The Complete Project Manager

what a project is · the five process groups · the 12 PMBOK® principles · why projects fail

1. What a project is — and what project management adds
2. The five process groups — from initiating to closing
3. Principles 1–3: stewardship, team and stakeholders
4. Principles 4–6: value, systems and leadership
5. Principles 7–9: tailoring, quality and complexity
6. Principles 10–12: risk, adaptability and change
7. Why projects fail (1): unclear goals, scope creep and absent stakeholders
8. Why projects fail (2): false timelines, ignored risks and broken communication
9. Case lab: diagnose five failures

waterfall phases · Scrum, Kanban, Lean, XP, SAFe®, LeSS · choosing a lifecycle · hybrid

1. Waterfall's five disciplined phases
2. Waterfall: benefits, risks and best-fit cases
3. Scrum and Kanban
4. Lean, XP, SAFe® and LeSS
5. Choosing the lifecycle — the selection criteria
6. Hybrid lifecycles — the Water-Scrum-Fall case

responsibilities · the skill stack · personal development plan · functional, matrix and projectized structures · culture · project vs. program

1. The project manager's role — navigation, not only delivery
2. The skill stack and your personal development plan
3. Functional, matrix and projectized structures
4. Culture — the invisible architecture
5. Project vs. program — and PMP, PgMP and MSP
6. When projects are not enough — deciding to scale

stakeholder register · attitude heatmap · power–interest grid · engagement matrix · RACI · communication plan · PR plan

1. Who is a stakeholder — and the models that classify them
2. The stakeholder attitude heatmap — five zones
3. Build the stakeholder register
4. Engagement levels and the power–interest grid
5. The stakeholder engagement matrix and journeys
6. RACI — what R, A, C and I really mean
7. Build a RACI matrix
8. Build the communication plan
9. PR in projects — when communication goes public

team charter · Tuckman's five stages · the five dysfunctions · conflict and negotiation · escalation protocol · motivation

1. What a team charter is — and what it isn't
2. Build a team charter
3. Tuckman's five stages
4. Case: five stages in a banking app launch
5. The five dysfunctions pyramid
6. Case: rebuilding a dysfunctional task force
7. The conflict spectrum and interest-based negotiation
8. A conflict escalation protocol
9. Motivation as a system — autonomy, mastery, purpose

business case · options analysis · ROI · risk & mitigation · benefit realisation · project charter · project brief · kickoff

1. The problem statement and options analysis
2. ROI and the risk & mitigation table
3. Benefit realisation and presenting the case
4. The project charter — role, authority and core components
5. Build the project charter
6. Build the one-page project brief
7. Case: the brief that shifted a portfolio
8. Design the kickoff meeting
9. Run the kickoff and keep alignment

scope statement · scope creep · work breakdown structure · network diagram · critical path · CPM, PERT, Gantt · crashing and fast-tracking · resource levelling

1. Build the scope statement — in and out
2. Controlling scope creep
3. WBS anatomy — levels and the 100% rule
4. Build the WBS: the CRM rollout
5. WBS mistakes — the FBI Sentinel case
6. Dependencies and network diagrams
7. Forward pass, backward pass, float and the critical path
8. CPM, PERT and Gantt — choosing the tool
9. Crashing, fast-tracking and schedule recovery
10. Detecting overload — calendars and effort
11. Resource levelling — smoothing the peaks
12. The project manager as capacity strategist

quality plan · metrics and thresholds · QA vs. QC · PV, EV, AC · SV, CV, SPI, CPI · EAC · dashboards

1. Quality planning — standards and traceability
2. Build the quality plan — metrics and thresholds
3. QA vs. QC — two lines of defence
4. Case: two functions, one failure — Deepwater Horizon
5. PV, EV and AC — the three baseline numbers
6. SV, CV, SPI and CPI — reading the signals
7. Forecasting with EAC
8. Thresholds and triggers
9. Build the project dashboard

SWOT · identification techniques · risk register · 5×5 risk matrix · response strategies · risk reviews

1. Risk identification techniques — SWOT and more
2. From fragments to a structured register
3. Choosing the response and keeping risk visible
4. The 5×5 risk matrix — likelihood and severity
5. Build the risk register
6. Response strategies and risk governance

project dashboard · removing roadblocks · storytelling in reports · change request workflow · approval decision

1. The dashboard as the project's pulse
2. Removing roadblocks
3. Storytelling in stakeholder reports
4. Change requests — submission and impact review
5. The approval decision
6. Communicating change — the full workflow

backlog and sprint goal · capacity and commitment · stand-ups · burndown · sprint review · retrospective · hybrid · rolling-wave planning

1. Backlog, sprint goal and the PM vs. the Scrum Master
2. Sprint planning — capacity and commitment
3. Stand-ups and the burndown
4. The sprint review
5. The retrospective
6. Data-driven retrospectives
7. Hybrid delivery — the principles
8. Build the rolling-wave plan
9. Case: the Boeing 787 hybrid approach

closeout checklist · post-mortem and lessons learned · handover · PMO functions and governance · career roadmap

1. Formal closeout procedures
2. Post-mortem and lessons learned
3. Knowledge transfer and handover — the Crossrail case
4. PMO functions and governance models
5. The PMO as a value driver
6. Your career roadmap and certification path

one real project from business case to closeout · every template · your downloadable project file

1. The capstone project and your business case
2. Charter, brief and kickoff
3. Stakeholders, RACI and communication
4. Scope and WBS
5. Schedule and resources
6. Quality and risk
7. Control: earned value, dashboard and change
8. Sprints and the hybrid plan
9. Close and download your project file