Project Management Lite: Just Enough to Get the Job Done...Nothing More

Disclosure: I'll say up front that I know the author and really appreciate what she has tried to do here.

This book bypasses the overly technical language found in most project management books to deliver a step-by-step, plain English approach to project management. This is refreshing as most project management books focus on the approach espoused by the Project Management Institute and found in training for the PMP, which is heavy handed and complex. This often dooms projects to failure from the get-go because the vast majority of organizations do not have sufficiently mature processes in place to support a complex and heavy approach and most projects don't require them in the first place. This book gives practical guidance for project management, from planning to completion, that can be applied to virtually any project and is sufficient for most small to large but not overly complex projects.

This book is an affront to the profession and the discipline of project management. Unfortunately, it plays into the perception that is currently damaging project management--that just about anyone can immediately "do project management" with a microscopic amount of guidance.

It identifies typical projects such as 'launch a new product' and 'start up a new organization'. With this book?? Really??

It's also riddled with misinformation, such as "Traditional project management consists of five process areas and forty-two processes". Not true at all---that's PMI's version. There are, in fact, many different types of PM processes exist in many different companies; each has its own design and its own merits.

The author suggests that a term like PERT chart "will get your head spinning". To anyone for which that's the case: you don't have sufficient intellect to run a project. Do something else.

The fact that this project is highly rated by a number of people is very disconcerting.

As other people said, this book resumes all the technical knowledge into an easy guide; suitable for most of the projects a professional has to manage, forgetting to fullfill unnecessary requirements. The most important part is the emphasis the author makes on the need to get a complete vision or scope of the project. With this information the project manager is able to create his or her own vision of the expected results. Also the need to make a good planning is very good. It is very important to invest time in planning in order to have a good reference of what has to be done. The book includes example forms and checking lists to complete each phase of the work. Probably you are going to have some doubts after reading it, but you won't get lost. Maybe you will be in situations not specified here, but as the author says, Start and do the job. Learning is also part of a project. Don't forget, the communication to the stakeholders is one of the most important part of the project.

As a 'Neo' to project management this book was exactly what I needed. Not only was the book easy to read, but it cut right to the chase and gave me "Just enough to get the job done." The forms included are very helpful and well structured. I strongly recommend this book to anyone new to Project Management, and to anyone who has struggled to get to the heart of exactly what is needed to get the job done.

Easy to read, but basically useless and to simplistic. There is so much more to PM than what this book even touches on. I recommend Risk Management by Rita Mulcahy, sounds like only risk management but there is more to the book than just that subject. Also PM for dummies and Procurement is good (forgot author).

In my opinion it is not worth it, they actively tried to stretch the length of the book by double spacing between bulleted lists. I have no problem with a short book when it's useful, but they kept repeating the same information, the whole thing could have been about 5 pages. Additionally, I didn't find anything overly insightful that isn't part of basic project management.

Far too basic. Really nothing to learn from this book any more than you can figure out without any training at all. Better to try more in depth publications.

I bought one copy to check the contents out and possibly hand out to students of a PM Lite class at work. This book is a winner. The contents are crisp and get the point across. If anyone doesn't want to get their PMP rating, but wants to successfully manage projects without studying for hours - this is the reference for them. I ended up buying 30 copies to hand out I was that impressed. So was the VP who runs our science and tech center. I highly recommend this book - only takes a couple hours to read. Well worth the price.

I was very impressed with this book. I have read a number of them on this subject and found this to be the most straight forward book out there. I consider this a must read for anyone doing any sort of project management.

I am a CEO of a small but growing business and was looking for a tool to help train my staff to manage projects. This book is the perfect fit for my needs. I read it one evening and have bookmarked a handful of checklists that will allow us to manage our projects with much greater efficiency.

The author introduces a chapter with a quote that perfectly captures the essence of this book: "Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity." - Charles Mingus

And, sure enough, this is a very "creative" book! It is an efficient, yet comprehensive approach to project management. Very worthwhile investment of my money and my time.