Organisations whose primary business is doing projects employ professional project managers, have well worn project management procedures and are culturally project-friendly.

Organisations whose primary business is not project-based still need to do projects, but the management culture is attuned to managing everyday operations, not projects. People asked to manage projects in these process-based organisations may be accountants, IT professionals, engineers, medical professionals, etc. They are not first and foremost project managers. Yet they are expected to manage projects - even major projects that will determine the organisation's future - in an environment that may not always be project-friendly.

Some project management books and methodologies start from the presumption that the project team is already in place and that team members will work full time on the project. But this overlooks some of the major challenges that project managers face: for many team members projects may not their "proper job"; team members may be assigned to a project for only part of their time and being assigned to a project may be viewed as a career-limiting move; senior managers may not always give projects and project managers the support they need. We describe how to overcome these and many other challenges.

This free project management book focuses on the management of IT projects and is a great resource for project team leaders, new PMs and those converting to IT project management from other industries. Business 'users' who are involved in IT projects will find it gives a valuable insight into the project processes of which they are a key part. There's no IT techie stuff in the book, indeed the project management principles apply to just about any kind of project.

Please click here to go to Project Management Book Chapter 1