Managing Multiple Projects

Rating:
Summary: OK, But no real practical advice, nothing groundbreaking
Review: Being a successful manager , and being an avid reader, I was expecting this book to go a bit further than it did. I have read a number of project management books, and a number of management books, and I would have to say that this book is at best a rudimentary management book. If you are completely new to management then maybe this book would be useful. If you are an existing manager and are looking for practical advice on how to manage, track, and report on multiple projects, this book is not for you.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent! Best Book on Workload Management/Balancing Ever!
Review: I'm a software developer, and although I don't manage other people's time and effort across multiple projects, I have to manage mine. I've been through many of the more popular Time Management books around for solutions, but this book hit the nail on the head. A simple yet profound exercise described in the book is doing an analysis of your current workload to determine when, if at all, you'll hit some "crunch time", where your commitments simply outstretch your available time to work them. While simple (and after you read it, obvious) it's never been taught in any class I've ever taken. And once you see it, you'll wonder why it wasn't. It's critical. And it's the basis for the rest of the outstanding techniques in the book to manage your workload (and that of your subordinates) across multiple projects, crunch time or not. I highly recommend this to management and worker bees alike. Simply indispensible.

Rating:
Summary: Precepts good execution poor
Review: THe book's precepts that reliability and consistency equal success and it's the formula that makes success is one right out of the CMM manual and a staple at Management Consultant firms.

Unfortunately this book falls short of how to get there, other than some warm over Stephan Covey planner tips. Good for skimming but not much meat.