Using Microsoft Project 2000

From the Book: Introduction Microsoft Project 2000 is an important new release of the best-selling and most widely used project management software product in the world. There are, of course, lots of exciting new tools in Project 2000 that will delight seasoned users. Moreover, Microsoft has made a number of fundamental technical changes that significantly extend the effectiveness and power of Microsoft Project. Why You Should Use This Book Almost anyone in the work place can make good use of Microsoft Project at one time or another, but for project managers it's a life-support system. Microsoft Project is adaptable to both large and small projects. Managers of large, decade-long projects rely heavily on project management software to keep track of all the interrelated tasks and phases of their projects. On a smaller scale, I have relied on Project to help me plan and coordinate software installations and upgrades over multiple corporate sites. And yes, I did rely on it to keep me on track while writing this book. Project was able to tell instantly that the publisher's deadlines were impossible. But by changing the scheduling calendar to include all evenings, weekends, and holidays, the goal became possible (if we assume family counseling can be delayed until after publication). This book will give you direct answers about how to put a project schedule together with Microsoft Project 2000. It's organized to follow the project cycle of initializing and developing a plan, implementing the plan, tracking progress and adjusting to changes and unforeseen events, and preparing the final reports. You'll find step-by-step procedures for using Project's features, plus you'll get help with common problems (such as avoiding unintended constraints on tasks, adjusting task duration when resources are added, maintaining resource information among multiple projects, and many more). Special Edition Using books from Que offer comprehensive coverage of software. You can be sure you will find what you need in this book to make Project work for you. Why You Should Use Microsoft Project Managing projects is a specialized field within management-and a rapidly growing field at that. There are professional associations, journals, professional certifications, and university courses and degrees for project managers. A project manager oversees all stages of a project, from concept and planning through the completion and drafting of final summary reports. Microsoft Project is, at its core, a scheduling and planning tool for project managers, providing easy-to-use tools for putting together a project schedule and assigning responsibilities; but, it also gives you powerful tools to carry you through to the end of the project. After you have defined the scope and goals for your project, you can start putting Microsoft Project 2000 to use. Project is an invaluable planning tool for Organizing the project plan and thinking through the details of what must be done Scheduling deadlines that must be met Scheduling the tasks in the appropriate sequence Assigning resources and costs to tasks and scheduling tasks around resource availability Fine-tuning the plan to satisfy time and budget constraints or to accommodate changes Providing hyperlinks between the project schedule and related project management documents in other applications Preparing professional-looking reports to explain the project to stakeholders such as owners, top management, supervisors, workers, subcontractors, and the public Posting a copy of the project on the Internet or an intranet for review When work begins on the project, you can use Microsoft Project to Track progress and analyze the evolving real schedule to see if it looks like you will finish on time and within budget Revise the schedule to accommodate changes and unforeseen circumstances Try out different what-if scenarios before making actual modifications to the plan Communicate with team members about changes in the schedule (even automatically notify those who are affected by changes) and solicit feedback about their progress Post automatically updated progress reports on an Internet Web site or a company intranet Produce final reports on the success of the project and evaluate problem areas for consideration in future projects What's New In Microsoft Project 2000 Project 2000 extends the dramatic changes that were introduced in Project 98. If you are new to project management and its terminology, you might not be able to appreciate some of the items listed in this review of new features. On the other hand, if you are a seasoned user of Microsoft Project, you will be excited by these enhancements...