Alleman

Project Management Book Recommendations from Glen Alleman

by Josh

glenallemanGlen Alleman over at Herding Cats is someone who I respect, and also works in a similar project environment as I do.  I asked Glen for his book recommendations on project management in general, and specific to government contracting and projects in the aerospace/defense arena.  Glen responded with a post on his own blog with some excellent recommendations.  I’d like to thank Glen for sharing his expertise!

I would also like to thank all the contributors to pmStudent for their willingness to share their own knowledge and expertise, stories of professional growth, and questions.  This is a vibrant community and I am so glad to be a part of it!

Reaching out to other people and asking for their advice has always been beneficial for me.  I ALWAYS learn something new.   Most of the time, I’m reaching out to someone who has experience and/or training in the specific area that I lack.

People new to a field who find a natural ability for it sometimes get an ego wayyyy before they’ve earned the right to have it.  Don’t let this happen to you.  Don’t be afraid to change your mind based on new information.  Seek out mentors, and LISTEN!  Forget your own preconceptions for a bit and take what they say to heart.  You’ll be amazed how much you can learn and grow.

Here is Glen’s post.  Click the images below for more on his recommendations.  Some link to a review, some to a place you can buy it if you wish.

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Effective Opportunity Management for Projects

by Josh

opportunity_mgmtGlen Alleman left a comment recommending several resources for me, one of which is the book “Effective Opportunity Management for Projects“.  I am reading it now and would like to share some of my initial insights thus far.

I’ve found the authors agree with me that standard risk management approaches mostly pay lip service to opportunity management without really addressing it.  In correlation (not necessarily causation) with that, most project managers and teams focus on threats as the primary target of risk management.

I’ve also revised my view of needing a seperate knowledge area for opportunity management.  Through the various articles, websites, and books I’ve reviewed thus far I believe it should be handled within risk management; but risk management approaches and project managers need to do more than just pay opportunity management the lip service they do today.

A citation from the book which states my view nicely:

“….both can be handled by the same process, although some modifications may be required to the standard risk management approach to enable it to deal effectively with opportunities.”

Another important insight is that opportunities are not merely the mirror-image of threats.  A chance that a threat will not occur is NOT an opportunity.

“Distinctive opportunities exist in their own right, presenting the chance to enhance project objectives, deliver early, cost less, increase customer satisfaction, improve competitiveness, enhance company reputation, etc.”

Thanks for tagging along with me on my journey through better understanding opportunity management.  More to come!

Opportunity Management

  1. The Need for a New Knowledge Area
  2. The Case for Opportunity Management
  3. Effective Opportunity Management for Projects
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