Recommend On Time/On Budget as a good introduction to the basics of managing projects

I just finished reading On Time/On Budget: A Step-by-Step Guide to Managing Any Project by Sunny Baker and Kim Baker. This is a very good introduction for anyone new to project management. The book is not specific for any particular industry, but at the subtitle states, it is a primer to the general topic. Because this book has been around since 1992, you can likely pick it up pretty cheap. I got my copy for 3 dollars at a local used book store.

A nice trait of the book is its clarity and easy reading. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), sometimes referred to as the Project Management "bible", can be daunting for a newcomer to the field because of all the jargon, processes, and "how to manage everything" approach to project management. By contrast, On Time On Budget does a very good job of stripping away the jargon and complexity, and gives you an easy to read, easy to understand introduction to the basics of managing a business project. If your company doesn't have a lot of Project Management tools or templates for you to use, there are some nice templates at the back of the book that can help you plan, manage, and close out your projects.

Written in 1992, the last chapter on project management software is understandably a bit out of date. The rest of the book is pretty timeless, because no matter how much project management technology improves, the success of every past, present, and future project depends on people being able to manage project scope, schedule, and budget.

Great Website for Business Tools, Theories, and Models

I strongly believe in keeping yourself in a continuous learning mode to make sure your business skills are always sharp and up to date. In this current tough job market, we all need to do everything we can to make ourselves more valuable to our employers (if you are fortunate enough to have a job) or attractive to a new employer (if you are looking for a job.) Therefore, I am bringing you another resource that I highly recommend.

A couple weeks ago, I came across a great website www.valuebasedmanagement.net that provides explanations for hundreds of business tools, business models, and business theories. Another great thing about this is that not only is it a treasure trove of business information, it is totally free, which is a terrific price that everyone can afford in these tough times.

The main business categories are:
• Strategy
• Valuation and Decision Making
• Organization, Change, and Culture
• Communication and Marketing
• Leadership and Management

I have found this webpage to be great for quick introductions to business models that I hear about in seminars/podcasts/white papers, as well as a quick way to find alternative business tools, theories, or models that I was not familiar with. I also use it for presentations where I want a nice, quick way to introduce a tool, theory, or model that I am referring to in my talk.

So whether you want to learn more about your favorite business strategy analysis tool (e.g., Porter’s 5 forces, the Balanced Scorecard), management theory (e.g., the Deming cycle, Management by objectives), or leadership styles, I think you’ll find this website a nice one to bookmark as a quick reference guide.

As always, I welcome you to let me know how you like the site and what other sites you use and recommend.

Free Project Management training webinars

As I said in my previous blog 5 Best Podcasts for Business Managers, I am always on the lookout for useful free management training tools. I just recently came across a nice website with free Project Management training webinars.

PM Centers USA holds free monthly webinars for Project Management topics. Attendees can earn 0.5 Professional Development Units (PDUs) for each webinar that can be used for maintaining your PMP accreditation. You can register for their upcoming webinars at their website.

They also offer free access to many previously recorded webinars. You will need to register your name and contact information with the website, but it is completely free and well worth it. I highly recommend the following 2 Project Management webinars:

Common Scheduling Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Joe Lukas, an outstanding presenter, takes you through his top 10 scheduling mistakes that he's seen people make. He gives some best practice tips including a nice Microsoft Project instruction document that will allow you to better track task float by visualizing early and late start/stops for your activities.

Essential Business Case Skills
Joe Lukas does another masterful job of providing useful training and tips in a short amount of time (about 25 minutes). Joe gives a very good introduction to Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and other business finance calculations that all project managers should be familiar with. The webcast introduces an excel file document that can be freely downloaded from the PM Centers USA website that will automatically calculate NPV, IRR, and other project financial information. It's a very nice tool to play with, whether you're discounting future cash flows on your project or calculating your monthly car payments needed to pay back your loan in 3 years.

So there you go. More free management training tools for you to look at and learn from. As I continue to find others, I'll keep you posted on what I think are the best ones. Please feel free to contact me or comment to this post if you have other sources of good information that you know about.

5 Best Podcasts for Business Managers

I have been attending a lot of management seminars lately for business development. The current trend seems to be less business development talks and discussions and a lot of job seeking advice and counseling. In this economic downturn, lots of people are out of work and looking for advice on how to get their next job.

I highly recommend polishing your interview and management skills to make sure that when that next job opportunity arises, you'll be ready for that elevator pitch, job interview, and next new job.

I strongly recommend listening to the many free podcasts that are available for business managers. My top 5 podcasts for business managers are listed below. They can all be downloaded from iTunes for free. If you don't have an MP3 player or iPOD, you can still listen to these by going directly to their websites.

1. ManagerTools Mike and Mark have been providing outstanding advice for several years now. They cover everything from how to give a strong handshake, how to run meetings, how to interview people and prepare for being interviewed, and how to manage people. This is a terrific podcast series and has won podcasts awards for the best business podcast.

2. The Cranky Middle Manager Wayne Turmel provides terrific interviews with management and business experts, authors, and gurus. He always provides terrific content mixed with his own humor and history lesson. Great show.

3. Project Management Podcast Cornelius Fichtner provides interviews, tips, and tools for project managers. Whether you’re a beginning project manager studying for the PMP exam or an experienced manager looking to extend your project management knowledge, this podcast provides a lot of valuable information.

4. PMLessonsLearned Henry Will set up this series of podcasts for project managers. They are divided into 3 types of podcasts each month: (i) project management education, (ii) PMP exam preparation, and (iii) project management job search podcasts.

5. StartupBizCast If you own or work for a small start up company, this podcast provides lots of excellent advice. It has a particular focus on small business marketing, with lots of good advice that any business manager can use.

Once you've listened to these (which can take a long time given the thousands of free podcasts available from these 5 alone) and you're ready for more: I recommend Negotiation Tip of the Week, The Public Speaker Quick and DIrty Tips, and Ethan Becker Speech Coach for more great tips to prepare you for getting and keeping your next job.

Good luck with your job searches. Let me know what websites, podcasts, books, and other tools you recommend.