The Best Project Management Books to Read in 2024
As a successful Project Manager, you’re continuously looking to update your management style, have successful projects and seek a new team’s strategy.
And what simpler and more effective way there is than delving into a project management book?
Free eBook: The Project Manager’s Handbook on Time Tracking
Get your step-by-step guide to master time tracking as a Project Manager
Management books help you gain a fresh perspective on how to better manage projects, while gaining practical advice through understanding real world examples.
We know managing projects is not a breeze, that is why we handpicked a selection of the top project management books out there to help you become a better project coordinator, equipped with as many project management principles as possible.
With that in mind, dive into the synopsis of each book, and you’ll discover which is the right one for you.
The 28 best Project Management books
1. Free eBook: The Project Manager’s Handbook on Time Tracking
This handbook delivered by Timeular, can be your practical guide about time tracking on your projects, while finding helpful insights. Keeping track of time for project management professionals is essential as it helps deliver projects on time, holds the team productive and will help you estimate your new project plan.
It can hep too identify and prevent project problems timely, bill clients accurately and measure success.
Chapter One explores the importance of time tracking for Project Managers. Also, you’ll gain an overview of three time tracking methods and their pros and cons.
Chapters Two and Three provide practical guidance, helping you choose the right software and leverage time tracking data for project success.
Chapter Four covers strategies for motivating your team to track time and avoiding common pitfalls in time tracking for Project Management.
We trust that this handbook will serve as a valuable vademecum as you embark on your time tracking journey, providing you with essential step by step process and core concepts on tracking.
2. Project Management Absolute Beginner’s Guide by Greg Horine
This guide demonstrates that Project Managers are not not born, and you shouldn’t have been an experienced project manager before.
This project management absolute beginner’s guide shows you how to work on the team dynamics, a budget, everyone’s schedule, and how to properly track the project progress.
You also look at many Project Management techniques, such as traditional, agile, and hybrid.
3. Be Fast or Be Gone: Racing the Clock with Critical Chain Project Management by Andreas Scherer
This project management book dives into critical chain Project Management, which is primarily used by big companies worldwide.
The author elaborates on the one of the major concepts of management: monitoring resources and prioritizing resource allocation effectively, while based on that, making a project plan.
Improve your management skills by reading our blog about the best prioritization techniques.
4. The Blueprint: 6 Practical Steps to Lift Your Leadership to New Heights by Douglas R. Conant
According to the author, this book guides you to embark on a self-reflection journey regarding your work method and personal productivity through these six steps:
- Reach High – Envision;
- Dig Deep – Reflect;
- Lay the Groundwork – Study;
- Design – Plan;
- Build – Practice;
- Reinforce – Improve.
5. Product-Led Growth: How to Build a Product That Sells Itself by Wes Bush
This is one of the project management books through which project managers learn how to improve their product and service.
Its primary focus is to retain the value of focus vs. effort and acquire clients much faster and longer term.
The top project management apps that any project manager needs.
6. Doing Agile Right: Transformation Without Chaos by Darrell Rigby, Sarah Elk and Steve Berez
For this book, the authors spared no expense to shine a light on the agile management method.
Their goal is to explain, in an practical fashion, the advantages of agile for any given project, how agile teams work, and the work quality itself.
7. Driving Digital Strategy: A Guide to Reimagining Your Business by Sunil Gupta
The author demonstrates how you improve your project through a digital strategy, while keeping the same resources more or less.
He explores many features, mainly the business model, customers, and the company itself.
8. Project Management for the Unofficial Project Manager by Kory Kogon, Suzette Blakemore and James Wood
This book is perfect for those who were not trained for a PM job but are doing it in every project, the undercover professionals that have project management skills, so to say.
The book guides you into the job’s requirements, gives your practical advice and shows how you can excel at it, without being experienced project managers.
9. What the Heck Is EOS?: A Complete Guide for Employees in Companies Running on EOS by Gino Wickman
We’d highly recommend this book to project managers using EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) in the company.
You’ll get to discover all about this concept, what’s an operating system, with real life examples and why your company has established it. You’ll see its advantages and the impact on a Project Manager’s performance.
10. The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
This book puts into perspective the reality of the factors and elements contributing to your success as functional managers – it’s one of the top management helping get a reality check on effective project management, by understanding the distractions you face on a daily basis.
In essence, it helps project managers forget all the rules, remind themselves of the human nature and its impact in our work, while re-focusing on interpersonal skills too.
11. Advanced Multi-Project Management: Achieving Outstanding Speed and Results with Predictability by Gerald I. Kendall and Kathleen M. Austin
This is one of the top Project Management books out there, especially when managing multiple projects. It’s the ultimate tool for you to perfect your project management skills.
The authors approach multi-Project Management, which could be the solution to ensure that you succeed in your projects.
When looking for consistency and results in a quick and effective way, you can’t lose the opportunity of learning from this book.
12. Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management by Scott Berkun
Scott Berkun explores the concept of Project Management through new ways of thinking to improve your work method and experience project management differently.
You’ll develop skills that can help you significantly, such as outstanding leadership, creativity, making it to deadlines, and readiness if things don’t work out.
13. Agile Project Management with Scrum by Ken Schwaber
Through exciting case studies, Ken Schwaber demonstrates the impact of scrum in agile Project Management.
Discussing the good and the bad of this concept, the book introduces you to how to adopt agile methodologies in your projects, as well as touching subjects such as coaching agile teams.
Allow yourself to be better by embracing scrum into your journey and team’s work environment.
