Goal-directed Project Management

By Erling S. Andersen, Kristoffer V. Grude, Tor Haug

Goal Directed Project Management (GDPM) is a unique methodology that has been developed and refined by the authors over a period of more than 20 years. In this time, organizations all over the world have adopted it as a standard approach.

The central focus of Goal Directed Project Management, this fourth edition of one of the most influential project management books, is to develop understanding, commitment and involvement while managing successful and lasting change. Throughout the text, the authors emphasise the need for a 'PSO' (People, System and Organization) perspective that goes beyond the technical aspects dealt with by most project management literature, enhancing and prolonging the life of a project by allowing the people and organization involved to develop simultaneously with the system. Goal Directed Project Management gives detailed and practical guidance on how to plan, organise and control these PSO projects effectively, presenting methods and tools that will increase significantly the probability of project success.

This newly updated fourth edition of Goal Directed Project Management addresses the financial control of projects in a new chapter, presenting a pragmatic approach - based on GDPM methods - to this aspect of project management. It includes guidelines to take you through setting up a project budget based on cost benefit analysis and shows how to report and control the running project using the milestone related budget. Online resources now include an additional chapter on GDPM in a multi-project environment.
Further information about GDPM certification can be found at www.gdpm.com

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0749453346
• ISBN13: 9780749453343
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Kogan Page
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Best projectmanagement philosophy ever

GDPM is the best tool for planning organisational change projects. It is not suitable for technical projects. GDPM is both a philosophy and a method and exactly that is what makes it so powerfull. Apart from adressing the five pitfalls in the beginning of the book it introduces layered planning. GDPM is about planning the WHAT and making people responsible (the WHO) for results before the project starts. After that the planning of the HOW is a cascade. In an organisational change project you can't plan activity 216 at the beginning of the project. You should only plan the activities of the first 3-5 milestones. GDPM forces you to organise your communication as well and makes sure you communicate (the 2way street) and not inform (the 1way street). The nice thing is that you need only two A4 forms to plan your project which makes it not only an effective method but also an efficient one. Buy it, use it and get hooked to it.

Practical tips and a good apprach to delegation in projects

The book presents good materials on the pitfalls at the beginning of projects and how to balance organizational aspects with the actual tasks of a project. I found a lot of value in the approach to milestones as a way to delegate responsibilities and accountabilities in a project. This breaks the cycle where the project manager is responsible for the results, and everyone else in the team is accountable for tasks but not outcomes. Can be recommended for all practicians, even very seasoned ones will find some good hints.