Cesar Abeid recently published his first book titled Project Management for you: How to turn your ideas into reality, deliver on your promises, and get things done. The book is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle format. I bought a copy and had the pleasure of reading it. I am sharing here my thoughts on this new book on project management.
Cesar Abeid is the host of the podcast PM for the Masses. I have been a regular listener to his podcast since the very beginning. He has produced more than 90 episodes since July 2013.
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Project Management Podcast: Project Management for the Masses with Cesar Abeid, PMP – Cesar Abeid, PMP
Cesar likes to mention how project management has had a significant impact on his career and his life. It helped him get more organized and achieve more than he could imagine before. Because of that, project management has become one of his passion. It led him to create his podcast on project management, PM for the Masses. About a year ago, Cesar decided to start this new project: writing a book.
The objective of the book is to provide an introduction to project management. The target audience is those new to project management who would like to learn how to use this powerful tool to get more things done. As the subtitle says, this book will explain How to turn your ideas into reality, deliver on your promises, and get things done.
The book presents what the author calls the Project Management for you (PM4U) Method. It is a basic summary of the steps required to manage a project. If Cesar would be your coach, it is the method he would like you to master first. The PM4U Method is aligned with the standards, PMBOK, but written for new persons interested in project management.
The PM4U Method will walk the reader through the life of a project:
- Composing
- Decomposing
- Decision Making Time
- Defining Activities
- Managing Risk
- Delegating and building a team
- Estimating duration and cost
- Communicating
- Leadership
- Doing the work
- Reviewing
- Managing change
- Lessons learned
- Check that off!
Cesar is an engineer and has a background in construction. This field remains one in which you can use the classic waterfall approach in project management. The environment is usually relatively stable, and you must build things in a proper order. The modern environment for many projects is often very dynamic and with a rapid pace of changes. The world of project management has been evolving to address the current reality of many projects. In Appendix A, Cesar provides information on Agile project management. I would have liked to have it more embedded in the Method, even if the book is for new persons interested in project management.
The book is not only about knowledge and concepts. The reader will also get various stories throughout the book. After reading it, I felt like the book was partially on learning project management, and partially a collection of autobiographical stories. This approach, although it means that you get less information on project management, provides a glance into the life of a project manager and how it can impact his life.
On that note, the book includes an interesting last chapter called Life is a project. In this chapter, Cesar invites the reader to see how life is a project and you are the manager (the tagline of his podcast). You can use many concepts of project management achieve your dreams and build the life you want. Project management is a powerful tool. It can be used to manage a simple personal project with only you in the project team, a wedding, or sending a mission to explore other planets. Discovering project management can be only the beginning. It can help you get things done, but it can also have a major impact on the life you want for you and your family.
The book is an introduction to project management. However, Cesar is an experienced and qualified project manager. Throughout his career, and with his podcast, he acquired significant experience and knowledge. While reading the book, the reader can expand on various topics by following links to podcast episodes that covered these subjects in more depth. As a long-time listener of the podcast, I invite the reader to follow these links and continue the learning of project management through these episodes. Cesar is a great host and has numerous interviews with various specialists on topics relevant for project managers.
The book is not for experienced and qualified project manager. It is true that as a PMP did not learn much in the book. I read it all and enjoyed this overview of project management. I am happy to recommend this book as an introduction to project management. I also invite readers to subscribe to the podcast PM for the Masses.
View the book in the book section of our store
Cesar Abeid – Project management For You