Project 2010 For Dummies®

Project 2010 For Dummies®

by Nancy Muir
Released May 2010
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9780470501320

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Book description

A friendly reference guide to Microsoft Project, the leading enterprise project management software

As project management software, Microsoft Project allows you to oversee your business activities effectively. You can manage resources, share project info, perform modeling and scenario analysis, and standardize reporting processes. This easy-to-understand guide is completely updated to cover the latest changes and newest enhancements to Project 2010 and shows you how to get Project 2010 to work for you.

After an introduction to basic project management concepts, you'll discover the mechanics of using Project software to create and manage projects. Other topics covered include working with calendars, using and sharing resources, budgeting, formatting taskbars, gathering and tracking data, working with reports, and creating templates.

  • Microsoft Project allows you to manage resources, share project information, perform scenario analysis, and standardize reporting processes

  • Offers completely updated coverage of the new Project 2010, which is expected to implement the Office Ribbon

  • Reviews formatting taskbars, gathering and tracking data, and working with reports

  • Addresses using and sharing resources, creating templates, and managing projects

Let the friendly For Dummies writing style guide you through maximizing the new features of Project 2010.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Table of Contents
  4. Introduction
  5. Part I: Setting the Stage for Project
    1. Chapter 1: Project Management: What It Is, and Why You Should Care
      1. The ABCs of Project Management
      2. The Role of the Project Manager
      3. From To-Do List to Hard Drive
      4. Getting Started
      5. Saving a Project for Posterity
      6. Getting Help from Project
    2. Chapter 2: The Best-Laid Plans
      1. Project 2010’s New Interface
      2. Navigating Project
      3. A Project with a View
      4. Customizing Views
    3. Chapter 3: Mark It on Your Calendar
      1. Mastering Base, Project, Resource, and Task Calendars
      2. Calendar Options and Working Times
      3. Setting the Project Calendar and Other Essential Project Information
      4. Modifying Task Calendars
      5. Making Resource Calendar Settings
      6. Do It Yourself: Creating a Custom Calendar Template
      7. Sharing Copies of Calendars
    4. Chapter 4: A Tisket, a Task Kit
      1. User-Controlled Scheduling: Manual versus Automatic
      2. Tackling Your First Task
      3. You’re in It for the Duration
      4. Starting and Pausing Tasks
      5. 1 + 1 = 1/2: Effort-Driven Tasks
      6. Controlling Timing with Constraints
      7. Deleting Tasks and Using Inactive Tasks
      8. Making a Task Note
      9. Saving Your Project — and Your Tasks
      10. Task Information in Action: Planning Your Next Space Launch
    5. Chapter 5: Getting Your Outline in Line
      1. Summary Tasks and Subtasks
      2. The One-and-Only Project Summary Task
      3. Structuring the Project’s Outline
      4. Moving Tasks All around Your Outline
      5. Using a Manually Scheduled Summary Task to Plan from the Top Down
      6. Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Collapsing and Expanding Tasks
      7. Cracking the WBS Code
    6. Chapter 6: Timing Is Everything
      1. How Tasks Become Codependent
      2. Making the Dependency Connection
      3. Taking a Look at the Task Dependencies
  6. Part II: People Who Need People
    1. Chapter 7: Optimizing Your Resources
      1. Resources: People, Places, and Things
      2. Becoming Resource-Full
      3. The Birth of a Resource
      4. Sharing Resources
      5. Say, When Do These Guys Work?
      6. Now That I’ve Got ’Em, How Do I Manage ’Em?
    2. Chapter 8: What's All This Gonna Cost?
      1. Mary, Mary, How Do Your Costs Accrue?
      2. It All Adds Up: Specifying Cost Info in Your Project
      3. It’s an Availability Thing
      4. Adding It Up: How Your Settings Affect Your Budget
      5. Creating a Custom Text Field
      6. Working with Budgets
    3. Chapter 9: Assigning Resources to Get Things Done
