A Survival Guide for Project Managers

"Project managers can no longer depend on their positions or their initiative or their enthusiasm to accomplish the goal of a project successfully."

"Clearly the project manager's communication role is the most far-reaching one, and one of the most important."

"There are several misconceptions that can stifle presenters."

"One of the major challenges in writing is to be reader focused, that is, focusing on the reader's needs rather than presenting one's own agenda."

"There are two perspectives of listening that are found in the project manager's world: facilitative and critical listening."

"Developing this skill should be a high priority for project managers; if they aren't good negotiators, they should start looking for a new job."

"There is an overlap of management and leadership. Clearly, not every manager is a leader, nor is every leader a manager."

"Some important uses are as a basis for assigning task responsibility, project costing, network analysis, scheduling, and project control."

"A logic diagram shows the major elements of a task and their logical relationship to each other."

"The network is an example of a tool derived from Work Breakdown Structure information."

"This method is so widely accepted that a contractor has to justify using any other method before a customer will approve it."

"Basically, there are two types of selection models: nonnumeric and numeric."

"Choosing the wrong person can quickly turn what could have been a profitable endeavor into an economic and political disaster."

"Starting a project and getting it working smoothly require an extraordinary amount of definition, planning, and attention to detail."

"The project manager has no influence on the way a company is organized."

"In addition, there are the nonorganizational organizations and the mixture of the basic three types, usually that of functional and matrix organization."

"The importance of planning cannot be overstated."

"It is very difficult for the project manager to control the meeting when a senior person feels or thinks she is in charge of it."

"Distinguishing between the conceptual and development phases of the life cycle is difficult because the activities of each are virtually the same."

"As soon as the project team is established, all the elements of the project plan can be defined and refined, and the plan can be written."

"It is often called the main phase of the project, the phase during which the actual work is performed."

"The net result is that the project manager is often faced with the task of bringing the project to closure with virtually no resources."