The Ultimate Guide to Project Management
Free!
With Membership
$7.99
Minimum paid price

The Ultimate Guide to Project Management

Learn everything you need to successfully manage projects and get them done

About the Book

It started as an idea, that next amazing thing your team is going to do. Perhaps you'll build the next big thing, add a feature your users have been waiting for, or write that book you've been thinking about for years. Perhaps you'll put a man on Mars, or land a rocket on a boat, or reinvent the car.

Perhaps. But first, you'll need a plan.

Plans map your path, list what it takes to get there, and what needs done first. They're the essential ingredient to making sure your rocket has enough fuel, that you have a team ready to launch it, and that you actually build the rocket in the first place. They're what make project management *work*.

There's no set way to make a plan, nothing you must do to get from zero to hero. But there are a handful of popular project management strategies, dozens of project management apps, and an entire ecosystem of tools to gather feedback and set deadlines and track time and *manage* those projects. You're ready to launch that rocket, but first, it's back to the basics.

It's time for Project Management 101.

In this book, you'll learn everything you need to know about project management. You'll find detailed overviews of the most popular project management strategies, advice from teams around the world on how they manage projects, and roundups of the best tools to help your projects flow smoothly. It's everything you need to plan that rocket launch—and make sure it lands in the right place.

Who Is This Guide For?

Projects come in all shapes and sizes. Your team's next big invention? That's a project. Remodeling your kitchen? Ditto.

This book starts out with the basics of project management—it gets you up to speed on what lean, gantt, scrum and other project management terms are all about. It's perfect for the first time project manager, or anyone who feels overwhelmed by projects.

Then, there's app roundups of the best project management tools, along with the app stacks teams use to handle everything else in their projects. Those come alongside expert advice on running projects, choosing software, and using project management apps for personal tasks. They're perfect for anyone managing projects—whether you're looking for better tools and tricks to keep projects on schedule, or are just starting out.

About the Author

Zapier
Zapier

Easy automation for busy people. Zapier moves info between your web apps automatically, so you can focus on your most important work.

Stick with the tools that work for you. Zapier connects more apps than anyone, and lets you link them together into automated workflows to use your favorite business tools' features together.

Your time is valuable. Zapier's app, along with our blog and guides to learn valuable productivity tips, find the best apps to use in your work, and discover how to get more out of your software, help you make the most of every day.

Table of Contents

  • Intro
  • Chapter 1: An Intro to Project Management
  • Chapter 2: Project Management 101: The Complete Guide to Agile, Kanban, Scrum and Beyond
    • Why Project Management?
    • A Quick History of Project Management
    • Popular Project Management Systems
    • Traditional Project Management
    • Agile
    • Six Sigma
    • PRINCE2
    • Project Management Systems in Play
    • The Best Project Management System for You
  • Chapter 3: The 5 Essential Skills of a Successful Project Manager
    • Wield the Politician Inside You
    • Use the Details to Shape the Strategy
    • Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
    • Lead by Example
    • Create Balance
  • Chapter 4: Kanban 101: How to Use Kanban Boards to Manage Your Next Project
    • Kanban: A Short History
    • Kanban Board Basics
    • 8 Kanban Board Apps
    • 6 Ways to Test Drive a Kanban Board
    • Create Your Own Kanban Boards
  • Chapter 5: The Best Project Management Software: 50 Tools for Team Task Management
    • How to Pick the Best Project Management App
    • The Best Core Project Management Apps
    • The Best Project Management Apps for Chat and Messaging
    • The Best Project Management Apps for Clients
    • The Best Customizable Tools for Project Management
    • Bonus: Download a Project Management Apps Cheat Sheet
  • Chapter 6: Get Organized: How to Pick Project Management Software in 5 Steps
    • 1. Research the Collaboration Features
    • 2. Calculate and Justify the Cost
    • 3. Try the Alternatives (then, Try More Alternatives)
    • 4. Get Feedback From Your Team
    • 5. Outline Your Implementation Plan
    • The Software Picks of our PM Panel
    • Find New Project Management Apps to Test Drive
    • Beyond Your Project Management Software Search
  • Chapter 7: Project Management Software Stacks: The Apps That 13 Companies Use to Manage Projects
    • Stampede Design’s Stack for User Experience Design
    • Thumbprint’s Stack for Printing Logistics
    • Bryan Landers’ Stack for Product Design Consulting
    • Anguleris Technologies’ Stack for Information Modeling
    • StarOfService’s Stack for On-Demand Services
    • Tinkerbox Studios’ Stack for App Development
    • Delve’s Stack for Intelligence
    • High Sails Media’s Stack for Photography, Video, and Design
    • Bata Food’s Stack for Food Export
    • Conneqtify’s Stack for Building Communities
    • Interlike’s Stack for Development
    • White Room Automation’s Stack for Industrial Connectivity
  • Chapter 8: Don’t Overlook Standard Operating Procedures: Use These Apps to Put Them in Place
    • The Great Train Wreck of 1856
    • The Birth of SOPs
    • How to Build Your Own Standard Operating Procedures
    • The Tools to Build Standard Operating Procedures
    • Preempting Problems with SOPs
  • Chapter 9: How to Manage your Personal Tasks with a Project Management App
    • Why Use a Project Management App?
    • Choose a Project Management App
    • Create a Productivity Workflow
  • Extra Resources from Zapier

The Leanpub 60 Day 100% Happiness Guarantee

Within 60 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.

Now, this is technically risky for us, since you'll have the book or course files either way. But we're so confident in our products and services, and in our authors and readers, that we're happy to offer a full money back guarantee for everything we sell.

You can only find out how good something is by trying it, and because of our 100% money back guarantee there's literally no risk to do so!

So, there's no reason not to click the Add to Cart button, is there?

See full terms...

Earn $8 on a $10 Purchase, and $16 on a $20 Purchase

We pay 80% royalties on purchases of $7.99 or more, and 80% royalties minus a 50 cent flat fee on purchases between $0.99 and $7.98. You earn $8 on a $10 sale, and $16 on a $20 sale. So, if we sell 5000 non-refunded copies of your book for $20, you'll earn $80,000.

(Yes, some authors have already earned much more than that on Leanpub.)

In fact, authors have earnedover $13 millionwriting, publishing and selling on Leanpub.

Learn more about writing on Leanpub

Free Updates. DRM Free.

If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).

Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers) and EPUB (for phones, tablets and Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.

Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.

Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them

Write and Publish on Leanpub

You can use Leanpub to easily write, publish and sell in-progress and completed ebooks and online courses!

Leanpub is a powerful platform for serious authors, combining a simple, elegant writing and publishing workflow with a store focused on selling in-progress ebooks.

Leanpub is a magical typewriter for authors: just write in plain text, and to publish your ebook, just click a button. (Or, if you are producing your ebook your own way, you can even upload your own PDF and/or EPUB files and then publish with one click!) It really is that easy.

Learn more about writing on Leanpub