Project 2010 For Dummies®

Chapter 20

Ten Golden Rules of Project Management

In This Chapter

Putting good project management practices to work using Microsoft Project

Creating and tracking Project schedules more efficiently

Learning from your mistakes

You’ve heard this one: You can have your deliverable on time, on budget, or done right: Choose two. That’s an example of some traditional project management wisdom. But how does that wisdom translate to the use of project management software?

Well, it’s simple: If you assign additional resources to a Project schedule, you add costs and time to your schedule because resources have costs attached and can work only according to their work calendars. So, clearly, making changes that may improve quality — such as adding more or higher-priced resources — affects the time and money needed for your project. That adage about time being money is still true, but now you can clearly see the effect that one action has on other aspects of your project (especially if something you do tinkers with time or money) — and it’s all visible in Project’s many views and reports.

So what project management adages should you be aware of as you begin to use Project? Here are ten to tack up on your office wall.

Don’t Bite Off More Than You Can Manage

As I mention elsewhere in this book (see Chapter 1), you must have an understanding of the goal of your project as well as the scope of its activities before you start to build a Project schedule. Don’t plan a full marketing campaign if ...