Getting Things Done Through Project Management

Copyright © 2009. Deji Badiru

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ISBN: 978-1-4401-3822-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4401-3823-2 (ebook)

Contents

Dedication and Celebration

Preface

Chapter One

Introduction to Getting Things Done

Chapter Two

Project Management Fundamentals

Chapter Three

Streamlining and Simplifying Work

Chapter Four

Applying Project Management

Chapter Five

Work Breakdown Structure

Chapter Six

Communication, Cooperation, and Coordination

Chapter Seven

Project Planning

Chapter Eight

Activity Sequencing

Chapter Nine

Resource Management

Chapter Ten

Economics of Getting Things Done

Chapter Eleven

Summary of Guidelines

About the Author

Dedication and Celebration

This book is dedicated to all the bubbly beings who espouse the spirit of positive thinking; for they shall succeed with their projects. They feel no evil, think no evil, see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil. They perceive silver lining and positives in everything. They always celebrate the success of a project with smiles and festivity.

Preface

In this book, the author brings the proven tools and techniques of project management from the corporate world to the pedestrian and common-user level for practical street-wise application to both personal and professional pursuits. The book is designed as a self-help resource and self-paced guide. It provides step-by-step guide for getting things done.

Project management has several underlying philosophies, principles, and epithets as motivation for executing a project. Following a project plan creates an atmosphere of progress toward an eventual goal in terms of incremental steps, recognized as tasks and activities. Taken together, the set of activities constitutes an identifiable project that can be managed with corporate-oriented techniques of project management. Any of the standard self-help guides and self-development pieces of advice can fit into the overall repertoire of project management methodologies.

Reflecting the author’s artistic interests, the book has generous embedding of figures and diagrams to illustrate applications of project management concepts. Topics covered include project planning, project organizing, scheduling, project monitoring, progress tracking, control, and close-out. Guiding and motivational philosophies also abound throughout the book.

Deji Badiru

March 2009

Chapter One

Introduction to Getting Things Done

I like work. It fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.

- Jerome Klapka Jerome

Does it not sound ironic that nowadays, we plan more, but we always seem to accomplish less? That is often because we plan more than what we can deliver. Well, project management can help rectify this dilemma.

No matter your gender, age, creed, religion, or profession, you need project management to get things done. The faster and more effectively you carry out your tasks, the more time you’ll have for all the other important activities in your life – love, family, friends, Church, school, travel, fun, and so on.

If practiced religiously, as this author has done for years, project management allows you to do more in a shorter period of time.

Unless you are like Jerome K. Jerome, who expatiates his famous quote by saying I love to keep it (work) by me. The idea of getting rid of it (getting it done) nearly breaks my heart.

The basic advice of this book is to:

Just Git’r Done!

No excuses. Just get done what needs done. This book is about getting things done through the techniques of project management. It is about making a difference in accomplishing goals; whether it is at home or at work. Whatever it is, just get it done or Git’r Done like they say in one familiar neighborhood. Procrastination is not in the vocabulary of project management. The techniques presented in this book can help readers to manage deadlines and track projects successfully. The techniques and suggestions can be put to use immediately to generate results.

It is a fact that managing projects effectively at home or at work can lead to a more balanced, happy, and healthy life; devoid of stress. If you are sick and tired of not getting enough done, you need project management.

A journal subscription renewal notice from The Chronicle of Higher Education says, Life is full of deadlines. You meet them, beat them, perhaps even miss them, but you know better than to ignore them. This is a terse and pungent statement that is, indeed, very true. Deadlines that are missed simply come back to haunt us later on; causing more time and often leading to a higher cost; not to talk of the stress of embarrassment.

It is general knowledge that those who can get things done will always succeed with their goals and aspirations. Things that must be done are the building blocks of goals and objectives. Thus, accomplishing those building blocks moves us closer to our goals and objectives.

Someone once said,

Projects would run well if people did not get in the way.

So, get out of the way of your project and get it done. In other words, don’t encumber your projects with your own personal operational incompetence.

Exercise Self-Commitment

The single most important requirement for getting things done is self-commitment. It is through the discipline of self-commitment that projects, both large and small, can be executed successfully. Without self-commitment to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done, nothing can be accomplished satisfactorily. As a case in point, the number of those getting project management training and certification is increasing rapidly. Yet, the number of project failures, with significant cost, schedule, and performance implications, is also increasing. This is a fact that is inconsistent with theory and conventional expectation. If there is no self-commitment to execute a project according to plan, no amount of education, training, credentialing, tools, and techniques can rescue the project. Those who are most eloquent about what needs to be done, and how, are often the ones who falter when it comes to actually doing it. Each person must self-dedicate and self-actuate to make commitment to get things done the way they ought to be done. The author’s equation of success shown below is applicable in this regard.

Use Badiru’s Equation of Success

Success is a function of three variables with the mathematical relationship below:

S = f(x, y, z)

where:

x = Intelligence: Intelligence is an innate attribute, which every one of us is endowed with.

y = Common Sense: Common sense is an acquired trait, which we learn from our everyday social interactions.

z = Self-Discipline: Self-discipline is an