Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management [Paperback]

Greg Horine (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0789731975 | ISBN-13: 978-0789731975 | Publication Date: May 2, 2005

A new edition of this title is available, ISBN-10: 078973821X ISBN-13: 9780789738219

 

You've just been handed your department's biggest project and you probably aren't sure where to even begin. Whether you have 6 months or 6 weeks to complete it, being an effective project manager can make all the difference to the end result. Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management can help you quickly become an effective and efficient project manager when time matters most. Through topics such as "building a project budget and schedule" to "managing vendors," this book will guide you through what works and what doesn't based on tried and true practices. Your learning will be focused on the skills and qualities of effective project managers, leadership styles and project trends, including information technology, outsourcing and virtual teams. Let Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management help you take your project from start to finish.

 

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Five stars. The book is littered with very useful notes, tips and cautions, appearing on average every other page." Kawal Banga MBCS, IT Training, Summer 2009 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project ManagementAbout the Author

Gregory M. Horine is a published author (PMP Exam Cram 2) and certified project management and business technology professional (PMP, CCP) with more than 16 years of consulting experience across multiple industries. His primary areas of professional expertise include

• Project management and leadership

• Complex application development

• Enterprise solution development

• Business process analysis and improvement

• Data analysis and transformation

• Package implementation and integration

• Vendor and procurement management

• Regulatory and process compliance

• Project management tools

• Computer systems validation

• Testing processes

• Quality and risk management

In addition, Mr. Horine holds a master's degree in computer science from Ball State University and a bachelor's degree in both marketing and computer science from Anderson College (Anderson, IN).

Through his "servant leadership" approach, Mr. Horine has established a track record of empowering his teammates, improving project communications, overcoming technical and political obstacles, and successfully completing projects that meet the targeted objectives.

Mr. Horine is grateful for the guidance and the opportunities that he has received from many mentors throughout his career. Their patience and influence has resulted in a rewarding career that has been marked by continuous learning and improvement.

You can access a recent interview of Mr. Horine by the Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) and the Networking Professionals Association (NPA) at these respective websites:

http://www.npanet.org/public/interviews/careers_interview_121.cfm

http://www.stephenibaraki.com/cips/feb04/ghor.asp

When not engaged in professional endeavors, Mr. Horine hones his project management skills at home with his lovely wife, Mayme, and his five incredible children: Michael, Victoria, Alex, Luke, and Elayna.

© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Que (May 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789731975
• ISBN-13: 978-0789731975
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #757,710 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Missing the practical approach, February 13, 2008

By 

wibe "wibe" (Erlangen. germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management (Paperback)

This is one of the better books about PMBOK-based ProjectManagement. But what I really miss, is a practical explanation of how to switch theory to reality. For example: The PMBOK defines 44 processes. Some of them have to be done one time (e.g. defining a Project Charter), but many process steps have to be done daily, weekly, monthly and with different participants. So, what I miss is a description how to organize all these processes during a concrete project including a project plan with all these process steps defined as meetings.
This book is a really good introduction to PM and it helps to understand every PMBOK process. But when trying to use this methodology in daily work, you dont know what steps to do with whom and when. I simply miss a kind of project calendar showing how to spread these processes over the timeline.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Beginners and Much More..., May 26, 2005

By 

M. Zakaria (Indianapolis, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management (Paperback)

I enjoyed this book. It is jam-packed with theories and a wealth of practical experiences and lessons learned. This book is very comprehensive and goes beyond the catchy series title of "Absolute Beginner's Guide".

I particularly found the Tip/Note/Caution pop-up style side-bars amusing and very helpful (I cheated and read them first before every page). Some of these pop-ups are very insightful (e.g. Caution: Page 32 - "A good project manager can still end up managing and delivering a troubled project").

The summary/review section entitled "The Absolute Minimum", at the end of every chapter, is a very smart and practical method to review what the previous chapter was all about.

This book goes beyond the mechanics of pure project management. As an example, in Chapter 16 "Leading a Project" this book discusses leadership, techniques and success factors. The "Servant Leadership" approach is extremely effective and I am also very glad that someone had already named it and documented it as early as 1970.

Job very well done. This book is HIGHLY recommended for beginners and experts alike.

Marwan F. Zakaria, PMP

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It really does deserve its 5-star rating!, October 27, 2005

By 

Carlo R. Montoya "Toy photographer" (Cebu City, Cebu Philippines) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management (Paperback)

If you're either a new project manager (without PM training), or
somebody interested or involved in project management, then this
book is for you.

I've read the Project Management Institute's Project Management
Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) cover to cover and I honestly don't
know how I prevented myself from going to sleep.

This book, on the other hand, is the most exciting book I've
ever read about project management. Greg's 16 years of
experience is evident in his writing.

Get this book, read it and before you know it, you're on your
way to become a better project manager.