Showing posts with label project management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label project management. Show all posts

Microsoft Visio 2010 Step by Step: The smart way to learn Microsoft Visio 2010-one step at a time Review

Microsoft Visio 2010 Step by Step: The smart way to learn Microsoft Visio 2010-one step at a time
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Normally I don't buy how to software books, as the material value is useless when the next release comes out. The information in this book had all the vocabulary needed to use the program, working examples that will exceed the next version release, and saved my frustration with the Visio software. I watched all those Visio Guy films at Microsoft's website, and I thought they were great and imaginative, yet when I wanted to work with Visio beyond playing with its interface, those videos weren't of much help. This book opens the software secrets up quick, and gets you into production. Far less wordy than the dummy books, and the author's experience and examples will transcend the next release.

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Pomodoro Technique Illustrated: Can You Focus - Really Focus - for 25 Minutes? (Pragmatic Life) Review

Pomodoro Technique Illustrated: Can You Focus - Really Focus - for 25 Minutes (Pragmatic Life)
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I have been talking a lot about "agility at a personal level" -- both at conferences on software development and within organizations. I was really intrigued with this book and looking forward to seeing it in print. The text is imminently readable and the drawings and mind maps are captivating. Researchers are telling us that drawing and doodling are the best pathways to our memories--Staffan takes full advantage of this! He describes specific techniques that help us achieve the grander goals of: becoming more productive, increasing focus, creating a feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day, cutting down the stress of wasted multi-tasking. I love it! I hope you find it's the perfect book to start out the new year!
I am a Kindle fan, but the drawings in the text version make it worth having a printed copy. And don't forget to buy a timer! Yes, a Pomodoro (tomato) is good, but I bought a lady bug :-)!

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You have so much you need to accomplish today. Your list is a mile long and you find yourself getting interrupted every other minute. You'd like to tell everyone to leave you alone, but most of the interruptions are coming from you! You think of a phone call you need to make or a web site you need to check and before you know it you're answering email, checking twitter, and finding a million other things to occupy your time. You need to focus---really focus. The Pomodoro Technique puts you back in charge of your day. You'll apply successful techniques from software engineering to identify what you should be doing today and to help you achieve your goals. Your mind won't wander when it is fully engaged in short bursts of focused activity. Learn to work less and accomplish more using nothing more than paper, pencil, and a simple kitchen timer. Set the timer and start on your next Pomodoro. When the bell rings take a break. This personal approach to timeboxing is at the core of the Pomodoro technique and this book is filled with advice on how get started and how to tailor it to your own needs.


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Project Power: How to Get a Business Project Done Right the First Time Review

Project Power: How to Get a Business Project Done Right the First Time
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This book appeals to everyone from a student to an experienced project manager. It is just as easy to read as "People Power" yet contains the important phases and activities required for a successful project without losing the reader with technical jargon. Dr. Kovach provides a sample project methodolgy which guides the reader through the differnt phases of a plan. I would recommend this book to anyone who is part of a project within an organization as it touches on many aspects that anyone can learn from.

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Project Planning, Scheduling & Control, 4E: A Hands-On Guide to Bringing Projects in on Time and on Budget Review

Project Planning, Scheduling and Control, 4E: A Hands-On Guide to Bringing Projects in on Time and on Budget
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When you look at the goals of this book they are things like develop a methodology that works, using common tools like PERT, CPM, setting up communications within the team; in essence the real things that make a project successful. This also means that you learn enough that if you want to take the PMP test, you have the background and understanding to pass it.
This is the fourth edition of a book initially published in 1991. As the author says, it is written for the practitioner rather than the classroom. There are a number of books on passing the PMP exam. Most of them teach to the questions on the test without going into what you are really trying to do as a project manager. This book is different. It covers what it really takes to manage a project, and it does so with words that are easy to understand with photographs that are meaningful to the text.
This is the best book I know of to use when you really want to understand what project management is all about.

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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.


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Managing Projects in Organizations: How to Make the Best Use of Time, Techniques, and People Review

Managing Projects in Organizations: How to Make the Best Use of Time, Techniques, and People
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This book is a refreshing look at what is most important in achieving project success: people functioning in organizations. While it reviews key tools and techniques in a user-friendly fashion, its chief goal is to raise readers' awareness of the central role of people and organizations in delivering successful projects. What's more, it is an easy read, filled with practical examples of real world scenarios. It is particularly useful for knowledge workers in businesses like IT, finance, telecoms, R&D and training because it does not get bogged down in painfully detailed treatment of techniques that are marginally useful on real-world projects.

