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The Project Management Tool Kit – Tom Kendrick

February 12th, 2014

The Project Management Tool Kit – 100 Tips and Techniques for Getting the Job Done Right by Tom Kendrick is a quick guide book to the concepts of Project Management. The book is essentially a summarized version of the PMP techniques extracted from the Project Management Institute (PMI) PMBOK®
Guide, Fifth Edition (2013).

About Author

TOM KENDRICK, PMP, is a program director for UC Berkeley Extension.
His experience includes almost four decades of directing projects for Hewlett-Packard, General Electric, DuPont, and Visa, Inc., and as an independent consultant. A regular speaker at conferences, associations, and universities, he is the author of Results Without Authority and Identifying and Managing Project Risk. He lives in San Carlos, California.

The 100 tips and techniques are arranged alphabetically in the book although I would have preferred them to be categorized in groups that relate them together.
If grouped into same categories, they would be like the following list:



1. General Processes

  • Organizing for Project Management
  • Project Life Cycle
  • Project Office
  • Project Objective and Priorities
  • Project Vision
  • Project Charter (PMBOK® 4.1)
  • Project Infrastructure
  • Software and Technical Tools for Project Management
  • Project Plan Development (PMBOK® 4.2)
  • Project Plan Execution (PMBOK® 4.3)
  • Inheriting a Project
  • Canceling Projects
  • Sponsorship



2. Leadership Processes

  • Transitioning to Project Leadership
  • Leadership
  • Start-Up Workshop
  • Delegating Responsibility
  • Influence Without Authority
  • Coaching and Mentoring
  • Motivation
  • Organizational Change
  • Rewards and Recognition



3. Teamwork Processes

  • Decision-Making
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Introduction to the Third Edition xii
  • Brainstorming
  • Creative Problem-Solving
  • Consensus-Building for Your Ideas
  • Delphi Technique
  • Global Teams
  • Matrix Teams (Cross-Functional Teams)



4. Control Processes

  • Project Initiation
  • Integrated Change Control (PMBOK® 4.5)
  • Project Metrics
  • Earned-Value Management
  • Negotiating Project Changes
  • Project Baseline Setting
  • Project Variance Analysis (PMBOK® 4.4)
  • Issue Management
  • Cause-and-Effect Analysis
  • Problem Escalation
  • Forecasting Project Completion
  • Project Reviews
  • Closing Projects (PMBOK® 4.6)



5. Scope Processes

  • Scope Planning (PMBOK® 5.1)
  • Requirements Collection (PMBOK® 5.2)
  • Customer Interviews
  • Market Research
  • Scope Definition (PMBOK® 5.3)
  • Work Breakdown Structure (PMBOK® 5.4)
  • Scope Change Control (PMBOK® 5.6)
  • Scope Verification (PMBOK® 5.5)



6. Time Processes

  • Schedule Planning (PMBOK® 6.1)
  • Activity Definition (PMBOK® 6.2)
  • Activity Duration Estimating (PMBOK® 6.5)
  • Activity Sequencing (PMBOK® 6.3)
  • Activity Resource Estimating (PMBOK® 6.4)
  • Constraint Management and Plan Optimization
  • Multiple Dependent Projects
  • Introduction to the Third Edition xiii
  • Schedule Development (PMBOK® 6.6)
  • Schedule Control (PMBOK® 6.7)



7. Cost Processes

  • Cost Planning (PMBOK® 7.1)
  • Cost Estimating (PMBOK® 7.2)
  • Cost Budgeting (PMBOK® 7.3)
  • Return on Investment Analysis
  • Multiple Independent Projects
  • Cost Control (PMBOK® 7.4)



8. Quality Processes

  • Quality Planning (PMBOK® 8.1)
  • Quality Assurance (PMBOK® 8.2)
  • Quality Control (PMBOK® 8.3)
  • Process Improvement



9. Human Resource Processes

  • Human Resource Planning (PMBOK® 9.1)
  • Required Skills Analysis
  • Team Acquisition (PMBOK® 9.2)
  • Responsibility Analysis
  • Resource Leveling
  • Team Development (PMBOK® 9.3)
  • Team Management (PMBOK® 9.4)
  • Performance Problem Resolution



10. Communication Processes

  • Communications Planning (PMBOK® 10.1)
  • Meetings
  • Communicating Informally
  • Communications Management (PMBOK® 10.2)
  • Status Collection
  • Presentations
  • Communications Control (PMBOK® 10.3)



11. Risk Processes

  • Risk-Management Planning (PMBOK® 11.1)
  • Risk Identification (PMBOK® 11.2)
  • Qualitative Risk Analysis (PMBOK® 11.3)
  • Introduction to the Third Edition xiv
  • Quantitative Risk Analysis (PMBOK® 11.4)
  • Risk Response Planning (PMBOK® 11.5)
  • Risk Monitoring and Control (PMBOK® 11.6)



12. Procurement Processes

  • Procurement Planning (PMBOK® 12.1)
  • Procurement Contracting (PMBOK® 12.2)
  • Negotiating Contracts
  • Procurement Control (PMBOK® 12.3)
  • Procurement Close-Out (PMBOK® 12.4)



13. Stakeholder Management Processes

  • Stakeholder Identification (PMBOK® 13.1)
  • Stakeholder Management Planning (PMBOK® 13.2)
  • Stakeholder Engagement Management (PMBOK® 13.3)
  • Stakeholder Engagement Control (PMBOK® 13.4)



For every technique or tips, there is description of what it means, when it is used in a project lifecycle as well as the results rendered from the execution of that process.

I think this book is well written as a quick reference for anyone with interest in project management (not really IT specific, but project management in general) concepts and techniques especially for software developers, architects and of course managers .
Besides technical and managerial concepts, I especially like those under the Leadership and Teamwork processes.

However, if you’re expecting something in detail about project management, you might find this book lacking, because it is never meant to be one, for it is what the title says – The Project Management Tool Kit, a quick and easy toolkit for reference.

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