Bare Bones Project Management: What you can't not do

Eric Kassan(1st reviewer), has it right. So many books these days are word stuffed by the publishers to give them more apparent value. I'm guessing editor's jobs these days are to add "breadth" to books.Bob doesn't do that. To describe the book in one word would be SUCCINT.I never felt like he was spinning his wheels.I don't want him to blush now, but, with all that I've read and studied in IT, outside of some of the original IBM manuals for VM and CMS, his book gives the most bang for the buck. He's not pedantic. Rather than codifying some new method, the Lewis Method, he gives advice wisdom. He's trying to let people know what its really going to be like to run a project. The way he starts out with Sponsorship and Governance in unusual and a critical point. I've seen many projects fail because they get orphaned, either by a sponsor leaving the company or deciding there is bigger fish to fry and this project isn't going to shine up his finish as much as some new thing. Also hadn't considered many things in the way he puts them, such as the only three ways a business can improve. I've run many, varied project but can still learn. I loved the Dilbertian sentence, "The usual root cause is that the project is good for the company without being good for any of its executives." So true. I've seen it so many times. Once the execs complete their analysis, and realize they have nothing personal to gain, the 180 degree turn is quick and startling. Don't completely agree with everything in the book, but I'd say 99.5% of it I do agree with. He pointed up a number of my owns, which I always need work on. The people management advice is excellent and much ignored by other writers. An unhappy team member starts to build a gravity that can pull the whole project down with it.I'm a pathetically slow reader, my comprehension is great, but I read and think. I finished in two days in just two sessions. The end of chapter "steps" summary is incredibly helpful as a memory tool.I'll be rereading the book and keeping it close at hand for the rest of my career. Its an excellent addition to anyone's toolkit and reference shelf. Great job Bob. Thank You.

Bare Bones was a quick read. It quickly got to the main points and helped me put a better name on some processes we need to implement. We are a small technical group and streamlining the project management side is very important. The point about ensuring you have a Project Sponsor on all projects is right on target. Starting with a person who has the ability/resposibility to make financial and resource allocation decision is critical. The 2nd point is defining the goals and what actually constitutes a completed project. with these items projects, especially development, tend to go on forever. It is important for team morale to know when you have arrived. Thanks Bob for the direction this an your other books and blogs provide.

This was a good book summarizing some of the major points of project management. I would not agree with other reviewers that this book is all you would really need to know to manage a project of anything but the smallest complexity.It offers good advice, and I think what the book gets right are the major aspects of project management - that PMBOK and Agile practices aside - are probably the fundamental things any project manager should be watching out for. I don't agree that stakeholder analysis is as important as the book makes it out to be. I also don't think it covers planning and estimating well.After reading this book, I read a book on agile management practices. The agile book had a lot of conflicting advice, and I applied the agile book to my line of work. For example - this book recommends to create a scope / objectives style document before doing anything else. In an agile framework these go the way of the dinosaur. In sprint zero the goal is to get everyone making code or developing as soon as possible. Some basic planning is part of the agile framework, but a formal scope document is not part of the framework as far as I am aware.Despite a more traditional project management pitch, what this book does get right is fundamentals. It strongly emphasizes the need for clear communication to all members of the team - which is key. Many people forget, a decision is not really made until everyone whom it affects knows about it. It recommends regular meeting intervals on the order of a week or two weeks, effective meetings, holding people accountable, etc. A lot of good fundamentals are presented.My major problem with the book is that the specific practices may not always be necessary, and in some cases, go against other project management frameworks. Nonetheless, I'd recommmend this book to anyone in the field of project management as it does offer some insights.

With many larger books, if you want to take away anything at all, you need to make a set of notes because the gems of the book are scattered across so many pages. Well this book comes as condensed notes - it's 52 pages not counting the introduction. If that's not condensed enough, there are brief summaries at the end of each of the seven chapters.As the author mentions, this book is not for project managers leading major projects. This book is geared for people who need to do project management as part of their job, so they can get back to the rest of their job. It goes on to discuss the minimum one needs to do to increase the likelihood of success for the project. It includes areas from planning and managing the project to politics and staffing.For those not familiar with the author, Bob Lewis is one of the most colorful technology writers around. His style is that of a casual conversation, with plenty of humor thrown in for good measure. As an example of the humor, from a couple of footnotes:"Best" is defined as "makes the situation most convenient for the project manager.""Worst" is defined as what always happens unless you take active steps to avoid it.I strongly recommend this book for anyone involved with IT projects who cares to see them succeed.