Visualizing Project Management: Models and Frameworks for Mastering Complex Systems, 3rd Edition

Introduction Using Visual Models to Master Complex Systems xxi

Part One Using Models and Frameworks to Master Complex Systems

1 Why Are Project Requirements a Critical Issue? 3

Maintaining consistency of the business case, the project scope, and customer needs

2 Visualizing the Project Environment 8

Using systems thinking to understand and manage the bigger picture

3 Modeling the Five Essentials 19

Visualizing the critical relationships in managing projects

Part Two The Essentials of Project Management

4 Organizational Commitment 37

Ensuring success with management support, quality environment, and needed resources

5 Project Communication 48

Communicating clearly, completely, and concisely

6 Teamwork 69

Maximizing team energy and output

7 The Project Cycle 84

Understanding the steps and gates in every project life cycle

8 The Ten Management Elements 129

Comprehending the relationships among the techniques to be applied throughout the cycle

Part Three The Ten Management Elements in Detail

9 Project Requirements 137

Ensuring satisfied users by determining and delivering what’s wanted

10 Organization Options 167

Selecting and adapting the structure for the project

11 The Project Team 181

Getting the right people

12 Project Planning 196

Determining the best way to get there

13 Opportunities and Their Risks 223

Seeking and seizing opportunities and managing their risks

14 Project Control 254

Making sure the right things happen and the wrong things don’t

15 Project Visibility 278

Providing project transparency for everyone involved

16 Project Status 292

Discovering the problems

17 Corrective Action 312

Fixing the problems

18 Project Leadership 319

Motivating and inspiring the team

Part Four Implementing the Five Essentials

19 Principles and Tactics for Mastering Complexity 341

Implementing the technical development process

20 Integration, Verification, and Validation 361

Delivering the right thing, done right

21 Improving Project Performance 381

Moving beyond success

Appendixes

A Web Site for Forms and Templates 401

B The Professional and Standards Environment 403

C The Role of Unified Modeling Language™ in Systems Engineering 409

D A Summary of the Eight Phase Estimating Process 415

E Overview of the SEI-CMMI 421

Glossary One Hundred Commonly Misunderstood Terms 427

Notes 435

Index 441