Microsoft Office Project for Mere Mortals

Microsoft Office Project for Mere Mortals(R) strips away the mysteries of Microsoft Office Project, giving you practical skills, methodologies, and best practices for building schedules and budgets that work. Using the clear, concise, and friendly style that's a hallmark of the For Mere Mortals(R) series, Jansen provides step-by-step instructions for every feature you really need to master, whether you're using Project 2007, 2003, or 2002. You'll learn why Project works as it does, so you can make the best possible decisions about how to use it. Realistic exercises offer extensive hands-on practice, and a start-to-finish case study covers the entire project lifecycle. Jansen shows you how to: * Scope projects using work breakdown structures and task outlines * Define projects rapidly with Microsoft Project templates * Work with milestones, deadline dates, and task information * Manage resource sharing across multiple projects * Calculate accurate budgets * Avoid common scheduling errors and oversights * Tighten critical paths to reduce work overload and resource overallocation * Use baselining to track variances, adjust projects "on-the-fly," and become a more effective scheduler * Uncover potential problems, identify alternatives, and avoid crises * Discover little-known tips and tricks for better formatting and printing * Use Project to close projects successfully, and learn from your experience Whatever your title, organization, or project, this book will help you get powerful results with Microsoft Office Project-quickly, efficiently, and painlessly. The CD-ROM contains a searchable electronic version of the book and Microsoft Project (.MPP) files (available for Project 2002 and above) of the book's step-by-step scheduling practices and case studies. Praise for Microsoft Office Project for Mere Mortals(R) "This book stands out of the ordinary, as it is the first one on Microsoft Office Project I know to be completely driven by project management methods." -Jan De Messemaeker, M.S., Microsoft Project Most Valuable Professional "Patti Jansen's practice sessions are a great way to become familiar with Microsoft Project and the step-by-step instructions make it easy." -Kimberly Amaris, PMP Patti Jansen, PMP, is a Senior Project Manager at QuantumPM, a leading project management consultancy that works closely with Microsoft. She has more than 10 years of senior project management experience, and is a well-known Microsoft Project and PMI instructor. She was a technical contributor to PMP: Project Management Professional Study Guide, Deluxe Edition, PMP: Project Management Professional Workbook, and PMP: Project Management Professional Certification Kit. Foreword xvii Preface xix Acknowledgments xxvii About the Author xxix CHAPTER 1 Introducing Microsoft Office Project 1 CHAPTER 2 Revealing the Secrets of Microsoft Project 23 CHAPTER 3 Building Your Schedule: Scoping Your Project 87 CHAPTER 4 Understanding Task Information 137 CHAPTER 5 Sequencing the Work: Creating the Critical Path 195 CHAPTER 6 Understanding Resources and Their Effects on Tasks 235 CHAPTER 7 Using Project to Enter Cost Estimates 301 CHAPTER 8 Polishing Your Schedule 347 CHAPTER 9 Reviewing Work Overload and the Critical Path 389 CHAPTER 10 Baselining: The Key to Tracking Your Schedule 431 CHAPTER 11 Tracking Your Schedule 451 CHAPTER 12 Closing Down Your Schedule: The End Is Only the Beginning 521 CHAPTER 13 Project Mysteries Resolved! 535 APPENDIX Answers to Review Questions 573 Glossary 591 Index 601