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In this third edition of Managing Projects in Organizations, J. Davidson Frame updates and expands on his classic book to provide an accessible introduction to the field of project management. Drawing on more than twenty-five years of consulting and training experience, Frame's most current edition of his landmark book includes a wealth of new topics, including:
Managing virtual teams
The evolving concept of the project manager's role
Comanaged project teams
The project office
Project portfolios
Web-based project management
International project management


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

Finish What You Start: 10 Surefire Ways to Deliver Your Projects On Time and On Budget
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As a new project manager I bought this book for a couple of reasons. One the interesting title ("Finish What You Start" and the subtitle (10 Surefire ways...). However I was disappointed to find the book did not hammer away at either of these ideas in a systematic way that I was expecting.
There is some useful advice in the book. One that comes to mind is getting
tasks started simultaneously and the earlier the better whenever possible. I thought the book was padded a bit by the example projects that the author had worked on. I found them boring and a labor to get through. There is a nice summary of advice in the last chapter that is worth reading and re-reading. They might even be the "ten surefire ways" that the subtitle refers to.

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The Definitive Guide to Project Management: Every executives fast-track to delivering on time and on budget Review

The Definitive Guide to Project Management: Every executives fast-track to delivering on time and on budget
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As businesses adapt to rapidly evolving markets, it's difficult to think of a more vital function than project management. The ability to drive multiple projects to completion is one of the hallmarks of leading corporations. If one aspect of contemporary business science deserves elevation to a higher seat in the academy, project management is it. Successful projects reflect extremely efficient and refined planning processes, and are no more a matter of serendipity than, say, 20 straight quarters of steadily increasing profits. This compilation of valuable insight and guidance provides a single reference source for project managers. The book asserts that it is directed at project managers early in their careers and is designed to enable them to operate competently in organizations where a project management structure and legacy already exist. However, it goes into sophisticated levels of detail and the authors assume that you can juggle your jargon and your organization's politics and policies. Well-illustrated, with reader-friendly charts and a detailed appendix about critical chain project management, it provides a fundamental, thorough, all-you-need-to-know compendium for completing projects. We strongly recommend it to any project manager. The newer you are, the more you need it.

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Knowing that you're managing a project that is going well is a good feeling.That moment when you know that it's going to happen on time, that it's avoided the pitfalls and delays that could have derailed it, and that people and resources have come together surely and smoothly, is a moment to savour. Fortunately, it's a very achievable moment if you have mastered the tools and techniques of great project management.Developed from the day to day experiences of real project managers facing real organisational and logistical challenges, this book is designed to put you on a fast-track to managing projects of every shape and size with speed and accuracy.This will be a powerful skill to possess in a business world where work is increasingly organised around projects.The Definitive Guide to Project Management will show you, step by step, how to deliver the right projects in the right way at the right time, while keeping your life in balance. Using the principles critical chain management, the authors help you master the essentials of good project management and then explore the situations where good projects and good business meet.How to manage risks and politics; how to demonstrate the value added by a project; how to communicate upwards and downwards in project teams; how to energise projects; how to turn failing projects around; and how to spot likely problem projects.It is practical, to the point, and can be used immediately. An essential companion if you want projects to be a source of inspiration not perspiration.Inside you will find key questions, step-by-step guidance and action checklists to help with each stage of a well-executed project: *Before you start *Planning *Preliminary definition *Full definition *Design *Build and test *Implementation *Shutdown and reviewWith"The Definitive Guide to Project Management", you can deliver results on time, every time. Financial Times Prentice Hall's best-selling 'Definitive' suite provides managers and entrepreneurs with a fast-track to acquiring a range of essential executive skills. Other titles in the series include:"The Definitive Business Plan The Definitive Guide to Managing the Numbers The Definitive Guide to Marketing Planning"

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Lean Project Leadership: Synthesizing the Tools of Professional Project Management and Modern System Improvement Methods to Complete Projects in 'Half the Time, All the Time' With Much Higher Quality Review

