Introduction

Project management is a challenge and it can also be great fun … when you’re in control. However it can be a miserable existence being a Project Manager if you’re not in control. Part of the secret of success is being organised, thinking things through thoroughly and not leaving important things out only to get tripped up later in the project. That’s where the checklists and templates in this book come in. They help you develop an orderly approach where you can be confident that you’ve covered all the bases because you have everything you need checked off on the list.

As explain in the first chapter though, this isn’t a list ticker’s paradise. It’s not about mindlessly ticking off the points just to fill the boxes. Rather it’s about taking a professional approach to get things right and getting them right first time.

So, which would you prefer? A smoothly running project where you’ve thought things through up front, or fire-fighting one crisis after another because you forgot stuff? Of course that’s not to say that you’ll have a perfect project once you’ve read this book – projects are always unpredictable to some extent. But you’ll have the pleasure of seeing your project in control and knowing that you’re not encountering problems that were both predictable and avoidable if only you’d had a list to make sure that you’d covered everything.

About this Book

For Dummies books are designed so that you can dip in to them at different points according to what you need at the time. That’s true of this one too, but you’ll find it will help if you read Chapter 1 first anyway because that explains more about using the checklists and templates. And this book really is all about the checklists and templates.

Inside Project Management Checklists For Dummies you’ll find essential checklists covering everything you need to do to run your project smoothly (and plenty of advice on what you don’t need to do), as well as vital questions to ask yourself to check that you’ve overlooked nothing. You’ll also find lots of hints and tips to help you every step of the way.

Parts II-V of the book are made up of Checklists and Templates. The Checklists serve as to-do lists for certain activities, as reminders of documents to complete, and as failsafe lists to make sure you’ve thought of everything you need to. The templates, are typical documents that you need to complete during the course of a project. The Templates are included in the book and also on Dummies.com – so you can download and customise them to suit your project.

Foolish Assumptions

When writing this book, I assumed that those reading it will mostly be Project Managers. However, it’s also suitable for:

• Senior managers involved with setting up good project control and management (project governance) in their organisations.
• Project Steering Group members (such as the project’s Sponsor) who want to perform their role well and be effective in the project.
• Team Leaders who want to control their work well and perhaps go on to become Project Managers
• Project administration staff who want to be professional and highly effective in supporting Project Managers and Team Leaders.

I have assumed that you want to run, or help run, projects well. I have assumed that you want real project success not merely a pile of documentation and that you will use the checklists in this book intelligently.

If you’re a project auditor then you’ll find a chapter especially for you, and here I assume that you too are focused on project delivery and success, not on superficial compliance with documentation standards. In the chapter covering the audit role I’ve said that project auditors can make a valuable contribution if they approach the task correctly, and I assume that’s exactly what you want as you start a project audit.

Icons Used in This book

The small icons in the left margins of the book are to alert you to special information in the text. Here’s what they mean.

This icon gives a real or hypothetical situation to illustrate a particular point in the text. Projects are a rich source of examples, so most of them are real life.

This icon points out important information you should keep in mind as you use the checklists and work on your project.

This icon lets you in on handy advice and shortcuts that can save you time and effort.

This icon highlights potential pitfalls and dangers.

Beyond the Book

In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this product also comes with some access-anywhere goodies on the Web. Check out the free Cheat Sheet at www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/pmchecklists for some helpful key checklists.

You can also find many of the most important templates from this book reproduced as editable Word files at www.dummies.com/extras/pmchecklists.

Where to Go from Here

You can dip into this book to find help on the bit of your project that you’re currently working on. However, as pointed out earlier, you’ll find it helpful to read Chapter 1 first.

When you look at a particular checklist, bear in mind that you may need to alter it to fit the exact needs of your project. So where you go may be to grab a pencil or a computer and set up an adjusted checklist that will be of maximum help to you.

For documents, you don’t have to key in all the headings into your own document template. In the true spirit of helpfulness of the For Dummies books we’ve put Word and Excel versions of the templates in this book up on the website such as for a Risk Log and a Project Charter.

Although there’s a lot of help in this book, if you’re new to project management or some approaches such as ‘product based planning’ you may feel in need of a bit more help. If so, don’t despair. Where you can go from here is to get a copy of the UK edition of Project Management For Dummies which is designed to give much more help and advice.