Customer Reviews

PM Crash Course, Premier Edition: A Crash Course in Real-World Project Management

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rita Mulcahey is one of the leading training providers in the project management profession, not to mention one of the most engaging lecturers. The book shares these features: engaging, interesting, full of information, and a good companion if you are planning on taking a PM test any time soon. Several of my staff members have benefited from the effectiveness of her programs.

If you are a semi-skilled project manager who has not yet taken the PMI Certifiying exam, or who doesn't want to wade through the encyclopedic and difficult PM Body of Knowledge, then this is a very good, very easy to read overview of pretty much everything that a high-speed project manager would want to know and do.

However, in my initial impression, I would assume that a "crash course" is intended for someone who does NOT have the required skills and needs to get some results in a hurry.

What this book is not, is a useful guidebook for someone who is getting started in the role of project manager. It is just too complete. The new PM will despair, and those who resist PM as "overhead" will have plenty of new evidence. Mulcahey makes the point over and over that PM is about planning ahead in order to avoid failure down the road, when corrective action is expensive. This is absolutely true, yet it may be lost on a neophyte PM or their process-resistant manager who will see project management processes as just another straw on the camel's back. But who other than a new PM would _need_ a crash course as opposed to the more deliberate and thorough training that an experienced PM would need?

Short version of the PMBOK - definitely.
Review book for trained PMs - definitely. I will probably be buying some for my office for this very purpose.
"Crash course" for people unfamiliar with the practice of project management: this baby's too hot for you to handle. Remember, the project managers you see succeeding around you are trained professionals.

This is a fine book to learn the essentials of project management. Cover price of $39 is a little steep. It is a quick read. The exercises are valuable and made me think before I had a chance to see what Rite wrote. This book does a good job of covering the basics of project management and in a concise way. Topics were presented in a way that a new project manager could learn how to conduct a successful project. I wish every new project manager in my company would read this book and use at least one of the ideas they get in their next project.

Since I'm an experienced project manager and have read many PM books this was still an interesting book as a quick review. I recommend Neal Whitten's "No Nonsense Advice for Successful Projects" for both inexperienced and experienced project managers. It is the best project management book I know of.

I am a nerd and I loved it. It is easy to read, educational and you can break it up into chapters.

I would recommend Rita's books to anyone who's seriously going for a PMP certification or who wants to continue PMP certification. 'Crash Course' is for the novice. However, it is a practical, up to date, informational study in a condensed overview of the PMPBOK methodology. Everyone has their favorites but I've found Rita's team most effective in disecting this methodology. You'll make the right choice with 'Crash Course' if you're looking for a guide to wet your appetite and give you a true introduction to the field of Project Management as it pertains not only to the PMBOK but also reality.

I think this book is well written, especially once you get past the first couple of chapters. At first, I felt as though I was really being spoken down to as though I was uneducated, but by the end of the book, it easily explains many of the necessities of project management. good book.

This book is an easy read and puts project management into manageable segments (what every project manager wants!)...