Making It Happen »

Mackenzie Kyle is the Principle of the Beringer Group and an associate at Manageering, a firm specializing in project management consulting and training. He has spent the last 15 years working on a variety of project management related assignments at organizations in Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia.

Making It Happen: A Non-Technical Guide to Project Management provides a fresh and clear approach to project management. Written in the form of a novel, it covers the basics of project management in a friendly, interesting, and memorable way.

Will Campbell, a reasonably competent middle manager, is suddenly thrust into managing a high-profile project that could make or break his career. With no project management experience, and armed only with the guidance of his eccentric menror, Martha, Will learns the hard way. As Will navigates the rough seas of company politics, treacherous competition, and a project swirling out of control, he narrowly evades many pitfalls, and masters some indispensable project management tools along the way.

Against the backdrop of this personal drama, a simple, rational approach to project management unfolds. Will's ability to grasp these principles is the key to his survival, and could be the key to yours. Making It Happen enables the reader to transform risky, real-life situations into success.

• Provides a simple, non-technical approach, useful to any business person involved in teams or managing projects
• Offers practical tools and principles that will make any project a success: from office moves to product roll-outs, systems implementations to training program delivery, and everything in between
• Boxes, definitions, and charts highlight key points and practical project management tips.

GENESIS.
Sink or Swim.
Grasping the Scope.
What is a Project?
The Team Meets.
Sifting Through the Mess.
Asking the Right Questions.
Writing the Objective Statement.
The Project Manager Faces the Board.
THE PROJECT TEAM.
The Team's Roles.
Company Politics.
THE DESIGN PHASE.
What is Design, and How Long Does it Take?
Organizing the Design Process.
The User's Needs.
Charts, Costs, and Other Puzzles.
More Problems with Schedules.
EXECUTION PLANNING.
Tasks.
A Dependency Chart.
Finding and Fixing Mistakes.
EXECUTION.
Altering Plans.
On a Crash Course.
A New Assignment.
THE REVIEW PROCESS.
Assessing Assignments.
THE PROJECT MANAGER'S SURVIVAL MANUAL.
Recording the Fundamentals.
NEW FRAMEWORKS.
Checking Assumptions.
Epilogue.