Lean Project Leadership: Synthesizing the Tools of Professional Project Management and Modern System Improvement Methods to Complete Projects in 'Half the Time, All the Time' With Much Higher Quality
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This book explains how to merge CC (critical chain) and PM (project management) to achieve a truly successful CCPM implementation. For me, the most impactful part of the book is the chapter on Execution, where prior to this book there has been a void in the literature. Larry goes beyond CCPM execution rules to discuss other aspects of project management such as Issue and Action Management, Change Control, and Project Reporting. The illustrations of the mechanics of execution of all functions of LPM makes this book the most complete and useful discussion of LPM currently available. The description of CCPM Roles in Chapter 6 is the best I've ever seen.
Chapters 1-3 discuss foundational principles which are explained in detail in Larry's other books. However, I really like this book's concise presentation as reference material. Chapter 5 summarizes the eight principles for success from Leach's book Lean Project Management and Chapter 7 discusses principles of change management from John Kotter's Leading Change and the follow-on books The Heart of Change and The Heart of Change Field Guide. Chapter 8 provides a much-needed tutorial on how to create an effective project plan. Chapter 9 on Improvement introduces improvement tools such as the thinking processes of TOC and Six Sigma for sustaining and improving on initial gains.
Consolidating all of that knowledge in a single location with the format Larry has chosen makes this a powerful, concentrated learning opportunity for someone with limited time for self-study. Lean Project Leadership is a HUGE contribution to the existing literature.


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Lean Project Leadership takes you through the steps to plan and execute projects using the exciting new Lean and Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) methods. Lean Project Leadership integrates CCPM and Lean practices in a practical way that works for all kinds of projects, large and small. This book supplements Larry's second book, Lean Project Management, which has received outstanding reviews.

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Global Software Teams: Colloborating Across Borders and Time Zones Review

Global Software Teams: Colloborating Across Borders and Time Zones
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If you have anything to do with global software development, read this book. It will bring you food for thought and fun and you will profit a lot. The book is never too deep to be readable nor too shallow to be usable, and obviously based on a wealth of real-world experience. I much liked the absence of over-hyped rhetoric.

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The Complete Guide to Project Management for New Managers and Management Assistants: How to Get Things Done in Less Time Review

The Complete Guide to Project Management for New Managers and Management Assistants: How to Get Things Done in Less Time
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Loved the way Bereaux used a simulated project to walk us through. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then an actual project to follow, workbook style as provided by the author, is worth a million. If you are new to project management, you MUST get this book for you and your team!

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A sobering new statistic indicates that less than half of all projects assigned to management are completed, done correctly, finished on time, and under budget. Project management is the discipline of organizing and managing resources so that projects meet their defined scope, time, and cost constraints.As a manager or assistant manager, you will be responsible for many projects, and you will be evaluated on their planning, coordination, and control from inception to completion, including meeting their quality requirements on time and within cost. Projects are critical to the success of any business or organization. They are the activities that result in new or changed products and services. They increase sales, improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, improve the work environment, and result in countless other benefits.As a manager or assistant manager, you will be evaluated on the success of your project management skills. In this easy-to-read and comprehensive new book, you will learn planning strategies for each phase of project management and for everything from the start-up meeting, to the project's execution and closure, including its scope and information gathering requirements.You will learn how to create a project plan, assess its risk, manage multiple projects, manage organization-wide initiatives, implement project management concepts, and schedule, control, and manage contracts. The information in this new book will help you make the most of your time by efficiently handling your workflow. Managing time effectively within your company will serve to deliver projects on time and increase profits and will make you stand out to your supervisors. You can succeed in real-world project management.The Internet, software, and technology have dramatically changed the way traditional projects have been managed. Online project management software helps your organization share, store, and manage key project information through a central, online location accessible to everyone. There is a complete review of this new technology in this book.In addition, we spent thousands of hours interviewing, e-mailing, and communicating with hundreds of today's most successful project management experts. This book contains their secrets and proven successful ideas, including actual case studies. If you are interested in learning hints, strategies, and secrets for implementing highly effective project management skills, then this book is for you.

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The Accomplishing More With Less Workbook: How to accomplish more in less time, less effort, and less stress--Second Edition Review

The Accomplishing More With Less Workbook: How to accomplish more in less time, less effort, and less stress--Second Edition
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I attended Pierre's "Accomplishing More with Less" workshop at Stanford a few years ago. I valued it so much that I hired Pierre to do the workshop for my staff. And yet, I confess, I practice only half of what I learned that day. So when the workbook was released, I eagerly ordered a copy, hoping it would reinforce what I learned and help me get back on track. It has exceeded my expectations! There are more details than what we were able to cover in the workshop, and I love being able to go back to the key points and visual aids that address my particular needs.
Pierre's values and expertise shine through this workbook. He genuinely wants to help people be more productive, without laying on judgment or guilt-trips. He presents productivity issues less as a human failing and more as a universal workplace struggle. Too many of us have too much to do, too much information and too many interruptions. Pierre helps us understand why we feel overwhelmed and how we can change with very simple and practical techniques. I love the "Maybe Later" box! Whether you take baby steps or giant steps, I guarantee Pierre's techniques will help you accomplish more - maybe with the same time rather than less... but certainly feeling better about it! Thank you, Pierre!


