Customer Reviews

The One-Page Project Manager: Communicate and Manage Any Project With a Single Sheet of Paper

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Developed my own 1 page project manager and have been using it for the last several years but it never felt complete. Kept searching and even tried to get the publisher and Campbell to release a book to me earlier with no success. I received and read the book on Monday, defaced it on Tuesday and was using the form by Tuesday afternoon. Re-read the book Tuesday night. The book is an easy read, does not try to re-teach me project management but explains the use of the form. The 1 page project manager is right on target. It is better than mine! The simplicity makes it easy for non-professional and begining project managers to use but when used by seasoned veterans for its reporting aspect it will be truly appreciated.

Recommend it to anyone, but beware like all plans it is in the implementation of them that makes them succesful, not in the form itself. That is why the simplicity of a single page works.

This book is essentially a 4-5 page instruction manual to go along with a reporting spreadsheet, which has been stretched out to a 129 page book using large font, small pages, lots of white space, and repetitive figures/screen shots. The tool itself makes some sense as a nice concise report format, but the book goes on and on puffing up its abilities and the author's creativity. Some 20 or so pages are filled up by showing the sheet with a section empty, and then full; empty, and then full, as if the user (having already been told where to put info and seen screen shots of the sections in question) can't figure out how to fill in the blanks.

I found disconcerting that the image on the cover is a "modified" version of the tool they're describing, undermining the claim that this tool is well-suited for any project. If that's the case, why wouldn't they feature the basic form on the cover, rather than a customized version?

It seems like the tool could be useful to improve communication and management of projects, but the communication discussed is primarily bottom-up. The book barely touches upon how it can be used for top-down communication or how to use this to work with areas that are falling behind or going over budget. So, it's not really so much a "manager" as a "status report".

If you're looking for a simple read and a simple tool for tracking your team's progress, check this out of a library. It's not worth the money to actually buy a copy. If you're hoping to actually learn some useful project management skills, look elsewhere.

I purchased this book due to the overwhelmingly positive responses... While the actual concept and some of the underlying principles are pretty solid, there are a few things that detract from this book.

First of all, the font is about 14pt Times New Roman, which adds to the sense of this book being fluffed. Contributing to this feeling, is the fact that the author continually attempts to provide credibility to himself by mentioning O.C. Tanner, and the "various" projects he's worked on (for which he uses the same five examples ad nauseam). Essentially, he continues to justify why he's qualified to be telling you anything, while dropping the occasional "teaser" about the form you'll be using for the first FOUR CHAPTERS.

The absolutely most irritating aspect of this book, however, is that he's continually trying to sell it to you. In chapter one, he introduces an acronym for "The One Page Project Manager," viz. OPPM. He then proceeds to NEVER use it. Then, he mentions "The One Page Project Manager," so much that if I hear it again, I might end up incarcerated. On page 29, even with 14pt font, he manages to use "The One Page Project Manager" SEVEN times. I'm sure that my few mentions of that heinous term have already provoked certain ire. And by not using the acronym, he ensures that the term is too lengthy to conveniently skip while reading.

Chapter 5 comprises the bulk of the book (being some 100 pages in length - a shocking dichotomy from the previous 12-20 page chapters). Presumably where the "meat" is, it's filled with stuffing in the form of multiple OPPM's, with only the slightest difference between any of them.

To his credit, the concept is good, I think it will work (that's why I purchased the book). But Mr. Clark Campbell needs to realize that he doesn't have to sell his book during the first four chapters, as I already bought it.

2 stars for utility. -3 stars for absolute aggravation.

This is the most productive method I've seen to capture the essence of project management. Not too complicated, not too simple. For those with experience this is certainly a method to adopt for rapid, vivid, and persistent communication. I wish I'd had this years ago, but am glad it came along now. It clearly save time for an organization's key resources.

If you've ever needed to manage several projects at once, you know the dilemma: there has to be a better way to track the projects quickly, concisely and reliably, but finding and learning that better way always seems too tedious, costly, or complicated. This book solves that problem.

We're rolling out the tool in my firm and we've been impressed with how easy it is to use and how much useful information it communicates, even for complex, lengthy projects. It's intuitive and there are no bells and whistles and no overkill. Highly recommended.

I've worked for 2 Fortune 10 companies and this particular "one page" would have never been accepted at either company. My projects were too complex to fit the WBS/tasks onto one page. Most projects are. If they were simple enough to fit on one page, they wouldn't be assigned a PM. When communicating with execs and project sponsors, they DO want their updates on one page, but not in this format. It's too much detail for them. In the event that you think this particular one page concept will work in your organization, I would still recommend you SAVE YOUR MONEY. The author offers nothing new. He quotes other, more credible, PM authors so often it felt like I was reading a 10th grade research paper. Finally, let's all shed a tear for the trees that had to die in order to make the paper that created Chapter 5: "12 Steps to Constructing the One Pager." It was 45+ pages. The author could have taken his own advice and condensed chapter 5 into one page. But that's not how one sells books, right?

Reviewing the "One-Page Project Manager" book is akin to reviewing your car's Owner's Manual. Sure, it teaches you how to use the car, but it doesn't teach you a thing about driving. A better title would have been "One-Page Project Communicator". From that perspective, learning how to create and communicate via a report on a single sheet of paper could be have been accomplished by wasting far less sheets of paper in the book.

Frankly, the OPPM is a quick and easy tool to communicate your project status to your boss, or your bosses boss. It's great to communicate UP the chain - less so to communicate to your team. Despite the 160 pages, there's really not much more to it than that. Most of the bulk of the book is an advertisement for the author's company, or perhaps an extended cover letter for a job application. There's not much there in the way of information on how to manage projects.

Having said all of that, I would also say that the PMBOK is full of theory, but thin on practical, real-world tools. This book gives a PM another tool in the toolbox to help him/her communicate. I recommend buying the book to pay the author his dues. Then read chapter 5 and download the OPPM tool from the book's website. Start using it. In fact, I also made an XLT template so I can put one together quickly and simply.

I was tapped to manage a complex team consisting of writers and developers for an integrated product. I couldn't keep the 14 and more people, assignments, timelines, and critical path on a page I devised. So, I googled 'one page project manager' and this amazon link popped up. I bought the book, got an online copy all on Friday night. By Monday, I had my entire project on the form and by Tuesday, I sent it to the management team. They loved it. The project finished on time and within budget thanks to the tool. A critical path tool may have helped but the project was small enough that by plotting the assignments, I could see the critical path. Great Excel tool!

I can summarize this book very simply:
- Management does not want or need to know every detail - so develop
a simplified status sheet (his is OK - so go to his website and
download it for free - your done!)

~ The remainder is standard project management fodder: what is
a project, what is project management, what is the benefit of project
management, good project management characteristics such as team
selection, communication ... and on and on. Nothing new.

I agree with other reviews in that:
>> The author exerts more effort trying to sell you a book you
already bought rather than provide unique content. His sales pitch,
which always identifies itself via incessant use of the fully
spelled-out "One Page Project Manager", grates on the nerves.

My advice: Buy Wheelwright and Clark: "Revolutionizing Product Development" and get usable content worthy of purchase. Pass on this one-page, one-trick pony.

I have been seeking to find an effective way to manage any project (i.e. big, small, simple and complicated) & to report project status from a helicopter view and one which senior management and project teams would understand. I call it Dashboard Project Management. Clark Campbell has shown an effective way to do this. A way to represent the triple constraint, together with quality and customer satisfaction.

I am implementing it in my organisation and in my consulting practice to communicate better to all stakeholders.