manuals are being downsized in favor of online help, we appreciated the Primavera SureTrak Project Manager's 500 pages of tutorials and documentation. Overall, Primavera's product delivers a well-thought-out project management package, one that can be used effectively by beginner and expert alike to track even large projects effectively. --Richard Dragan

Anticipate obstacles:
See how rescheduling one activity affects the predecessor and successor activities in the Trace Logic window of PERT. As you encounter project delays or resource shortages, SureTrak automatically displays the downstream effects on the rest of the project, and most importantly, on the critical path.

Send it in writing:
Print out what you see on-screen as a report or save as HTML format. Choose from over 40 industrial-strength reports, or create your own. Emphasize deadlines, communicate priorities or clarify responsibilities by embellishing with graphics, vivid colors and attention getting fonts.

Send it faster:
Get the latest priorities and schedule changes to your team members quickly using e-mail. Freely distribute Primavera's easy-to-use Primavera Post Office to project team members. They'll see their assignments and update their work, indicating when activities started and how much work remains. When project updates are received, audit them for accuracy, approve them and automatically merge them into the schedule - without any dual entry.

Send it farther:
Share graphical reports and layouts in HTML format. Communicate assignments, deadlines and project status with project participants at all levels in all locations with the Primavera SureTrak Web Publishing

Microsoft Project Standard 2007

Microsoft Office Project 2007 Standard is a simple project management software that meets the management needs of today's organizations. This suite delivers robust project management tools with the right blend of usability, power and flexibility -- allowing you to manage projects more efficiently and effectively. You can stay informed and control project work, schedules, and finances; keep project teams aligned; and be more productive through integration with familiar Microsoft Office system programs, powerful reporting options, as well as guided planning, wizards, and templates. Custom metrics help you track data relevant to your project - Percent complete, budget versus actual, earned value and more Track project performance over the project lifespan by saving project snapshots in up to 11 baselines Tailor the Software to meet your needs - Choose custom display fields; modify toolbars, formulas, graphical indicators and reports; leverage XML, Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and Component Object Model (COM) add-ins to facilitate data sharing and creation of custom solutions Get assistance when you need it - Microsoft Project Standard 2007 provides a robust Help search engine, smart tags, and wizards to aid novice and experienced users.

If you are looking for a Project Management Software, Microsoft Project Standard 2007 will be your first choice for your business.

Microsoft Project Standard 2007 helps you effectively track and analyze projects with a better understanding of the schedule and impact of changes, while also allowing you to benefit from better financial control and richer analytics. This application now offers the ability to quickly determine factors that are affecting task dates and easily trace the source of issues. Specifically, improved Task Drivers help you determine the factor (such as task dependency, calendar constraints, schedule date, or vacation time) driving the start date of the task, so you can follow a chain of factors back to find the root cause of a particular delay. Microsoft Project Standard 2007 also automatically highlights all items that shift as a result of the most recent change you make. You can even undo actions or sets of actions from macros, and that allows you to test several "what-if" scenarios in order to fully understand the implications of each choice while making scope alterations.

Microsoft Project Standard 2007 offers scheduling power and enhanced capabilities that can help improve the organization of your projects. Easily report and communicate information in various formats according to the needs of stakeholders. New leverage charts and diagrams will capture attention, thanks to the Visual Reports feature, which uses Excel and Visio Professional to produce PivotTable views, charts, graphs, and diagrams based on Project data. You can also enjoy the option of changing the background color of a cell or row with Background Cell Highlighting. Shade cells, similar to how you can in Excel, in order to convey additional meaning. In addition, any user can easily define custom report templates and share these with other Project users.

The One-Page Project Manager

The One-Page Project Manager shows you how to boil down any project into a simple, one-page document that can be used to communicate all essential details to upper management, other departments, suppliers, and audiences. This practical guide will save time and effort, helping you identify the vital parts of a project and communicate those parts and duties to other team members.

This uncommonly practical guide shows you how to reduce any project—no matter how big or complicated—into a simple, one-page document perfect for expressing essential details, communicating those details to upper management, and tracking progress. Plus, it's adaptable to virtually any process in your organization, including ISO and SAP. The One-Page Project Manager is the ultimate tool for beleaguered project managers who understand the value of simplicity.

"As you read through Clark Campbell's book, you will say to yourself, 'so simple, yet intuitive and useful; I can put this to work today!'"
—Todd Thompson, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, JetBlue Airways

"Provides a proven process for project management that significantly improves the chances that the project will be completed on time, on budget, and on target."—Steven C. Wheelwright, PhD, Baker Foundation Professor, Senior Associate Dean, and Director of Publications Activities, Harvard Business School

"Campbell reveals a wonderful tool for keeping projects on task. It's the perfect organizational solution for the executive needing relevant project information."
—Taylor Randall, PhD, Professor, David Eccles School of Business University of Utah

"This tool really works! It makes the complex look simpler, facilitates accurate and honest assessments, and all on just one page—which can, and will, be read by even the busiest executive."
—David C. Berg, former chief information officer, OC Tanner

"This book should be required reading for every manager who wants to improve project performance, accurately tell their story, and do it efficiently."
—Jonathan H. Du, PhD, CEO and Chairman, WiseChina Training Co. Ltd. Beijing, China

About the Author
CLARK A. CAMPBELL is a Senior Vice President at OC Tanner, where he has served in a number of executive positions and managed numerous large projects.

The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management

Until the early '90s, project management was definitely located somewhere near the unsexy end of the business spectrum. But now, with the rise of downsizing and outsourcing, it has become one of the hot disciplines.

Professional membership of the U.S.-based Project Management Institute (PMI) has quadrupled in the last decade, and Microsoft claimed recently to have over 2 million users worldwide of its project management software. The reasons for this growth are simple. Project management is about managing "projects," that is, unique pieces of work (as opposed to ongoing operations). Downsizing, outsourcing, and the accelerating pace of change have meant that, increasingly, work is carried out on an ad-hoc, one-off project basis. The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management is designed as an advanced textbook for businesspeople with a grasp of the basics and insufficient time (or inclination) to go back to school to learn more. Written by Eric Verzuh, president of the Versatile Company, a leading project-management consultancy, this is not a heavy academic text.

This is one of the bestselling books ever published on the topic of project management. Now in a revised new third edition, it presents you with a wealth of proven techniques for managing projects from establishing project objectives to building schedules to projecting costs. It includes all the basics on defining, planning, and tracking a project, as well as building stronger project teams. This new edition includes new chapters on Agile Project Management, PMI exam prep, and more.

Like the rest of the Fast Forward series, this book is designed to let the reader extract maximum information in minimum time. There is a strong use of graphics with tables, charts cross-heads, and bullet points. Important passages are flagged in bold and/or emblazoned with the words key concept. When you read it, you realize that there is nothing magical about project management, just the application of careful common sense. The book covers all the basic stuff like planning, time-tabling, quantity and price estimation, resource allocation, and scheduling. But it also acknowledges that there is inevitably a political dimension to every project, no matter how small. So it has important sections on how to ensure that all the stakeholders in the project are kept "on board" and the importance of communication.

As Verzuh states in his introduction,

"Every project participant from part-time team member to executive sponsor, becomes more effective once he or she understands the basics of project management."

Really, this is a book about management that every manager should read, whether he or she has a project or not. --Alex Benady