The Project Manager's Desk Reference
Book

The Project Manager's Desk Reference

Project Planning • Scheduling • Evaluation • Control & Systems

James P. Lewis
McGraw-Hill, 2006
First Edition: 1981
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Editorial Rating

8

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  • Applicable

Recommendation

About half the work in companies is done on a project basis, but few people are trained in the nuts and bolts of project management, even in such core skills as meeting deadlines and staying on budget. If you add the problems caused by tight resources, lack of talented personnel and plain old uncertainty, you have a mix that needs professional management. That’s where James P. Lewis’ book is a handy reference. An experienced engineer, Lewis describes a useful, formal, sometimes quantitative approach that can handle even complex, expensive projects. He writes for managers who find themselves with projects to run and for those who may plan to take the professional project management exam for certification. He even offers insights for those who already have ample experience. getAbstract finds that this helpful, well-documented book is a good reference for project managers across a broad spectrum.

Summary

Facing the Task

By definition, projects are one-time jobs with preset beginning and end dates, certain defined tasks, planned budgets and stated quality goals. In reality, most projects lack start and end dates, even though about half of the work organizations undertake is done on a project basis. If you are coordinating the launch of a new product or service, the construction of a building, the creation of software, or the implementation of a new process, you are managing a project. The professional project managers’ organization, the Project Management Institute, defines a project as “a temporary endeavor undertaken to produce a unique product, service or result.”

Project management is often large-scale problem solving. A project involves various pivotal participants, including stakeholders, customers and sponsors who ensure that it is on the right track, supplied, financed and well-managed. A project can go astray easily if the project manager’s position is “too weak to permit” full control of the result.

In any project, the variables include performance, cost, time span and project scope. Cost is a function of performance, time and scope. Based on geometric...

About the Author

James P. Lewis, Ph.D., teaches project management seminars internationally. He spent 15 years as an electrical engineer. Since 1980, he has trained more than 20,000 supervisors and managers.

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