A detailed guide to successful, efficient project management, written by two pros with a combined 55 years "in the trenches!" Project management is a vital and growing component of many organizations and can literally make or break a company. In this step-by-step guide, two project management consultants present a comprehensive guide to effective project management, complete with real stories and case studies from actual project managers. This straightforward guide cuts through the technical jargon to present an easy-to-follow, easy-to-learn approach to executing any project from beginning to end. Project managers, as well as those who want to learn more about project management, will find this guide to be an indispensable resource for all their projects. A simple system for managing even the most complex projects Project management can be a real pain, but doing it right can mean the difference between a business that soars and one that sinks. Painless Project Management makes it simple by cutting through the jargon, formulas, and needless complexity with an easy, step-based approach for managing virtually any project, big or small, from beginning to end. Veteran project managers M c Ghee and M c Aliney present a comprehensive guide to effective project management, complete with real stories and case studies from actual project managers. The authors reveal how the complexity of project management is not in the process itself, but in the people and organizational relationships that must also be managed. They boil down the basics of project management so you can design a simple, effective plan for any project and follow it through to a successful completion. Once you do that, they show you how to handle the people and issues that make project management such a challenge, including: Communicating project plans to colleagues and top management - Delegating, organizing, and coordinating duties - Tracking and reporting on project status - Managing resources, budgets, and timelines - Changing tacks and goals on the fly - Dealing with project disruptions Includes downloadable forms at WWW.PAINLESSPROJECTMANAGEMENT.INFO A simple system for managing even the most complex projects Project management can be a real pain, but doing it right can mean the difference between a business that soars and one that sinks. Painless Project Management makes it simple by cutting through the jargon, formulas, and needless complexity with an easy, step-based approach for managing virtually any project, big or small, from beginning to end. Veteran project managers M c Ghee and M c Aliney present a comprehensive guide to effective project management, complete with real stories and case studies from actual project managers. The authors reveal how the complexity of project management is not in the process itself, but in the people and organizational relationships that must also be managed. They boil down the basics of project management so you can design a simple, effective plan for any project and follow it through to a successful completion. Once you do that, they show you how to handle the people and issues that make project management such a challenge, including: Communicating project plans to colleagues and top management - Delegating, organizing, and coordinating duties - Tracking and reporting on project status - Managing resources, budgets, and timelines - Changing tacks and goals on the fly - Dealing with project disruptions Includes downloadable forms at WWW.PAINLESSPROJECTMANAGEMENT.INFO PAMELA McGHEE, PMP, President and owner of McGhee Enterprises, a project management and IT consulting firm, has consulted with thousands of project managers at Fortune 500 companies. She is a long-standing faculty member at the American Management Association, where she conducts project management and IT seminars. Ms. McGhee is also an adjunct instructor at Baruch College in New York, where she teaches basic and advanced project management. PETER McALINEY, PMP, CMC, is President of Chenery and Company, Inc., which specializes in strategy implementation and project management. He has worked with such corporations as Coca-Cola and GM, as well as with several academic institutions. He is currently developing online project management education programs and assists organizations with cross-cultural communications challenges on virtual team projects. Painless Project Management A Step-by-Step Guide for Planning, Executing, and Managing Projects By Pamela McGhee Peter McAliney John Wiley & Sons Copyright © 2007 Pamela McGhee All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-470-11721-7 Chapter One Introduction to Project Management Project management is as old as we are. Africans used project management to build the great pyramids. Mayans used project management to build their temples and pyramids. Romans used project management to build aqueducts to carry water from the mountains to their cities. Chinese used project managemen