Red Warrior's Journal: to a deluxe apartment in the sky

First, a little background.
A while back I mentioned that I am thinking of moving from programming into project management. My employer sponsors a yearlong PM training program that starts every Oct. The plan is for me to hop into the next iteration. In the meantime, I'm doing a 2 day instant-wonder class in a couple weeks.

I didn't mention that I recently was called upon to review[1] the responses we got to a RFP/Q (request for proposal/quotation - I forget which it officially was) for some contracted services.

Well, I just found out that I will be getting a little jump start on the PM stuff. I am the project manager for the sub-project the contractors are being brought on board for. It's a small project, of short duration (2-3 months max), with only 2 contractors under me. A step in the right direction nonetheless. They should be here and working on Wednesday.

[1]Quick summary: Better than interviewing direct employee candidates[2]. However, if you send in a document to try to get you/your company hired BUY A SPELL-CHECKER (yes, my spalling sux, but not in formal correspondence). A well done document will help significantly, all other things being equal. A well done document WON'T help if you are a one person shop and you don't have the required KSA (Knowledge/Skills/Abilities).
[2] They didn't want to make the position a promotion, so I didn't take it. It is being interviewed for as an "in training" position, which is a much better solution all around. It is being interviewed for as one of a number of agency IT positions (ie, there are about 35 candidates interviewing for around 7 positions, and the hiring managers for all the positions are interviewing everyone). Which means *I* don't have to be on the panel.

Congrats

[Josh Lindenmuth]

Congrats on getting the PM position. I think you'll find it both rewarding and frustrating, particularly moving from development where you are king of your own little domain.

Re:

[Red Warrior]

Well, it's more in the way of an "additional duty". I'll still be doing my development/maintenance in addition. But it IS experience, which is the important thing.

Oh, and thanks. :-)

PiMP

[helicobacter]

I'm a PMP certified PM -- if you ever have questions, curious about good training resources, etc, I'm your girl.

Re:

[Red Warrior]

Actually....

What would you recommend for a good "intro to" read over the weekend book on project management. I'm looking for breadth not depth here. Just something where I recognize and can kind of place the vocabulary, etc.
I've got the "Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge [amazon.com]" [2000 edition]. Just got it today and have only skimmed it. However, it seems a little more technical than I want for my first assault.

Then...Once I start to learn the vocabulary, what would be some good "foundational" book

Re:

[helicobacter]

I recommend The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management [amazon.com] as a great first read.

You will need the latest version of the PMBOK -- it's dry as hell. I took this online course, The PMP Exam Prep Online [rmcproject.com] and I *highly* recommend it, especially to get through the PMBOK's technicality and terminology.

I taught myself *everything* and was fortunate enough to work in a company that let me try out all of the things I was learning on active projects.

When I applied for the PMP, I had to document each of the projects I was

RFP versus RFQ

[Degrees]

One demands that the contract be let, the other lets the requester walk away if none of the submissions "are good enough".

Turns out our friends in the legal field managed to redefine "quote" as a guarantee to do business. As in, "You did an RFQ, and we supplied the quote, so you have to let the contract (in the particular case that went to court, there was only one bidder, and their quote was for an exorbitant price. Didn't matter, the court said. If you didn't want to issue a contract, you shouldn't have