Project Management Essentials You Always Wanted To Know

1. Project Management Overview

1.1 Project Definition

1.2 Reasons for Starting a Project

1.3 Project Management

1.4 Program & Portfolio

1.5 Project Management Office (PMO)

1.6 Management by Objectives (MBO)

1.7 Constraints

1.8 Stakeholders

1.9 Organizational Structures

1.10 Life Cycles

1.11 Project Management Phases

Solved Examples

Practice Exercises

Chapter Summary

2. Project Initiation

2.1 Project Selection

2.2 Project Charter

2.3 Identification of Stakeholders

Solved Examples

Practice Exercises

Chapter Summary

3. Project Planning

3.1 Scope Planning

3.2 Time Planning

Case Study

Solved Examples

Practice Exercises

Chapter Summary

4. Project Planning

4.1 Cost Planning

4.2 Quality Planning

4.3 Human Resource Planning

4.4 Communications Planning

4.5 Risk Planning

4.6 Procurement Planning

4.7 Approval and Kickoff Meeting

Case Study

Solved Examples

Practice Exercises

Chapter Summary

5. Project Execution

5.1 Resource Mobilization

5.2 Perform Project Execution

5.3 Team Management

5.4 Quality Audits and Improvements

5.5 Project Communications

5.6 Stakeholder Management

5.7 Procurement & Contracting

Solved Examples

Practice Exercises

Chapter Summary

6. Project Monitoring and Controlling

6.1 Monitoring

6.2 Control

6.3 Schedule and Cost Tracking

6.4 Project Reporting

6.5 Quality Control

6.6 Risk Monitoring

6.7 Gaining Acceptance

6.8 Managing Contracts

6.9 Handling Changes

Case Study

Solved Examples

Practice Exercises

Chapter Summary

7. Project Closure

7.1 Closing Contracts

7.2 Closing Project

Solved Examples

Practice Exercises

Chapter Summary

8. Agile Overview

8.1 What is Agile?

8.2 Need for Agile

8.3 Agile Characteristics

8.4 Agile Myths

8.5 Agile Manifesto

8.6 Agile Methodologies

Solved Examples

Practice Exercises

Chapter Summary

Glossary

Kalpesh Ashar is a management consultant and corporate trainer holding an MBA (Dean’s Award Winner) from SPJIMR, one of Asia’s top business schools, and an Engineering degree with honors in Electronics. He has over 24 years of experience in large organizations and start-ups in Asia, USA, and Europe. Kalpesh has worked in several project management roles, like Senior Project Manager, Delivery Manager, and Program Manager. He is passionate about writing on management subjects. His techno-business background gives him a unique position to write on management topics that are easy to understand for non-MBA graduates. His books are authored in a simple to understand manner without unnecessary use of management jargons.

Vibrant Publishers is focused on presenting the best texts for learning about technology and business as well as books for test preparation. Categories include programming, operating systems and other texts focused on IT. In addition, a series of books helps professionals in their own disciplines learn the business skills needed in their professional growth.

Vibrant Publishers has a standardized test preparation series covering the GMAT, GRE and SAT, providing ample study and practice material in a simple and well organized format, helping students get closer to their dream universities.

The Self-Learning Management Series is designed to help students, new managers, career switchers, and entrepreneurs learn essential management lessons and covers every aspect of business, from HR to Finance to Marketing to Operations across any and every industry. Each book includes basic fundamentals, important concepts, and standard and well-known principles as well as practical ways of application of the subject matter.

This book reinforces my teaching, and students love having a resource that reminds them of what they learned in class.
-- Angela J. Wheaton, Practical & Effective Project Management in University of Maine Hutchinson Center & University of Southern Maine

 
The book explains the concepts in a simple and very understandable manner. All concepts are explained very well and provided with very simple and relatable examples. The book is very reader friendly and the examples provided are real life examples. This book will be very useful to students and project professionals alike.
-- Brajesh C. Kaimal, Director - Experion Technologies & Principal Consultant - enXCL Business Solutions, India

The author himself is holding PMP, PRINCE2, PMI-ACP, CSM certifications which makes him an authority in the subject. The book covers all the 5 process of Project Management thoroughly. The contents are quite crisp & clear for the graduate students and substantial for the PM professionals. Though small in size, the book convers all the aspects of PM, from the principles to the practices, with sufficient examples and templates. This makes reading this book an exciting experience for the readers.
-- Dr. Rahul Dahatonde, Associate Professor - Training & Placement, SPCE, Mumbai 

I use Project Management Essentials You Always Wanted to Know as a textbook for my Effective Project Management and Practical Project Management classes. I supplement my course material with reading assignments from this book. Students enjoy the book’s simple explanations of project management concepts and the helpful diagrams which accompany them. The book also emphasizes industry best practices. The free templates are a solid resource for students, and the review questions and problems are great discussion starters. This book reinforces my teaching, and students love having a resource that reminds them of what they learned in class.
-- Angela J. Wheaton, MA, PMP, CMS, Instructor of Project Management ( freelancer )

Filled with easily digestible information and a bonus glossary of terms, Project Management Essentials is a useful tool for anyone who is looking to be a better project manager, leader, or learner.
-- Marisa Soltz, MLIS, Reference Supervisor, Canby Public Library

A quick reference guide for project management professionals Easy to learn best practices for effective and successful project delivery Presented in structured way using a step by step process oriented approach Key concepts and terminology aligned to PMI (USA) methodology Ready to use templates enable managing of projects easier
-- Cmde Parambath Prabhakaran
Adjunct Faculty in Project Management Centre at S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research

Project Management is a skill that we all need in both our work and home settings. Project Management Essentials takes you through every step of managing a project, including project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and finally, project closure. Filled with easily digestible information and a bonus glossary of terms, Project Management Essentials is a useful tool for anyone who is looking to be a better project manager, leader, or learner.
-- Marisa Soltz, MLIS
Reference Supervisor, Canby Public Library

Everyone needs project management skills because everything in this world is essentially a project—including your career and your life. As a scholar and practitioner in project management, I found that this book provides pragmatic knowledge in managing projects and also prepares you to get a certificate from Project Management Institute (PMI) if you are interested to become a professional in project management. You can gain experience by reading this book and apply more than ten templates to manage your projects. There are also many well-designed practical examples to help you have a deep understanding of what you learn. In short, I recommend this book to people who want to know how to manage projects and even become a professional in project management.
-- Weichu Xu MBA,Ph.D
Associate Professor of Business Management
East Stroudsburg University

Thank you for the opportunity to preview this book! Offering just the right amount of detail balanced with practical advice, this book is a 'how to' resource for anyone new to project management and an excellent refresher for the seasoned pro!
-- Lindy Williams
Chief Creative Officer
Talent Dimensions

The book overall explanation is good and easy to understand.
-- Allen Lim
Assistant Professor of Business Management
East Stroudsburg University

This textbook is an easy-to-read handbook designed to appeal to a wide audience of learners striving to increase their project management skills. The book discusses the hard and soft skills of management and its implication for stakeholders as well as the topic of communication among various disciplines within a business. Kalpesh Ashar has put together a comprehensive manual of project management that can be used by undergraduates, project managers, team leaders, and plant superintendents alike. The author has tied together knowledge and understanding from multiple business disciplines in an understandable format for readers who may not have advanced degrees.
-- Jacqueline R. Jaeger, Adjunct Business Faculty
MBA, St. Ambrose University, BA, Loras College

A good comprehensive guide to project management. The templates are a great extra that comes with the book.
-- njtrout
Librarything User

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