Project Management for Mere Mortals

by Claudia M. Baca

Praise for Project Management for Mere Mortals ® “ Project Management for Mere Mortals is a must read for all project managers with responsibilities for large or small projects, regardless of industry or product. Baca has cleverly taken the (sometimes) difficult lexicon of project management and distilled it into easy-to-read, understandable concepts. Her case study examples lead Project Managers from Project Initiation through Project Close–and those between–with ease. In today’s growing discipline of Project Management, we must understand the potential hurdles and where to capitalize on prior knowledge. Baca is a Project Management guru. No person involved with the execution of projects should be without this book…ever.” –Lisa Marie Jacobsen, CAPM, Project Manager, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania “ Project Management for Mere Mortals is an excellent book for the beginning as well as the experienced project manager. At the elementary level, the concepts are clearly explained, and at the advanced level, hints and tips are explained that give new insight to the concepts. I especially liked the case studies that applied each chapter’s lessons.” –Kaaren A. Walsh, PMP “This book is an excellent learning tool for beginning Project Managers and a terrific resource for experienced Project Managers.” –Janene A. Luders, PMP Project Management for Mere Mortals ® strips away the myths and mysteries of effective project management, giving you the skills, tools, and insights to succeed with your next project–and every project after that. Long-time project manager and trainer, Claudia Baca, walks you through all five process groups of project initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing. Baca examines each process group from the perspectives of the working project manager and team member, highlighting the organizational issues most likely to arise and offering proven solutions. For each process group, she presents tools you can start using right now–and demonstrates those tools at work in a realistic running case study. This guide takes you from the absolute basics through advanced techniques, such as measures of performance and change control. You’ll learn how to • Accurately scope projects and build workable timetables • Create trustworthy budgets and use them to manage your project • Organize work assignments for maximum efficiency • Build project teams, and keep them motivated • Intelligently assess quality goals, and decide “how good it has to be” • Identify and mitigate the real risks your project will encounter • Control changes and stay on track, no matter what surprises occur • Close projects successfully, and learn lessons for future projects • Gain crucial skills you’ll need for PMI certification This book has been crafted to support professionals who are new (or almost new) to project management, as well as experienced project managers who want to handle complex projects and organizational politics more effectively. Whatever your role or assignment, it’s your fastest route to deep project management mastery. Contents Foreword by Kim Heldman, PMP xv Preface xvii Acknowledgments xxv About the Author xxvii Chapter 1 Setting the Project Management Context 1 Chapter 2 You’ve Been Assigned a Project! 19 Chapter 3 How Big Is This Project? 53 Chapter 4 Laying Out the Work 99 Chapter 5 The Art of Estimating 131 Chapter 6 Quality–How Good Does It Have to Be? 169 Chapter 7 Communication–What Do You Think About My Project? 207 Chapter 8 Risk–What Should You Worry About? 257 Chapter 9 Creating the Schedule 291 Chapter 10 Budgeting–How Much? 331 Chapter 11 The Rhythm of Project Execution 369 Chapter 12 Keeping the Project on Track 397 Chapter 13 Controlling Changes 421 Chapter 14 Success!–Closing the Project 441 Answers to the Review Questions 457 Glossary 471 Bibliography 477 Index 479

528 pages, Paperback

First published June 25, 2007

Reviews

[Carlos Tavera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let’s face it: Project Management is not the most exiting topic to write about. Is not very likely that the next Game Of Thrones or Lord of the Rings best seller will have anything at all to do with PM. But Claudia makes it interesting with her examples and pro tips that are a refreshing addition to the heaviness from the PMBOK.

PM hero’s examples are also a nice feature as the politics section. Which in my experience tends to be the most sensitive aspect of PM.

I read the 2007 edition in 2019, so inevitably some examples seem outdated as does the joint effort to connect with the MS Project book. A little update with more recent technologies and tools, new apps, versions of Project, Trello, Smartsheets and the likes could be interesting. Probably adopting the trend of expanding textbooks with online resources and business cases would enhance the learning experience in a significant way and make the contents more appealing to Gen Z PM students.