The World Class Project Manager: A Professional Development Guide

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0738202371 ISBN 13: 9780738202372

Publisher: Basic Books, 2001

Effective project management is becoming a critical mission skill for individuals and organizations in every industry. Faster product life cycles, the widespread adoption of cross-functional teams, and the increasing demands of customers are all contributing to the growing need for professional managers who know how to marshal resources, make decisions, and ensure the smooth flow of projects from idea to launch. In The World Class Project Manager, Robert Wysocki and James Lewis offer a highly practical handbook for anyone who aspires to achieve superior project-manager skills. Featuring self-assessment tools, showcasing best practices from the field, and drawing on their own extensive experience in training project managers around the world, the authors provide a comprehensive program for crafting a career development plan and putting it into action.

Review:

There's always room at the top. Those seeking to stake their claims can turn to The World Class Project Manager: A Professional Development Guide for expert planning advice on setting and reaching their management career goals. Authors Robert K. Wysocki and James P. Lewis and contributor Doug DeCarlo have extensive experience in training project managers, and their simple, direct style helps readers define their assets and devise a career development strategy. Through stories about clients and interviews with professional development consultants, the authors personalize the process and help readers understand and overcome the obstacles to success in project management.

The World Class Project Manager is well illustrated and packed with examples of simple steps to improve people-oriented and more strategic skills. Plentiful self-assessment exercises, including an expanded Meyers-Briggs and the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument, help organize the prospective PM's strengths and talents to best direct their assignments and advance their careers. Finishing with concrete advice for handling the day-to-day problems and mini-crises that inevitably arise on the job, the book gently steers readers toward confidence and competence in all things mission-critical. --Rob Lightner

From the Inside Flap:

Advance Praise for The World Class Project Manager

"A must-read for anyone seeking a career in project management or for those looking to move up the project manager food chain. The skill assessments alone are worth the investment in this book." —Paula Martin, co-author of The Project Management Memory Jogger™, MartinTate LLC

"The best book available on what it means to be a world class project manager!" —Neal Whitten, PMP President, The Neal Whitten Group

"This book is a must-have for any project organization. Not only does it provide a ‘road map’ for the growth and development of individuals as project managers, but it also gives insights on creating an organizational environment that will dramatically increase project success." —George M. Hollins, Director, Design & Construction Services, The University of Iowa

"The most difficult part of implementing a project management methodology in an organization is finding people with the right combination of personality type, project management skills, and interpersonal skills. Jim Lewis and Robert Wysocki present a solution to the problem. By using self-assessment instruments and surveys, they very clearly mark the path of personal development necessary to be a success." —John Careatti, Organizational Development Consultant

"Finally, a book that ‘tells it like it is’ about the job of project manager. Lewis and Wysocki lay out the woes and the rewards, as well as the temperament necessary for the job. A must-read for anyone contemplating a career as a project manager." —Robert Graham, Ph.D., Principal, R. J. Graham & Associates

"In The World Class Project Manager, Bob Wysocki and James Lewis capture the nature of excellence in its many forms. By providing insights on organizational structure, personal responsibility and professional commitment, this book offers a framework for the evolution of project managers both as individuals and in an organizational career path. Doug DeCarlo's contributions shed light on what it takes to lead with innovation. Together, the authors draw on a broad range of resources, culminating in an essential reference in project career-building." —Carl Pritchard, Principal, Pritchard Management Associates