Microsoft Project 2013: The Missing Manual

Where Microsoft Project Fits In

Any project manager who has calculated task start and finish dates by hand knows how helpful Project is. By calculating dates, costs, and total assigned work, the program eliminates a mountain of grunt work and helps prevent carpal tunnel syndrome, so you’ll have time and stamina left over to actually manage your projects.

In the planning stage, Project helps you develop a project schedule. You add the tasks and people to a Project file, link the tasks together in sequence, assign workers and other resources to those tasks, and poof!—you have a schedule. Project calculates when tasks start and finish, how much they cost, and how many hours each person needs to work each day. The program even helps you develop better project plans, because you can revise the schedule quickly to try other strategies until the plan really works. Views and reports help you spot problems, like too many tasks assigned to the same beleaguered team member.

Once your project is under way, you can add actual dates, hours, and costs to the Project file. With actual values, you can use Project to track progress to see how actual progress and cost compare to the project plan. If problems arise—like tasks running late or over budget—you can use Project’s tools, views, and reports to look for solutions and quickly make changes until you find a way to get the project back on track.

Of course, plenty of project-management work goes on outside Project. Touchy-feely tasks like identifying ...