Datasheet

Microsoft Project enables you to review your projects and to clearly see where you estimated incor-
rectly, made adjustments too slowly, or didn’t break phases into manageable chunks. Project keeps
your original schedule’s baseline in a single file, along with interim baselines and your final tracked
schedule. When planning future projects, you can use these older baselines to help gauge the dura-
tion of tasks and the cost of certain items and to know how many resources are enough resources.
In the end, you’ll be a more successful and efficient project manager. You can easily show your boss
the specific actions that you’ve taken to avoid problems and provide solutions. In addition, you’ll
have the tools that you need to help you and your manager understand the issues that you face and
to get the support that you need.
Summary
This chapter presented a survey of the discipline known as project management and explained the
role that project management software can play to help you manage projects. The following topics
were covered:
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Projects involve a stated goal, a specific time frame, and multiple resources (which can
include people, equipment, and materials).
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Project management seeks to control issues of time, quality, and money.
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Critical path, slack, task durations, milestones, fixed tasks, resource-driven tasks, and
dependencies are project management elements that help you build and monitor a project.
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Project management software can assist you in planning, tracking, and communicating
with team members and in reporting on projects with tools such as Gantt Charts and net-
work diagrams.
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Although using Project takes some effort on your part, this effort pays off in increased
productivity and efficiency.
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Projects typically have five activities: Setting the goal and defining the scope, planning,
revising, tracking, and reviewing to learn from your mistakes.
Chapter 2 takes a closer look at the Project environment and provides information about some of
the tools that you can use to manage a project.
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The Nature of Projects
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