PM Decoding #2: what books are helpful for every Project Manager?
SoftServe Project Manager Maryna Riasyk and remarkable people from her unit gathered the list of helpful literature that every Project Manager should read. Below you’ll find the following boosters:
- Fundamentals of Project Management.
- Art of facilitation & negotiations.
- People Management.
- Leadership skills.
Fundamentals of project management
PMBOK (Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge)
It is an essential book that covers the project framework. In addition, it contains PM knowledge areas. Excellent news for Ukrainian Project Managers because recently Ukraine PMI Chapter announced that the 7th edition of PMBok is available for everyone for free in Ukrainian. More info here.
PMP Exam Preparation by Rita Mulcahy
The book covers project management processes and PM knowledge areas. It is easy to read and contains tasks/tests after each chapter on evaluating knowledge.
Making things happen by Scott Berkun
The book is easy to read; it’s written in the form of essays covering important project management areas like planning, problem-solving, and decision-making. In addition, it provides cases from real life.
A novel about Project Management by Tom DeMarco
Tom DeMarco wrote an excellent book that helps the person who just started their deep dive into the IT project world. What’s inside? A lot of practical and valuable approaches to management. One of the benefits of this book is how it presents the logic of Agile practices.
Scrum and XP from the Trenches by Henrik Kniberg
This book aims to give you a head start by providing a detailed down-to-earth account of how one Swedish company implemented Scrum and XP with a team of approximately 40 people and how they continuously improved their process over a year.
Art of facilitation & negotiations
Agile Retrospectives: Making Good teams great by Esther Derby
The book is a good guide on how to lead a practical discussion. In addition, it contains valuable tips on how to lead a retrospective.
Everything is negotiable by Gavin Kennedy
In this book, Gavin Kennedy provides tips and tricks on how to reach what you want and get the best deal in any negotiations (like Never accept the first offer, Don’t compromise, please listen to your component at first and their reaction to your request; Ask as many questions as possible, clarify all details, and apply “what if” (with the help of these questions and replies to them, you will protect yourself from troubles)
Benefits of this book:
- Well structured material
- Examples from real life
- Tests for self-evaluation
- You can learn practical and powerful negotiation skills that are part of a manager’s daily routine.
The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you by Rob Fitzpatrick
The best book I’ve read helps improve the transparency of the message you are trying to bring to the client or a team member. It also helps to understand better the message a client is trying to get to you.
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are Hig by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler
The book should help you and others stay in open dialogue so both sides can get what they want. In addition, it contains tips and tricks on how to conduct a productive conversation.
People Management
The five dysfunctions of a team by Patrick Lencioni
The book is very well written (an exciting form of a novel), and it is easy to read. The author describes five dysfunctions of a team (absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and attention to results) with the help of the leadership style of Kathryn Petersen, Decision Tech’s CEO. Using this book, you as a manager can follow some actionable steps to avoid the five mentioned dysfunctions, build transparent relations between team members, and organize an effective team.
The Culture Map by Erin Meyer
The book provides a field-tested model for decoding how cultural differences impact international business. Erin Meyer combines an innovative analytical framework with practical, actionable advice for working in a global world. Whether you need to motivate employees, delight clients, or organize a conference call among cross-cultural team members, the eight dimensions featured in The Culture Map will help you improve your effectiveness.
Leadership skills
The Ideal Executive Why You Cannot Be One and What To Do About It by Ichak Kalderon Adizes
The book helps a manager choose the best management approach — introduces the world’s classic classification of management styles.
Management/Mismanagement Styles: How to Identify a Style and What to Do about It by Ichak Kalderon Adizes
In this book, the author explains different management styles and that one person cannot perform all the four roles necessary for effective management. This book will help you identify and improve your management style and the management styles of your colleagues or subordinates.
Getting things done by David Allen
If you ask for a short description of this book: it is a time management system. Allen states, “there is an inverse relationship between things on your mind and those things getting done.” So anyone who feels like they’re drowning in “priorities” needs help focusing and getting things done.
Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves
Great book to start your introduction to the EQ world — describes practices that will help you to develop your EQ.
Many thanks to Maryna Riasyk, Leila Mamedova, Nadiia Zhabytska, Konstantyn Perevoznyk, Zhanna Irenkova, Tetiana Shkurchenko, Nataliia Matkivska for their intake in this material!
