The Complete Guide to Project Management for New Managers and Management Assistants: How to Get Things Done in Less Time
A sobering new statistic indicates that less than half of all projects assigned to management are completed, done correctly, finished on time, and under budget. Project management is the discipline of organizing and managing resources so that projects meet their defined scope, time, and cost constraints.
As a manager or assistant manager, you will be responsible for many projects, and you will be evaluated on their planning, coordination, and control from inception to completion, including meeting their quality requirements on time and within cost. Projects are critical to the success of any business or organization. They are the activities that result in new or changed products and services. They increase sales, improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, improve the work environment, and result in countless other benefits.
As a manager or assistant manager, you will be evaluated on the success of your project management skills. In this easy-to-read and comprehensive new book, you will learn planning strategies for each phase of project management and for everything from the start-up meeting, to the project’s execution and closure, including its scope and information gathering requirements.
You will learn how to create a project plan, assess its risk, manage multiple projects, manage organization-wide initiatives, implement project management concepts, and schedule, control, and manage contracts. The information in this new book will help you make the most of your time by efficiently handling your workflow. Managing time effectively within your company will serve to deliver projects on time and increase profits and will make you stand out to your supervisors. You can succeed in real-world project management.
The Internet, software, and technology have dramatically changed the way traditional projects have been managed. Online project management software helps your organization share, store, and manage key project information through a central, online location accessible to everyone. There is a complete review of this new technology in this book.
In addition, we spent thousands of hours interviewing, e-mailing, and communicating with hundreds of today’s most successful project management experts. This book contains their secrets and proven successful ideas, including actual case studies. If you are interested in learning hints, strategies, and secrets for implementing highly effective project management skills, then this book is for you.
Please visit our web site http://www.atlantic-pub.com/ .
I was wary of another business leadership and management style book. After all, aren’t there about a million of these printed every hour? No? Well it feels like it.
But seriously, this book was actually a worthwhile read. It not only offers candid, straightforward advice, but breaks down the project management process into easy to understand and implement steps. Bereaux makes some very good points about ho to manage a team of people, how to communicate with them effectively and how to ensure the project finishes successfully. All in all, much better than most of the business help books out there. If this is a subject you are interested in or just need something to read on the plane, you would do well to take a look at this one.
Comment by A reader — April 14, 2008 @ 9:00 am
4 out of 5 stars
Many new managers and project managers don’t have leadership experience. This book is for those who want to succeed but may not have the right roadmap. Bereaux’s outlines verything a new manager needs to remember and then break down all the phases of a project into smaller steps. She offers help with general management skills from dealing with different personality types to running meetings as well as specific supervisory skills such as delegating effectively and cost assessment. She then breaks down each project into a series of five phases leading from project origination to producing deliverables, making each piece manageable by helping you break the project into well-organized and realistic goals. By talking new project managers through each step of the process, she creates a guide that is useful when starting a new project and also when you hit roadblocks along the way.
One difficulty of the book is that it tries to make itself applicable to a huge range of projects. The breakdown of steps can sometimes be a little abstract. The “case studies,” however, help turn all the theory into practice and also make it easier to understand how to fit Bereaux’s ideas to your own needs. I do wish, however, that some of her case studies were more detailed so that I could see an example of each of her individual steps within each phase. That said, her book is an incredibly useful resource both for new managers and for project managers who may never have had a solid example of successful management. Her appendices also include helpful suggestions on software packages and online resources to help managers get organized. I will definitely keep using this book throughout my career.
Comment by Craig — April 17, 2008 @ 12:22 pm
This book is broken down in to simple to follow chapters. It takes every aspect of managing a project and spells it out for you step by step. When you begin reading this book you will be shown how to determine the different roles of a manager versus a project manager. These first couple of chapters may discourage the reader who is interested in understanding how to succeed in managing their own individual projects, but keep reading.
When you hit chapter 3 you will find what you are looking for. It starts at the very beginning of a potential project and walks you through closing. Throughout the book there are real life scenarios provided for example. You will also find multiple interviews from experienced project managers that are full of tips and suggestions. The end of the book includes explanations of available software to assist in multiple projects.
You will have at your fingertips multiple case studies to help you on your way to being a successful project manager yourself in addition to sharing common mistakes to avoid. All of this is made available in the appendixes. Some of the language in this book is presented in a manner that individuals that have not worked closely with other managers prior to their promotion may not understand it, however each aspect is thoroughly explained. I give this book 4 star rating.
Comment by Michedolene Hogan — April 24, 2008 @ 9:44 am
A Complete Guide to Project Management for New Managers and Manager Assistants is an excellent resource for any project manager. This practical guide leads you through each phase of a project. Each task, laid out in a way that gives a check and balance system, to help the project to run smooth. Being new in management sometimes leaves you feeling tired and confused. This book gives the reader focus and direction in a very fast paced environment. With my busy schedule, sitting down to read a business book seems like an impossible task sometimes, but just after picking up the book I quickly became interested in the case by case accounts that were written from situations that seasoned managers have gone through. These case studies, written from actual events, gave great ideas on what to do and not to do to protect myself in management.
The book lays out a great step by step guide to tackle each phase of a new project. It is loaded with tools to help you save time and energy, which is something that I know most managers, could use a little extra of. This book is definitely not another book for the shelf. The end of the book is filled with resources for new managers. There is a software section that has details on different web based software programs that may be helpful to new managers. There is also a chapter with tips on effective voice mail and e-mail communication. The resources for new managers alone that are listed in the book make it worth the read.
4 star rating
Comment by Jennifer Knight — April 24, 2008 @ 7:28 pm
Being handed a big project for the first time is intimidating. Elle Bereaux alleviates those fears by laying out this comprehensive guide to project management in simple terms.
For first timers who feel like they can’t see the forest from the trees, Bereaux teaches how to separate each phase of the project, set-up a schedule & budget, delegate tasks, and follow through. She illustrates her guidelines by taking the reader through a simulated project. There is even some good advice on running effective meetings and how to handle common disruptions. (Who hasn’t been stuck in an unproductive meeting with late-comers and sidebar conversations?)
You’ll find that this book is a real confidence builder as it helps you navigate the unknown and prove to your boss that his faith in you will be rewarded.
Rating: 5 stars
Comment by C. Lee — May 6, 2008 @ 8:12 am