The Handbook of Program Management: How to Facilitate Project Success with Optimal Program Management [Hardcover]

James T Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2007

Establish processes that ensure the success of your project managers - and increase the profitability of your products and services With The Handbook of Program Management, you'll obtain the skills to incorporate new technology and people into your processes while delivering improved products and services that continually outpace your competition.In light of the Project Management Institute's new certification program for program managers, (PgMPSM) it's crucial that you have the understanding and processes necessary to deliver projects on schedule, within target costs, and that meet customer expectations.Program and project management authority Dr. James Brown helps you create the necessary culture that will ensure the success of your project managers and teams by providing the must have insights you would only get from a trusted mentor, including:  The price of delayed decision-making How calculated failure can drive organizational change. Why your best people often make the biggest mistakes. What the customer really needs to know (and not know). The essence of successful execution

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Testimonials about The Handbook of Program Management

"Brown's book captures the essential skills of program and project management. It serves as a "how to" guide for those entering the business, as well as a refresher on the skills and attributes for those ready to take the next step. The book effectively defines the leader's role in creating the team culture and environment for success". - Eugene F. Kranz, Apollo 13 Flight Director, Retired Director NASA Space Operations, Author of Failure is not an Option

"Program management is one of the toughest jobs a person can hold ... and James Brown knows Program Management. Here's a chance to learn from the scar tissue of others rather than your own." - Norman R. Augustine, Retired Chairman and CEO, Lockheed Martin Corporation

"Finally, a pragmatic book that shares the secrets behind successful program management. If I was giving one book to program managers this would be it! Any business leader in today's environment of accelerating change will benefit from this book." - Jack Cooper, Former CIO, Bristol-Myers Squibb

I found Dr. Brown's book to be an excellent treatise on the challenges of program management, and, a very good tutorial on leadership principles to assist Program Managers. - General Lester L. Lyles, Former Commander of Air Force Materiel Command

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (November 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071494723
• ISBN-13: 978-0071494724
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Total Quality Management
  • #20 in Books > Education & Reference > Education > Questions & Answers
  • #48 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Production & Operations

More About the Author

James T. Brown Ph.D., president of SEBA® Solutions Inc., a Registered Education Provider for the Project Management Institute, has provided training and consulting services for dozens of companies nationally and internationally. He has sixteen years of NASA experience that includes "hands on" experience as a team member, project manager and serving in executive level organizational leadership roles.

James is the author of The Handbook of Program Management published by McGraw-Hill. The Handbook of Program Management has been ranked as high as number three of all project management books on Amazon.com. He is a regular contributor to the PMI Community Post and is also published in PM Network, PE Magazine, Projects@Work, The Systems Thinker and PM World Today. A recognized authority in project management, he is a frequently invited keynote speaker on project management areas of interest and leadership.

Dr. Brown has a patent for a project scheduling methodology, and has received numerous awards including "Engineer of the Year" from the Cape Canaveral Technical Societies and is a recipient of the "NASA Public Service Medal" for exceptional contributions to NASA's mission. He is a member of the Project Management Institute, the National Speakers Association and the National Association of Corporate Directors. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board for Florida's Technological Research and Development Authority.

James has a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Central Florida, a MS in Engineering Management from Florida Institute of Technology and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Tennessee State University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE), a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Certified Speaking Professional (CSP). There are fewer than 700 speaking and training businesses worldwide that have had the honor of earning the Certified Speaking Professional designation.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Common Sense Book on Program Management, January 19, 2008

By 

B. W. (orlando, fl) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Handbook of Program Management: How to Facilitate Project Success with Optimal Program Management (Hardcover)

I've read the book from cover to cover and it's a excellent pragmatic book that explains how to manage both small and large programs. I can easily see myself using this as a reference for many years to come especially when I find myself trying to figure out how to handle one of the many of situations the author describes in his book.

The chapter on attributes of an effective Program Manager was really helpful to me as I was in the process of assigning one of my staff as a Program Manager. When I read the simple to understand attributes it really helped me to focus in on who on my staff could do the role. Additionally, it was an excellent guide for my selected Program Manager to use to understand what my expectations of him was.

The chapter that covered stakeholder management was another excellent chapter that I have sense asked all of my Program AND Project managers to read. I did this because it's an excellent chapter on helping the Program and Project Managers to understand what stakeholders REALLY expect of them. Additionally he goes over the types of stakeholders that you can run into and simple yet effective methods to work effective with them. For example he talks about the meddling stakeholder which all Program and Project managers run into. Here he guides you though why they might be meddling, such as they recently got burned by a prior project or there is a distrust with the organization. In these situations he recommends on involving them through many tasks and details. They want to meddle great jump in the mud, roll up your sleeves and help, otherwise step back and let those truly involved in the project get the work done while properly informing all stakeholders.
Over all this book is a really good and easy read.

I expect to be referencing for many years to come!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for beginners and pros alike, March 9, 2009

By 

Jon Frederick Simmel - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Handbook of Program Management: How to Facilitate Project Success with Optimal Program Management (Hardcover)

If you are a program manager, or thinking of becoming one, you will want this book. Dr. Brown shares his wisdom on the program management without overburdening you with methodology. In reading the book, I often felt like I was having a discussion about program management with a knowledgeable and experienced colleague.

Dr. Brown clearly knows what he is talking about. His time at NASA seems to have been a large influence on his perspective of programs. There is probably no better place to learn and experience a program management culture. Dr. Brown seeds the book with "scenarios" from his extensive experience to tie a real life event to the topic under discussion.

A couple of things I really liked about the book:

* Dr. Brown is very well-read, and not just on program management topics. He sites authors such as Dale Carnage and Robert Cialdini. He understands the broad set of skills that are needed by a program manager, and he also consistently returns to the importance of people. He has a lot of charts and "tips", but the management of the people is always in the forefront.
* The book is very well laid out - 10 chapters covering the fundamentals. Each chapter contains advice, tips, and useful tools. Dr. Brown does not stress the tools, rather he uses them as examples or methods of achieving the goals. In the risk chapter he has an example of a 5x5 risk matrix, but goes on to say that a 3x3 or 4x4 will work just as well. He stresses that important point is to perform the risk analysis and management, not get caught up in the details of the tools.
* There are several quotes that really hit home. Early in the book he talks about program management being the place where "operations and project management collide." EXACTLY - we've all faced the challenge of trying to explain that a program is not a project to the project managers, and trying to convince operations that it's not a department.
* Another favorite that I will freely steal is "kill what's ugly while it's young" - AMEN!!! This brings to mind the practice of Spartans to take their "ugly" children out into the wilderness - well maybe not exactly the same thing, but I've seen a few ugly projects that never should have been allowed to grow.

So - great book - it is on my shelf, now dog eared and full of highlights. It will make me a better program manager, and I know it will help anyone else who reads it.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very, very well done, March 30, 2008

By 

Susan Stahl (Columbus, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Handbook of Program Management: How to Facilitate Project Success with Optimal Program Management (Hardcover)

It is obvious to me that the author spent a lot of time thinking about this book before he started writing it. I bought this book to use as a reference while studying for the PgMP exam and found it to be very helpful for providing another perspective beyond the PMI standard and the exam preparation book that I bought.

For me, the ordering of topics is very logical and the writing is very clear. Where examples are necessary, examples are provided. Where topics are a bit more obscure, Mr. Brown takes the time to provide explanations to help you understand. I really can't find any major faults with this book.