Posted to News on 27th Nov 2009, 13:55
97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know
There are plenty of project management books around, but every now and again one comes along which puts together a lot of common sense so that any Project Manager can find it helpful, whether they use a particular methodology or none.
97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know, edited by Barbee Davis and published by O'Reilly, is the collected wisdom of 97 project managers who each get only two pages, so there's not a lot of wasted space. They offer the reader priceless knowledge, gained through years of trial and error.
Short and extremely practical tips "" whether you're dealing with software or non-IT projects "" come from from some of the world's most experienced project managers and software developers. You will see how these professionals have dealt with everything from managing teams to handling project stakeholders to runaway meetings and more.
While this book highlights software projects, its wise axioms contain project management principles applicable to projects of all types in any industry. You can read the book end to end or browse to find topics that are of particular relevance to you. 97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know is both a useful reference and a source of inspiration.
Among the 97 practical tips are:
- Every Project Manager Is a Contract Administrator
- How Do You Define 'Finished'?
- The Best People to Create the Estimates Are the Ones Who Do the Work
- Favour the Simple Over The Complex
- Meetings Don't Write Code
- We Are Project Managers, Not Superheroes
By only having two pages for each tip a lot of ground is covered and there's a good chance you'll learn something new very quickly - or be reminded of something you used to know (that happens a lot to me).
Worth a read, and well worth having a copy in the office - whatever your industry and however big the projects you do.
97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know
ISBN: 9780596804169, 250 pages
Book Price: $29.99, 22.99, 24 €
Amazon: 97 Things Every Project Manager Should Know
About the editor
Barbee Davis, PMP, PHR, writes a semi-monthly feature for the Project Management Institute (PMI) international publication, Community Post, in which she guides project managers to more successful projects. She is also an international reviewer for the PMI Registered Educational Provider (R.E.P.) program.
