Managing Projects

by Harvard Business Publishing

You’ve been asked to manage a key project—or perhaps you’ve volunteered for an assignment that could advance your career. So how do you make sure the project succeeds? Managing Projects walks you quickly through the basics, including:

• Drawing up a realistic schedule and project plan
• Monitoring key tasks and benchmarks
• Communicating with stakeholders
• Bringing the project to a close


About HBR's 20-Minute Manager Series:
Don't have much time? Get up to speed fast on the most essential business skills with HBR's 20-Minute Manager series. Whether you need a crash course or a brief refresher, each book in the series is a concise, practical primer that will help you brush up on a key management topic.

Advice you can quickly read and apply, for ambitious professionals and aspiring executives—from the most trusted source in business. Also available as an ebook.

Genres: Business, Management, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Leadership, Self Help

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 18, 2014

About the author

Harvard Business Publishing (HBP) is a publisher founded in 1994 as a not-for-profit, independent corporation and an affiliate of Harvard Business School (distinct from Harvard University Press), with a focus on improving business management practices. The company offers articles, books, case studies, simulations, videos, learning programs, and digital tools to organizations and subscribers.
HBP consists of three market units: Education, Corporate Learning, and Harvard Business Review Group. Their offering consists of print and digital media (Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business Review Press books, Harvard Business School cases), events, digital learning (Harvard ManageMentor, HMM Spark), blended learning, and campus experiences.

Reviews

[Dr. Appu Sasidharan (Dasfill) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book will help you to make a good project plan. It discusses setting goals to start a project.

PERT charts are also explained in detail here. They are tools used to map tasks within a project (PERT -program evaluation and review technique).

If you are someone working on any project, this book will give you an excellent introduction to the various methods used in projects.

“Planning, buildup, implementation, and closing are the four phases of every project. Each phase has its own set of goals, activities, tools, and skills.”

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[Amir Sarabadani · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gosh these books are as useless as UN human rights council.

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Managing Projects from the HBR 20 Minute Manager series is a rudimentary but solid introduction to the fundamentals of Project Management. The book lays out a generic, non industry specific approach that emphasizes Predictive ( AKA Waterfall) methods. Primary focus is given to fundamental concepts such as setting goals and defining scope, Work Breakdown Structure (WBS),the Critical Path Method (CPM), and Gantt and PERT charts.

If the above mentioned concepts make sense to you then you really do not need this book. However, the book can be read in a few hours and is a good option for both those needing a review and those who are completely new to Project Management. This book would also be a good choice for those familiar with Agile Methodologies who do not have a fundamental grounding in Predictive Project Management.

[Dhruv Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Above average book.

Since am a project manager most of the stuff sounds basics to me but this gives you some practical advice on how to start/manage/execute a project. Also provides various tools to help manage a project.

Some techniques mentioned are really good and were knowledgeable.

However case studies mentioned could be more complex and relatable.

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love these bite-size books! Learned about the PERT chart, which I hadn't known about before. Also got some good advice about monitoring the budget weekly, and tracking any potential need for additional resources on an ongoing basis. Possibly not a lot of new/groundbreaking info for experienced project managers, but it's a good primer to keep in your back pocket.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Project Management is a highly detail oriented field within any industry. This book does a great breaking down Task/Process analysis in a way thats easily understandable. Solid part of the Minute Manager Series

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed to read this for my New Venture Design class as we are discussing how building a project and managing one works. I took project management last semester so this book was a quick refresh of what I learned in more detail from class. Overall, a nice and easy read :)

[Rukhsar (rukhsandbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great quick lunchtime (or coffee time) read.

A good preview for project management or a refresher for more seasoned managers.

It's a short read but packed with lots of information delivered in a very digestible way.

[Andy Auger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good refresher

[Pyrate Queen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone currently on a team or committee needs to read this!

[Mark Stapel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Notes in Note, Audiable

[Abby Epplett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short audiobook gave a basic overview of project management and ended a bit abruptly.

[Matthew Mechtly · Rating 4 out of 5]

For such an incredibly broad topic, this resource provides a relatively succinct summary of the different phases of a project and some considerations that ought to go into each phase.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great overview!

[Lizz · Rating 4 out of 5]

very general

[Kamila Haieva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very basic. If you don’t know anything could be very useful.

[Rebeca Núñez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Útil, breve, con muchas buenas ideas y aplicables.

[Bauyrzhan Kokanov · Rating 5 out of 5]

handy and very brief to the point!

[Eliza Leone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book as a goodreads giveaway in return for an honest review.

The practicality of this book is great, it's a small, easy to pocket, soft back with nice quality paper and big easy to read text. There's ample room for placing stickies without covering too much text and margins large enough to write in if that's your thing.

