Project 2016 For Dummies

Book description

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!

Table of contents

    1. Cover
    2. Introduction
      1. About This Book
      2. Foolish Assumptions
      3. Icons Used in This Book
      4. Beyond the Book
      5. Where to Go from Here
    3. Part I: Getting Started with Project 2016
      1. Chapter 1: Project Management, Project 2016, and You
        1. Introducing Project Management
        2. Getting to Know You
        3. Tell Me What You Want to Do
      2. Chapter 2: Starting the Project
        1. Creating the Project Charter
        2. Introducing the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
        3. Organizing the Work
        4. Starting the Project
        5. Saving the Project
      3. Chapter 3: Becoming a Task Master
        1. Creating Summary Tasks and Subtasks
        2. Moving Tasks Up, Down, and All Around
        3. Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Collapsing and Expanding the Task Outline
        4. Showing Up Again and Again: Recurring Tasks
        5. Setting Milestones
        6. Deleting Tasks and Using Inactive Tasks
        7. Making a Task Note
      4. Chapter 4: The Codependent Nature of Tasks
        1. How Tasks Become Dependent
        2. Setting the Dependency Connection
      5. Chapter 5: Estimating Task Time
        1. You’re in It for the Duration
        2. Estimating Effort and Duration
        3. Controlling Timing with Constraints
        4. Starting and Pausing Tasks
      6. Chapter 6: Check Out This View!
        1. A Project with a View
        2. More Detail about Views
        3. Customizing Views
    4. Part II: Managing Resources
      1. Chapter 7: Creating Resources
        1. Resources: People, Places, and Things
        2. Becoming Resource-Full
        3. The Birth of a Resource
        4. Managing Resource Availability
        5. Sharing Resources
      2. Chapter 8: Working with Calendars
        1. Mastering Base, Project, Resource, and Task Calendars
        2. Scheduling with Calendar Options and Working Times
        3. Working with Task Calendars and Resource Calendars
        4. Creating a Custom Calendar Template
        5. Sharing Copies of Calendars
      3. Chapter 9: Assigning Resources
        1. Finding the Right Resource
        2. Making a Useful Assignation
        3. Benefitting from a Helpful Planner
      4. Chapter 10: Determining a Project’s Cost
        1. How Do Costs Accrue?
        2. Specifying Cost Information in the Project
        3. How Your Settings Affect Your Costs
    5. Part III: Before You Baseline
      1. Chapter 11: Fine-Tuning Your Plan
        1. Everything Filters to the Bottom Line
        2. Gathering Information in Groups
        3. Figuring Out What’s Driving the Project
      2. Chapter 12: Negotiating Project Constraints
        1. It’s about Time
        2. Getting What You Want for Less
        3. The Resource Recourse
        4. Rescheduling the Project
      3. Chapter 13: Making the Project Look Good
        1. Looking Good!
        2. Formatting the Gantt Chart
        3. Formatting Task Boxes
        4. Adjusting the Layout
        5. Modifying Gridlines
        6. Recognizing When a Picture Can Say It All
        7. Creating a Custom Text Field
      4. Chapter 14: It All Begins with a Baseline
        1. All about Baselines
        2. In the Interim
    6. Part IV: Staying on Track
      1. Chapter 15: On the Right Track
        1. Developing a Communications Management Plan
        2. Tracking Work for the Record
        3. Moving a Task
        4. Update Project: Sweeping Changes
        5. Tracking Materials
        6. Tracking More Than One: Consolidated Projects
      2. Chapter 16: Project Views: Observing Progress
        1. Seeing Where Tasks Stand
        2. Delving into the Detail
        3. Tracking Progress Using Earned Value Management
        4. Calculating Behind the Scenes
      3. Chapter 17: You’re Behind — Now What?
        1. Using Project with Risk and Issue Logs
        2. What-If Scenarios
        3. How Adding People or Time Affects the Project
        4. When All Else Fails
      4. Chapter 18: Spreading the News: Reporting
        1. Generating Standard Reports
        2. Creating New Reports
        3. Fine-Tuning a Report
        4. Spiffing Things Up
        5. Call the Printer!
        6. Working on the Timeline
        7. Enhanced Copy and Paste
      5. Chapter 19: Getting Better All the Time
        1. Reviewing the Project
        2. Comparing Versions of a Project
        3. Building on Success
    7. Part V: The Part of Tens
      1. Chapter 20: Ten Golden Rules of Project Management
        1. Roll with It
        2. Put Your Ducks in a Row
        3. Expect the Unexpected
        4. Don’t Put Off until Tomorrow …
        5. Delegate, Delegate, Delegate
        6. Document It
        7. Keep the Team in the Loop
        8. Measure Success
        9. Maintain a Flexible Strategy
        10. Learn from Your Mistakes
      2. Chapter 21: Ten Cool Shortcuts in Project 2016
        1. Task Information
        2. Resource Information
        3. Frequently Used Functions
        4. Subtasks
        5. Indenting and Outdenting
        6. Fill Down
        7. Navigation
        8. Hours to Years
        9. Timeline Shortcuts
        10. Quick Find
    8. Appendix: Glossary
    9. About the Author
    10. Cheat Sheet
    11. Advertisement Page
    12. Connect with Dummies
    13. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Project 2016 For Dummies
  • Author(s): Cynthia Snyder
  • Release date: March 2016
  • Publisher(s): For Dummies
  • ISBN: 9781119224518