Accidental Project Manager: Zero to Hero in 7 Days

by Ray W. Frohnhoefer, Jorge Garciatorres (Foreword)

What's an accidental project manager, you ask? Anyone who suddenly and unexpectedly finds themselves responsible for a project. Maybe the home remodel project turned out to be a little more difficult and complex than you expected. An organization you volunteer for may need a project to build a new wing for an orphanage and asks you to help. Or your manager gave you a project management book and put you in charge of an important work project. Congratulations, you just became an accidental project manager! This book is the missing project management "quick start" guide for beginners, accidental, aspiring new project managers, and for those exploring project management careers or looking for a refresher. A process and an acronym will help the accidental project manager remember the essential steps of projects. It's Ray's PROJECT Chapter #1: The "P" - P is for People Chapter #2: The "R" - R is for Requirements Chapter #3: The "O" - O is for Organize Chapter #4: The "J" - J is for Jell Chapter #5: The "E" - E is for Execute Chapter #6: The "C" - C is for Control Chapter #7: The "T" - T is for Transfer The purpose of the PROJECT method is to get you started quickly, not make you an expert or teach you everything you need to know. This book is written as a business fable to help deliver the messages. It follows the method as it is applied to a fictional yet realistic organization and accidental project manager. This makes the character and the process more relatable and memorable to the reader. Each chapter is devoted to a step of the method and ends with "Knowledge Nuggets" – tips, basic project management templates, and references for further reading and study. References include sections of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide), the Project Management Institute's (PMI) standards for project management. Templates - Stakeholder Register - Communications Plan - Requirements Planning - Requirements Document - WBS Dictionary - Milestone Plan - Risk Analysis - Virtual Team Contact - Kickoff Agenda - Project Control Chart - Change Request - Status Report - Team Member Evaluation - Lessons Learned All templates are available online and ready-to-use with pre-filled examples.

129 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 2, 2018

Reviews

[Jennifer Downes · Rating 2 out of 5]

The two books Accidental Project Manager and Accidental Agile Project Manager came recommended for my Project Management course. I read the first one, ok got some valuable information. However, I feel like I have been bamboozled into purchasing both. The information presented is exactly as it is in the first book with a slight change in the name of the characters . How is this possible I asked myself. There isn’t even any creativity in the name change as the main character ironically is the cousin of the one in the first book and carries the same surname. Wow, really?
The way I see it is there isn’t much to this book except that the method used in creating it was ‘agile’ and not necessarily that the content is very much about agile.
If you read one, trust me, you have read both. Get some additional resources to build your knowledge of the topic.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️

I read this as part of the PMO book club at my job. I went on maternity leave right before the last chapter was due and finally remembered to finish it!

Definitely a great read for official, unofficial, and aspiring project managers.

[Your favorite troll · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about super heroes.

[Julia Wunderlich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guter Einstieg in die agile Arbeitsmethode.