From Concept to Customer: Portfolio, Pipeline, and Strategic Project Management gives a broad, comprehensive perspective of project management, covering the entire concept-to-customer cycle of complex strategic projects. Novice and seasoned project managers alike will gain insight into real-world, practical applications from the author's more than 40 years of hands-on experience with world-class multinational organizations. The techniques explained are proven, the approach sound and the results measurable and significant. Case studies have been taken directly from the author's client files. They illustrate the application of various project management strategies, as well as strategic and tactical planning tools. A step-by-step approach, supported by tools, techniques and examples, is used to illustrate each important aspect of project management.
Readers will find thorough explanations of portfolio and pipeline management techniques, project planning tools,risk management tools, contingency planning and trade-off analyses, leadership techniques, the project team, mistakes made by project managers and their teams, preparing an effective project proposal, the importance of "under-committing and over-delivering," aligning project expectations with the project team's ability to deliver them, results-oriented performance metrics, effective acquisitions planning, budget planning and cost control, process control techniques, communications planning and the importance of documentation, quality management techniques, tactical project planning utilizing work breakdown structures (WBS), the critical path method (CPM), program evaluation and review technique (PERT), graphical evaluation and review technique (GERT) and Gantt charts, cycle time management techniques, concurrency to reduce project cycle time and costs, and the project management office (PMO).
What Readers Have to Say
"This book clearly and concisely lays out the fundamentals as well as detailing how even the most experienced project managers can improve their performance to successfully meet customers' expectations and respond to rapidly changing market dynamics. It will prove useful for all project managers, no matter what industry or profession they are in." —Alan Gerwig, PE, President, Alan Gerwig & Associates Inc.
"One of the most valuable concepts is the '12-month rule' on project duration and the reduction in the ability to influence project success as time passes. Many of us have learned this through the 'school of hard knocks.' Discussions on risk management and case examples provide for a rounded learning experience. It is more effective to learn about others mistakes and missed opportunities through reading rather than from direct experience. I recommend this book and plan to purchase it for all of the project managers in my organization." —John P. McGrath, PhD, Corporate Vice President, Quality, Edwards Lifesciences LLC