Learn the One Page Project Manager at Shingo Prize Conference

I have been a big fan of the The One-Page Project Manager for many years. In fact, the author Clark Campbell reminded me in a recent phone call that I was the first one to write a review on the first book. Since then, he has added two more books to the collection:

The One Page Project Manager for IT Projects: Communicate and Manage Any Project With A Single Sheet of Paper
The One-Page Project Manager for Execution: Drive Strategy and Solve Problems with a Single Sheet of Paper

I have not read the OPPM for IT but of course have the first one and the latter which is the OPPM for use with an A3. If you are familiar with an A3, I would recommend the original OPPM as you will find the A3 material rather basic. If you are not familiar with A3 the description of the process is quite good in the book but it does not go into the tools used to construct the A3 in much depth.

The One Page Project Manager is not meant to replace a full blown project management system. It helps you identify and communicate the essential details of a project. I recommended the book in my book, Marketing with A3 (Marketing with A3(Kindle Version)) as an effective reporting tool. Utilizing Lean methodologies, I always felt that in the project management area Lean never had a defined method such as the “C” in Six Sigma DMAIC. I think the OPPM completes the job and is a great companion to Lean and especially A3s. I utilize the OPPM with A3s slightly different than the book describes. I use the entire back side of the A3 for the OPPM. I take advantage of a little artistic interpretation of what constitutes one page.

Though I have not read the OPPM for IT, I would assume from reading the Table of Contents it does not address agile practices. However, since it is basically a communication and reporting tool, it may be an ideal bridge between agile teams and management. Most managers are familiar with the Gantt style and no so much with burn charts. Using the OPPM to report progress may be an ideal crossover.

I have certainly stretched the use of OPPM and managed some rather in-depth and lengthy projects with it. In fact one such project I actually reconfigured the Excel sheet to hold over 100 tasks. It is a tool that should be in anyone’s toolbox. Below is a rather detailed view of the OPPM.

Using The One Page Project Manager

P.S. Clark Campbell is putting on a half-day OPPM workshop at the 2011 Shingo Conference.