project – Global Risk Guard. Resources for Risk Professionals

GRG January 14September 18 0 Comments 2007, book, dynamic, microsoft, office, professionals, project, scheduling, with

Dynamic Scheduling with Microsoft Office Project 2007: The Book by and for Professionals

[ReviewAZON asin=”1932159878″]Designed for the busy, practicing project manager, Dynamic Scheduling With Microsoft Office Project 2007 will help you get up to speed quickly with Project 2007 and enable you to create effective schedules more efficiently. Through the use of helpful screen shots, hands-on exercises, illustrations, and review questions, this guide instructs you on how to build dynamic schedules that will allow you to explore what-if scenarios and dramatically decrease the time you spend making static scheduling changes.

Key Features:

–Fully aligned with the PMBOK Guide – Third Edition, published by Project Management Institute
–Captures the best practices and insights gained from thousands of real-life schedules and years of consulting and training project managers across all industries
–Includes two new chapters on Enterprise Project Management and Earned Value Management
— WAV offers downloadable exercise files, certified real-life schedules, filters to check your own project and a solutions manual for college professors available from the Web Added Value Download Resource Center at jrosspub.com[/ReviewAZON]

Books

GRG January 14September 18 0 Comments analysis, cases, decision, management, program, project, projects, risk, series

Risk and Decision Analysis in Projects (Cases in project and program management series)

[ReviewAZON asin=”1880410281″]Is there anything more important to the success of a project than making good decisions? This skill is certainly at or near the top of the list. Yet, few of us have had formal training in decision making. Decision analysis is the discipline that helps people choose wisely under conditions of uncertainty. This book introduces risk and decision analysis applied to project management. Probability is the language of uncertainty. Fortunately, a few basic concepts in probability and statistics go a long way toward making better decisions. The evaluation calculations are straightforward, and many everyday problems can be solved with a handheld calculator. Schuyler also explains and demystifies key concepts and techniques, including expected value, optimal decision policy, decision trees, the value of information, Monte Carlo simulation, probabilistic techniques, modeling techniques, judgments and biases, utility and multi-criteria decisions, and stochastic variance.

Some of Schuyler’s tried-and-true tips include:

-The single-point estimate is almost always wrong, so that it is always better to express judgments as ranges. A probability distribution completely expresses someone’s judgment about the likelihood of values within the range.

-We often need a single-value cost or other assessment, and the expected value (mean) of the distribution is the only unbiased predictor. Expected value is the probability-weighted average, and this statistical idea is the cornerstone of decision analysis.

-Some decisions are easy, perhaps aided by quick decision tree calculations on the back of an envelope. Decision dilemmas typically involve risky outcomes, many factors, and the best alternatives having comparable value. We only need analysis sufficient to confidently identify the best alternative. As soon as you know what to do, stop the analysis!

-Be alert to ways to beneficially change project risks. We can often eliminate, avoid, transfer, or mitigate threats in some way. Get to know the people who make their living helping managers sidestep risk. They include insurance agents, partners, turnkey contractors, accountants, trainers, and safety personnel.[/ReviewAZON]