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Work InformationMaking Things Happen: Mastering Project Management by Scott Berkun
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.  eri_kars | Jul 10, 2022 |    ) trile1000 | Jul 1, 2018 | The book was very well organized. It's divided into three primary sections: making plans, useful skills, and management techniques. I found the chapters in the skills section about decision making, workplace communication, and how not to annoy people to be especially helpful. The combination of easy-to-skim headings, useful lists and figures, and engaging teaching stories made this a fun read. The only real complaint I have is that some of the pages on my copy are already starting to fall out. Granted, it's a library copy, but it doesn't seem heavily used, so if you're considering buying a personal copy you might want to see if you can find an electronic version. ( ) thewalkinggirl | Jul 8, 2010 | I love it for it's straight to the point approach to project management and low on high brow theories that sometimes plagues these kind of books. ( ) SimonLarsen | Jul 3, 2008 | no reviews | add a review
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In the updated edition of this critically acclaimed and bestselling book, Microsoft project veteran Scott Berkun offers a collection of essays on field-tested philosophies and strategies for defining, leading, and managing projects. Each essay distills complex concepts and challenges into practical nuggets of useful advice, and the new edition now adds more value for leaders and managers of projects everywhere. Based on his nine years of experience as a program manager for Internet Explorer, and lead program manager for Windows and MSN, Berkun explains to technical and non-technical readers alike what it takes to get through a large software or web development project. Making Things Happen doesn't cite specific methods, but focuses on philosophy and strategy. Unlike other project management books, Berkun offers personal essays in a comfortable style and easy tone that emulate the relationship of a wise project manager who gives good, entertaining and passionate advice to those who ask. Topics in this new edition include: How to make things happen Making good decisions Specifications and requirements Ideas and what to do with them How not to annoy people Leadership and trust The truth about making dates What to do when things go wrong Complete with a new forward from the author and a discussion guide for forming reading groups/teams, Making Things Happen offers in-depth exercises to help you apply lessons from the audio book to your job. It is inspiring, funny, honest, and compelling, and definitely the one audio book that you and your team need to have within arm's reach throughout the life of your project. Coming from the rare perspective of someone who fought difficult battles on Microsoft's biggest projects and taught project design and management for MSTE, Microsoft's internal best practices group, this is valuable advice indeed. It will serve you well with your current work, and on future projects to come. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)658Technology Management and auxiliary services ManagementLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.68)
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Wikipedia in English (1)
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This book focuses on the essence of project management: allowing a group of people to work together to accomplish some goal. It's not tied to any particular technique or methodology. Because it's so general, some individual ideas and recommendations come across as common sense. The value comes from how the ideas support each other. E.g., the notion that schedules are highly uncertain at the beginning and become more certain over time is common sense, but when that is combined with approaches for developing specifications or making decisions or managing risk, it becomes a powerful foundation for running a project.
I don't know how useful this book would be for someone trained as a project manager, but for someone like myself, who has had to pick up project management because someone has to do it, it's a great transition from intuition to a reasoned approach. (