Managing Projects in Trouble

Whether you use budget, schedule, quality, or other criteria, the statistics by think tanks, institutes, associations, and other trade organizations all point to one inescapable conclusion: your project has a greater chance of getting into trouble than staying out of it.

Based on the lessons learned by the author during a quarter of a century of leading projects to successful conclusions, Managing Projects in Trouble: Achieving Turnaround and Success unveils the five secrets to ensuring success―even for projects seemingly doomed to fail. Using numerous flow diagrams and checklists, it explains how to take action in ways that will increase the likelihood of success and minimize the possibility of failure. Specifically, it shows you how to:

• Recognize the symptoms of troubled projects



• Revisit your project’s vision and execute an improved vision



• Examine all options for turning your project into a reality



• Choose the options most appropriate to your situation

Supplying step-by-step guidance through each phase, the book explains how to spot the symptoms of troubled projects early on and arms you with time-tested techniques to address the problems that will inevitably emerge. Each chapter includes a case study that illustrates real-world implementation of the actions and steps discussed as well as a checklist to help ease the transition from project failure to surefire success. Learn the five secrets for turning troubled projects around detailed in this book―or continue what you’re doing at your own peril.

Ralph Kliem, PMP, founder and president of LeanPM, LLC, has over 30 years of combined experience in the private and public sectors as a project manager and internal auditor. He has authored more than 15 books with major publishers and over 300 articles for leading business and information technology magazines.

He is a frequent speaker at PMI chapters and other events. He has developed and delivered project management courses for Cascadia Community College and Bellevue College. He also delivers seminars and workshops for corporate clients through Key Consulting, Inc., and the Business Productivity Center, Inc. throughout the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. He is an Instructor at City University of Seattle and a former adjunct faculty member with Seattle Pacific University.