A Concise Guide to Program Management

Book excerpt: In all organizational settings, managing projects is an ever-increasing necessity. Large corporations have departments that institute procedures for implementing and tracking projects, but smaller organizations can also benefit from becoming aware of the steps undertaken in creating a project so they can maximize planned outcomes. Mitchell Springer, an expert in these areas, provides an invaluable guide that details program management in a concise and understandable manner. He teaches about various types of contracts and their benefits and shortcomings; a project's critical path and how it affects tasking; managing program risk; managing program costs; and the best way to deal with personalities and management issues that can lead to project completion or project disruption. This succinct reference is a valuable asset and should be on the desk of anyone involved with the intricate and costly business of program management.