false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181786554m/1195132.jpg 1195132 1 Until the early '90s, project management was definitely located somewhere near the unsexy end of the business spectrum. But now, with the rise of downsizing and outsourcing, it has become one of the hot disciplines. Professional membership of the U.S.-based Project Management Institute has quadrupled in the last decade, and Microsoft claimed recently to have over 2 million users worldwide of its project-management software. The reasons for this growth are simple. Project management is about managing "projects," that is, unique pieces of work (as opposed to ongoing operations). Downsizing, outsourcing, and the accelerating pace of change have meant that, increasingly, work is carried out on an ad-hoc, one-off project basis. <I>The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management</I> is designed as an advanced textbook for businesspeople with a grasp of the basics and insufficient time (or inclination) to go back to school to learn more. Written by Eric Verzuh, president of the Versatile Company, a leading project-management consultancy, this is not a heavy academic text.<p> Like the rest of the Fast Forward series, this book is designed to let the reader extract maximum information in minimum time. There is a strong use of graphics with tables, charts cross-heads, and bullet points. Important passages are flagged in bold and/or emblazoned with the words <i>key concept</i>. When you read it, you realize that there is nothing magical about project management, just the application of careful common sense. The book covers all the basic stuff like planning, time-tabling, quantity and price estimation, resource allocation, and scheduling. But it also acknowledges that there is inevitably a political dimension to every project, no matter how small. So it has important sections on how to ensure that all the stakeholders in the project are kept "on board" and the importance of communication.<p> As Verzuh states in his introduction, "Every project participant from part-time team member to executive sponsor, becomes more effective once he or she understands the basics of project management." Really, this is a book about management that every manager should read, whether he or she has a project or not. <I>--Alex Benady</I> 1183190 15 7 1999 The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management (Fast Forward MBA) total:6|5:0|4:1|3:5|2:0|1:0| 6 19 11 0 0 0 false false Wed Oct 14 02:30:23 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 02:30:23 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Oct 09 04:36:45 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 04:37:07 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Mar 19 08:40:51 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 19 12:51:35 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Wed Oct 22 11:00:57 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 22 11:00:57 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Wed Sep 10 05:01:50 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 10 05:01:57 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Tue Aug 05 00:41:33 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 05 00:41:33 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Fri Jun 06 01:29:18 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 06 01:29:18 -0700 2008 3 0 false false Tue May 27 22:15:46 -0700 2008 Tue May 27 22:15:46 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Tue Jan 01 22:59:10 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 01 22:59:10 -0800 2008 3 0 false false Thu Aug 09 21:30:06 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 09 21:30:06 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Mon Aug 06 13:31:01 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 06 13:31:01 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1195132