Project management disasters & how to survive them - David Nickson

This book examines the causes of project management failures and what can be learnt from them. It focuses on risk management - identifying risks and strategies to deal with them; how to support and lead project teams when things go wrong; how to turn a disaster into something positive and, importantly, guidance on what not to do.

The emphasis is on learning lessons from mistakes that have occurred within previous projects, thus helping to avoid future disasters.

Using a wide variety of real-world examples the book looks at what those involved in the projects did after the event and how effective - or otherwise - this was in improving the outcome.

Cases include: The Apollo 13 moon mission; Coca-Cola Dasani water; the Millennium Dome; the Millennium Bridge; the Channel Tunnel; the Beagle 2 Space Probe; and many more.

Topics covered include: The capture of lessons learnt; Motivating staff to carry on; Avoidance of blame (and acceptance where appropriate); Finding the best way forward for both client and the organization; Positive outcomes from negative situations; Handling hostile media coverage; Resetting expectations; Identifying successful recovery strategies.