(Part 2) Best products from r/projectmanagement

If you're interested in Scrum (it's not an acronym) then an easy way to get started is to take training as a CSM (Certified Scrum Master). It's a 2-day course with a fairly easy multiple-choice exam.

If you're already a Product Manager, you could also look at the CSPO (Certified Scrum Product Owner) which will help you understand the differences in the way requirements are treated.

Scrum isn't the be-all and end-all of Agile methods, so do keep your mind open after the training! But it will help you to get your foot in the door.

After that, try looking for local Agile or Scrum groups; most big cities have them. Look out for Agile conferences too; even if you can't make it, a lot of them post the talks online.

If you do end up as a PM and you're struggling to understand something, don't be afraid to hire an Agile Coach for a few days. They'll help to mentor you, explain how Agile works, and fine-tune your processes.

The most important thing to remember about Agile methods is that they're there to help handle uncertainty. For anything you do that's new, and you've never done before, it's useful to make discoveries early rather than later and to get feedback quickly on those discoveries. In Waterfall we made sure we we're getting it right. In Agile, we assume we can't know everything up front and will inevitably get some of it wrong.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention Kanban, which is related to Agile and originally derived from the Lean techniques used at Toyota, and Cynefin (my blog, the Wikipedia page is also good). Mike Cohn's books are a pretty good first stop for basic Scrum, but Kanban and Cynefin will help you to see beyond that.

Finally, if you get stuck, http://pm.stackexchange.com is your friend. You can also shout out on Twitter; there's always people willing to help and pass you links and ideas.

(Oh, and don't worry too much about the formality. I work as a Lean / Kanban and Agile consultant, have no formal qualifications in it, and am internationally recognized. Doing it and having the metrics and stories to show that you've done it is more important than a qualification.)

David Anderson's book is where it probably starts, but I'd add two books to that list:

• Mike Burrows, Kanban from the inside
  
• Mattias Skarin Real World Kanban
  
  I found I learnt the most from these two. Add to that the David Anderson book you already have and you will have a great basis to build on. If you want to look deeper into the enterprise level kanban, take a look at what the Lean Kanban University provide.
  
  I've also heard good things about Klaus Leopold's Kanban Change Leadership but I have not read it yet.

I wouldn't say that budgeting is horrible in agile. Agile simplifies budgeting into iteration costs, and then estimates feature sets across iterations. In a very simplified example, if:

1. An iteration ( 10 biz days, 10 devs @ $250/day ea.) costs $25,000
   
2. 30 Features (User stories) defined at an avg of 5 ideal days each. In reality you would not average here but sum individual US estimations.
   
3. That's 150 ideal days.
   
4. Real throughput is 8 ideal days per dev per iteration (overhead of 20%)
   
5. 150/8 =18.75 iterations - call it 20 to add a bit of slack.
   
6. 20 iterations = $500k
   
   Where agile shines regarding scheduling is that the features are developed in the order of product manager / user value - and that value is recognized periodically with interim working product releases. This allows you to realize incoming cash flows earlier than a standard waterfall approach.
   
   Where a scheduler would shine in Agile is in the statistical weighting and ordering of feature priority - not necessarily in the estimation of duration of each Feature / User Story. I highly recommend [Agile Estimating & Planning] (http://www.amazon.com/Agile-Estimating-Planning-Mike-Cohn/dp/0131479415) by Mike Cohn. IMO - the real trick to Agile is the proper ordering of development. If you hash that, you lose the early cash realization, and you can end up with a product that does not meet requirements as you fail to deliver core features before you run out of time/money.

I'd recommend this book on agile methodologies by Bertrand Meyer Agile!: The Good, the Hype and the Ugly. I think its a fair evaluation of agile as a method and the different 'flavours' of agile.

Id recommend an agile approach but I don't think there is 'one true way' to do it. Have a read through a few books on different agile methodologies and work with your team to adopt something that works for you.

The Project Manager's Absolute Beginner's Guide, 4th Edition, 448 pages, is recommended by several folks I respect. I've also heard good things about Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager at 256 pages. Both are available on Kindle.

Good project management books tend to have a high thump factor. Not all of them, obviously, but if you decide to do this for a living, invest in a comfortable chair.

Herding chickens is the only one I read, but very good. http://www.amazon.com/Herding-Chickens-Innovative-Techniques-ebook/dp/B001D78FZ6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382962857&sr=8-1&keywords=herding+chickens

Keep in mind that project management is about communication. You can use whatever tool or approach you want, a good project manager is someone who can listen and talk. Consistently.

Working with emotional intelligence: https://www.amazon.com/Working-Emotional-Intelligence-Daniel-Goleman/dp/0553378589

and

Mind and heart of the Negotiator :https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Heart-Negotiator-5th/dp/0132543869

Before transitioning into my current PM role I worked for a PR company. The CEO strongly recommended this book for general writing. It's not tech-focused, more general purpose but still a great resource.

http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-30th-Anniversary-Edition/dp/0060891548

Yes. This was a part of my curriculum. http://www.amazon.com/Effective-Project-Management-Traditional-Extreme/dp/0470423676

Its a good read. Not nearly as dry as the PMBOK. Much better explanations.

Not really, to be honest. You might want to pick up this book I rated it as a decent study guide

Edit: should also make clear that there were people on the course joining remotely via web cam. They were participating and having their questions answered by the trainer

This one is pretty good https://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Project-Management-WorkSmart-Heagney/dp/0814417485

I've been told this is the best book on leadership.

Take a look at PMI's Agile Certified Practitioner support materials. Since they're geared to Agile and thus primarily software development, it's a good place to start.

I can't recommend Mike Griffiths' book enough: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1932735984/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_1932735984

Source: More than a decade working in software project management, PMP (2011), PMI-ACP (2013)