The theory of project management was developed during the Apollo moon landing project, and has since evolved into a highly effective management discipline, and one that is particularly useful for Web developers. Most Internet projects are a little less ambitious than putting a man on the Moon (although some are far less likely to succeed), but they do tend to fit the standard definition of a project to a T.
October 27, 1998
What is a project? In the first chapter of the AMA Handbook of Project Management, Francis M. Webster offers these criteria:
Projects are unique undertakings that result in a single unit of output.
Projects are composed of activities...operating on an interrelated set of items...
Projects involve multiple resources, both human and nonhuman, which require close coordination.
The "project" is not synonymous with the "product of the project."
This introductory chapter also lists the main functions of project management, serving as a good overview to the essays that make up the rest of the book.
Project Integration
Strategic Planning
Resource Allocation
Scope Management
Time Management
Cost Management
Risk Management
Human Resources Management
Contract/Procurement Management
Communications Management
The AMA Handbook of Project Management is a collection of 39 essays from a dozen or so authors, all established figures in the business and/or academic worlds. Although not quite chapters as such, they do form a logical and readable narrative, and are grouped into sections.
The sections, each with 2 or 3 essays, are:
Project Management Concepts and Methodologies
Overview
Managerial Strategies for Starting Up Succesful Projects
Project Structures and Organizations
Planning the Details of Project Management
Controlling Costs and Keeping on Schedule
Teamwork and Team Building
Power, Influence and Leadership
Quality in Project Management
Project Management Applications
Project Management and Change Management
Engineering and Construction Concerns
Information Systems and Software Projects
Research and Development Projects
Launching New Products and Build-to-Order Projects
International and Cross-Cultural Projects
Like others from publisher AMACOM, this is a fine book. It's well written, well edited, mercifully free of errors, well bound and printed on quality paper. It's somewhere in the middle between a textbook and bedtime reading material. Another excellent book from the same publisher is Information Systems Project Management. As the title implies, it's more oriented toward IS projects.