      1. You’d Be Surprised What Assignments Can Do to Your Timing
      2. Finding the Right Resource
      3. A Useful Assignation
      4. A Helpful Planner
      5. Communicating an Assignment to Your Team
  7. Part III: Well, It Looks Good on Paper . . .
    1. Chapter 10: Fine-Tuning Your Plan
      1. Everything Filters to the Bottom Line
      2. Gathering Info in Groups
      3. Figuring Out What’s Driving Your Project
      4. It’s About Time
      5. Getting It for Less
      6. Your Resource Recourse
      7. Rescheduling the Project
      8. Mixing Solutions Up
    2. Chapter 11: Making Your Project Look Good
      1. Putting Your Best Foot Forward
      2. Getting to the Critical Stuff
      3. Formatting Task Bars
      4. Restyling Your Gantt Chart
      5. Formatting Task Boxes
      6. Adjusting the Layout
      7. Modifying Gridlines
      8. When a Picture Can Say It All
  8. Part IV: Avoiding Disaster: Staying on Track
    1. Chapter 12: It All Begins with a Baseline
      1. All about Baselines
      2. In the Interim
    2. Chapter 13: On the Right Track
      1. Gathering Your Data
      2. Where Does All This Information Go?
      3. Tracking Your Work for the Record
      4. Moving a Task
      5. Update Project: Sweeping Changes for Dummies
      6. Tracking Materials Usage
      7. Tracking More Than One: Consolidated Projects
    3. Chapter 14: A Project with a View: Observing Progress
      1. Seeing Where Tasks Stand
      2. Studying by the Numbers
      3. Acronym Soup: BCWP, ACWP, EAC, and CV
      4. Calculations behind the Scenes
    4. Chapter 15: You're Behind: Now What?
      1. Justifying Yourself: Notes, Baselines, and Interim Plans
      2. What If?
      3. How Adding People or Time Affects Your Project
      4. When All Else Fails
      5. What Does Project Have to Say about This?
    5. Chapter 16: Spreading the News: Reporting
      1. Off the Rack: Standard Reports
      2. A Custom Job
      3. Get a New Perspective on Data with Visual Reports
      4. Spiffing Things Up
      5. Call the Printer!
      6. So Let’s Print!
      7. A Project Overview: The Timeline
      8. Dressing Up Your Input and Output with Enhanced Copy and Paste
    6. Chapter 17: Getting Better All the Time
      1. Learning from Your Mistakes
      2. Comparing Versions of a Project
      3. Building on Your Success
  9. Part V: Working with Enterprise Projects
    1. Chapter 18: Project Web App for the Project Manager
      1. Figuring Out Whether Project Server Is for You
      2. Getting a Handle on What You Can Do with Project Server and Project Web App
      3. Planning to Use Project Server and Project Web App
      4. Looking Over the Project Web App Tools
      5. Working with the Gang Online
    2. Chapter 19: Project Web App for the Team Member
      1. Seeing Project Web App from the User’s Perspective
      2. Viewing Your Assignments
      3. Reporting Work Completed
      4. Viewing Project Information
      5. Sending Task Work Updates
      6. Sending Status Reports
  10. Part VI: The Part of Tens
    1. Chapter 20: Ten Golden Rules of Project Management
      1. Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Manage
      2. Get Your Ducks in a Row
      3. Plan for Murphy
      4. Don’t Put Off until Tomorrow
      5. Delegate, Delegate, Delegate!
      6. CYA (Document!)
      7. Keep Your Team in the Loop
      8. Measure Success
      9. Have a Flexible Strategy
      10. Learn from Your Mistakes
    2. Chapter 21: Ten Project Management Software Products to Explore
      1. DecisionEdge Chart and Report Products Enhance Project’s Own Tools
      2. Cobra Squeezes the Most from Cost/Earned Value
      3. MindManuals Helps You Visualize Project Information
      4. Innate Integrates Projects Large and Small
      5. PlanView Models Your Workforce Capacity
      6. Tenrox Streamlines Business Processes
      7. Project KickStart Gives Your Project a Head Start
      8. Project Manager’s Assistant Organizes Drawings for Construction Projects
      9. TeamTrack Solves Mission-Critical Issues
      10. EPK-Suite Eases Portfolio Mangement Chores

Product information

  • Title: Project 2010 For Dummies®
  • Author(s): Nancy Muir
  • Release date: May 2010
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9780470501320