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Join us in making the workplace less hectic and interrupt driven, more satisfying and results driven instead. We work and live in an era of interruptions. The very moment you begin a task, you are stopped by emails, IM's, colleague visits, phone calls, meetings, and now, tweets and Facebook updates. The very technologies that were invented to enhance productivity have made it nearly impossible. Not only this, we are bombarded by an unprecedented information overload dominated by the Internet and globalization. This puts unreasonable demands on our work and personal lives, and as a result, we suffer, feel helpless, and our accomplishments decline. This needs to stop. We invite you to join us in this movement. Will you join us? This journey starts in this workbok and the comprehensive and innovative methodology that it teaches you!This second edition of The Accomplishing More With Less Workbook demonstrates the e-mail tips and techniques in Microsoft Outlook 2010, Outlook 2007, and Outlook 2003, as well as includes tips on how to implement these techniques in other e-mail clients such as Gmail, Apple Mail, Entourage, and others.

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Project Managing Change (Financial Times Series) Review

Project Managing Change (Financial Times Series)
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Project Managing Change: Practical Tools and Techniques to Make Change Happen (Financial Times Series)

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Are you responsible for getting results? Do you need to get things to change and then make sure that change sticks? Do you want to know the most effective ways to really get things to change for the better? Project Managing Changegives you practical, sensible solutions to real business change issues. By combining best practice from change management and project management, it empowers you to select from a range of easy-to-use tools specially designed to uncover and resolve common problems and difficulties. Tested and proven to be effective, the emphasis is on the actual tasks and activities you need to get done to make sure that change happens. The logical, modular approach makes it easier to apply the advice and guidance to your own unique situation. It helps you assess the scope and scale of the change you need to make and plan what you need to do to make it happen.Typical changes that often mean you need to move from the way you do things now to doing things differently include:*Process following different steps or using different methods to complete a task or activity *Product developing new or improved products or services *Technology using new or upgraded software, hardware, systems or equipment *Money staying competitive in the market; managing with less (or more!) funding

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Building a Winning Business: 70 Takeaways for Creating a Strong Company during Good and Bad Economic Times Review

Building a Winning Business: 70 Takeaways for Creating a Strong Company during Good and Bad Economic Times
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No, this well-designed, focused book is not about Caarles Darwin's theory - or is it? Tom Salonek, a successful entrepreneur of the first order (he founded Intertech Foundation to respond to the multiple needs of families with critically ill children while he maintains his status as an award winning business man, etc etc etc) has addressed the fact that starting a new business or company in these critical economic times not only conceivable - it is possible to come to the end of the day a winner. Knowing that the bookshelves and sites for downloading Internet literature are bursting at the seams, he wisely (and thankfully for those of us who plan to use his concepts) keeps his book of how to build a winning business short, terse, pointed, and immensely usable.
This very wise young man has kept his book to the point by dividing it in to sections. In this thin but brain-heavy volume he lists '70 Takeaways' - 70 succinct clues one a few pages each that are the building blocks for his advice to those who want to make the necessary changes in this new world of Internet-ruled planning. These 'takeaways' are ideas suggested for the savvy new mind in the business world. Examples of some of these takeaways are: 'Hire Slowly' - and his method of explanation for this particular tidbit of advice is 'Avoid hasty hires. While it may seem like a simple solution in the short term, you'll end up paying more and spending more time on the process in the long run, since employees hired in a hurry rarely make a good fit' and not to give away too much of the riches of this book, some of the other takeaways (without comments) are 'Watch out for Bias', 'check in regularly', 'be patient': and on to Managing 'Keep Them Motivated' 'Fire Quickly', 'Know What Matters'; on Strategy 'Involve the Team When Defining Values', 'Ensure You Have Alignment'; on Talent Strategy 'Promotion', 'Compensation', 'Partner Relations'; on Leading 'Leaders Insist on Results, 'Leader Delegate', 'Leaders Listen'; on Problems, 'Slay Monsters Early', 'Own Your Mistakes'. That is the general drift, remembering that there are 70 of these little wise statements of advice an each follows with Salonek's commentaries.
To cap off this book as a functional and very usable resource (and there probably no competitors in this field now that Salonek has published his volume that took 15 years to write), the author offers Internet sites to download his own well-designed and easy to use forms to facilitate the skills learned in this book. The evolution bit in the heading? Well, when it comes to adapting to the new business world status post the Economic Crisis we are experiencing, there is evidence that change, and mutation, and adjustment to new technology and new ways of perceiving and being a leader and a happy employee must be addressed. It is all right here - easy wise, digestible, and entertaining at that. A terrific new book to heed. Grady Harp, July 11

