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There exists the PMBOK which stands for Project Management Body of Knowledge and long with it a certification program for project managers. This consists of a tried and true set of procedures, forms, techniques, and software to assist in the management of projects. This book has an opening sentence: 'Many of the methods and techniques used in traditional project management look like proverbial sledgehammers when directed at smaller projects.' He is absolutely right, the use of a full scale project management system on a smaller project will likely take more effort than is to be spent on the project itself. Instead the author has come up with the SP (Smaller Projects) Method. It keeps what is useful but eliminates the 'luxuries' of dealing with smaller projects. For instance one part of big projects is team building. The smaller project 'team' may well have just a single individual for a month or two. To go with the information in the book, one of the appendices includes a series of forms that you can use to work with the smaller projects that will assist in its management...

Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]

Breaking the Rules of Project Management [Audio CD] by Reader Views (Bette Daoust, PhD)

Date Added: Wednesday 09 April, 2008

At first glance of the title, you may wonder if you actually need to follow the rules for project management. In actuality, it is more like who should actually break the rules and when. The answer to this question is delicately dealt with in this audio CD. Paul Berman recommends not breaking any rules until you are an expert. An expert is one who knows all the ways not to do something. His analogy is to learn to color the picture within the lines first and really know how to do it well. Once you have mastered being within the lines, then discover what coloring outside the lines will do to the overall picture. I really agree that there is no place for innovation in project management unless you are an expert with the basics. However, once the basics are mastered, being able to discover unique solutions is the key to being a successful project manager. Do you want to break the rules in project management? If so, then listen closely to what Paul Bergman has to say on this CD...

Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!]

Breaking the Rules of Project Management [Audio CD] by Edward McDavitt

Date Added: Wednesday 09 April, 2008

This is a recording of a live seminar. Audio was pretty good, information was of value. If you are interested in this stuff or simply need to hear confirmation of what you've thought about project management then this is your audio book...

Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!]

Managing in the Face of Ever-Changing Requirements [Audio CD] by J. Miller

Date Added: Wednesday 09 April, 2008

The audio book is a great addition to my listening collection. We all know what it is like to finish a project behind schedule and over budget... This audio book focuses on was to handle an ever changing WBS. I definitely recommend this selection...

Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!]

Winston Churchill, the Agile Project Manager [Audio CD] by Reader Views (William E. Cooper)

Date Added: Wednesday 09 April, 2008

In listening to this CD, which is less than an hour long, Mr. Kozak-Holland makes the attempt to create a comparison with Winston Churchill's management style and decision making skill with today's organizations and issues and challenges they face. He succeeds. Using the crisis faced by England at the start of World War 11, and the absolute requirement to make decisions at unprecedented levels, Mr. Kozak-Holland makes a compelling case for using the Churchill leadership style in today's organizations. He describes the need for true leadership in times of rapid growth and change, for people, systems, and finances. Churchill succeeded in circumstances that were far more critical and dangerous than faced by many businesses today. His entire country and its people were at severe risk and he won. He won because of the character and principles he brought. By applying them in our world today, under important but far less critical circumstances, we can demonstrably show one success after another. There is a real learning opportunity in listening to this CD. Good job Mr. Kozak-Holland...

Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]

Winston Churchill, the Agile Project Manager [Audio CD] by William J. Vollano Jr.

Date Added: Wednesday 09 April, 2008

In reviewing the audio CD from Mark Kozak-Holland I was very interested in how he relates Winston Churchill's methods to modern day techniques such as the "dashboard". Knowing little to nothing about Churchill before listening - I now want to read more. On the negative side - the audio CD had a few moments where there was a reference to slides that you cannot see when listening to the CD. If you look beyond the quality of the audio and listen to the content - you will be pleased...

Rating: [3 of 5 Stars!]

Innovative Strategies in Risk Management [Audio CD] by J. Miller

Date Added: Wednesday 09 April, 2008

The audio book is a great addition to my listening collection. With the changes in the PMBOK regarding risk management, this audio book gives an overview of the subject that is an excellent accompaniment to your other reading. I definitely recommend this selection...

Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!]

Agile Project Management Using Scrum [Audio CD] by Duane D. Garrett

Date Added: Wednesday 09 April, 2008

I have been doing Project Management for about eight years. I had heard of Agile Development, but only had a loose idea of what it was. I had never heard of SCRUM. I found this CD to be a very informative experience. It is a recording of a speaking engagement by Kevin Aguanno, a Canadian certified PM and Agile/SCRUM expert. While the sound quality could be better, as I listened to the approximately hour long presentation, I found myself worrying less about the sound quality and becoming more interested in the content. Mr. Aguanno gives a concise overview of Agile Development methods and SCRUM; what they are, when and how to use them, and illustrates his lecture with many on point examples from his own experience. He even explains where the name SCRUM is derived from! This is NOT an in depth course. This is an overview, an introduction. If you want project plans and lengthy documentation, look elsewhere. If what you are looking for is an introduction to SCRUM, what it is and when to use it, you will be very, very satisfied with this audio CD!..

Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]

Agile Project Management Using Scrum [Audio CD] by J. Miller

Date Added: Wednesday 09 April, 2008

The audio book is a great addition to my listening collection. It serves as a good overview for anyone new to Scrum. While the audio quality was not perfect, the speaker was easy to understand and provided excellent information. I recommend this to anyone who cannot attend a seminar in person...

Rating: [4 of 5 Stars!]

Taming Wicked Projects [Audio CD] by Eileen Andreason

Date Added: Wednesday 09 April, 2008

While listening to this audio book, I was struck by something I heard recently about cats. Cats, this source said, have never been domesticated. Cats simply joined human communities centuries ago of their own free will, out of what they recognized to be a mutual self-interest. Humans stored grain, which attracted rodents in greater numbers than they would find in the wild, so they came, ate, and stayed. Schwab uses dogs and cats to describe different types of projects, and the breadth of this metaphor was amazing to me. "Cat-like projects," Schwab says, are ones that are executed in dynamic, uncontrollable, fast time-to-market environments and can have unclear purposes, shifting goals, competing agendas, scarce resources and inflexible schedules. For historical reasons companies have assumed that they could use "dog-training techniques" to manage these "cat-like projects"--probably because "dog-like projects" came first, and defined the project management field. But guess what--it doesn't always (or even usually) work. Schwab describes these particularly gnarly innovation-based projects as being not about counting the number of rivets that will eventually hold a bridge together, but more about "shared conjuring"--making it up as we go along, out of thin air. The "wickedness" associated with these types of projects exists because of our expectations--what Schwab calls "the supposed-to's." Schwab very adroitly debunks many of the myths and methods we commonly apply in our well-intentioned but none-the-less misguided attempts to manage these types of projects. Schwab proposes, instead, a concept she refers to as a "project community." She then goes on to explain how this community forms and behaves, and what the role of the project manager is on these types of projects. A project community is not necessarily "domesticated"--you can't force people to work together toward a common goal, no matter how much power you might think you have over them. But Schwab describes how, by coming to understand some of the (actually very human) characteristics of a project's community, it is possible to nurture the process of self-discovery that is the foundation of motivation. This, in turn, helps the community coalesce in a form of mutual self-interest that will fuel a "purr." The "purr" is the flow of ideas, processes and practices that allow a group of people working together toward a common goal achieve more than the sum of its parts might at first suggest. This amplification effect, or synergy, is both at the heart of very successful innovation-based projects and the dream of every project manager and company. Those times when your project is "curled up and purring in your lap" are memorable for a project manager. Listen to this CD several times, and augment it with a companion volume, The Blind Men and the Elephant: Mastering Project Work," by David A. Schmaltz, Schwab's business partner and husband. Schwab and Schmaltz make a great team, and will help companies--and especially project managers--learn how to reduce the angst which can accompany an attempt to "inflict" inappropriate management methods on these potentially very exciting and rewarding (that's why we do this kind of work--right?) projects...

Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]