Fundamentals of Project Management

Fundamentals of Project Management
By James P. Lewis
AMACOM Books
ISBN: 0814478352 Pub Date: 01/01/95
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Preface: Successful Project Management
Chapter 1—An Overview of Project Management
Chapter 2—A General Approach to Project Planning
Chapter 3—Developing the Project Mission, Goals, and Objectives
Chapter 4—Using the Work Breakdown Structure to Plan a Project
Chapter 5—Scheduling Project Work
Chapter 6—Scheduling Computations
Chapter 7—Project Control and Evaluation
Chapter 8—Project Control Using Earned Value Analysis
Chapter 9—Managing the Project Team
Chapter 10—How to Make Project Management Work in Your Company
References
Appendix A

Preface: Successful Project Management
Although managing projects has been going on for thousands of years, the practice has only recently been recognized يُعرف ب as a disciplineانضباط ) ) in its own right. Suddenly master’s-level degree programs are springing up at schools throughout the world, and certificate programs are being offered as well. Not only that, but some organizations have begun to ask their contractors to provide only project managers who have been certified as professionals by the Project Management Institute, the professional societyجمعية ) ) for
Practitioners (أصحاب المهن).
In today’s fast-paced world, organizations that practice sound project management methods have a competitive( منافسة ) advantage over those who fly by the seat of the pants. Why? Because competition is rapidly becoming time-based as well as cost-based(تستند إلى الوقت وكذلك على أساس التكلفة).
That is, if you can get a product or service to market faster than anyone else, you have an edge on your competition(لديك ميزة على منافسيك) . (Further = more Over = supplementary), if you can control the costs of your work better
than others, you can sell your products or services at lower margins; “sloppy” management requires that goods be sold at higher margins in order to make sure the business is profitable.
What if you aren’t dealing in products or services? The same principle applies. If you are nonprofit or a government agency, you face competition from others who might be able to do your work more efficiently
(and at lower cost). In short, we must all learn to work smarter, not harder, in order to survive into the
twenty-first century. Managing projects better is one way to achieve that result.
This book gives you a fast-track approach to managing your own projects. You will learn the essential steps in
setting up project plans, scheduling your work, and monitoring progress/exercising control to achieve desired
project results.
The approach outlined in this book is based on what is considered best practice by experts in the field. If you
follow the methods presented here, you will increase the probability that you can meet critical performance,
cost, and schedule targets. Admittedly, there is a lot more to project management than can be presented in this
short book, but if you learn the essence of the tools, you can go on from there to increase your skill.
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