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Projects in Less Time:: A Synopsis of Critical Chain Review

Projects in Less Time:: A Synopsis of Critical Chain
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I was sorry I purchased "Projects in Less Time" and felt a little cheated. Maybe I read the title and description wrong. About 15 minutes after I received it I realized the title and summary of what the book "promised" to tell me didn't match the contents that much. Being the book is relatively inexpensive it was not worth the time and trouble to send it back. I see this book has gotten a lot of high ratings ("5") here at Amazon. That doesn't seem right to me because the book is about "Projects" yet lacks usefulness and content from a Project Management (PM) point of view. The final let-down in this book for me was that the main case study/example toward the end of the book was about a production constraint example--not a CCPM example. Here's where I'm coming from: I am both an experienced practicing project manager and a project management instructor. I recently "discovered" books on Theory of Constrains (TOC) and Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) over the last year. I have also purchased and learned several CCPM scheduling software packages. I am not saying "don't buy this book". If you are looking for a "brief" on Theory Of Constraints (TOC) using Goldratt's production examples and don't want to read Goldratt's books, which some folks don't like because they are long novels, then this book might be great for you. For someone looking to learn more about CCPM--it may not be for you. If you are like me, I would start with The Goal, the read some other Goldratt books. Then for more technical how-to in order to implement CCPM I'd look to Lawrence Leach's books. I spent an hour writing this to help prevent others from wasting their time and money if they got it wrong--like me. I hope my comments can be helpful to some, either way.

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Everyone who has managed a project (or been involved in one) knows how difficult it is to finish on time.If you've managed many projects, your frustration is even greater; you not only have to finish on time, but in less time.Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM) has been hailed as the biggest innovation in project management in 40 years.Projects in Less Time; A Synopsis of Critical Chain by Mark J. Woeppel explains the main ideas behind this breakthrough concept. Woeppel builds on a short, easy to understand synopsis of Eliyahu M. Goldratt's pioneering book, Critical Chain, by deftly augmenting it with commentary, case studies and implementation advice. Readers not only gain a meaningful appreciation for the ideas behind CCPM, they clearly see significant implications for real projects.

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Execution Plain and Simple: Twelve Steps to Achieving Any Goal on Time and On Budget Review

Execution Plain and Simple: Twelve Steps to Achieving Any Goal on Time and On Budget
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Vision, purpose, defining the scope of the work, and gaining the critical mass needed to get execution within a normally stagnant company are all covered well in this book. For somebody in a large company (like myself), this book provides a lot of guidance to leadership on how to bring small-team energy to a culture of slow-moving big teams. In that respsect, this is a great book.
The only failure I see is that I didn't notice much attention paid to individual performance. A failing of large companies is that they tend to load so many roles, side-responsibilities, and conflicting priorities on their employees that enabling some folks to break free, focus on a small but impact-laden project, and really deliver it are a separate set of issues that need to be addressed as well. This book provides great information in an immediately-useful form-factor, but beware of using it alone, paritcularly if you're new to a company and its culture.

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Breakthrough ways to keep your business goals on target and on deadline

A practical job aid for any manager who needs to get an organization to execute better, Execution Plain and Simple provides a proven 12-step plan to get results, overcome delays, and achieve tough goals faster. This short book will help you generate momentum toward critical goals and achieve performance breakthroughs--no matter what the goal or project.

