Project Management for the Non-Project Manager

David Ottenstein wrote this book to address the large number of managers finding themselves in a position to run a project, as well as the large number of companies lacking a PMO that would benefit from the skills presented here.  The majority of the problem stems from manufacturing companies not realizing the distinction between Work and a Project, because of the lack of a PMO or Project Managers on staff.

The skills required in companies lacking a PMO are; distinguishing between Work and Projects, picking a financially rewarding project, justifying a valid project to upper management, and successfully running the project to completion.  David has broken this down into:

The 3 Best Ways to Pick a Project

                Eliminate a Pain Point

                Identify and Elevate a Constraint

                Improve a Financial or Operational Metric by Identifying Problems in Financial Statements

The 2 Best Ways to Justify a Project

                Return on Investment

                Net Present Value (Discounted Cash Flow)

Following that is a greatly simplified version of how to run a project.  Detailed are; the most important documents needed for a successful project, how to run a kick-off meeting, meeting tips for milestone meetings, and how to avoid scope creep. 

David started his career at United Parcel Service, a long time ago. After little more than getting his feet wet in the Logistics industry he moved quickly into manufacturing. This is where he found his passion! Seeing raw materials coming in one end, going through various transformations, and seeing finished goods come out the other end is exciting for him. David has been described as a manufacturing nerd, He has been responsible for setting up manufacturing lines that produced things like windows that were installed in Willoughby Tower in Chicago, the ignition switch used in various Honda cars, wiring harnesses used in Toyota and Honda cars, and more. His knowledge of Project Management stems from having run projects like creating the department that manufactured the ignition switches for the Honda Accord and Civic. I had four bare walls, and a looming deadline when I took that one over. Not only did I get the air filters in place, the machinery installed, hired and trained a full staff, and got the line up and running but he also reconfigured the ERP as a side project to reduce manufacturing variances by over 67%. David also set up the line to produce the parts using 42-1/2 less man hours than Honda was using! Coming in under budget and finishing on time is what I do! A good bit of my success also stems from an easy familiarity with computers. He was previously the IT Manager for a Japanese owned spring manufacturer for many years. This is where his facility with MRP/ERP configuration comes from.