Project Planning, Scheduling & Control, 4E

(by James P. Lewis)

The classic project manager's handbook, with new chapters and insights that demystify the new PM tools and the PMP® exam

Project Planning, Scheduling, and Control has been the standard guidebook for project managers for more than 15 years. Addressing the key issues you face every day, Jim Lewis's benchmark book brings the subject alive with accessible, nontechnical questions, step-by-step guidelines, and real-world examples and applications. This revised, updated, and expanded fourth edition provides an applications-oriented understanding of the issues you must confront and important tips for passing the Project Management Professional (PMP®) exam.

Managing the Software Process

(by Watts S. Humphrey)

The author, drawing on years of experience at IBM and the SEI, provides here practical guidance for improving the software development and maintenance process. He focuses on understanding and managing the software process because this is where he feels organizations now encounter the most serious problems, and where he feels there is the best opportunity for significant improvement. Both program managers and practicing programmers, whether working on small programs or large-scale projects, will learn how good their own software process is, how they can make their process better, and where they need to begin.

Good to Great:
Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't

(by Jim Collins)

"Good is the enemy of great..."

The Project Management Advisor:
18 Major Project Screw-ups, and How to Cut Them off at the Pass

(by Lonnie Pacelli)

Finish What You Start:
10 Surefire Ways to Deliver Your Projects On Time and On Budget

(by Michael J Cunningham)

n today’s ultracompetitive job market, project management is a critical skill for any business professional. Yet there is a lack of formal training for project management, and most people learn their skills through trial and error. 

In Finish What You Start: 10 Surefire Ways to Deliver Your Project On Time and On Budget, author Michael J. Cunningham will reveal how to carefully balance the three critical factors of all projects—time, money, and resources—to deliver projects on schedule and on budget.

In addition to the primary fundamentals, Finish What You Start reveals key strategic tactics resulting in a more successful project and manager.

Project Management Memory Jogger:
A Pocket Guide for Project Teams
Growth Opportunity Alliance of Lawrence

(by Paula Martin, Karen Tate)

This cost-effective pocket guide ensures that project teams achieve high-quality results. It provides each member of an organization with an easy-to-use roadmap for managing all types of projects. Whether a team is planning the construction of a new facility or implementing a customer feedback system, this pocket guide can help you avoid typical problems and pitfalls. It is packed with useful information on everything from project concept to completion. The method described in the Project Management Memory Jogger is consistent with industry standard approaches such as PMBOK, with an emphasis on participation, empowerment, individual accountability, and results, and utilizes continuous improvement tools and concepts. It measures 3.5" x 5.5".

Effective Project Management:
Traditional, Adaptive, Extreme

(by Robert K. Wysocki)

Unlock your potential and achieve breakthrough performance in project management

If you're looking for a more robust approach to project management--one that recognizes the project environment and adapts accordingly--then this is the perfect resource. It not only guides you through the traditional methods, but also covers the adaptive and extreme approaches as well. You'll gain an in-depth understanding of each one and know exactly when and how to use them.

You'll also be introduced to the Adaptive Project Framework, which arms you with a new project management methodology. And with the help of two new case studies, you'll be able to put these ideas into practice and experience some of the contemporary nuances of projects.

This definitive guide to project management shows you how to:

• Take advantage of new variations on traditional project management methods, including risk assessment and control
• Decide the best method for managing specific types of projects by analyzing all of the pros and cons
• Apply the Adaptive Project Framework to the world of fast-paced, high-change, and complex projects
• Create a war room to successfully manage multiple team projects
• Determine how project portfolio management approaches can help companies achieve a greater return on investment
• Utilize all nine Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) standards advocated by the Project Management Institute (PMI)

Software Estimation:
Demystifying the Black Art
Best Practices - Microsoft

(by Steve McConnell)

