Foreword The forward progress of organisations has always depended heavily on the management of projects. New plants, new products, new organisations, new methods, new ventures ­ all required dedicated teams working to strict timetables and separate budgets. But today there's a vital difference. The project management mode has broadened and evolved to the point where managers may spend as much time in interdisciplinary, cross-functional, interdepartmental project teams as they do in their normal posts. Many factors have contributed to this unstoppable development ­ among them the increased complexity of all businesses, the closer inter-relation- ships within organisations and with customers and suppliers outside, and the mounting pressure for speed. The latter demands synchronous working. Organisations can no longer afford to play pass-the-parcel, with each depart- ment or function waiting for the others to finish. There simply isn't enough