1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What others said about the book, March 12, 2009
This review is from: Tools for Project Management, Workshops and Consulting: A Must-Have Compendium of Essential Tools and Techniques (Hardcover)
I am the author and I am posting some review I have received.
Prof. Dr. Tom Sommerlatte - Management Consulting expert
"This book is of the kind you always wanted but didn't think would or could ever exist: the universal field theory of problem solving. "
Read Preface by Tom Sommerlatte
www.Themanagement.de
'Again a book on tools', was the first thought that crossed my mind, when I was asked to review this book. Andler's book presents tools and techniques for consulting, workshops and project management. It would seem that there many books already on this topic on the market. Well, the book is actually a pleasant and positive surprise, and there are three reasons for that:
- All tools are catalogued at the start and assigned to a consulting/problem solving process. The author used his own consulting practice experience and only selected tools and techniques that he considered valuable and useful for the various situations and problems.
- Before the reader enters the sections with the detailed explanation of each tool, a problem solving process and framework is introduced. Again, the author's professional experience shows.
- One can clearly see the origin and foundation of this book: it is from the practice for the practitioner'.
The book is not a scientific, theoretical paper on the backgrounds and theories on models and methods, but rather the opposite. Each tool is explained in a cook-book style logic following the steps: Intention (Why and when do I use it), Purpose (What does it do), Instruction (How do I do it), Hints and tricks, examples, templates, cross-reference to other tools in the book, sources. Based on the approach and focus of a very pragmatic and practical book, Andler sees the typical user of this book as being professional consultants, employees of an internal consulting/advisory department, managers, who want to know more about problem solving. Andler also offers two bonus sections in the book: Check questions for quality assurance of your work and work scenarios. Andler calls it a shopping list of tools for various scenarios like e.g. feasibility studies, strategy workshop, project definition phase, etc.
www.Consulting-insider.com
The first challenge in your first consulting job is project management. One of the most importance things that is expected from a consultant or young business professional is to be competent in executing project tasks under pressure and delivering excellent results. Various standard methods exist which can be studied and acquired with different levels of efforts and ease-of-use and can then be applied to the many problem- and project scenarios. The biggest problem for graduates and less experienced consultants is the insufficient experience for the selection of the right approach and right choice of tools in order to be successful. Whilst many projects don't fail because of a lack of solutions or technology, but rather because of the inter-personal dissonance; however the right selection of tools and techniques in order to work effectively and efficiently is also a vital part of a success project management. Nicolai Andler 'tools for project management, workshops and consulting' how to select the right tool. Amongst the 100 tools and techniques, you will find some of the more familiar models and frameworks like the SWOT analyses as well as many less known and still practical tools.
Text translated from the German source).
www.Projektmagazin.de
The All-In-One-toolbox for management methods.
The author's goal was to provide a practical and simple although comprehensive collection of tools and techniques, which are easy and applicable immediately without having to go through wads of theory. Well, he did excellent. Don't expect solutions - however plenty of tools that will help to find solutions to your problems.
The biggest value add is the systematic structure, which enables you to quickly find the tools you are looking for. The tools are categorised and labelled by application area, purpose, effectiveness, ease of use and applicable problem solving process step.
The illustration and explanation for each tool is concise, easy to understand and supported by instructions, examples, templates and tips.
Overall, a very practical compilation that surely will not remain unused.
Content: 4 out of 5
Practical orientation: 5 out of 5
Understandability: 5 out of 5
Entertainment value: 1 out of 5
(Text translated from the German source).
www.Business-wissen.de
The book is a useful toolbox to resolve problems and to lead projects to success. The reader will learn which tools is best used in which phase of a project- or problem solving phase and how to be go about it step by step.
Anybody who wants to expand or improve his problem solving techniques will find this book useful. The format layout is especially helpful with the direct implementation and application. The classification of the tools within a superior (problem solving-)framework makes it particularly easy to find the appropriate tool for the job.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Prof. Dr. Schelle - German Association for Project Management
Andler's book stands out of the unmanageable amount of project management literature as he does not address for the 175th time the same topics and does not repeat what can be read in every other project management book. The author presents tools in the broadest sense and consolidates all types of available tools in a concise and comprehensive way. To help the reader, the author created categories and assigned the tools to those categories, based on their purpose and applicability.
The project management section does not provide anything new for an expert in this field, that was not to be expected. However, an interested reader can find plenty of other simple but useful tools in the many other sections, which he would have had to collect cumbersome from many different books. And, many of the about 100 tools can be applied in a project management context as well. The whole toolbox is well arranged and laid out and supported by many examples.
Conclusion: a very useful and pragmatic book that will save you a lot of time.
Prof. Dr Haberfellner - University Graz (Austria)
Getting to grips with Andler's encyclopaedia is easy and quick, as it explains well how to best use the book. There is an outstanding overview of the problem solving steps and the methods that are relevant in each of the four problem solving steps (which are diagnosis, goal setting, analysis and decision making'). Selecting the right tool is easy as the book supports this well.
It is almost impossible to have an absolute complete list of all tools and methods as this area is in constant change and development. Nevertheless, I would have wanted to have some specific tools mentioned, such as the critical path method.
Some of the mentioned tools (e.g. hypothesis, helicoptering, 3P statements, span of control) I consider not really tools but rather guidelines or support techniques for other tools and methods. I would have also wanted an index to find the a tool based on the various synonyms that exist for the same tool. The author considers consultancies, consultants and the related professions as the key target user and not the novices. Well, I think that particularly the beginners like university graduates or new joiners without little competence in methods and tools will benefit tremendously from this book as it provides an overview over the numerous methods and many excellent instructions and examples for the application of the tools.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic reference and guide!, December 4, 2009
This review is from: Tools for Project Management, Workshops and Consulting: A Must-Have Compendium of Essential Tools and Techniques (Hardcover)
As an independent, being in the world of consulting and training has amounted to one purpose; harvesting business potential for my clients.
Nicolai's directed and uncluttered writing style positions and demystifies a vast and useful collection of consulting/project management tools relevant to managers, consultants, students, trainers and project managers.
As a trainer and consultant I seek out tools and references which not only add to my own teaching and consulting repertoire, but that of my clients and students too. Even familiar tools I've used often in the past have new meaning when set against Nicolai's fastidious categorization of each tool's use and relevance to the progression and various circumstances of problem definition to resolution.
I recommend this tool as a means to boost your skills as trusted advisor, strategist, evaluator, communicator, facilitator and manager. The costly trial and error eliminated by Nicolai's careful explanations and facilities in this book, mean not only many man hours saved, but exceptional leverage gained.
Enjoy!
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect Reference Guide, November 20, 2009
This review is from: Tools for Project Management, Workshops and Consulting: A Must-Have Compendium of Essential Tools and Techniques (Hardcover)
Two years ago I switched from salaried employee to freelance management consultant - but I quickly learnt that topical expertise does not result to good consulting practice. I felt unprofessional and unstructured until I learnt from this book.
Nicolai's book has become a valuable guide, helping me create structure and depth to my service offering, but simultaneously guiding me to use the right blend of tools in a customer engagement.
He has included a perfect blend of textual explanations, crisp diagrams and experience without indulging in intellectual masturbation. The most powerful aspect of the book is that it gathers similar techniques for easy comparison, and then places them in the right context/phase of your project. This saves a lot of time when preparing for a customer engagement.
If you're looking for an entertaining bedside read with guru-like management theories - look elsewhere.
If you need a reference guide to improve your skills and performance, then this is the one book that will live in your laptop bag.
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