What are some good project management resources? 1

[Turbo]

I am looking to enhance my project management skills. Does anyone have any good books, sites, schools or even certifications that may help?

Please advise. Turbo

"There is a fine line between confidence and conceit" - Ken Mai

 

[pivan]

The best that I have found have been:

1) Software Project Survival Guide
2) Code Complete
3) Debugging the software Development Process

All are from Microsoft Press.

You might want to look at Project Management Institute (PMI)
But I think they are a little to complicated for the average Software Dev. Group.

G' Luck,
Ivan

 

[elizabeth]

Check out the SEI and other answers to my similar question above. The PMI has an IS Special Interest Group also, I am just joining it now so will see what they have to offer. Although the PMI seems widely known for project management, a lot of their material relates to non-IS project management, but I'm going to go ahead and get that certificate anyway, as it is much less expensive than SEI courses, so easier to get management to pay for. SEI is specifically oriented to Software acquisition or development, and how to build an organization that supports that. Note for PMI Cert you have to have several years of project management experience before they allow you to take the test, but you can join the organization with no experience. Local chapters offer training for the cert test and the national conferences have prep sessions available too.

 

[xandroid]

I first must clarify that we are talking about traditional project management.
There are inherent errors and problems with the traditional approach. It is one reason why 80% of all projects fail to meet scope, cost, or schedule. I'll cover the new appoach later.

The PMI has a free book you can download, its a classic, it is called the PMBOK,
Project Management Body of Knowledge. If you have trouble I'll get it for you.
agliniak@mediaone.net.
A very good book, recommended by PMI is Effective Project Management -second edition, by RobertK Wysocki, Robert beck Jr, David B, Crane, it comes with a cd.
Wiley is the publisher. It's excellent.
Then there is the good old Project Management for Dummies, the 1st to read if you have been away too long from it. And/Or the Idiots guide to Project Management. I'm not making fun of you I have them both myself.
There's a very thin book, not quite 1/2 an inch called Fundamentals of Project Management by James P Lewis. It covers a lot in a very clear manner.
Then I have used Project Management for the 21st Century, by Bennet P Lientz and Kathryn P. Rea.
Another that helps a lot but is not strictly PM is Dr James C Wetherbe's and Nicholas P. Vitalari's book "Systems Analysis and Design - Best Practices" it covers do a good requirements statement and other parts of PM.
Now you can find the Little Black Book of Project Management, and big thick books, I find they all are covering the same ground. I believe these would prepare you for a sizable project.

Now a better way to conduct and manage projects takes a lot of learning, so I can't teach it here but I can point you to the path. It is the way projects ar done within the body of Knowledge call the "Theory of Consrtaints". The specific project method is called CCPM Critical Chain Project Management. You must learn the Theory of Constraints for learning CCPM. It is a serious departure from the traditions PM method so you must for now jus continue with that. But I tell you so you know the truth and can learn. If you search the web with that phase you will find a world you may never knew existed. Here's a couple of my favorite sites:

http://www.goldratt.com

http://www.ciras.iastate.edu/toc/

http://www.focusedperformance.com/goodies/rizzo.html

http://www.sytsma.com/htm/theory.htm

http://www.srv.net/~lleach/TOC/TOC-top.html

http://members.home.net/casparija/

Before you read the TOC books on project management read
these books by Eliyahu Goldratt: The Goal, Its Not Luck, Critical Chain.
They are prequisites to getting anywhere with TOC.


Cheers. X-)

Andy