Comprehensive Guide to Project Management Schedule and Cost Control, A: Methods and Models for Managing the Project Lifecycle - Hardcover

Wilson, Randal

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0133572943 ISBN 13: 9780133572940

Publisher: Pearson FT Press, 2014

Synopsis

Master all the modern project scheduling and cost control techniques you need, in one focused tutorial! Randal Wilson's Project Schedule & Cost Control  isn't your typical project management guide: it's 100% focused on the specific principles, techniques, and best-practice methodologies of scheduling and cost control.

 

Wilson illuminates key issues through the extensive use of graphs, charts, case studies, and worked examples; and calls your attention to crucial issues that "generic" PM books ignore. Coverage includes: 

• Project structures, including differences between projects and programs, and how those differences affect costing and scheduling
• Initiation: how projects start, how to develop project charters and stakeholder registers, and how to manage stakeholders
• Planning, in depth: what costs must be addressed, and what schedule constraints must be considered
• Project schedule analysis: activity definition, WBS, and work packages;  activity sequencing and diagramming; proven methodologies for estimating resources and activity durations; and schedule development
• Project cost analysis: gathering and estimating all project costs, including labor, materials, vendor bids, subcontractors, contracts, equipment, facilities, and direct/indirect costs.
• Budgeting via top-down, bottom-up, and activity-based methods
• Project monitoring and control: earned value, tracking Gantt, S-Curves, performance reviews, milestone analysis, change control systems, estimate at completion, forecasting, and much more

For both project management newcomers and working project managers who need to sharpen their skills

About this title

From the Back Cover

All you need to know to successfully schedule projects and control their costs

The first PM guide 100% focused on scheduling and cost control

• Covers schedule/cost development, analysis, monitoring, and control
• Master key skills through case studies, worked examples, graphs, and charts
• For all project managers, at all levels of experience, in any organization
• Complete knowledge for all levels of study and certification

Master all the modern project scheduling and cost control techniques you need, in one focused tutorial!

 

This guide is 100% focused on the specific principles, skill, and best-practice methodologies of scheduling and cost control. Expert project manager Randal Wilson explains every technique with graphs, charts, and realistic case studies. Wilson doesn’t just present the right formulas: he shows you exactly how to apply them, one step at a time.

 

Whether you’re an experienced project manager or a newcomer, this tutorial will help you meet your #1 goal: delivering outstanding results, on time and on budget.

 

Scheduling and cost control are at the heart of project management. To successfully run any significant project, managers must accurately identify required resources, sequence work activities, estimate the costs and time needed to perform those activities, and carefully track progress against their estimates.

 

A Comprehensive Guide to Project Management Schedule and Cost Control will teach you how to perform all these critical tasks.

 

Using realistic examples, step-by-step calculations, and simple visuals, Randal Wilson makes scheduling and cost control easier than ever before. Wilson shows how to stay on top of schedules and budgets throughout your entire project, from planning through change management and quality control.

 

Wilson will help you master crucial techniques ranging from activity decomposition to resource leveling, schedule crashing to activity-based budgeting. You’ll learn how to uncover hidden dependencies, set optimal project milestones, and overcome many other challenges.

 

With these skills, you can deliver what you promise, when you promise, at the cost you promise. If you want to succeed, no skills are more important.

• Understand the roles and goals of scheduling and cost control
• Construct realistic project plans
• Build an accurate Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
• Define and sequence activities
• Identify resource requirements
• Calculate activity durations
• Organize, analyze, and document schedules
• Estimate costs using best-practice tools and techniques
• Develop realistic budgets
• Track progress and manage risk

M aster the essential scheduling and cost control skills needed for all levels of study and certification!

 

 

About the Author

Randal Wilson, MBA, PMP, serves as Visiting Professor of Project Management, Keller Graduate School of Management, at the Elk Grove, California, DeVry University campus. His teaching style is one of addressing project management concepts using academic course guidelines and text and includes in-depth discussions in lectures using practical application from industry experience.

 

Mr. Wilson is currently Operations and Project Manager at Parker Hose and Fittings. He is responsible for five locations across northern California and Nevada, as well as project management of redesigns and renovation of existing facilities and construction of new facilities.

 

Mr. Wilson was formally in the telecommunications industry as Senior New Product Introduction Engineer at REMEC, Inc., Senior New Product Introduction Engineer with Spectrian Corp., and Associate Design Engineer with American Microwave Technology. He also served as Senior Manufacturing Engineer at Hewlett-Packard.

 

He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) of the Project Management Institute. He acquired an MBA with a concentration in General Operations Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Fremont, California, and a bachelor of science in Technical Management with a concentration in Project Management from DeVry University in Fremont, California.

 

Edition details

• Publisher: Pearson FT Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0133572943
• ISBN 13: 9780133572940
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288