FOREWORD;
PREFACE;
Who should read this book;
Assumptions I've made about you in writing this book;
How to use this book;
How to contact us;
Safari® Books Online;
Chapter 1: A brief history of project management (and why you should care);
1.1 Using history;
1.2 Web development, kitchens, and emergency rooms;
1.3 The role of project management;
1.4 Program and project management at Microsoft;
1.5 The balancing act of project management;
1.6 Pressure and distraction;
1.7 The right kind of involvement;
1.8 Summary;
1.9 Exercises;
PART ONE: PLANS;
Chapter 2: The truth about schedules;
2.1 Schedules have three purposes;
2.2 Silver bullets and methodologies;
2.3 What schedules look like;
2.4 Why schedules fail;
2.5 What must happen for schedules to work;
2.6 Summary;
2.7 Exercises;
Chapter 3: How to figure out what to do;
3.1 Software planning demystified;
3.2 Approaching plans: the three perspectives;
3.3 The magical interdisciplinary view;
3.4 Asking the right questions;
3.5 Catalog of common bad ways to decide what to do;
3.6 The process of planning;
3.7 Customer research and its abuses;
3.8 Bringing it all together: requirements;
3.9 Summary;
3.10 Exercises;
Chapter 4: Writing the good vision;
4.1 The value of writing things down;
4.2 How much vision do you need?;
4.3 The five qualities of good visions;
4.4 The key points to cover;
4.5 On writing well;
4.6 Drafting, reviewing, and revising;
4.7 A catalog of lame vision statements (which should be avoided);
4.8 Examples of visions and goals;
4.9 Visions should be visual;
4.10 The vision sanity check: daily worship;
4.11 Summary;
4.12 Exercises;
Chapter 5: Where ideas come from;
5.1 The gap from requirements to solutions;
5.2 There are bad ideas;
5.3 Thinking in and out of boxes is OK;
5.4 Good questions attract good ideas;
5.5 Bad ideas lead to good ideas;
5.6 Perspective and improvisation;
5.7 The customer experience starts the design;
5.8 A design is a series of conversations;
5.9 Summary;
5.10 Exercises;
Chapter 6: What to do with ideas once you have them;
6.1 Ideas get out of control;
6.2 Managing ideas demands a steady hand;
6.3 Checkpoints for design phases;
6.4 How to consolidate ideas;
6.5 Prototypes are your friends;
6.6 Questions for iterations;
6.7 The open-issues list;
6.8 Summary;
6.9 Exercises;
PART TWO: SKILLS;
Chapter 7: Writing good specifications;
7.1 What specifications can and cannot do;
7.2 Deciding what to specify;
7.3 Specifying is not designing;
7.4 Who, when, and how;
7.5 When are specs complete?;
7.6 Reviews and feedback;
7.7 Summary;
7.8 Exercises;
Chapter 8: How to make good decisions;
8.1 Sizing up a decision (what's at stake);
8.2 Finding and weighing options;
8.3 Information is a flashlight;
8.4 The courage to decide;
8.5 Paying attention and looking back;
8.6 Summary;
8.7 Exercises;
Chapter 9: Communication and relationships;
9.1 Management through conversation;
9.2 A basic model of communication;
9.3 Common communication problems;
9.4 Projects depend on relationships;
9.5 The best work attitude;
9.6 Summary;
9.7 Exercises;
Chapter 10: How not to annoy people: process, email, and meetings;
10.1 A summary of why people get annoyed;
10.2 The effects of good process;
10.3 Non-annoying email;
10.4 How to run the non-annoying meeting;
10.5 Summary;
10.6 Exercises;
Chapter 11: What to do when things go wrong;
11.1 Apply the rough guide;
11.2 Common situations to expect;
11.3 Take responsibility;
11.4 Damage control;
11.5 Conflict resolution and negotiation;
11.6 Roles and clear authority;
11.7 An emotional toolkit: pressure, feelings about feelings, and the hero complex;
11.8 Summary;
11.9 Exercises;
PART THREE: MANAGEMENT;
Chapter 12: Why leadership is based on trust;
12.1 Building and losing trust;
12.2 Make trust clear (create green lights);
12.3 The different kinds of power;
12.4 Trusting others;
12.5 Trust is insurance against adversity;
12.6 Models, questions, and conflicts;
12.7 Trust and making mistakes;
12.8 Trust in yourself (self-reliance);
12.9 Summary;
12.10 Exercises;
Chapter 13: Making things happen;
13.1 Priorities make things happen;
13.2 Things happen when you say no;
13.3 Keeping it real;
13.4 Know the critical path;
13.5 Be relentless;
13.6 Be savvy;
13.7 Summary;
13.8 Exercises;
Chapter 14: Middle-game strategy;
14.1 Flying ahead of the plane;
14.2 Taking safe action;
14.3 The coding pipeline;
14.4 Hitting moving targets;
14.5 Summary;
14.6 Exercises;
Chapter 15: End-game strategy;
15.1 Big deadlines are just several small deadlines;
15.2 Elements of measurement;
15.3 Elements of control;
15.4 The end of end-game;
15.5 Party time;
15.6 Summary;
15.7 Exercises;
Chapter 16: Power and politics;
16.1 The day I became political;
16.2 The sources of power;
16.3 The misuse of power;
16.4 How to solve political problems;
16.5 Know the playing field;
16.6 Summary;
16.7 Exercises;
A guide for discussion groups;
Introducing the project management clinic;
How to start your own discussion group;
Sample discussion topics;
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY;
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS;
For this revised edition;
From the previous edition;
PHOTO CREDITS;
COLOPHON;