This document provides an overview of tools and resources available on the MindTools.com website to help with project management. MindTools.com has over 1,000 resources to help people be effective managers and leaders. It provides assessments to evaluate skills, frameworks and tools for project planning and scheduling, stakeholder management, and change management. MindTools.com aims to teach 50 individual project management skills through frameworks, tools and assessments.

1. MINDTOOLS FOR PROJECT MANAGERS
RICHARD DETTLING, SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

2. MINDTOOLS FOR PROJECT MANAGERS
 Project management is a complex process that requires a wide
range of skills.
 Whether you manage projects on a regular basis or only once or
twice a year, the skills learned in project management are
applicable to many managerial and leadership positions.

3. WHAT IS MINDTOOLS.COM?
 Established in 1996,
 The site helps more than 15,000,000 people each
year
 MindTools.com provides resources, tools and
teaches leadership, team management, problem-
solving, project management, personal
productivity, and team-working skills
 Major corporations and government agencies
around the world use MindTools.com to improve
management and leadership skills, and support
organizational development initiatives.
 Mind Tools is awarded a Queen's Award for
Enterprise – the UK's top business award

4. WHAT IS MINDTOOLS.COM?
 1,000+ proven resources you can use to be impactful managers, inspiring
leaders, and exceptionally effective contributors in the workplace.
 Use this site to learn more, and to explore our resources for yourself!
Go to Mindtools.com

5. ASSESS YOUR CURRENT SKILL LEVEL
 Whether you succeed or fail with projects depends on how good you are at
project management
(Take Assessment)
 Use the information you gain here to improve specific project management
skills – as well as your general workplace skills
 Mind Tools teaches more than 50 individual project management skills.
 Explore the key areas of project management,
 Develop your skills on how to schedule projects
 Find out how to manage change so that your projects are accepted and embraced by the
people they affect

6. PROJECT MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
 Formal project management involves following an established project
management methodology. In turn, most of these methodologies follow a set
of common project phases, with common processes that run across each
phase.
 The Planning Cycle is a process that helps you to make good, well-
considered, robust plans.
 The project management methodology that your organization uses may also
determine whether you should use a Project Charter or a Project Initiation
Document.
Go to Mindtools.com

7. PROJECT MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK
 Risk Impact/Probability Chart
 To successfully implement a project, you
must identify and focus your attention on
middle and high-priority risks –
 With the Risk Impact/Probability Chart,
you map out each risk – and its position
determines its priority.
Go to Mindtools.com

8. SCHEDULING TOOLS
 Scheduling aims to predict the future, and it has to consider many
uncertainties and assumptions.
 But whether you're planning a team retreat, or leading a
multimillion-dollar IT project, the schedule is a critical part of your
efforts.
 It identifies and organizes project tasks into a sequence of events
that create the project management plan.
 A variety of inputs and tools are used in the scheduling process, all
of which are designed to help you understand your resources, your
constraints, and your risks.

9. SCHEDULING TOOLS
 Action Planning – To-Do Lists, Urgent/Important Matrix
 Small Projects
 Gantt Charts – Microsoft Project, Critical Path Analysis, PERT
 Network Analysis (for large projects)

10. SCOPE MANAGEMENT TOOLS
 BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS
 Many organizations already have established
procedures and methodologies for conducting
business requirements analyses, which may have
been optimized specifically for that organization or
industry. If these exist, use them!
 However, if they do not Mindtools.com provides
the following tools:
 Stakeholder Planning
 Impact Analysis
 Scenario Analysis

11. BUILDING SUPPORT FOR YOUR PROJECTS
 Stakeholder management is critical to
the success of every project in every
organization. By engaging the right
people in the right way in your
project, you can make a big difference
to its success.
 Stakeholder Analysis
 Communications Worksheet

12. CHANGE MANAGEMENT TOOLS
 If part of your project involves implementing change, Mindtools.com offers a
number of tools for each of the change stages:
 Understanding  Planning  Implementing  Communicating
Change: Change: Change: Change:
 The Change Curve  Impact Analysis  Kotter's 8-Step Change  Stakeholder Analysis
 Burke-Litwin Model
 Lewin's Change Change Model  Stakeholder
Management Model  Training Needs Management
 McKinsey 7S Assessment
 Beckhard and Framework  Mission Statements
Harris's Change  Why Change Can Fail and Visions
 Leavitt's Diamond
Model Statements
 Organization
Design
 SIPOC Diagrams

13. PROJECT IMPROVEMENT TOOLS
 Completing a project is not the same thing as
ending the project management process. Simply
finishing doesn't ensure that the organization
benefits from the project's outcome
 After Action Review Process
 Post-Implementation Reviews
 Project Healthcheck

14. QUESTIONS