Microsoft Project is brimming with features to help you manage any project, large or small. But learning the software is only half the battle. What you really need is real-world guidance: how to prep your project before touching your PC, which Project tools work best, and which ones to use with care. This book explains it all, helping you go from project manager to project master.
Get a project management primer. Discover what it takes to handle a project successfully
Learn the program inside out. Get step-by-step instructions for Project Standard and Project Professional
Build and refine your plan. Put together your team, schedule, and budget
Achieve the results you want. Build realistic schedules, and learn how to keep costs under control
Track your progress. Measure your performance, make course corrections, and manage changes
Use Project's power tools. Customize Project's features and views, and transfer info directly between Project and other programs
Project Management: The Missing Manual
Chapter 1 Projects: In the Beginning
What's So Special About Projects?
What Is Project Management?
Why Manage Projects?
Picking the Right Projects
Gaining Support for a Project
Publicizing a Project and Its Manager
Chapter 2 Planning a Project
Project Planning in a Nutshell
Defining the Project
Documenting How You'll Run the Project
Laying Out Project Processes
Chapter 3 Taking Microsoft Project for a Test Drive
Navigating the Project Ribbon
The Project Window
Creating a Project Schedule
Saving Your Project
Chapter 4 Breaking Work into Task-Sized Chunks
Identifying the Work to Be Done
Building a WBS in Microsoft Project
Documenting a WBS in Another Program
Setting Up Custom WBS Codes
Documenting Work Package Details
Chapter 5 Estimating Task Work and Duration
Understanding Work and Duration
Getting Good Estimates
Getting Estimates into Project
Planning with Manually Scheduled Tasks
Chapter 6 Setting Up a Project Schedule
Creating a New Project File
Saving a New Project
Opening a Project File
Setting Up Options For a Project
Adding Tasks to a Project
Inserting, Moving, and Deleting Tasks
Copying Tasks
Modifying a Task's Level in the Outline
Chapter 7 Making a Schedule That's Easy to Maintain
How Tasks Affect One Another
Building Relationships Between Tasks
Scheduling Task Work Time with Calendars
Setting Specific Task Dates
Project Planning: More Than Creating a Schedule
Chapter 8 Building a Team for Your Project
Identifying Project Resources
Understanding Project's Resource Types
Adding Resources in Microsoft Project
Providing Detailed Resource Information
Chapter 9 Connecting Resources to Tasks
Assigning Work Resources to Tasks
Assigning Material Resources to Tasks
Understanding Duration, Work, and Units
Modifying Resource Assignments
Adding and Removing Resources from Tasks
Chapter 10 Does the Schedule Work?
Making Sure Tasks Are Set Up Correctly
Defining Work Schedules with Calendars
Task Inspector: Help with Schedule Problems
Building Reality into Assignments
Balancing Workloads
Chapter 11 Setting Up a Project Budget
Putting a Price Tag on Your Project
Incorporating Resource Costs
Preparing for Cost Calculations
Reviewing Cost Information
Comparing Costs to Your Budget
Reducing Project Costs
Setting the Project Fiscal Year
Assigning Accounting Codes
Chapter 12 Refining a Project Schedule
Evaluating the Project Schedule
Project Tools for Change
Adjusting Resource Assignments
Splitting Tasks into Smaller Pieces
Overlapping Tasks
Paying More for Faster Delivery
Playing What-If Games
Chapter 13 Saving the Project Plan
Obtaining Approval for the Plan
Storing Project Documents
Preserving the Original Plan in Project
Projects in Action
Chapter 14 Tracking Progress
Picking the Best Way to Track Progress
Obtaining Progress and Cost Data
Entering Actual Progress in Project
Chapter 15 Evaluating Project Performance
Scheduled, Baseline, and Actual Values
Is the Project on Time?
Checking on Work
Is the Project Within Budget?
Earned Value Analysis
Getting Back on Track
Chapter 16 Managing Change
Setting Up a Change Management System
Managing Changes in Project
Chapter 17 Reporting on Projects
An Overview of Project's Reports
Text-Based Reports
Working with Visual Reports
Printing Views to Report Project Information
Chapter 18 Closing a Project
Obtaining Project Acceptance
Tying Up Loose Ends
Producing Project Closeout Reports
What to Do with Project Information
Project Power Tools
Chapter 19 Working on Multiple Projects
Managing Multiple Projects
Sharing Resources Among Projects
Chapter 20 Exchanging Data Between Programs
Copying Information
Importing and Exporting Data
Sharing Projects with SharePoint
Chapter 21 Linking and Embedding
Linking and Embedding Project Data
Linking and Embedding Data into Project
Working with Linked and Embedded Objects
Chapter 22 Project on the Internet
Hyperlinking to Information
Integrating Project and Outlook
Customizing Project
Chapter 23 Viewing What You Want
Creating Your Own View
Changing Tables
Changing the Way Text Looks
Filtering Through Information
Grouping Project Elements
Chapter 24 Defining Your Own Fields
Understanding Custom Fields
Customizing a Field
Coding Tasks and Resources
Chapter 25 Customizing the Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar
Bonnie Biafore is an award-wining author of more than a dozen books, including Missing Manuals on Quicken 2009, QuickBooks 2009, and Project 2007, as well as The Better Investing Stock Selection Handbook, Online Investing Hacks, and On Time! On Track! On Target!. She also writes regularly about financial topics for Better Investing bankrate.com and interest.com. As an engineer, she's fascinated by how things work and how to make things work better, and has a knack for mincing dry subjects like accounting and project management into easy-to-understand morsels and spicing them up with her warped sense of humor.
