Microsoft Project 2010: The Missing Manual

Chapter 19. Working on Multiple Projects

If you’re like most project managers, you juggle several projects at the same time. You may have several smaller projects that are part of a larger effort—like the subprojects for building the different parts of a new airplane. Other times, you simply must manage several separate projects at once. In almost every case, you have to share resources with others. For organizations with oodles of projects, Microsoft’s enterprise project management software (Project Server) provides tools for managing entire portfolios of projects (Where Microsoft Project Fits In). However, both Microsoft Project Standard and Professional have features for managing smaller numbers of projects.

In Project, a master project is the easiest way to work with several projects at the same time. You create a new Project file and then insert separate Project files into that one consolidated file. A master project is great for assembling multiple subprojects into one place, but it works equally well if you’re just dealing with a bunch of unrelated projects. This chapter describes how to build a master project of related subprojects, and how to consolidate several unrelated projects into one Project file.

Master projects aren’t your only alternative, though. Sometimes all you need is a link between one task in one project and one task in another project. Suppose one project in your company has magnanimously funded a new database management system. One of your projects can use ...