3 best productivity and project management books to read in summer 2019
We know, you would probably associate summer with something lighter than project management books. However, we think, this is the best season to invest in yourself. During vacation, you will have plenty of free time and if you don’t have summer holidays you have the best opportunity to practice advise from books at work.
Anyway, let’s move straight to the point, 3 books (and one bonus) that we think you should put on your shelf, or electronic shelf, like goodreads.com
Summer reading plan
June: project manager story
Accidental Project Manager. Zero to Hero in 7 days
Written in the form of a story about a project manager and comparing his life to a superhero life, this book will be the best one for the summer read.
If you are new to the field and would like to start your project management career with a perfect foundation, take time to read this story. You will find the most common pm concepts explained in simple words and applied to real life.
The book author has a strong experience in project management and puts this experience in the form of this fascinating business fable.
You will probably even not notice how you will be transformed together with the book main hero Rhett.
July: improving our personal productivity
Productivity Hacks: A Project Management Plan for lazy people to become more Productive
Obviously, this book is about personal productivity, about the ability to make in three hours all the work that the average person does in eight hours full workday.
It will give you an overview of bad habits that prevent people from being productive. You will learn how to mitigate them and enjoy a balanced life.
This book will (again) explain to you the importance of a plan. You will learn to set and achieve goals that will form your strategic plan. You will be pleased and satisfied to see that it’s not so hard as it seems.
Don’t forget to make notes to get back to them when you are finally back to work at the office after your fabulous vacation.
August: the thrilling story of the US military as a project management example
Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win
Even though this book is not new, we recommend to read it if you haven’t yet done it.
This book is not a classic book about leadership and management, you might be even shocked at the very beginning when it starts with a depiction of the war operations in Iraq.
However, when you continue reading you will understand how well the war scenarios describe the leading skills. Military forces and organisational structure appear to have much more in common then we used to think.
Each chapter has an “Application to business” that describes the book authors real experience in mentoring business leaders, managers and employees.
This book is followed by The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win – the second book of the same author explaining the concept of leadership dichotomy more in-depth. You will learn that a good leader should always know when to lead and when to follow. Yes, sometimes leaders follow. Follow the advice to read these books, for example 😉
What are your best project management books that would you recommend to read this summer? Reply in comments, share your suggestions. Share your thoughts when reading recommended books as well.