Reveals how to execute a goal on time and on budget
Shows how to cut through off-target diversions, flagging enthusiasm, and active resistance
Explains how to cultivate change and support growth
Features case examples from clients, including General Electric, Motorola, and many others


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Next Generation Product Development : How to Increase Productivity, Cut Costs, and Reduce Cycle Times Review

Next Generation Product Development : How to Increase Productivity, Cut Costs, and Reduce Cycle Times
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"Next Generation Product Development" by Michael E. McGrath
The last paragraph of Michael E. McGrath's newest book "Next Generation Product Development" boldly states that "product development has never been for the faint of heart." And I suspect that most everyone who has ever been involved in such activities will quickly shake their head "yes" to this "truth" statement, and quietly wish there was a better way. Fortunately in his new book McGrath guides us to this better way--a way that offers "more opportunity and promise for getting better new products to market faster, WHILE DOING MORE WITH LESS." The claim is nothing short of a renaissance of product development capability.
I like this book a lot. I like the multi-faceted emphasis on integration. I like the productivity theme and the need for new management processes. And I like the idea that we are only beginning the renaissance of product development capability, especially given the growth of collaborative development.
I confess that I do not like the continued use of the DCM abbreviation (it stands for "development chain management.)" But I suppose I can learn to live with another "alphabet name" because it does get to the heart of the matter--how to manage a lot of INTERDEPENDENT projects, all of which are going on at the same time. Of particular importance are McGrath's thoughts involving a "networked team," new concepts which I think will be fundamental to tomorrow's successful product development.
To join this renaissance, exactly where does one begin? McGrath offers three entry points: changes in resource management, changes in project management, or changes in strategy management. I suppose someone will try all three at once, but frankly just one is probably a lot for an organization to swallow. For different entry points McGrath offers us guidance, with levels of maturity assessments and/or stages of implementation. But even still, there is a lot of material to assimilate and multiple readings of many book sections will be needed to fully comprehend his recommendations.
However I suggest that you don't spend an excessive amount of time studying. Organizations mainly learn by doing, and this book lays out the "learn by doing" path toward success. Past generations of development have emphasized invention, project management, or time-to-market. This next generation is a path toward productivity within the entire development enterprise. It is a path toward "better decision making, better investment in R&D, better return on that investment, more collaboration with external partners, and true empowerment of development activity."
I suggest that you buy the book and begin.
Nils L. Dailey
N.L. Dailey Associates

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A Hands-on manager's guide to making the most of today's product development breakthroughs

A quarter century after MRP first transformed the global manufacturing arena, Next Generation Product Development stands poised to similarly impact new product development. This movement-defining book gives R&D professionals an in-depth explanation of the ways in which companies are able to achieve substantially higher levels of development productivity, while better aligning product development with strategy through new practices and systems.

Processes explored in Next Generation Product Development, and enabled by cutting-edge new-enterprise software, promise to explode the possibilities of what product development professionals can accomplish. This hands-on practitioner's guidebook will:

Establish a common set of frameworks and concepts
Introduce new project portfolio and product strategy management practices
Help R&D professionals increase productivity by 30 to 50 percent


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The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business Review

The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business
Average Reviews:

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Having graduated from a top business school in Canada, I can safety say that I could have thrown out all my textbooks and used the money I spent on tuition to actually START a business, and used this book as a replacement to my business education.
What makes this book warrant such a strong statement is the fact that it's a comprehensive synthesis of all of the concepts you need to know to understand business inside and out. There are no complex models to learn or outdated theories to memorize just to get marks or pass tests. What you get is a comprehensive set of "mental models" or heuristics on all of the sub parts of creating, operating and working within a business. Why is this important? Because a mental model is like a rule of thumb for any possible scenario you might encounter in running a business - from value creation to delivery to marketing to finance. It helps you look at the world through the lens of what's most important (and thus no fluff to distract you) which ultimately helps you to ask the right questions and ultimately helps guide you to make the right decisions about maneuvering in business. These principles are universal and applicable for small business start ups to Fortune 50 CEOs because they're based on business fundamentals (the mental models) and not just tactics found in most other books.
In addition to a sound business knowledge what this book has is a very extensive section on working with yourself and with others. Achieving great strides in business is sometimes less about knowing the business aspect but more about conquering yourself - either with productivity, with working with people or with overcoming doubts and fears - all things I'm finding out as I work on my own venture. After having read dozens of psychology and self help books I can also say without a doubt that the section on working with yourself trumps them all. Josh delivers a well researched practical guide to understanding how you brain works and how to work with it rather than against it, so you can actually go ahead and apply the concepts in the rest of the book.
Highly recommended if you wish to know more about business, are thinking of starting your own business, or are thinking about joining an MBA program to climb the corporate ladder. Buying this book could end up saving a mortgage worth of student debt, so what have you really got to lose?


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