14. Epiphanized: A Novel on Unifying Theory of Constraints, Lean, and Six Sigma, Second Edition by Bruce Nelson and Bob Sproull
This is one of the best Project Management books as it takes on a fresh approach to the concept of improvement methodology, joining the forces of the theory of constraints with lean and six sigma.
While the lean and six sigma methodologies are opposite in balance, the authors wrote a detailed book on how to take advantage of each of these methods.
Through the usage of each method’s best principles, ultimately, there will be substantial growth in your projects.
15. The Lazy Project Manager: How to be twice as productive and still leave the office early by Peter Taylor
This is not one of your traditional project management books, however, draws attention to the word “focus” and how essential it for every project you may have.
Peter Taylor wanted to demonstrate that a lazy PM can succeed once the mental framework would change, no more, no less.
You’ll get expert tips on improving your project while being a “lazy” PM.
16. The Agile Mind-Set: Making Agile Processes Work by Gil Broza
The Agile Mind-set is one of the best Project Management books for those who find Agile hard to implement in their work method.
The author intends for you to get comfortable with this concept, what it entails, its impact on your way of working, and the project itself.
Invest in Agile Processes and learn how to work, plan and make better time estimations time for a project, whether developing software or being in charge of supply chain management.
17. Project Management Case Studies by Harold Kerzner
This book features case studies that are extremely helpful for you to fully comprehend the role of a Project Manager in a company in the context of a project.
Harold Kerzner also approaches indicators that are crucial to a company, such as risk management, crisis plans, innovation techniques, and many more.
Read our blog and learn how to lead a team effectively.
18. Project Management for Non-Project Managers by Jack Ferraro
The author’s goal is to pass on the knowledge that will be life-changing for every Project Manager or for someone that aspires to be just that. Through his narrative, you’ll get to be inside his mind and learn from the absolute best how to improve your soft and hard skills as a manager.
You’ll also get to explore his step-by-step techniques as well as impressive methods that you can take on.
19. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) by Project Management Institute
According to Jeff Sutherland, there’s almost a magic sense about Scrum in the way it has transformed project methodology.
With a firm belief in this notion, the book demonstrates its concept and what it has done to the extreme growth of productivity and perfection of the management process.
20. Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland
According to Jeff Sutherland, there’s almost a magic sense about Scrum in the way it has transformed project methodology.
With a firm belief in this notion, the book demonstrates its concept and what it has done to the extreme growth of productivity and perfection of the management process.
21. Strategic Project Management Made Simple: Practical Tools for Leaders and Teams by Terry Schmidt
This book is the perfect answer to the question – “Why has my project failed?”.
Some companies and projects like to stick to traditional values and plans, while experienced managers already adopt newer methodologies.
With that in mind, the authors intend to help companies and projects worldwide by renovating techniques for their managers and teams.
22. Rescue the Problem Project: A Complete Guide to Identifying, Preventing, and Recovering from Project Failure by Todd Williams
This complete guide helps you understand new techniques to establish in your work method, thinking ahead at every step.
You’ll be able to improve your manner of tracking your and your team’s progress and decide what’s best to do according to the results.
TIP: Read our blog if you want to how to measure a team’s productivity.
23. Project Management for Humans: Helping People Get Things Done by Brett Harned
Ultimately, this book helps you better integrate a Project Manager’s personality traits. As you have already seen, the selection of methods is continuously growing as we speak, but it’s also essential to develop psychological features to succeed.
Brett Harned wants to instruct you on becoming more communicative and present so that you’re ready to take on significant challenges.
24. Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by Dave Allen
Dave Allen wants to give you the opportunity of being productive and getting tasks done, but also with the possibility of relaxing ahead.
Productivity and stress shouldn’t hold hands, so this book aims to teach you how to prioritize tasks in your project correctly.
Through this reading, you’ll learn how to delegate, review and plan tasks and/or actions within every given project.
Do you want to increase your productivity? Then you need to know our list of the best productivity books.
25. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling by Harold Kerzner
This book is the ultimate tool to improve your planning, scheduling, and controlling skills as a Project Manager overviewing any project.
In this book, you’ll find many industry case studies that will serve as an example for you to follow to develop your own projects.
Did you know that Velociteach is one of the top online project management courses because it covers the 49 processes in the PMBOK?
26. Guide to Project Management: Getting It Right and Achieving Lasting Benefit by Paul Roberts
Every project aims to implement something better than the last, to surpass what was achieved initially. But the truth is sometimes; those projects end up dying due to a lot of internal and external factors.
Through this Project Management book, you’ll be able to master the art of organization as a Project Manager. The main goal is to get your project to a safe zone and to implement it fully in your company.
27. Brilliant Project Management: What the best Project Manager know, do and say by Stephen Barker and Rob Cole
The stress that you may experience while managing these projects shouldn’t bring you down because projects may work just like you wanted in the first place.
This book teaches you to do just that, ensuring that your project sees the light of day. Delight yourself on new methods and techniques that could change your project’s longevity, and then share with senior management your new results.
28. Project Management Lite: Just Enough to Get the Job Done…Nothing More by Juana Clark Craig
The goal of this book is to teach you everything you need to know to be the best Project Manager.
Invest your time in practical examples, case studies, and new management methods that could be inspiring to improve your work quality.
29. Project Management JumpStart by Kim Heldman
The goal of this book is to teach you everything you need to know to be the best Project Manager.
Invest your time in practical examples, case studies, and new management methods that could be inspiring to improve your work quality.
Conclusion
As you have had the opportunity to scroll through this must-read list of the Project Management books, we’re hoping you already decided which one to start with.
And regardless if you’d like to jump start your career as software development project manager, or dream of becoming one of the renowned alpha project managers, you’ll find a suitable book in this list.
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