Microsoft Office Project for Mere Mortals strips away the mysteries of Microsoft Office Project, giving you practical skills, methodologies, and best practices for building schedules and budgets that work.
Using the clear, concise, and friendly style thats a hallmark of the For Mere Mortals series, Jansen provides step-by-step instructions for every feature you really need to master, whether youre using Project 2007, 2003, or 2002. Youll learn why Project works as it does, so you can make the best possible decisions about how to use it. Realistic exercises offer extensive hands-on practice, and a start-to-finish case study covers the entire project lifecycle. Jansen shows you how to:
Scope projects using work breakdown structures and task outlines
Define projects rapidly with Microsoft Project templates
Work with milestones, deadline dates, and task information
Manage resource sharing across multiple projects
Calculate accurate budgets
Avoid common scheduling errors and oversights
Tighten critical paths to reduce work overload and resource overallocation
Use baselining to track variances, adjust projects on-the-fly, and become a more effective scheduler
Uncover potential problems, identify alternatives, and avoid crises
Discover little-known tips and tricks for better formatting and printing
Use Project to close projects successfully, and learn from your experience
Whatever your title, organization, or project, this book will help you get powerful results with Microsoft Office Projectquickly, efficiently, and painlessly. The CD-ROM contains a searchable electronic version of the book and Microsoft Project (.MPP) files (available for Project 2002 and above) of the books step-by-step scheduling practices and case studies.
Praise for Microsoft Office Project for Mere Mortals
This book stands out of the ordinary, as it is the first one on Microsoft Office Project I know to be completely driven by project management methods.
Jan De Messemaeker, M.S., Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional
Patti Jansens practice sessions are a great way to become familiar with Microsoft Project and the step-by-step instructions make it easy.
Kimberly Amaris, PMP
Patti Jansen, PMP, is a Senior Project Manager at QuantumPM, a leading project management consultancy that works closely with Microsoft. She has more than 10 years of senior project management experience, and is a well-known Microsoft Project and PMI instructor. She was a technical contributor to PMP: Project Management Professional Study Guide, Deluxe Edition, PMP: Project Management Professional Workbook, and PMP: Project Management Professional Certification Kit.
Foreword xvii
Preface xix
Acknowledgments xxvii
About the Author xxix
CHAPTER 1 Introducing Microsoft Office Project 1
CHAPTER 2 Revealing the Secrets of Microsoft Project 23
CHAPTER 3 Building Your Schedule: Scoping Your Project 87
CHAPTER 4 Understanding Task Information 137
CHAPTER 5 Sequencing the Work: Creating the Critical Path 195
CHAPTER 6 Understanding Resources and Their Effects on Tasks 235
CHAPTER 7 Using Project to Enter Cost Estimates 301
CHAPTER 8 Polishing Your Schedule 347
CHAPTER 9 Reviewing Work Overload and the Critical Path 389
CHAPTER 10 Baselining: The Key to Tracking Your Schedule 431
CHAPTER 11 Tracking Your Schedule 451
CHAPTER 12 Closing Down Your Schedule: The End Is Only the Beginning 521
CHAPTER 13 Project Mysteries Resolved! 535
APPENDIX Answers to Review Questions 573
Glossary 591
Index 601
