Contents

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Part One:  Beginnings

  1. The Ten Steps to a Successful Project
  2. The Project Probability of Success Indicator (PSI)
  3. Why You Wouldn’t Cook Dinner Like You Do Projects
  4. Project Management is the Most Difficult Job in the World

Part Two:  How To Run a Successful Project – Project Planning  

  1. The One Thing You Shouldn’t Say When You Get Handed a Project [Step 1]
  2. If One Does Not Know to Which Port One is Sailing, no Wind is Favourable [Step 1]
  3. Boxes and Clouds [Step 1]
  4. What’s a Successful Project Anyway? [Step 1]
  5. Change Control [Steps 1 & 7]
  6. Work and Duration; Time [Step 2]
  7. Estimation – The Problem and How to Deal With It [Step 2]
  8. How to Estimate Anything Accurately [Step 2]
  9. The Project Budget [Step 2]
  10. Trail Bosses and Trail Bossing [Step 3]
  11. Supply and Demand Isn’t Just For Economists [Step 4]
  12. Availability – the Silent Killer of Projects [Step 4]
  13. What if Things Go Wrong? [Step 5(a)]
  14. Build a Plan in 6 Easy Steps [Steps 1-5(a)]
  15. Dealing with Constraints [Step 5(b)]
  16. Dealing with Impossible Projects and Irrational Stakeholders [Step 5(b)]

Part Three:  How To Run a Successful Project – Project Execution

  1. Getting the Best Out of the Team [Step 6]
  2. Light Project Tracking [Step 7]
  3. Project Status Meetings (and How to Avoid Them) [Step 7]
  4. Light Status Reporting [Step 8]
  5. The 5-Minute Project Management Improvement Program [Step 10]

Part Four:  The Incredibly Versatile Probability of Success Indicator  

  1. The PSI Again or How to Assess a Project in 5 Minutes
  2. Use the PSI as a Project Dashboard
  3. Put the PSI on Status Reports
  4. Use the PSI for Project Status Meetings
  5. What to do if You Inherit a Project
  6. How to Rescue a Project
  7. 13 Signs That Your Project May be in Deep Trouble

Part Five:  Running Multiple Projects

  1. The Problem
  2. Why Time Management Courses Don’t Work
  3. The Funnel and the Two Filters
  4. Filter #1 Learning to Prioritise Viciously
  5. Filter #1 Practising Prioritising Viciously
  6. Filter #2 A Little Planning Beats a Lot of Firefighting
  7. The Power of Doing Less 

Part Six:  How To Run Successful Projects in Half The Time – Fast Projects

  1. Days Are Different
  2. How Is It Possible?
  3. Why Don’t More People Do it?
  4. The Fast Projects Process and How It’s Different
  5. The Critical Path
  6. Three Simple Ways to Shorten Your Project
  7. How to Scope and Plan a Project – Even a Big One – in a Day
  8. The Ultimate Way to Shorten a Project – Use a Strip Board
  9. Mission Briefings

Part Seven: Project Management and Your Organisation 

  1. Multitasking is Disastrous for Productivity – So Why Does Everybody Do It?
  2. Is This How Your Organisation is Run? – Capacity Planning