Nick Graham - Project Management for Dummies

Nick Graham is the founder and Managing Director of Inspirandum Ltd, a small and specialised company focused on achieving excellence in project management and project governance. From the start he has determined to teach all project approaches and methods in a practical way so that they can be applied intelligently, confidently and productively to projects.

Nick is an experienced project practitioner, trainer and author, and hes also a qualified teacher. His project advice is based on what works, and works well. Those attending his training events have described his style as energetic, lively, fun, very practical and very informative. Nicks consultancy work has ranged from helping to plan individual projects to advising senior managers on how to implement a project method throughout their organisation.

With a personal career that has covered both the public sector and the private sector, and with giving training and advice to a number of well-known charities, Nick is able to communicate readily with managers in all sectors. Hes been involved in project consultancy and training for many years and his experience with projects goes back further still. He is the author of a number of project titles in the For Dummies range, including PRINCE2 For Dummies. He is also joint author of the simple-to-use and ISO 21500 compliant project management method, PRIME.

When not away on consultancy or training assignments, Nick lives in North Hampshire in the UK. His wife Kath also works for Inspirandum.

Nick is a member of the Association for Project Management (APM) and the Institute of Directors (IoD).

www.inspirandum.com

Stan Portny, president of Stanley E. Portny and Associates, LLC, is an internationally recognised expert in project management and project leadership. During the past 30 years, hes provided training and consultation to more than 150 public and private organisations in consumer products, insurance, pharmaceuticals, finance, information technology, telecommunications, defence and healthcare. He has developed and conducted training programmes for more than 50,000 management and staff personnel in engineering, sales and marketing, research and development, information systems, manufacturing, operations and support areas.

Stan combines an analysts eye with an innate sense of order and balance and a deep respect for personal potential. He helps people understand how to control chaotic environments and produce dramatic results while still achieving personal and professional satisfaction. Widely acclaimed for his dynamic presentations and unusual ability to establish a close rapport with seminar participants, Stan specialises in tailoring his training programmes to meet the unique needs of individual organisations. His clients have included ADP, ADT, American International Group, Burlington Northern Railroad, Hewlett Packard, Nabisco, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Pitney Bowes, UPS, Vanguard Investment Companies and the United States Navy and Air Force.

A Project Management Institute-certified Project Management Professional (PMP), Stan received his bachelors degree in electrical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. He holds a masters degree in electrical engineering and the degree of electrical engineer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Stan has also studied at the Alfred P. Sloan School of Management and the George Washington University National Law Center.

Stan provides on-site training in all aspects of project management, project team building and project leadership. Web site www.StanPortny.com .

From Nick: This UK edition of Project Management for Dummies is dedicated to Max Graham-Knopf, one of my grandsons, who with his bright view of life, awesome bilingual capability and intelligent outlook is an inspiration.

From Stan: To my wife, Donna; my son, Brian; and my son and daughter-in-law, Jonathan and Marci. May we continue to share lifes joys together.

From Nick: Writing a book, even when based on an existing text for a new edition, is a long and hard job. I want to thank Annie Knight, the Commissioning Editor, for her enthusiasm and encouragement which is such a boost. Then theres Simon Bell at John Wiley whose support and insight as editor, as well as his knowledge and expertise, is always so valuable. I continue to listen very carefully to Simon because though he doesnt say much, when he does hes invariably right.

At home I have, as always, to thank my wife Kath. Running a small business is usually demanding and Kath takes so much of the pressure to leave me in peace while I work away at the keyboard having fun.