Project Management - Softcover

Classify this itsy-bitsy book as a project management guide that isn't a project to read but that distills all the basics for you into a quick thumbnail guide on everything from establishing objectives and keeping to schedules and budgets to providing effective leadership and tackling problems efficiently. Along the way, simple checklists enable you to be fully prepared at every stage, from starting up to closing down, and accessible diagrams and flow charts explore different options for action and provide useful examples. Granted, if you're looking for very specific or in-depth guidance, you may find this book too cursory and general in its approach. But if you're looking for a thumbnail guide to the basics, it'll do you just fine.

It's worth mentioning that the book is also part of reference publisher Dorling Kindersley's Essential Managers series--20 itty-bitty li'l books on business and career topics ranging from communication, leadership, and decision making to the management of time, budgets, change, meetings, people, projects, and teams. Combining the For Dummies book series's talent for breaking down a lot of information into bite-size bits and sidebars with Dorling Kindersley's signature design style of crisp, classy graphics on a gleaming white backdrop, they don't represent the cutting edge of business thinking and they don't necessarily reflect any unique individual perspective. Instead, it's as though someone collated the best general thinking on these 20 topics and rolled them out into 72 brightly designed and easy-to-read pages, studded along the way with boxed tips, color shots of a multiracial cast of "coworkers" animatedly hashing through the workplace issues of the day, and a self-test of one's skills in the topic at hand on the last few pages of each volume. Again, they're not for anyone looking for more in-depth or focused help on any of the subjects they cover, but they're perfect as a quickie general-interest reference... and let's face it, they're so cute and look so smart in a neat little stack or row that you'll probably want to buy a whole bunch to give to your entire staff or department. --Timothy Murphy

Ken Langdon has a background in sales and marketing in the technology industry. As an independent consultant he has trained salespeople and sales managers in the USA, Europe and Australia and has advised managers on the coaching and appraisal of their staff. He has also provided strategic guidance for companies including Hewlett Packard. Ken is author of a number of books for DK and co-author of several Essential Managers titles, including Putting Customers First. He is also one of the authors of DK's Successful Manager's Handbook. Andy Bruce, co-founder of SofTools Ltd. and Ken Langdon, former sales and marketing executive, have co-written 3 books in the Essential Managers series: 'Project Management', 'Strategic Thinking' and 'Do It Now!' Ken has also co-written Essential Managers 'Appraising Staff'.