Project 2016 For Dummies

Cynthia Snyder Dionisio

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781119224518
• eBook ISBN: 9781119224525
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Desktop Applications
• Index: Computer Science

The easy way to take control of project timelines, resources, budgets, and details

Project manager, meet your new assistant! Once you discover Project 2016 you'll be amazed at how efficient and effective the project management process can be. Written by an expert author who knows project management processes backward and forward, this friendly, hands-on guide shows you how to get started, enter tasks and estimate durations, work with resources and costs, fine-tune your schedule, set baselines, collect data, analyze progress, and keep your projects on track.

How many times have you heard people in the office mutter under their breath, 'These projects never run on time?' Well, now they can! Project 2016 For Dummies shows you how to use the latest version of Microsoft Project to create realistic project timelines, make the most of available resources, keep on top of all those pesky details, and, finally, complete your project on time and on budget. Easy!

• Fully updated to reflect the latest software changes in Microsoft Project 2016
• All-new case studies and examples highlight the relevance of key features of Microsoft Project 2016
• Exposes the correlation between what project managers do and how Microsoft Project 2016 supports their work
• Covers working with calendars, using and sharing resources, budgeting, gathering and tracking data, and more

If you're a time-pressured project manager looking to make your life—and your projects—easier, Project 2016 For Dummies shows you how to get things done!

Part I

Getting Started with Project 2016

For Dummies can help you get started with lots of subjects. Visit www.dummies.com for more great content online.

In this part …

Get familiar with the Ribbons and file tabs in Project 2016.

See how to open a new project, enter tasks, and organize a project.

Become skilled in working with summary tasks, milestones, and notes.

Identify and arrange task dependencies to create a network diagram.

Develop duration estimates for tasks.

Customize Project views to meet your needs.

Chapter 1

Project Management, Project 2016, and You

In This Chapter

Understanding the elements of a project

Laying out the project manager’s role

Benefitting from Project 2016

Exploring the software interface

Finding help in Project

Welcome to the world of computerized project management with Microsoft Project. If you’ve never used project management software, you’re entering a brave new world.

Everything you used to do with handwritten to-do lists, word processors, and spreadsheets magically comes together in Project. However, this transition doesn’t come in a moment, and you need a basic understanding of what project management software can do to get you up to speed. If you’ve used previous versions of Project, the overview in this chapter can refresh your memory and ease you into a few of the new Project 2016 features.

Even if you’re a seasoned project manager, this chapter provides the foundation for how to work with Project.

Introducing Project Management

You probably handle projects day in and day out. Some are obvious, because your boss named them so that any fool would know that they’re projects: Acme Drilling Project or Network Expansion IT Project, for example. Others are less obvious, such as that presentation you need to put together for your director or that how-to guide on planting a vegetable garden in your backyard.

In this book, a project is defined as a unique venture undertaken to produce distinct deliverables, products, or outcomes. In the context of a project, a deliverable is a discrete component or item that meets the requirements of the project, such as a design document or a prototype. Projects have multiple variables; some are straightforward to define, and others aren’t.

Using the information about variables in Table 1-1, you can say that project management is the practice of organizing, managing, and controlling project variables to meet the project outcomes and mission.

Table 1-1 Project Variables

Variable	Description
Defined
Scope	The work needed to produce the deliverables, products, or outcomes for the project.
Time	The duration required to complete the project work.
Cost	The funds required to complete the project.
Resources	The people, equipment, material, supplies, and facilities needed to accomplish the project.
Undefined
Change	The type, timing, number, and degree of modifications from a project baseline; can affect the project’s scope, time, cost, or resources.
Risk	Uncertainty (associated with the scope, time, cost, resources, stakeholders, or environment) that can threaten the completion of any aspect of the project. Fortunately, risks can also present opportunities to accelerate the schedule or come in under budget.
Stakeholder	A person who can affect, or who is affected by, the project, either positively or negatively.
Environment	The location, culture, or organization in which the project occurs.

Defining project manager

Although understanding the role (let alone the usefulness) of certain managers isn’t always easy, you can easily spot the value of a project manager: This person creates the master plan for a project and ensures that it is implemented successfully. Along the way, the project manager uses technical, business, and professional skills to manage the completion of tasks and keep the schedule on track.

A truly professional project manager may have a degree in project management or a professional certification. For example, if you see the initials PMP beside a name, that person has been certified as a project management professional by the Project Management Institute, the leading global organization establishing project management standards and credentials, and offering educational and other types of resources in the field.

Identifying what a project manager does

A project manager isn’t always the highest authority in a project. Often, that role belongs to whoever manages the project manager — including, possibly, members of senior management. Rather, the project manager is the person who ensures that aspects of the project are integrated and assumes hands-on responsibility for successes as well as failures.

In project management parlance, the person who champions (and funds) a project is the project sponsor. Although the project manager may work for the project sponsor, the project often also has a customer — outside the project manager’s own company or within it — for whom the end product is produced.

The project manager manages these essential pieces of a project:

• Scope: Define and organize all work that needs to be done in order to meet the project mission and create deliverables.
...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Part I: Getting Started with Project 2016
• Part II: Managing Resources
• Part III: Before You Baseline
• Part IV: Staying on Track
• Part V: The Part of Tens
• Appendix: Glossary
• About the Author
• Cheat Sheet
• Advertisement Page
• Connect with Dummies
• End User License Agreement