an important book, taking a lead role in growing a new generation of professional project managers. Oded Cohen, The Goldratt Institute. Put yourself and your business through the Project Workout - learn to direct and manage the programmes and projects that will deliver results, drive change and improve the health of your business. Project Workout shows you how to: Identify and overcome common challenges Measure critical success factors in any project Master a staged framework for managing a project Set up your project and manage the team, the schedule, the finances and the risks Develop the soft (interpersonal) and hard (structured management) skills of the effective project manager Manage a portfolio of projects Use project and programme management to direct and deliver change Improve your project tracking and delivery This book is supported by the Project Workout Live online resource (go to www.live.projectworkout.com), A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO THE ART OF PROJECT AND PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT Projects are an important strategic management tool and a way of life for every business person. But how do you get started and how do you ensure a successful outcome?This 4th edition of the definitive book on business-led project management offers help at every stage, from building a project team right up to reaping the rewards of a timely and successful project. Project Workoutgives you practical, immediately usable methods for directing and managing complete portfolios of projects as well as individual projects. Throughout the books is a collection of Workouts for you to use: exercises, problem posers, and techniques to help you put the book's advice into practice straightaway. These are also provided on the enclosed CD-ROM, ready for you to print out and use with your team. The CD also contains handy templates including a Health Check, MS Project views and project logs, which can be downloaded to your desktop ready for use. Project Workoutis a valuable companion for project managers and executives at any level and a comprehensive resource for students of project management. About the author Robert Buttrickhas worked in project and programme management in many of the world's most turbulent industrial sectors,includingtelecommunicationsand system engineering. Recently he has been engaged on a GBP1bn program to implement health systems in the UK. Before taking up his corporate career in 1993, Robert was with PA Consulting Group, a management and technology consultancy. There, he specialized in business-led project management, advising clients such as Lloyds TSB Bank, National Rivers Authority, Property Services Agency, Avon Industrial Polymers, National Westminster Bank, and RHM. Robert is a Master of Business Administration (Henley Management College), a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. His main pastime is watercolor painting. His one, unknown, claim to fame is that he once stopped a column of Russian tanks dead in its tracks. Robert can be contacted via his website, www.projectworkout.com.