The Project Management Advisor
18 Major Project Screw-Ups, and How to Cut Them off at the Pass
Published on 2. September 2004
Book
Paperback/Softback
192 pages
978-0-13-149047-5 (ISBN)
Description
With so many project management books in print, why do projects still come in late and over budget? While other books tell you how to plan, they don't explain how to save projects in real life, when things go awry. This book identifies the 18 most pervasive causes of project failure and their warning signs, explains why they happen, and shows exactly how to overcome them. Drawing on 20 years of frontline project management experience, Lonnie Pacelli shows you how to ensure you're working on the right problem, how to keep project sponsors committed, and how to ensure effective risk management. He offers hard-won insights on realistically determining a project's scope, involving the right people in cross-disciplinary teams, managing multiple project risks, and bringing each project to a strong finish. You'll discover new ways to get all your team members on the same page, streamline that endless final 10% of your projects, and reduce last-minuterework caused by unanticipated stakeholders. From start to finish, this book was crafted for working project managers. It's concise, relevant, easy to read, full of war stories, and packed with practical resources and advice to help real people cut real project problems off at the pass.
More details
Person
Lonnie Pacelli is President of Leading on the Edge International (http://www.leadingonedge.com). Lonnie has over 20 years leadership expertise as an executive, project manager, developer, tester, analyst, trainer, consultant, and business owner. During his 11 years at Accenture he built leadership expertise consulting with many Fortune 500 companies including Motorola, Hughes Electronics, and Northrop-Grumman. During his nine years at Microsoft he continued building leadership expertise through development of some of Microsoft's internal systems, led their Corporate Procurement group, managed their Corporate Planning group, and led company-wide initiatives on Continuous Fiscal Improvement and Training Process Optimization. He has successfully implemented projects ranging from complex IT systems to process re-engineering to business strategies.
Lonnie is also currently CEO of Banzai Sushi (http://www.banzai-sushi.com) in Seattle, WA. Banzai Sushi is the premier manufacturer of frozen sushi products.
Lonnie is also a Principal with Consetta Web Solutions (http://www.small-business-internet-marketing.info) which specializes in web hosting, marketing, and e-book publishing for small businesses.
Lonnie is also a Partner with Ascend Business Solutions (http://www.ascendbusiness.com) which specializes in back-office outsourcing, consulting, and providing leadership expertise for small businesses.
Lonnie is also currently CEO of Banzai Sushi (http://www.banzai-sushi.com) in Seattle, WA. Banzai Sushi is the premier manufacturer of frozen sushi products.
Lonnie is also a Principal with Consetta Web Solutions (http://www.small-business-internet-marketing.info) which specializes in web hosting, marketing, and e-book publishing for small businesses.
Lonnie is also a Partner with Ascend Business Solutions (http://www.ascendbusiness.com) which specializes in back-office outsourcing, consulting, and providing leadership expertise for small businesses.
Content
Preface.
Acknowledgements.
Failure #1. We Weren't Addressing the Right Problem.
Failure #2. We Designed the Wrong Thing.
Failure #3. We Used the Wrong Technology.
Failure #4. We Didn't Do a Good Project Schedule.
Failure #5. We Didn't Have the Right Sponsorship.
Failure #6. The Team Didn't Gel.
Failure #7. We Didn't Involve the Right People.
Failure #8. We Didn't Communicate What We Were Doing.
Failure #9. We Didn't Pay Attention to Project Risks and Management Issues.
Failure #10. The Project Cost Much More Than Expected.
Failure #11. We Didn't Understand and Report Progress against the Plan.
Failure #12. We Tried to Do Too Much.
Failure #13. We Didn't Do Enough Testing.
Failure #14. We Weren't Effective at Training the Customer.
Failure #15. We Didn't Pull the Plug on the Project When We Should Have.
Failure #16. We Tripped at the Finish Line.
Failure #17. The Vendor Didn't Deliver.
Failure #18. We Had No Fallback Position in Case the Product Failed.
Wrapping It Up...
Acknowledgements.
Failure #1. We Weren't Addressing the Right Problem.
Failure #2. We Designed the Wrong Thing.
Failure #3. We Used the Wrong Technology.
Failure #4. We Didn't Do a Good Project Schedule.
Failure #5. We Didn't Have the Right Sponsorship.
Failure #6. The Team Didn't Gel.
Failure #7. We Didn't Involve the Right People.
Failure #8. We Didn't Communicate What We Were Doing.
Failure #9. We Didn't Pay Attention to Project Risks and Management Issues.
Failure #10. The Project Cost Much More Than Expected.
Failure #11. We Didn't Understand and Report Progress against the Plan.
Failure #12. We Tried to Do Too Much.
Failure #13. We Didn't Do Enough Testing.
Failure #14. We Weren't Effective at Training the Customer.
Failure #15. We Didn't Pull the Plug on the Project When We Should Have.
Failure #16. We Tripped at the Finish Line.
Failure #17. The Vendor Didn't Deliver.
Failure #18. We Had No Fallback Position in Case the Product Failed.
Wrapping It Up...