Customer Reviews

Project Management JumpStart

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Project Management Jump Start is the best introduction to project management that I've seen. Easy to follow, conversational tone, thorough coverage of project planning, and ample examples and forms that can quickly be put to good use. I wish this book was around when I was just getting started!

As an author and project management professional, if I wrote a book like this it's what I would have written. I highly recommend this to new project managers, and project managers that are trying to explain to non-PM's what it is all about.

Project management is a business endeavor that has always been taken on a case-by-case basis. As opposed to the standard ongoing tasks of an organization, projects are by definition temporary and unique, however huge they may be. This leads to difficulty when experts try to formalize methodologies, or write books such as this one. Despite the existence of organizations claiming to have created standardized and accepted protocols and methods, and offering courses and certifications, project management studies such as this must necessarily remain at a high level. Here, Kim Heldman covers the areas that are important to any project, from initiating project plans all the way through to executing and closing out the project, with solid real-world knowledge. The problem is that the necessary high-level focus of the discipline results in a lot of standard business methods that will seem like second nature to experienced managers of any stripe. Meanwhile the chapters on scheduling and budgeting, by far the most nitty-gritty portions of a project plan, are so high-level (once again, because of the wide variety of real world situations) that they offer little real practical knowledge. This is still a very useful guide for project managers near the beginning of their careers. But what you'll ultimately learn is that the discipline of project management is dynamic and variable enough to make guides like this mostly good for high concepts and loose guidelines. [~doomsdayer520~]

This book is intended as an introductory to Project Management. It covers all the fundamentals and then some. First it covers the Revised Project Management Body of Knowledge (PIMBOK). Naturally it is not the PMBOK but it is a complimentary view for those getting into the field of project management and related disciplines.

There is more to this book than meets the eye. Many of the charts are in strategic location of the book and again in appendixes. This book can not be everything for everyone but if you look in the index you may find there is more here than in most introductory books. As a test the first thing I looked for was risk standard deviation and it was there under a section on "Three Point Estimate."

The glossary not only has terms used in project management but also common words that are used differently in project management. Such as "Warrant Period" - A period of time when the stakeholders can notify the team id problems and have them corrected immediately.

I am a little confused on the description of the Author as the back cover says that Kim Heldman, PMP, has over ten years of experience in project management. Yet inside it the book states Kim Heldman is the Chief Information Officer for the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. She has over 14 years of project management experience in the information technology field.

True that there are different methods not covered in the book and also how to integrate the information into different disciplines and coordinate with agencies as the FDA. But those subjects are for a different book.

Anyway you look at it this book serves its purpose and can still be used for years to come as a reference.

The book is written well- clear,concise, easy to understand language. I highly recommend it to those who want a full understanding of Project Management.

This is an excellent book for beginners. I purchased it last year for Basic project management class at NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies. It is well written with simple and easy to understand examples. The review questions at the end of each chapter help reinforce the material.

In my opinion, this book is not for experienced PMs or those preparing for PMP.

Kim Heldman's definition of a project is so broad that even people who do not work in business or government can benefit from her experience and suggestions. Although she draws on the recommendations of the Project Management Institute (PMI), she seasons its advice with helpful observations about which recommendations to follow and which to ignore. The book's organization is logical and easy to follow, and Heldman's style is generally no-nonsense and concise. She avoids jargon, and includes enough anecdotes and examples to keep the book lively and easy to follow. Few how-to books are as well executed as this one. We recommend it to anyone facing the challenge of managing a project, especially first timers.

While the book is okay, the examples are rather poor and simplistic. The layout is also done poorly and things are not easy to find. Each section has questions at the end which is rather nice but quite honestly, it is too geared towards internal small projects for it to be anything other than a basic book.

I had to buy this for a class. It is a project management introduction book and its of the lite variety. It touches a little on everything. If you just want to get a feel into what goes into project managment this book will do the trick.