The long planning horizon of complex projects defies the traditional project management concepts of deterministic schedules, costs, risks, and assumptions. Large cost overruns and benefit shortfalls are all too common. Virtually all major projects involve complex interfaces among diverse stakeholders, many of which have no direct contractual relationships, yet they share critical interfaces that can mean the difference between great success and huge failure.
This unique book presents a holistic view of a new discipline called project interface management, which is planning, coordinating, and controlling of the work of others at project interfaces. It includes numerous processes, tools, and techniques and aligns critical interactions among project management, systems engineering, and operations management to reduce project risk and increase successful system design, development, completion, and transition of major projects.
This cutting-edge text is designed for use in graduate-level project management and system engineering courses, executive education programs, and will serve as a professional reference. It will show professional project managers, systems engineers, executives, managers, and students how to plan, implement, and manage interfaces in real-world practice using a simple cost-effective approach. It is a must-read for those dealing with complex industrial projects and in government, defense, aerospace, energy, information technology, education, transportation, and infrastructure.
Key Features
- Details how project interface management can address many of the issues contributing to large cost overruns and significant under-delivery on major projects
- Articulates why interface planning is critical and must align with the project plan for design, development, and delivery
- Destroys the common misconceptions that project interface management is only applicable within technical or engineering functions and that acquiring an applicable software tool is all one needs to improve major capital project outcomes
- Discusses the need to systematically identify, document, and manage technical, project, organizational, and industry interfaces on major projects to ensure effective system integration and adherence to project constraints, while meeting stakeholder expectations and industry regulations
- Describes ways to effectively and efficiently manage interfaces during project execution that minimize the risk of rework during integration
- Provides practical guidance on how to plan and implement a project interface management program that incorporates proven practices in a variety of domains
- Demonstrates how to perform interface management during project execution using an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) project execution model
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Accelerating Change and the Context for Projects
Chapter 2: Understanding Project Complexity
Chapter 3: Interface Management Introduction
Chapter 4: Basic Interface Management Process
Chapter 5: Interface Analysis
Chapter 6: Interface Management Planning
Chapter 7: Interface Management Implementation
Chapter 8: Managing Interface Activity during Execution
Chapter 9: Interface Management Verification and Closeout
Appendix A: Interface Management Definitions and Terminology
Appendix B: Coreworx Interface Management Overview
Appendix C: ABC Management of Project Development
Appendix D: Project Diamond Mandate for Execution Phase
Appendix E: Project Diamond Execution Plan
Appendix F: Project Diamond DG3 Interface Control Document
Appendix G: Example Interface Management Closeout Report
