Dictionary of Project Management Terms: A Surprisingly Valuable Resource

I recently received a review copy of J. LeRoy Ward's Dictionary of Project Management Terms.

In case you're thinking this is redundant with the PMBOK, or a dry collection of PM nomenclature such as Earned Value, Forward Pass, etc., you'd be pleasantly surprised. I was.

This is much more than what I expected, which was a collection of PM terms known to anyone with a PMP certification. Instead, it's an almanac of both project management and business phrases, with concise explanations of familiar and not-so-familiar concepts currently in use.

Want a brief outline of Agile Project Management and its principles and phases? How about SCRUM? They're both here, with a concise overview of each. So is a list of various Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods, with each conflict management approach summarized for convenience. Even fundamental business concepts such as bottom line, top line, present value, ROI etc. are explained in simple terms, for those PMs are aren't quite as business-savvy.

Less common, but increasingly prevalent terms, such as Could Cost (a method used to estimate what the cost of a project could be if all non value-added work was removed), or 7 Wastes (the forms of productivity-related manufacturing waste identified by Toyota) are included.

Emotional Intelligence theory is explained, as are the elements that enable an Egoless Team Structure, and a brief explanation of Systems Thinking.

If you can think of a business or project management term, it's here, along with many you've never heard before. This is more than just a reference book, it actually can help generate ideas through its including of such a wide variety of concepts.

Although the book runs nearly 500 pages, it's in a compact paperback form that should be on anyone's desktop. I highly recommend this. No matter what your experience, I guarantee you will find useful concepts and new ideas here. I know I'm going to make good use of it.

Kudos to J. LeRoy Ward for making a significant contribution to the project management field with this book!