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This book provides a framework for understanding and managing factors required for achieving successful project and program outcomes. It presents guidelines to help readers develop an understanding of governance and its connection to strategy as the starting point for decisions on what work needs to be done. The book describes how to craft appropriate communication strategies to develop and maintain successful relationships with stakeholders. It highlights the strengths and weaknesses of existing project controls and outlines effective communication techniques for managing expectations and acquiring the support required for successful delivery.
Projects are performed by people for people, with the key determinants of success being the relationships between project teams and project stakeholders. This web of relationships will either enable or obstruct the flow of information between people and, as a consequence, will largely determine project success or failure.Making Projects Work: Effec
A key role of educators is preparing students for today's world of work, where a top skill demanded by employers is the ability to work together in teams. This user-friendly manual equips educators with the tools needed to provide students with an understanding of what it takes to work successfully on group projects, and learn these valuable teamwork skills. The authors are two college educators with decades of experience teaching group dynamics. In this book, they share their expertise so that novice and experienced educators alike can better plan, execute, and assess group projects. Topics include assigning students to teams, developing a meaningful team task, creating leadership in student groups, managing conflict during a group project, communicating effectively as a group, and supporting teams in an online environment. The book is written in a conversational style and includes structured advice, examples, and worksheets to provide teachers with more confidence to run group projects in their classrooms across a wide range of subjects. The companion website offers additional resources and easy access to the authors who answer questions and provide consultation. This book is an invaluable resource that should be in the library of every educator.What Educators are Saying about the BookPlacing students into groups is a classic instructional method. Yet sometimes students and instructors need supplemental guidance to make group work successful rather than frustrating. If you use student group projects as an instructional method this is a must-have book. This practical resource offers a wealth of information, tips, and instructional strategies to facilitate working and learning in small groups. Highly recommended.Steven A. Beebe, Ph.D.Regents' and University Distinguished ProfessorTexas State UniversityCo-author, Communicating in Small Groups: Principles and PracticesAs a university professor in a large business school for 30 years, I know the value of group projects but have struggled with facilitating them well. I welcome this book. The authors have written a practical and concise treatment to enable group project success. This helpful handbook is full of excellent examples of the challenges those of us with group projects face, and useful solutions to those challenges. I highly recommend this book. Ellen F. Monk, Ph.D.Department of Accounting and MISLerner College of Business & EconomicsUniversity of DelawareI especially like the scenarios and practical applications that this book offers. I can envision high school teachers using this book in a professional learning community to guide their practices. I also can see this book used as a reference material - it's accessible and a quick read with valuable insight and perspectives uncovered. Offering a structured approach to group work would be particularly helpful for teachers.Amy Shannon, M.S. Assistant PrincipalVictor High SchoolThe adage "we are better together" rings true in every educational setting. Students learn best when they learn from each other. I often used group projects so students can blend their knowledge and past experiences to produce great work. And, to teach students how to work collaboratively as a team knowing that this is a critical life skill needed to thrive in today's global community. Now as a school administrator, I often observe teachers who employ team projects, but forget to establish guides and norms to help the team thrive. The authors of this book provide educators with a detailed guide on how students should collaborate to not only produce a project, but to learn critical life skills that can push the team to efficient new heights. This is a must read for teachers who want to get the very best out of their student teams. I highly recommend this book and will incorporate its practices in my district.Michael V. Ginestre, M.S., Superintendent of SchoolsSherman Central School District
Making Projects Critical is an edited collection contributed by a range of international scholars linking the area of project management with critical management perspectives. Challenging recent debates on inherent problems in project management, the text considers project management within a wider organizational and societal context.
Since it was first published in 1997, Creating an Environment for Successful Projects has become a landmark work that shows how to develop project management as an organizational practice. This second edition offers solid, results-oriented advice on how upper management can create an environment that supports the success of special projects and the development of new products. The book also includes a wealth of examples from the authors' workshop participants and readers of the first edition who have successfully implemented these concepts within their organizations. New in the second edition: Ideas and practices about portfolio management to achieve greater overall success from a portfolio of projects Advice for helping project teams come together to become more effective Information for developing the chief project officer Suggestions for implementing project management information systems More descriptions about organizations and people who have used these principles to develop vastly improved environments
Now in its third edition, this project management classic has been updated with an array of field-tested tools to help upper management ensure the success of projects within organizations. For over twenty years, Creating an Environment for Successful Projects has been a staple for upper managers who want to help projects succeed. This new edition includes case studies from companies that have successfully applied the approach, along with practical tools such as templates, surveys, and benchmark reports for savvy leaders who want to ensure project success throughout their organizations. The insights in this book will help management speed projects along instead of getting in their way. All too often, well-intentioned managers put roadblocks in the team's way instead of empowering them with the tools they need to succeed. This approach to project environments, grounded in decades of research and practice, will help you make your organization the most project-friendly it's ever been. Organizational changes rarely work unless upper management is heavily involved. Although project managers are most closely responsible for the success of projects, upper managers are the ones who ultimately create an environment that supports those projects. The way upper managers define, structure, and act toward projects has an important effect on the success or failure of those projects and, consequently, the success or failure of the organization. This book helps all managers understand the need for project management changes and shows how to develop project management as an organizational practice.
