The. Rational. Project Manager A THINKING TEAM S GUIDE TO GETTING WORK DONE. Andrew Longman Jim Mullins KEPNER-TREGOE, INC. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "The. Rational. Project Manager A THINKING TEAM S GUIDE TO GETTING WORK DONE. Andrew Longman Jim Mullins KEPNER-TREGOE, INC. John Wiley & Sons, Inc."

Nickolas Wilcox
5 years ago
Views:

1 The Rational Project Manager A THINKING TEAM S GUIDE TO GETTING WORK DONE Andrew Longman Jim Mullins KEPNER-TREGOE, INC. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

3 The Rational Project Manager

5 The Rational Project Manager A THINKING TEAM S GUIDE TO GETTING WORK DONE Andrew Longman Jim Mullins KEPNER-TREGOE, INC. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

6 Copyright 2005 by Kepner-Tregoe, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, , fax , or on the web at Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, , fax Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. For general information on our other products and services, or technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at , outside the United States at or fax Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Longman, Andrew, 1959 The rational project manager : a thinking team s guide to getting work done / Andrew Longman, James Mullins. p. cm. ISBN (cloth) 1. Project management. I. Mullins, James, 1973 II. Title. HD69.P75.L dc Printed in the United States of America

7 Acknowledgments Plain and simple, this book could not have been written without the pioneering work of Jim Schlick. As Kepner-Tregoe s head of Product Development in the mid-1980s, Jim surveyed the project management landscape and saw it littered with tools and methods: network diagrams, critical paths, Gantt charts, resource allocation, earned value analysis. What was missing, Jim found, was a simple, systematic, rational approach to defining, planning, and implementing projects. Jim researched the best project management tools, charted the thinking processes behind successful projects, and assembled the results into a rational methodology. This process approach continues to be a distinction and strength today, as Jim Schlick still consults for Kepner-Tregoe as a partner and project management expert. He has served as a mentor to the authors in their professional endeavors, and his ideas form the core of the book. The book also relied on sound editing, proofing, formatting, and project management expertise from many others. Specific thanks go out to Matt Holt of John Wiley, for embracing this book from the outset, Christabel Nazareth for her keen literary eye and objective critique, Dale Corey, who persevered through several drafts, and Judie Morello and Irene Worek, who prepared the manuscript for consideration. We would also like to acknowledge Ben Tregoe, who introduced us to a conscious approach of clear thinking and effective action; Dan Lochmann of DaimlerChrylser, formally of Kepner-Tregoe, who helped to shape the method closer to what it is today; and the hundreds of clients and learners who, while we were helping them, taught us something about how project work really gets done. v

8 vi Acknowledgments And where would we be without our literary agent, friend, and mentor? Peter Tobia of Market Access is the force behind the publication of The Rational Project Manager, and we thank him sincerely. Andrew Longman would also like to thank: my parents, who taught me at a young age the benefit of planning and organization during our many family camping trips; my wife, Chrysanthe, herself a mother and master project manager and source of support and inspiration; and my brother Phillip, the author, for the role model and advice he provided. Jim Mullins adds his thanks to Jen and Kira, for loving me despite my demand for obsessive planning; my mom, who taught me the value of extreme dedication through her work with special needs children; and my brother and sister, Mike and Colleen, for always being there for me, no matter what.

9 About the Authors Andrew Longman is a partner in Kepner-Tregoe, Inc. He is also director of marketing and product development, responsible for the design, development, and delivery of Kepner-Tregoe s service products as well as the worldwide promotion of the company s brand and consultants. Mr. Longman helped design and implement ethink, Kepner- Tregoe s critical-thinking support software, and its project management software, Project Logic. He has also been instrumental in the design of a Web-based version of Kepner-Tregoe s Problem Solving and Decision Making. His clients include American Honda, DRS, Kimberly-Clark, Lockheed-Martin, Daimler-Chrysler, Procter & Gamble, and TRW. With a bachelor of science in psychology and philosophy from Northern Michigan University, Mr. Longman is certified by the Project Management Institute as a project management professional (PMP). Jim Mullins is Kepner-Tregoe, Inc. s worldwide product manager for ethink, a software system that supports the use of problem-solving and decision-making skills to resolve project issues and capture lessons learned. Mr. Mullins consults with Pfizer, Masterfoods USA, GAF Corp., Interbake Foods, Brunswick Corporation, and many other clients in a vii

10 viii About the Authors variety of industries, analyzing and structuring clients performance systems to improve project results, transferring critical-thinking skills, and installing project management. His work with clients has led to their solution of numerous high-priority issues, resulting in savings of millions of dollars. Holding a bachelor of arts degree from the College of the Holy Cross, Mr. Mullins is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

11 Contents 1 The Missing Pieces of the Project Management Puzzle 1 Project Management as the New Imperative 3 Project Management Unplugged 5 Project Management in Action 6 The Stuff of Projects 8 Today s Projects: What Makes Them Different? 9 Today s Game Is Speed 10 Disembodied Goals 11 The Ebb and Flow of Today s Teams 12 The Competition for Resources 12 The Revolving Door 13 The Penchant for Complexity 13 Projects Aren t Going Away 14 The Missing Pieces of the Project Management Puzzle 14 What s Ahead 17 2 Project Definition 19 Why Are We Doing This Project? 22 State the Project 23 Develop Objectives 26 Develop the Work Breakdown Structure 33 Identify Resource Requirements 40 Additional Definition Topics 49 ix

12 x Contents 3 Project Planning 55 Assign Responsibility 58 Sequence Deliverables 64 Schedule Deliverables 72 Schedule Resources 76 Protect and Enhance the Plan 82 Enhance the Plan 89 Additional Planning Topics 90 Planning Summary 95 4 Project Implementation 97 Are You Ready to Do the Work? 99 Start to Implement 100 Monitor the Project 107 Modify the Project 115 Closeout and Evaluate 119 Additional Implementation Topic 123 Implementation Summary Managing People in Projects 129 Influencing People 133 The Performance System 133 Involving People 149 Communicating with People 156 Meetings and Communication 164 Summary Project Decision Making and Problem Solving 173 Situation Appraisal 176 Decision Analysis 181 Problem Analysis 190 Decision-Making and Problem-Solving Summary 195

13 Contents xi 7 Installing Project Management within an Organization 197 Ensuring Systematic Use of Project Management 199 Installing Project Management 203 How Should You Install Project Management in Your Organization? 211 A Final Word on Project Management 213 Index 215

15 The Rational Project Manager