Project Management

It's not enough to have people who are creative and capable of creating great product designs. The design has to executed efficiently and quality standards need to be met. Getting even a simple product from concept to market can take an orchestra of team members with a diverse set of talents. Project management seeks to master the territory of the highly sequential, co- dependent, and subtle details of tasks. This is the core of good project management. Conducting the multitudes of talent to organize and function together to bring the best product designs to the market.

Articles


Working With Product Design Firms - Selection, Setting Expectations, Management, and Closing
Asian Outsourcing Reality Check - Communication, Quality, Management, and Cost Focused Approach
The Project Team - An in-depth look at the make-up of a successful project team




Project Management Resources


General Project Management Resources

Importance of Product Design - useful general knowledge
Project Management Checklists - A useful set of checklists for project managers from a company called Commercial Solutions.
Project Planning - Excellent how to for project planning
Planning Successful Projects - A seventeen question guide to project planning.
www.mindtools.com - excellent tools for getting team members to work creatively


Project Management Books

Do You Matter? How Great Design Will Make People Love Your Company

The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process And Technology

Creating the Perfect Design Brief: How to Manage Design for Strategic Advantage

Product Design and Development

Manage It!: Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management

Organization Theory and Design (with InfoTrac )

The Principles of Project Management

The Team-Building Tool Kit: Tips and Tactics for Effective Workplace Teams

Driving Down Cost: How to Manage and Cut Costs--Intelligently

Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling


Articles

Product Design Business - must read
Running the Numbers - An article on managing project finances
Operating Across Organizations - An article on managing projects across multiple organizations
A Different Drummer - An article on some of the essential elements for successful projects. Skip the first paragraph or so, and scroll down to the numbered lists. Good content.
Design Process and Design Management Tips - from businessballs.com
NASA's design process
QFD example paper - The example is a textile product, but the theories are broadly applicable
Google's design process
Managing Dispersed Product Development


Online Textbooks and Theory

Product Liability and Innovation Book - Excellent full-text book online. Reading interface is a little awkward, but the content is fantastic.
Industrial Growth and Competition Textbook
Introduction to Industrial Design - lecture notes
Options Based Approach to Product Development - Paper
Product Design Process - as defined at Western Michigan University


Blogs

Managing Product Development Blog
Geek Manager Blog - Lots of great content