Project In Your Pocket: A Review

This is an absolute classic. In one image it tells so much of what can go wrong in a project, I would recommend to frame it and hang it on the wall of every meeting room.

I believe a project plan is first and foremost a communication tool. A tool, that is supposed to capture, integrate and disseminate the perspectives of all involved stakeholders along the who, why, what, when and how line. Gareth John Turner provides a pragmatic approach to covering it all. It’s particularly suited to smaller projects or any for that matter where the goal is to get the job done instead of pumping out PM documents conforming to some arcane methodology, nobody will ever read.

Don’t get me wrong, I am totally in favor of good project management, it really is a (the) cornerstone. Too often however it misses the point and lives a parallel life. I would suggest all my fellow colleagues to get this booklet as it is easy to read, enjoyable and doubles as a great primer in PM.

It has already been put to the test and established as the standard methodology for small BI projects at a leading global financial services company. Also worth mentioning: Mr. Turner is a senior TM1 Project Manager and Developer thus the PIP approach should definitely be considered for TM1 projects where managing ‘agility’ (quite often volatility) can be a major challenge.

Just like the book follows through an actual case study, this review ends with the one-pager PIP. Don’t forget it for the next meeting!

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