The "key terms" are bold for easy locating and there is a well detailed index in the back of the book. As you progress through the stages of project management from start to finish there are tables filled with real life/fictional examples for nearly each step of the process. The examples are easy to understand and show key elements of the process even if it is for an industry you may not be familiar with. Each concept is reinforces with text examples, charts and tables for multiple ways of absorbing the information. With in the four major stages of project management each sub stage is also outlined creating a complete picture of the process. The end of the book also contains a knowledge check in the form of a small quiz that is intended to check your comprehension of the covered skills.

The information is relevant and up to date with emphasizes on current project tactics that can be applied to multiple industries. While this a only a 20 minute course as they call it, it can be seen as a great refresher guide for those already practicing the tactics or an introduction for the beginning manager.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Managing Projects' from the 20-Minute Manager series is a concise, easy to follow overview for project management. It's one of the stronger short overview books I've read. I felt like there was enough reference here to attempt and run certain projects.

Key concepts include discovering what key stakeholders want from the project, how to schedule realistically, how to bring together the right team (and what to do with team conflicts), and how to assess the project. Projects in the real world are rarely without hiccups and the book also addresses these with good sections on scope creep and how to address budget overruns.

Included are some practical charts and tables for many segments of a project. It packs a lot into a short volume and would make a handy quick reference.

I was given a review copy of this ebook by Harvard Business Review Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this book.

[Heath Henwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Managing Projects (20-Minute Manager Series)
Published by Harvard Business Review Press

This concise book cover the basics of managing a project for those on the run.

It is a very practical book covering Drawing up a realistic schedule and project plan; Monitoring key tasks and benchmarks; Communicating with stakeholders; and Bringing the project to a close.

This book is part of the popular Harvard Business Review’s 20 minute manager series. These books contain quick and helpful advice on management topics.

Recommended for managers that need quick tips as they are handed their next project.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Managing Projects is a very, very quick read summarizing what you need to know about starting, working on, and completing a project. Much of the book is presented in bullet points with diagrams and samples of organizational charts and flowsheets that you can use to plan out projects.

I was expecting a little more information, but it is a good starting point and brings up topics that I hadn't previously thought about. Recommended for anyone who is just starting to get into project management. Anybody who's done it previously would probably find this book a waste of time.

Thanks to Harvard Business Review for the free copy.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this as a Good Reads First Read. This book was very clear-cut and well defined. It spells things out clearly to help give context to what anyone who works on any kind of project no matter how big has muddled through before. It's a quick read so it feels more helpful and not a time waister. Despite the occasional odd pronoun usage and quotes from people I neither knew nor cared about, the benefits still outweighed the weirdness. The test at the end was an unexpected but nice touch as was the further reading section and index.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recieved this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

This is a very clearly written, short and clear book on how to set up, run and complete a project. It give a nice overview of the available organizational resources that can be used and how to organize and break down tasks. In addition it gives suggestions for troubleshooting problems. This is great for not just business management but any project management. It can easily be applied to a scientific or non-profit grant as well.

[Don Henrikson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a goodreads giveaway in return for an honest review.

This book is as expected. It provides a very simple and straightforward look at project management. I believe that its layout and its content make for a very handy reference book. It should be of great benefit to those who finds themselves involved in project management for the first time. It should also serve well the professional who just needs a quick reminder of the basics.

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Planning:
- define the problem (what is success?)
- identify stakeholders
- set goals (quality, staffing, communication, risk)
- prepare for trade off (scope=schedule+budget)
- list out tasks

Building up :
- staffing
- schedule
- budget

Managing:
- delegate, monitor progress, quality control, stakeholder communication

Closing out the project

A good introduction with useful information for someone starting out in managing projects.

[No Sa · Rating 3 out of 5]

1. Hiring an expert from outside is often more productive than relying on a mediocre contributor from the next cubicle.
2. Deflect reverse delegation. If needed, solve problems together in a meeting.
3. When selecting team members, commitment is important - lack of skill can be addressed with training.

[Tauras Sinkus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Covers basic areas of project management, with no big depth, but this is what 20min Manager series are about.
Recommended as easy introductory book to project management or a small reminder how to structure your project management.

[Mikki Shiu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is actually a good book for people who want to have a quick read about project management or even a simple guideline about the topic. It is easy to understand and had many tables and sample template illustrations.

[Rick Yvanovich · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good straightforward content that would be useful to the novice to project management. However I was really disappointed with the number of mistakes in the Kindle edition, letters were left out literally on every page which interrupts the flow as you have to work out what the word really is.