Project Management For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance)) (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: conceive phase, schedule performance data, nonpersonnel resources, Work Breakdown Structure, Human Resources Matrix, Statement of Work (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

More than two thirds of American companies use teams to execute their most important projects, making project management a highly valuable skill for advancing your career. Project Management For Dummies, Second Edition introduces you to the principles of successful project management and shows you how to motivate any team to gain maximum productivity.  You’ll find out how to:

• Define your project and what you intend to accomplish
• Identify project stakeholders and their expectations
• Develop a project plan
• Establish project schedules and timetables
• Determine which skill sets and resources the project requires
• Choose team members and define their roles
• Launch you project and track its progress
• Encourage peak performance
• Conclude your project successfully

Complete with helpful tips on delegating, shortening schedules, and optimizing your own performance Project Management for Dummies, help you get your project, and your career, off the ground in no time.

From the Back Cover

Track your progress and keep everyone in the know

Overcome scheduling challenges

Today's projects are more complex and technically challenging. How do you lead one successfully from start to finish? This practical guide gives you the tools you need to deal with schedules, budgets, and deadlines while keeping your cool under pressure. You get the latest on resource management strategies and fresh tactics for team motivation.

Discover how to

• Define your project goals
• Build a project team
• Work within your budget
• Manage risk and uncertainty
• Handle multiple projects simultaneously
• Use the latest technologies to stay on track

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 2 edition (December 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470049235
• ISBN-13: 978-0470049235
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #20,719 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Pragmatic, Insightful and Extremely Helpful Resource, June 11, 2005

By	Warren - See all my reviews

This review is from: Project Management for Dummies (Paperback)

I don't normally post reviews of books I read. However, this time I am making an exception; and I hope you take a moment to read this, if you are seriously considering buying this book.

I have been performing projects for several years at work; but recently, I began to receive expanded project responsibilities. I have never had formal project management training; and I decided it was time to look for resources to help me improve my planning and management practices. My boss and several colleagues highly recommended this book; and, after reading it, I can see why.

This book is a wonderful resource for anyone who plans and performs projects. The author takes what could certainly be a very complex and dry topic and makes it seem logical and easy to apply in many different situations. His examples are to the point and easy to relate to. His discussions on several topics (for example, assigning team member roles, defining outcomes, identifying work to be performed) helped me see why several projects with which I had been involved in the past had failed. His insights on how to ensure the tools and techniques are used most effectively are invaluable.

I was able immediately to start using many of the techniques at my job; and I saw their positive effects almost at once. I felt I had greater control over what happened in all aspects of my projects. I was even able to influence team members' behavior on some of the larger projects on which I was working.

What really motivated me to write this review, however, was a review by Joseph Dewey that I saw on this site before I bought this book. After I read the book, I realized that, sadly, his "review" consisted mainly of a combination of unsubstantiated criticisms ("this is a bad book", "(the author) is a bad author", "(the author) is arrogant", etc.) and grossly exaggerated or just plain false statements ("I'm not kidding, every one of the 100 examples in this book follows the same model", "all the techniques sound the same", etc.).

I understood that this review reflected the feelings and opinions of one person. However, it occurred to me that someone who had not read the book might read this review and actually believe some of what it says. And I truly feel it would be a shame, if this review caused even one person to miss out on this uniquely valuable resource. If you are seriously looking for insights and approaches to help you dramatically improve your project performance, I strongly suggest you buy this book.

97 of 107 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too Basic, November 26, 2001

By	agkeene (Birmingham, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Project Management for Dummies (Paperback)

Individuals with any experience in running a project, whether it is a small focused job or a large-scale product development effort, will find subject treatises too fundamental. The chapters lack the in-depth coverage and focus as the apparent goal is to present a broad-based overview of basic concepts in the field of project management.

Here is a guideline to use in deciding whether or not to purchase this book:
How comfortable are you with using the Microsoft Project software?
If you are very comfortable with MS Project, I recommend that you try "A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge" instead.
If you have never used MS Project and/or have no idea what it does, then you should probably buy this book.

55 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievably bad, March 24, 2005

By	Joseph Dewey (Orem, UT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Project Management for Dummies (Paperback)

I can't believe how bad this book is. I read this book from cover to cover. Toward the end, I plugged on just so that I could write a negative review on amazon. But, I think that this book changed my mind about reading bad books all the way through just so that I can review them.

This is the third of five project management books that I'm reading. But, after this book, I need to take a break from project management books for a while. My head hurts--bad.

And, this is the worst "For Dummies" book that I've read, and I've read about 20 of them. John Wiley and Sons really needs to recall this substandard book.

What makes this book so bad? A few things:

1) Stanley Portny is a bad author. This book has no life. This book has no soul. I've read algebra books that breathe more life into the subject material. I've read statistics and economics books that breathe more life into the subject material.
2) This book is extremely repetitive. Project management has a lot of different subjects to it. Project management is an exciting subject. However, he makes everything from Gantt charts to risk management to a work breakdown structure seem like the exact same thing.
3) Stanley Portny is extremely arrogant. This is the first "For Dummies" book where the word "I" is the most commonly used word in the book. The authors of the "For Dummies" books usually quietly take a back seat to the subject material. Not in this book--the author is very prominent.
4) All of the examples are the same. This really bugged me. All of the examples in the book go something like this:

At a recent training session, someone came up to me and said, "I don't think I need a certain aspect of project management." Well, I, Stanley Portny, disagreed with this person, and I made every effort to show this person that they were wrong, and that they did need the certain aspect of project managment.

You probably think I'm kidding--I'm not. Every one of the 100 different examples in the book follow this same model. It seems that Mr. Portny hasn't ever heard the maxim, "There's no such thing as a stupid question." It seems that Mr. Portny's adage that he lives by is, "Every question is a stupid question--and an opportunity to show how brilliant I am."

Please don't buy this book...unless you're buying the one that I just read that I'm immediately selling used on amazon.