Being a Project Manager: The Beginning

Being a Project Manager is a different kind of book about project management that focuses on essentials and practice. It clearly draws the path one must walk as a project manager. The book is suitable for managing any project of any size, subject and content since it refers to the foundations of project management—planning, control and communication—rather than a specific methodology or expertise. Moreover, the book offers appropriate methods and tools for proper project management that are easy to implement. Practicing project management using the methods described in this book will initiate a process of continuous improvement in project management skills, starting from the first project! So if you are a project manager, start here and now! The bread on the cover represents the project’s end product, which is the combination of all its ingredients: flour is the basis; yeast is the means for leavening the dough and turning it into bread and water is the glue that bonds all the ingredients. The same applies in a project: planning is its basis; control provides the means needed to achieve the project’s objectives and communication bonds all the project’s stakeholders and expresses the project’s management tone and pace. Bread without flour is not bread, just as a project without planning is not a project. Yeast-free bread is a flat cracker, just as a project without control is an effort going everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Bread without water is nothing but shapeless powder, just as a project without communication is simply a collection of individuals who aspire to reach a common goal but have nothing that links between them. Therefore, planning, control and communication are the indispensable ingredients needed to create the final product in the project effort. This book is intended for project managers, project team members and anyone involved in any way in any project of any size, subject and content. While there are many books on project management, this book offers a unique perspective. It does not prescribe specific and rigid project management methodology. Neither does it offer complex explanations on how to manage projects. Instead, this book lays out a clear path for the reader, explaining how to be an effective project manager on any sort of project, in any area of specialization. We will focus on the heart of the matter, dealing with the principles and practices of project management. We will propose a range of simple, unique support tools that can be easily implemented and used to improve your results immediately. We will learn how to grapple with the ‘primary paradox’ of project management—the result of the low level of certainty that characterizes most projects. We will also learn how to deal with the ‘wasted time’ illusion, how to escape the ‘simulated planning trap’ and how to walk a mile in the shoes of a successful project manager.