1. Introduction
2. PMO Formation, Structure, and Methodology
3. Project Leadership
4. PMO and Project Performance
5. Project Lessons Learned
6. Project Communications
7. Project Risk Management
8. Project Business Requirements
9. Resilience in Project Organizations
10. Knowledge Management
11. Project Best Practices and Benchmarking
12. Project Change Management
Biography
Mel Bost is a project management consultant specializing in project closeout and lessons learned, as well as process improvement, best practices, and benchmarking. He has taught “Project Management for Research” to postgraduate students at Arizona State University, as well as developed new approaches to the research process.
He was formerly a practice leader in BOT International’s PMO Practice and is a specialist in PMO best practices, Project Lessons Learned, and program management. He is experienced in all aspects of project and program management, including strategic planning, design thinking, knowledge management, risk management, and business process analysis. Bost has successfully developed the processes, standards, procedures, and organizational structures for the PMOs of several major corporations.
Before becoming a consultant, Bost worked for a number of large national and international companies, including Exterran Corporation, ConocoPhillips, Phillips Petroleum, Tosco Corporation, UNOCAL, Atlantic Richfield Company, and Ford Motor Company. Bost began his career in the industry with Ford Motor Company, where he directed product programs for the North American and European markets. He was also instrumental in a group that introduced finite element analysis in Ford Product Engineering using NASA programs.
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"Mel Bost recognizes that many activities that people do can be more successful through using project discipline. In this book, he describes the elements necessary to successfully build and manage a project team. He illustrates well through real life examples from many fields to illuminate the core principles of project management success."
— Todd Allen, Chair, Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
"High-performing PMOs start with the Ends to be Achieved (outcomes) and then develop the Means to the Ends (outputs). Poor-performing PMOs rush into the Means to the Ends and quickly snatch PMO defeat from the jaws of victory. Congrats to Mel Bost for providing a foundational approach to help organizations start and maintain high-performing PMOs."
— Mark Price Perry, PMO Manager, Uvoider
"I read this book after teaching a course that covers project management at New York University, and it helped me see this book's value. Many of us, particularly in small- or medium-sized businesses and not-for-profits, think we know how to get things done. Unfortunately, the methods that work individually lead to wasted time and poor results. Mel Bost borrows from a wide range of sources and puts them all into guidelines that you can follow. Designing projects is a skill. It requires attention to learn. It starts when you ask: ‘What are we trying to achieve?’ With this book, you can aim higher."
— Art Kleiner, coauthor of The AI Dilemma: 7 Principles for Responsible Technology and author of The Age of Heretics and Who Really Matters
