REAL-WORLD PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Michael Appleton - 'Insight' Reviews

David Douglas Lyon
PRACTICAL PROJECT: Guidelines for Project Engineers
RAVEN Publishing Company, Pittsfield, 1999; Updated for Year 2003

This book provides an overall, 'real' description of project management from the 'coal-face'. Its target audience, the Project Engineer, certainly needs an easy-to-read, ready reference in this complex and critical area. Quite often, the engineer faces this management task on his or her own and without the benefit of education, training or experience. On occasion, the engineer reports to a Project or Program Manager whose time is usually consumed with the 'programmatics'; so the Project Engineer must have a sound foundation in these matters.

The book describes how the Project Engineer may deal with all matters arising from the project's lifecycle: from before contract award to project closeout. This challenging task is met in overview and comes with a series of worthwhile templates to be used during various stages in the project lifecycle.

What is described is good material. I particularly liked the description of best practices in the appropriate sections. These lessons are good – ones that project engineers and project managers alike ought to heed. The figures used are helpful to the message that the author wishes to get across.

The work that has been done in putting this book together is good; but it does not describe the complete story of project management -- few single publications are able to do this effectively. As such, it should be read in conjunction with other references in this area. There are some very worthwhile ideas contained in the best practices sections as well as some useful points contained in the body of the text. Many of these lessons are classic ones; yet are all too often needlessly re-learned.

A new Project Engineer would do well by learning these lessons from 'Practical Project' rather than through experience.