Microsoft Project 2013: The Missing Manual

Why Manage Projects?

The five phases of an unmanaged project go something like this: wild enthusiasm, dejected disillusionment, search for the guilty, punishment of the innocent, and promotion of those not involved. An unmanaged project is like a black hole that sucks up every person, resource, and dollar—and still doesn’t deliver what it’s supposed to. Despite all that, many organizations fear that project management requires bureaucratic and inflexible procedures and will make projects take longer. On the contrary, planning projects and managing the plan provides many benefits, including the following:

• Happy customers. Whether a project is for outside customers or groups within your organization, customers like to get what they want when they want it. Because the first step in project management is finding out what your customers and stakeholders want to accomplish with the project, your customers are more likely to get the results they expect. And by keeping the project under control, you’re also more likely to deliver those results on time and at the right price.

• Achieved objectives. Without a plan, projects tend to cultivate their own agendas, and people tend to forget the point of their work. A project plan ties a project to specific objectives, so everyone stays focused on those goals. Documented objectives also help you rein in the renegades who try to expand the scope of the project.

• Timely completion. Finishing a project on time is important for more than just morale. As ...