Book SummaryMaking Things Happen, by Scott Berkun

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Making Things Happen

In Making Things Happen, speaker and project management expert Scott Berkun shares his ideas on successful project management. He offers not a one-size-fits-all approach to project management, but rather different ideas that might work for you. As Berkun points out, every project will be different—different goals, different people, different problems. Because of this, a project manager should learn as many different management strategies as she can and apply them when necessary.

As a project manager for Microsoft,...

Making Things Happen Summary How to Be a Strong Leader

For a project manager to be successful, she needs to understand the basics of what makes a strong leader, Berkun argues. A strong leader is someone who makes things happen by getting the most out of the people she works with. To get the most out of others, Berkun states that a project manager should foster communication and trust among the entire team. Let’s look at how to do each of those things.

Improve Communication by Building Relationships

According to Berkun, a project’s success largely depends on the clarity and effectiveness of communication within a team. Because of this, a project manager’s ability to foster communication is one of her most important qualities.

A team uses communication to share knowledge, exchange ideas, and work together effectively, and Berkun argues that the best way to improve communication is to build relationships. You don’t have to be friends with everyone, but if you take the time to build a relationship, you’ll be much more likely to have honest, open, and more effective communication. If you know your team members well, you’ll know who to go to when you have a specific problem or request. If you already have a healthy...

Making Things Happen Summary Planning Phase

Now that we know what makes a strong leader, let’s move on to the first phase of any project: planning. Berkun argues that the planning phase is about figuring out what the project is trying to accomplish. This phase consists of three sub-steps: setting a schedule, determining requirements, and creating vision documents.

However, there is no one-size-fits-all method for project planning—some projects may involve extensive planning while others may use a trial-and-error approach in which very little planning is needed. As a project manager, to determine what type of planning your team and project needs, you must first understand the factors that affect the planning process. In this section, we’ll cover those factors before giving an overview of the three parts of the planning process.

(Shortform note: Even though every project requires its own planning process, the author of Getting Things Done states that a lot of companies and organizations use formal planning methods that get them into trouble. One major problem...

Making Things Happen Summary Design Phase

Once you know what the project must accomplish, you can then move on to the design phase, which answers how the team is going to accomplish it. In the design phase, a team takes its requirements, vision document, and any other planning materials and starts coming up with ideas on how to make the product.

Because design is usually the part of the project that involves the most creativity, the design phase can be tricky for a project manager. Let’s go over some of Berkun’s methods, such as asking good questions and using prototypes, in order to handle the creative work of the design phase.

(Shortform note: The author of The Design of Everyday Things points out that an important but sometimes overlooked part of the design process is making sure you’re solving the right problem. Bad designers may look at requirements and focus on potential solutions, while good designers will first identify the underlying problem. A project manager should keep this in mind during the design and planning phase, as proper planning can...

Making Things Happen Summary Building Phase

Once you’ve completed the design for a project, it’s time to begin building the product. Berkun points out that a lot of the heavy lifting is done in the planning phase, and a project manager’s main responsibilities in the building phase are anticipating and finding solutions to problems. First, we’ll go over some strategies to help keep a project on track and avoid major problems or setbacks. Then, we’ll review what you can do if these strategies fail and you do encounter a major setback.

How to Preempt Major Problems

According to Berkun, a project manager should always try to anticipate any issues or challenges that might derail the project. He argues that the best way to do this is to ask yourself questions that, when answered, provide insight into how the project is going. These questions should help make sure you are staying true to the project’s goals and that everyone is working toward those goals.

On a daily basis, you should ask yourself, “Are the tasks we’re working on today contributing to the goals of the project?” and: “Are the tasks being completed in a way that meets the requirements of the project?” If the answer to both of these questions is...

Shortform Exercise: Explore Your Experiences Working on Projects

Explore your experiences working on projects, and reflect on how you might improve such experiences in the future.

Think of a time when you worked closely with someone you didn’t know very well. How do you think this affected your ability to work effectively with them? If you got to know this person better, did your effectiveness improve? How so?