With this book, PM and blogger Meri Williams takes readers through the process of project management. Chapter one gives an overview of the discipline and makes a case for its necessity. Chapters 2 – 5 cover a typical project life cycle: discovery, initiation, planning, change management, and closing a project.

It’s not just a book about managing projects, however. Williams puts an emphasis on management as we typically think about the word. Interpersonal skills and communication are consistent themes in each chapter. Williams reminds us in one chapter that not everyone is a techno-savvy e-mail or instant messaging junkie. In another, she points out that we should clear convey our definition of “complete.”

At just over 200 pages (including the index), The Principles of Project Management is by no means a definitive look at the practice. You won’t become a Certified Project Management Professional after reading it.

What Williams has achieved, however, is a fantastic step-by-step guide to making your next project run smoothly.