Customer Reviews

The Project Office (Crisp Management Library)

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

 

 

Recently tasked in creating a Project Office from scratch in a weak matrix organization that wants to be a Project Based Organization, this book was indispensable in providing basic descriptions of the types of activities that are generally encompassed in a Project Office or Project Support Office.

Being a project manager, with experience and formal training, but never having worked in an environment that used a Project Office, this book provided me with the valuable "shell" of what services we would offer (and the glossary of terms to use to present the information to Executive Management). I found it extremely useful.

Due to it's nature of being broad and general, I found it necessary to use addition reference materials and personal experiences to define certain services our Project Office offered. Still think it's a must for your bookshelf if you are creating a project office at your company.

Recommended for anyone curious what a Project Office is or could be.

Nice to see a project management book focused on the project management office, to balance the many that are written for project leaders. This little book provides a good "checklist" for establishing the services and functions of the project management office. As the series name "Crisp Management Library" implies, however, most of the discussion is very abbreviated, with many subjects receiving only one paragraph of coverage. The book is still worth it if you are in the process of setting up a project management office. It can provide a framework to help you decide what to include or exclude from your scope.

This is a quickly read and absorbed book on the start-up of a project management office. It provides great insight on what to plan for and how to implement. This is a great starter on the implmentation of a project managment office. It's a great book to highlight and use as a reference point during the planning and implementation process.

This book is very basic. Those with any training, experience, or knowledge of Project Offices will not increase their knowledge here. For beginners, it is a good introduction chapter to allow you to know what you don't know and seek greater detail elsewhere.

If you are a high level executive, or someone who thinks that a project management office is right for your organization, then this book is for you. This book describes the funcationality of the PM office. Once understood, a rational decision can be made whether or not to create a PM Office.

However, if you are looking to build a project management office, and need a jump start - look elsewhere. You can get another book that will give you templates, and suggestions for specifically implementing a project office. I'd recommend a Project Management Maturity Model resource, as well. It should help you start with some important aspects of project management, then build on that foundation as the model matures.

This book may be a handy companion to give to people who want projects done, but have no clue what's involved. For instance, a financial executive may want a project done, but know nothing about scope statements, work breakdown structures, or risk management. They may think that there is no time to do these types of things. Then they blame the project manager when the project fails to be completed on time, within budget, and meet the quality standards.

This is a good book ... for the right audience.

This book is a terrific value for the money and provides a good introduction to PMOs. Although the book is small, it provides the basic components and steps for setting up a PMO. It's a great read for the busy individual who wants to get started. I frequently use the book as a reference.

This book is a good introduction to a hot topic -- the project office. It is not academic, but focuses on defining what project offices are, what value they have, and what you should focus on if you want to develop one. Its short length (under 100 pages) and low price (about ten bucks) is a real asset. In my organization we view it as a bible and checklist to see what we can hope to accomplish through our project office. It is also useful as a sales tool to convince senior managers who don't know anything about project management that the project office has value.

Project Office is a very useful resource for determining the organization and structure of a project management office. Basic and broad enough to be useful for most any project situation. A must for the brand-new project manager.

Excitedly, I opened the package and started into reading what I expected to be a brief but comprehensive tome on how to set up a project office. After just over 1 hour, I had finished the book. The only benefit I realized from this book was the extra time left in my evening resulting from the lack of substance contained within it. This... book contained less information than one article in the Project Management Institute's monthly magazine....

This is more of a glorified list rather than a book. The book describes WHAT a PMO can offer -- but doesn't even remotely address HOW one would go about this task and doesn't even describe much about the services. There are better books available on this subject matter from Amazon -- don't detour here!