Often referred to as the "black art" because of its complexity and uncertainty, software estimation is not as hard or mysterious as people think. However, the art of how to create effective cost and schedule estimates has not been very well publicized. While the average software organization can struggle with project costs that run double their original estimates, some of the more sophisticated organizations achieve results with estimation errors as low as 5-10%. These best-in-class organizations use scientific techniques that are not cost-effective, however, making them of limited use to most software development organizations. To address these issues, Software Estimation focuses on the art of software estimation and provides a proven set of procedures and heuristics that software developers, technical leads, and project managers can apply to their projects. Instead of arcane treatises and rigid modeling techniques, award-winning author Steve McConnell gives practical guidance to help organizations achieve basic estimation proficiency and lay the groundwork to continue improving project cost estimates. This book is organized from simple tips to more advanced ideas; it does not avoid the more hairy mathematical estimation approaches, but the non-mathematical reader will find plenty of useful guidelines without getting bogged down in complex formulas.

Controlling Software Projects:
Management, Measurement, and Estimates
FACSIMILE

(by T. DeMarco)

Applied Software Project Management:
ILLUSTRATED

(by Andrew Stellman, Jennifer Greene)

"If you're looking for solid, easy-to-follow advice on estimation, requirements gathering, managing change, and more, you can stop now: this is the book for you." --Scott Berkun, Author of The Art of Project Management

What makes software projects succeed? It takes more than a good idea and a team of talented programmers. A project manager needs to know how to guide the team through the entire software project. There are common pitfalls that plague all software projects and rookie mistakes that are made repeatedly--sometimes by the same people! Avoiding these pitfalls is not hard, but it is not necessarily intuitive. Luckily, there are tried and true techniques that can help any project manager.

In Applied Software Project Management, Andrew Stellman and Jennifer Greene provide you with tools, techniques, and practices that you can use on your own projects right away. This book supplies you with the information you need to diagnose your team's situation and presents practical advice to help you achieve your goal of building better software.

Topics include:

• Planning a software project
• Helping a team estimate its workload
• Building a schedule
• Gathering software requirements and creating use cases
• Improving programming with refactoring, unit testing, and version control
• Managing an outsourced project
• Testing software

Jennifer Greene and Andrew Stellman have been building software together since 1998. Andrew comes from a programming background and has managed teams of requirements analysts, designers, and developers. Jennifer has a testing background and has managed teams of architects, developers, and testers. She has led multiple large-scale outsourced projects. Between the two of them, they have managed every aspect of software development. They have worked in a wide range of industries, including finance, telecommunications, media, nonprofit, entertainment, natural-language processing, science, and academia.

Peopleware:
Productive Projects and Teams

(by Tom DeMarco, Timothy Lister)

Demarco and Lister demonstrate that the major issues of software development are human, not technical. Their answers aren't easy--just incredibly successful. New second edition features eight all-new chapters. Softcover. Previous edition: c1987. DLC: Management.

Fundamentals of Technology Project Management:

(by Colleen Garton, Erika McCulloch)

"A project without a project manager is like an orchestra without a conductor..."

Successful project management is increasingly vital to all organizations, driven by the demands of global competition, rapid technological growth, and faster time to market (just to name a few). For those in technology fields, project management skills are fast becoming a required core competency. And those who have mastered these skills continue to be in high demand worldwide, commanding higher salaries than those around them. But how does one extend those skills or acquire them in the first place? Fundamentals of Technology Project Management is a great place to start.

Of the hundreds of project management books on the market, precious few address the unique needs of the IT project manager. Unlike most other project management books, Fundamentals of Technology Project Management tackles the specific issues that technology professionals must face, such as understanding technology resources, managing project scope and feature creep, and meeting client expectations, among many others.

Whether you're a college student, a software engineer, or an IT professional, Fundamentals of Technology Project Management will help you gain a comprehensive understanding of the project management life cycle and learn how to manage it – from first steps on through to intermediate topics (as well as some advanced ones). Author Colleen Garton explains — in easy-to-understand language— not only the what but the how of IT projects. What's more, unlike general project management books, the examples and case studies in this book are all based on technology projects, making them far more relevant to the learner.

