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The Little Black Book of Project Management
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39 new or used available from $0.01
Average customer review:
Product Description
This book is designed to help project managers take charge of any project and its individual responsibilities, like defining the scope of a project, scheduling and budgeting, identifying and assigning tasks.
Fully revised with new information about project management in the electronic age, the book also includes specifics about conforming with newly updated Project Management Body of Knowledge standards. Following those standards as outlined in this book allows project leaders to achieve:
* On-time delivery of results * Superior organizational ability * A reputation for dependability * Consistent profit generation
The book features basic information on how to create the foundation and structure of projects, as well as a guide for accomplishing every phase along the way to completion.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #610522 in Books
- Published on: 2002-03-15
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Paperback
- 192 pages
Features
- ISBN13: 9780814471371
- BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed
- Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Editorial Reviews
Review
At a time when management wants [..] quicker returns on investments, IT managers should find great value in this book. -- Computer World
Review
"Thomsett has taken the daunting task of project management and has used a systematic process to put it in perspective.”
--Quality Progress
“IT managers should find great value in this book.”
--ComputerWorld
Review
ComputerWorld: "At a time when management wants better cost controls and quicker returns on investments, IT managers should find great value in this book."
Customer Reviews
Good Resource to Start Project Management Quickly
I was looking for a book that would get me going fairly quickly. I had a project with a tight budget that was going to take the better part of a year. I needed to start managing it, and I needed to start then. Those 600+ page college-text style tomes were not going to help. Then I found this little gem, and I was off and running.
Thomsett starts at the beginning--organizing-- then in 11 chapters and 182 pages describes planning, team-building, budgeting, scheduling, communication, documentation, review, and even tips for eliminating common problems. The most important (and common) tools such as PERT and Gantt charts, flow diagrams, etc. are all here. There are even exercises after each chapter (with answers in the appendix) so you can test yourself and make sure you've got it.
This book helped me get it, and gave me the tools I needed to be able to manage my project successfully. If you're an accomplished project manager, this book will seem basic (although it may be a good review). If you're starting down this path or want to share the basics with your team members, you'll find it to be quite helpful.
Misleading Advice
This book offers a lot of advice to would be project managers; unfortunately, little of it appears to be born of experience. In fact, following this book to the letter would lead to one novice pitfall after another. The author recommends against adding float (he calls it 'fudge') to cost or time budgets. Experience yields contact with variance, and variance is a fact of life that cannot be denied in the planning phase. Toward the end of the book, advising how to build a career, the author suggests that projects should always be brought in on time and on budget. Without float, how in the world can things come in on time and on budget without a miracle? Although some of the information provided is useful, the mistakes in here are toxic enough to warrant avoiding the book. I would think a book entitled 'little black book' would provide some coverage of organizational politics. Perhaps this is a book that could be sent anonymously to one's enemies? My advice is to avoid the book, and to avoid getting your boss the book, despite the fact that other reviews describe it as an executive primer.
The Basics of Project Management
If you are new to the world of project management, and you are looking for a handy, easy-to-read, yet detailed collection of information about successfully managing projects, then this book is a great place to start.
This book methodically walked through the steps of successful project management: initial planning, assembling a project team, budgeting, work scheduling, and project reviewing. Besides those key project management basics, it included a chapter on the importance of project-related communications and a chapter on the career challenges and opportunities of project management. At the end of each chapter was a short "work project" to help the reader check his understanding of the chapter's main points. Throughout the book, the author identified many additional resources (i.e. books and websites) to expand and complement the information presented. The book also made use of many effective checklists and figures to organize and present the information.
As a retired career Marine officer with many years of successfully managing events and projects, and now as a contractor supporting diverse government and military organizations, this book helped me to smoothly transition to the world of civilian project management.
