Project Management and Much More
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Project Management - Start Here!

 

Project Management is a well-established approach to managing and controlling the introduction of new initiatives or organizational changes.

Projects are finite in length, usually one-time pieces of work involving a number of activities that must be completed within a given time frame, and often on a fixed budget. Common examples of projects are construction of a building, introduction of a new product, installation of a new piece of machinery in a manufacturing plant, creation of a new software tool, or the design and launch of a new advertising campaign.

While the very simplest projects can be managed easily by applying common sense and just getting on with things, projects that are more complex need a great deal of planning, and benefit from a formal, disciplined management approach. From making sure that activities will actually meet the specified need, to devising a workable schedule, developing systems for reporting progress, and managing requests for changes – all of these issues require thoughtful consideration.

Managing projects well requires a great deal of time, skill, and finesse. There are many sides to project management and this is what makes it so interesting and demanding. Project managers are expected to take an uncertain event and make a certain promise to deliver. They are also expected to do this within a specified time and within a limited budget. (You can learn 44 powerful project management and change management techniques in our members area, the Career Excellence Club.)

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New Articles (Not included in the Mind Tools E-book.)
* Shows articles available in full only to Career Excellence Club members

Influence Maps - Uncovering where the power lies in your projects
Burke-Litwin Change Model - Unraveling the dynamics of organizational change*
Overcoming Cultural Barriers to Change - Moving to a high performance culture*
Change Management - Making organization change happen effectively*
Using the Change Curve - Accelerating change, and improving project success*
Lewin's Change Management Model - Understanding the three stages of change*
Kotter's 8-Step Change Model - Implementing change powerfully and successfully
The RACI Matrix - Structuring accountabilities for maximum efficiency and results*
Organizational Design - Aligning organizational structure with business goals*
Work Breakdown Structures - Mapping out the work within a project*
Project Dashboards - Quickly communicating project progress*
Project Initiation Documents - Getting your project off to a great start
Project Milestone Reporting - Keeping projects on track by monitoring check points*
Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) - Implementing new ideas in a controlled way*
Logframes, and the Logical Framework Approach - Planning projects robustly
 

A full list of Mind Tools articles is available here.

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