Project Management Toolbox: Tools and Techniques for the Practicing Project Manager

by Dragan Z. Milosevic

Book Overview

Boost your performance with improved project management tactics Project Management ToolBox: Tools and Techniques for the Practicing Project Manager, Second Edition offers a succinct explanation of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471208221
• ISBN13: 9780471208228
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 600 Pages
• Weight: 2.16 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Highly recommended and extremely useful

This book is a fantastic resource for Business Analysts and Project Managers alike. I've recommended this book to several of my contemporaries, and use variations of many of the tools discussed in the book. If you've ever had a creative block on how to demonstrate good analyses, this set of tools will provide you with the spark you need.

A Practical "Goldmine"

If you're a project manager, this is one of those invaluable resources to add to your personal "toolkit". This is a very practical reference book to keep close to your workspace. It contains more than 50 tools you can incorporate into your practice. When that moment arrives in the project where one of your managers demands some additional piece of information presented in a particular way (as Murphy's Law describes - always at the busiest, most hectic, time), and perhaps it's one of those things you've never personally done before ... Don't panic, just reach for the "Toolbox". Each tool is described clearly, most including a table, diagram, or sample of the tool, along with instructions as to best practice use of the tool, e.g.: o When to use it o The best place in the project life cycle to use it o Its benefits (in case you need to "sell" its use within your organization), and o Advantages/Disadvantages - enabling you to make smarter choices among the tools, and more effective application of the one you select One suggestion for future editions: I'd like to see more correlation of these tools with the Project Management Institute (PMI)'s PMBOK - both in terms of consistent language and project phasing. (The author does include a short appendix that attempts to do some of this.) Notwithstanding, I still consider this book a valuable resource for my practice.

Finally we have a ToolBox in one peace

Traditionally, project management tools and techniques have been seen as vehicles for reaching an objective or, more specifically, a project deliverable. However, most project management literature just describes individual tools and, at best, loosely gathers them into a quasi-toolbox to aid the project or program manager in doing the job more effectively. Thankfully, the business community finally has Project Management ToolBox by Dragan Z. Milosevic, not just another review of available tools and techniques, but the most comprehensive text ever published on the subject. The author makes a strong case for the need for a more systematic and pre-constructed project management toolbox, one that is of significantly more value than the simple sum of its individual tools. Within the book, Milosevic develops a new role for project management tools and the toolbox in three distinctive ways. First, the book provides a clear roadmap for how to deploy and customize each tool depending on the specific project and company environment. Second, the book goes beyond individual tools by offering a more effective approach, i.e., constructing a toolbox, unique to an organization, which gathers together a predefined set of tools, thus supporting not only individual project management activities and deliverables but also the complete project management process. Finally, the book spells out how to customize the toolbox. Constructing a generic project management toolbox has value, but customizing it to fit a company's competitive strategy significantly enhances that value. The book content is clearly and logically organized by project management process - initiating, planning, implementing, and closing - and then by practical applications. This helps users locate tools according to use, i.e., to support one or more specific deliverables in the project management process. Also, it reinforces the applications aspect of the toolbox for a standardized, company-specific project management process. In summary, the Project Management ToolBox is not just the resource for a collection of project management tools and techniques. It offers an extensive set of tools that goes beyond the limits of generic domains and also takes the guesswork out of when and how to use them in order to support the project management process and to deliver concurrent projects as dictated by a company's strategy for competitiveness and profitability. It also describes how to link project goals and practices and the organization's mission, and it offers much value to managers of organizations of any size or endeavour. In short, it is a must-have book for the project manager.

"Project Management Toolbox" Helps Win Projects!

I don't share many of my consulting "know-how" secrets, but in this case I will, because I think the field of PM will benefit from the ideas presented in this book. After working 20 years in the consulting and project management field, I felt I was as knowledgeable as one could be about managing projects. Then one day, I came across Dragan's PM ToolBox. WOW! Every page is an eye opener. And this book really is a toolbox because its filled with detailed examples, report layouts, checklists, and figures which I have personally incorporated into my projects management and documentation. And those work examples have helped me win additional PM business many times over.If you think this is just another "Here are the PM process steps" book, then click on by. But if you do, you will miss out on the chance to reach a higher level of excellence in the field of project management that will set you apart from the rest.Thanks Dragan for a job well done!!

Put This Book on Your Desk, Not on Your Bookshelf!

Prof. Milosevic's Project Management Toolbox is to the practitioner of Project Management what the Physicians' Desk Reference is to practitioners of medicine. As the name appropriately implies, this book contains just about every tool and technique one can imagine to be used to manage, and assess projects effectively. But not one or two tools for every phase of a project, but several -- or to quote a cliche -- "a tool for every occasion". Sound project management techniques are clearly described, substantiated by research, and presented in an easy to understand format. But Milosevic goes even further -- he details how to use each tool, when to use each tool, and when the use of a particular tool may not be appropriate. He even goes so far to present comparisons (pros and cons) of comparable tools (complete with sample form templates that can be put to immediate use), so that the project manager reading the book can select the most appropriate tool or technique to use for his/her particular project and/or organizational environment. The book is organized logically, and in such a way that after you read the first chapter (which explains the theory & structure of the book), it isn't really necessary to read the book sequentially to put the concepts to practical use.Whether you're a seasoned project manager, or a manager without much practical experience managing projects, you'll find this book useful and informative. Not merely from an academic point of view, but from a practical one as well.That's why I recommend that you don't put the book on your bookshelf. Put it on your desk and you'll use it constantly to resolve immediate project management issues, as well as serving as an indispensable project management desk reference.