Do you face the challenge of running really effective meetings, facilitated sessions or workshops as part of your role? Would you like to feel more confident when working with challenging groups or senior participants? Do you want to deliver lasting results collaboratively, in virtual, hybrid and in-person environments? Making Workshops Work takes you from an initial idea or brief, through step-by-step preparation, to an engaging, well-run and effective session, resulting in agreed actions and clear follow up. You’ll feel confident, creative and competent as you deliver great results. Everyone will be committed to their actions and afterwards, whether you meet virtually, in-person or mix the two. Penny Pullan is a pioneer of virtual working and one of the world’s leading experts on running effective workshops. Her expertise and candid stories will inspire at every stage, to ensure that you are fully prepared to make the best use of your own and your participants’ valuable time. Discover: A practical step-by-step guide to get the most out of group sessions quickly whether virtual or in-person Memorable case studies, stories and examples to highlight what really works and what doesn’t Downloadable tools, templates and checklists to reduce your preparation time and enhance your effectiveness Reflective questions and exercises to help you develop your own approach, building on what works for you and adapting what doesn’t, so that each workshop is better than the last Dr Penny Pullan is the author of several books including ‘Virtual Leadership: Practical Strategies for Getting the Best out of Virtual Work and Virtual Teams'(Kogan Page, 2016). She works with people in multinational organizations who are grappling with tricky projects: uncertain, with ambiguous requirements, stakeholders who need to be engaged and virtual teams dispersed around the world. When they work with Penny, clients notice that communication, collaboration, clarity, commitment, connection and confidence grow, and change doesn’t seem quite as tricky as before!
This book explores ‘project management’ (PM) from a new perspective. Project management is facing a paradigmatic stalemate. Its major challenge is complexity. Its current paradigmatic foundation in first-order cybernetics has reached its limits. More tools are created and project management is applied to any potential context, expecting better results while doing more of the same. Beyond conventional project management, agile and other project management approaches have emerged as new options to answer the complexity challenge. Yet, the question remains whether new options and more tools in light of the current shortcomings can create enough momentum for project management as a whole to overcome its paradigmatic stalemate and evolve toward new paradigms based on second-order cybernetics. This book will embark on a journey to explore current paradigms in project management and argue why an analysis of discourse practices in project management may be critical to generating new paradigmatic perspectives. The aim of this book is to provide an alternative perspective on projects as discourses and project management as a means to observe and conduct these discourses. Instead of defining what projects and project management are, the approach is to look at what people talk about when doing projects and apply project management. It will arrive at a picture of how discourses about project management are shaped and institutionalised through the sensemaking of individuals and selected communities in their specific project practice and how these discourses shape project management in turn. It is argued that this self-reinforcing circle leads to a certain solidification of project management paradigms which prove insufficient in dealing with project complexity. However, it will also be argued that project practitioners can utilise their self-reflection and self-description of these discourse conventions to obtain more meaningful project conversations and arrive at a unified and systemically integrated understanding of project management. This book will be of particular relevance to those interested in current issues underlying project management. More generally, it will be a valuable resource for researchers of project management, organisational studies and governance.
A good business case is so much more than simply the means to justify a decision. A well-written and well-researched business case will secure funding; make sure any project stays on the right side of regulation; mobilize support for the cause; provide the platform for managing the project and the benchmark against which to measure progress. Ian Gambles' Making the Business Case shows you how to make sense of the task at hand, develop a strategy, articulate your options, define the benefits, establish the costs, identify the risks and make a compelling case. Just as with the best business cases, the text is concise, jargon-free and easy to read; illustrated throughout with practical examples drawn from real cases and including reflective exercises at the end of each chapter to help you consolidate what you have learned. At only 198 pages long, this is a jewel of a book; essential reading for the manager tasked with making the business case, the senior manager who needs to understand and test it, and the project manager who is responsible for delivering whatever is agreed on.
The future of work is virtual, with dispersed teams, telecommuting, remote working and virtual meetings becoming the norm across sectors and industries around the world. However leading virtual teams requires a new set of skills and a facilitative leadership approach, Virtual Leadership is here to help. At its best, virtual working can be productive and creative, tapping into the best people wherever they are and bringing skills and experience together efficiently and at low cost. But it can also lead to isolated and disengaged workers, ineffective communication, and uncoordinated and even counter-productive activity. Virtual Leadership provides practical strategies, tools and solutions for the key issues involved in managing at a distance. How can I provide leadership, motivation and vision through virtual channels? How do I make virtual meetings effective, engaging and productive, and ensure actions are followed through? How do I create engaged and cohesive teams across distance, cultures and languages? How do I stop virtual team members silently checking out, distracted by local challenges and offline issues? With diverse case studies and examples, this is the essential guide to making a difference as a leader of virtual work.