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Summary: Using to teach Project Engineering
Review: The Naval Postgraduate School has been using a number of large books for Project Engineering for many years. For the past year, we have been using this book and the students love it. It is now being used by 6 faculty to teach Graduate School courses. Dr. Orin E. Marvel opainc@nps.navy.mil
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Summary: One of the Classic Project Management Books
Review: This book describes the entire project life cycle and the management disciplines that need to be employed across the various phases of the life cycle. The following attributes of the book were important to me: (1) it presents sophisticated concepts in understandable language and diagrams, and does an excellent job blending conceptual data with the authors' extensive hands-on experience and insight; (2) it helps the reader understand the vital technical and programmatic objectives of important reviews and control gates -- beyond the more common sociological objective of disposing of all review comments in a way that leaves every reviewer feeling that his or her perspective has been honored; (3) it clearly shows how important it is for a project manager to understand system engineering concepts and processes, in order to maintain effective control of the technical baseline (and, consequently, the project schedule and cost); and (4) it describes the teamwork necessary for project success -- not only teamwork internal to the project but also the teamwork needed among the user, the customer/buyer, and the project. This is a book by three authors with long and deep real-world project management experience, and a passion for teaching. It can be appreciated by project managers at many different levels of experience and different backgrounds, and (like the authors' project management training course) merits return visits at multiple points in a project manager's career. I recommend it highly for all serious project managers, current and future.
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Summary: Should be on the bookshelf of every PM & aspiring PM
Review: This book explains how to plan, schedule and control projects the right way, starting with a workbreakdown structure through to managing schedule and cost using earned value. While there are other books that do this, Visualizing Project Management presents this information in an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand manner. One of my favorite parts of the book explains how to use "cards on the wall" to portray dependencies and sequence, which is the basis of a good schedule. I also liked how earned value project management is presented. If you want a book that shows in a straightforward manner how to plan and estimate a project with confidence (versus firing up MS Project and starting with a Gantt chart that will aomost surely result in cost and schedule overruns because you did not think through the basics), then this is the book to get. Moreover, if you want to understand how to correctly schedule a project after it has been planned and estimated (using MS Project or your favorite tool), then Visualizing Project Management is must-reading. This book also explains in an easy-to-understand maner how to control a project; i.e., what you need to do in order to proactively manage to budget and schedule. I have purchased 8 copies of this book over the years as gifts to colleagues who were assigned to manage projects - each person loved the book.
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Summary: Successful Project Management As Told By Experts
Review: This book is a tremendous aid for the serious project manager. It describes all of the essentials needed to be successful as a project manager. Unlike most pm books that speak only to cost and schedule management, this book also helps the reader understand how to manage the requirements for a project.This is critical because being successful means being on time, within budget, and most importantly, delivering a product that meets customer requirements. The authors come at this subject from the perspective of many years of hands-on experience, and they have the scars to prove it
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Summary: About technical project management not project coordination
Review: This book is about managing technically challenging development projects to a successful conclusion. It is not about the coordination of low tech routine projects. You will be pleased to find that there is a healthy dose of system engineering integrated with solid project management material. Understanding these concepts can increase your effectiveness in interfacing with your customers and your technical team members which is critical to achieving the results you want. This material, while essential, is very rare in project management books. Also of note is the emphasis on managing the business case and getting customer buy-in throughout the process to ensure that the solution will satisfy the business case even if the business case is changing. There is no gain in successfully delivering a solution that is of little value.
Many projects suffer because of poor baseline management and this book calls for managing the three baselines (business, budget, and technical) to be congruent. Control Gates are effectively proposed as the discipline to cause this to happen. All important concepts are clearly illustrated and three dimensional models are provided to assist in understanding important interesecting processes. The included CD provides visualizations that you can use with your team. I do.
If you are able to get all of your team members including your customers to understand these concepts your life will become much easier and your projects are sure to be more successful. There is nothing that reduces conflict more than having a common vocabulary and a clear and mutual understanding of the management approach.
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Summary: Sun Tzu PE and SE
Review: This book is based around the proven fact that Project Management and Systems Engineering are unseparable. Thus the parable of Sun Tzu becomes: If you know Project Management and Systems Engineering, you will win 100% of the time. If you know either Project Management or Systems Engineering, you will win 50% of the time. If you know neither Project Management nor Systems Engineering, you will always loose. Dr. Orin E. Marvel
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Summary: Comments by Max Wideman
Review: Visualizing Project Management: A Model for Business and Technical Success" by Kevin Forsberg, Hal Mooz and Howard Cotterman, second edition, has much added material since the first edition. It is still my recommended first choice for those seeking a better insight into the role of project management, and I have read quite a few books on project management since that first edition. The book introduces many new concepts to the discipline, including an "orthogonal" model of the project management life cycle and its related processes which provides a conceptual basis for the book. It draws distinctions between the technical, business and budget aspects of project management work, one often confused for another by many would-be practitioners, yet it emphasizes the need for close alignment of these three aspects. The author's "Vee" model nicely bridges the gap between those whose primary focus is on the decomposition of the project for definition and control purposes during the project's planning period, and those whose focus must be on the integration of the various components during the production period of the project. But perhaps Chapter 4 warmed my heart the most - dedicated, as it is, to "Project Vocabulary" and the need to communicate clearly! I find the book easy to read, well illustrated, and very sensible. It is a valuable resource for students and practitioners alike.
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Summary: Comments by Max Wideman
Review: Visualizing Project Management: A Model for Business and Technical Success" by Kevin Forsberg, Hal Mooz and Howard Cotterman, second edition, has much added material since the first edition. It is still my recommended first choice for those seeking a better insight into the role of project management, and I have read quite a few books on project management since that first edition. The book introduces many new concepts to the discipline, including an "orthogonal" model of the project management life cycle and its related processes which provides a conceptual basis for the book. It draws distinctions between the technical, business and budget aspects of project management work, one often confused for another by many would-be practitioners, yet it emphasizes the need for close alignment of these three aspects. The author's "Vee" model nicely bridges the gap between those whose primary focus is on the decomposition of the project for definition and control purposes during the project's planning period, and those whose focus must be on the integration of the various components during the production period of the project. But perhaps Chapter 4 warmed my heart the most - dedicated, as it is, to "Project Vocabulary" and the need to communicate clearly! I find the book easy to read, well illustrated, and very sensible. It is a valuable resource for students and practitioners alike.
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Summary: The best project management book I've ever read.
Review: Wow! The best book I have ever read on the subject and the only one that discusses the critical relationship between project management, systems engineering, and requirements management. An excellent read that offers a wealth of insight and brings the real world experience of the authors to the fore. The examples and case studies are worth the price alone. A must read for any serious project manager. You can't afford not to read this book.
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