Preface

All five of the previous editions of Effective Project Management (EPM) have been successful and have grown in value from the feedback I have received from them. I owe that to faculty worldwide who are using my books. With the help and support of John Wiley & Sons we have branded Effective Project Management. I'm seeing others play off that name recognition, and I am encouraged. I am aware of over 250 colleges and universities worldwide that have adopted my materials. Their feedback and that of the professional market has been overwhelmingly supportive of my practical and easy to read format. Effective Project Management, Sixth Edition (EPM6e) will continue to meet the needs of higher education and the professional markets. Even after this sixth edition goes to press I still view EPM as a work in process. One of my biggest problems is that I have so much I want to include, but we have made a decision to limit the book to about 800 pages. As I and my readers gain further experience with its use and as I hear about the experiences of clients, trainers, faculty and project management professionals, the work will undoubtedly improve. You might say that the development of EPM6e and its successor editions is an agile project. The goal is to produce a perfectly intuitive and common sense approach to project management. The solution, however, continues to be elusive. But we are converging on that solution with every edition of EPM!

I would like to think that this edition offers you a complete view of effective project management as it is now practiced and how I believe it should be practiced in the very near future.

The training and higher education market has been a strong market for EPM. In response to numerous requests from trainers and teaching faculty for a slide presentation, I have continued that offering on the web site (accessible at www.wiley.com/go/epm6e). That slide presentation is a cradle to grave mirror image of the text. These are the very same slides that I use when teaching or training using EPM6e. You can use it right out of the box to teach EPM, or you might want to modify it to fit your specific needs.

The professional reference market has been equally strong. In response to numerous requests from practicing professionals I have expanded the coverage of contemporary approaches to project management.

My clients have been a constant source of input. Their guidance has been invaluable to me. From them I have learned about implementation experiences and ways to improve my presentation of the processes and practices of contemporary project management.

Thank you again for adding my book to your project management library. If you have any questions or would just like to comment, please let me hear from you at [email protected]. You have my promise that I will quickly respond personally to each and every communiqué.

Enjoy!

Robert K. Wysocki, Ph.D.