Thread: Essential Project Management Skills

I have been in the project management field my entire career and have read many books and trade journals in this domain, the majority of which focused on specific techniques and disciplines, such as risk management or the creation of a work breakdown structure. I studied similar topics when I attended project management conferences and listened to the presenters.
As a result, I started to develop my own presentations for project management conferences, which focused more on the skills required to be successful than on specific techniques to use.

While I was organizing my thoughts on my presentation topic and reflecting on my experiences, I realized that the landscape of projects was changing; therefore, the skills required to manage projects also needed to change. For example, based on my experience, it seemed that project managers who are more consultative in their style are more successful working in matrixed organizations and on complex programs. In the process of giving these presentations and interacting with the audience, it became equally apparent to me that there was a lot of content that could be discussed—so much, in fact, that this topic could fill a book. This gave rise to the present work.
The book is organized into four major sections. The first (Chapter 1) introduces the concepts related to the changing project landscape and their impact on projects. The second (Chapter 2) dives into the details of nine trends within the project landscape and describes the challenges created by these trends for project managers. Each trend is supplemented with a relevant case study. The third section (Chapter 3) outlines the skills required to be successful in this new environment and describes how to gain these skills, as well as techniques that can be applied. Each of these skills is also aligned with a case study in which the skills and techniques were used. The last section (Chapter 4) ties together the evolution of the project landscape, the challenges posed, and the new skills required. It also provides a checklist of the skills and techniques in the context of different project scenarios.
This is my first book, so I want to acknowledge the people who helped guide me through the creative process: My wife, Diane, for encouraging me to pursue
• my passion and for being supportive for the hours that I have dedicated toward writing the book
• My children, Stephanie and Matthew, for inspiring me every day
• My brother, Randy Wills, who helped me to think through the approach, content, and structure of the book over the last two years
• The contributors of the case studies (Vikas Bhor, Anneliese Dadras, Rob DeLaubel, Chris Richards, Kevin Savage, Carin Salonia, Partha Sastry, and Randy Wills), who helped supplement the key points with vivid examples taken from their experiences
• Konstantin Nikolaev, for taking my visual concepts and creating superb graphics from them that accent key points from the book
• John Wyzalek, for walking me through the process of creating and publishing my first book

Dear friends

I like Essential Project Management Skills very much.

Very useful for me.

If you have some time, pls visit my blog at: Project management skills list

Rgs