Also included is a content-rich CD-ROM loaded with features to make the life of any IT project manager (or the IT professional with project management responsibilities) far easier. There are document templates you can use for all phases of the project — from the initial RFP to closing reports. Plus, the author steps you through meeting agendas, status reports, cost analysis, technical specifications, and more. In addition to the document templates, you're provided with PowerPoint slides that can be modified and used for reporting progress to users and management.

The continuing rise in importance of project management cannot be denied. Let this book be your guide to becoming a more effective, more efficient IT project manager.

With Fundamentals of Technology Project Management you will:

• Discover the top ten reasons projects fail
• Master the five keys to project success
• Explore the six phases of the project lifecycle, step by step
• Review the documents necessary for good project management and learn how to complete them
• Understand the warning signs of a project in trouble and learn how to get it back on track
• Learn Quality Management and Quality Assurance practices in easy-to-understand terms
• Acquire practical ways to develop effective leadership and team-building skills

Software Project Survival Guide:
Pro - Best Practices

(by Steve C McConnell)

How to make sure your next important project isn't your last. Equip yourself with SOFTWARE PROJECT SURVIVAL GUIDE. It's for everyone with a stake in the outcome of a development project--and especially for those without formal software project management training. That includes top managers, executives, clients, investors, end-user representatives, project managers, and technical leads.Here you'll find guidance from the acclaimed author of the classics CODE COMPLETE and RAPID DEVELOPMENT. Steve McConnell draws on solid research and a career's worth of hard-won experience to map the surest path to your goal--what he calls "one specific approach to software development that works pretty well most of the time for most projects." Nineteen chapters in four sections cover the concepts and strategies you need for mastering the development process, including planning, design, management, quality assurance, testing, and archiving. For newcomers and seasoned project managers alike, SOFTWARE PROJECT SURVIVAL GUIDE draws on a vast store of techniques to create an elegantly simplified and reliable framework for project management success.So don't worry about wandering among complex sets of project management techniques that require years to sort out and master. SOFTWARE PROJECT SURVIVAL GUIDE goes straight to the heart of the matter to help your projects succeed. And that makes it a required addition to every professional's bookshelf.

Reinventing Project Management:
The Diamond Approach to Successful Growth & Innovation

(by Aaron J. Shenhar, Dov Dvir)

Projects are the engines that drive innovation from idea to commercialization. In fact, the number of projects in most organizations today is expanding while operations is shrinking.. Yet, since many companies still focus on operational excellence and efficiency, most projects fail—largely because conventional project management concepts cannot adapt to a dynamic business environment. Moreover, top managers neglect their company’s project activity, and line managers treat all their projects alike—as part of operations.

Based on an unprecedented study of more than 600 projects in a variety of businesses and organizations across the globe, Reinventing Project Management provides a new and highly adaptive model for planning and managing projects to achieve superior business results.

The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management, Second Edition

(by Eric Verzuh)

An updated and revised edition of a bestselling guide to project management

The first edition of The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management sold over 100,000 copies and has been widely adopted in university courses and corporate training programs around the world. The book teaches the basic methods for defining, planning, and tracking a project, as well as techniques for leading and building strong project teams.

This new edition includes:

• Downloadable, customizable project management forms
• Study aids for passing the popular Project Management Professional certification exam
• Guidelines for building high-performance project teams
• New examples of project management at work in the 21st century

ric Verzuh (Seattle, WA) is certified by the Project Management Institute and is President of The Versatile Company, which delivers project management training and consulting services to such companies as Adobe Systems, Inc., GE, Lockheed Martin, Nordstrom, and the United States Postal Service. He is also the author of The Portable MBA in Project Management (0-471-26899-2), from Wiley.

Rapid Development:

(by Steve McConnell)

Get your development schedules under control and on track!Corporate and commercial software-development teams all want solutions for one important problem-how to get their high-pressure development schedules under control. Rapid Development describes ov