Datasheet

 Risk management is a central part of project management because,
frankly, projects are chock-full of risk. You run the risk that your
resources won’t perform, that materials will arrive late, that your cus-
tomer will change all the parameters of the project halfway through —
well, you get the picture.
Risk management is the art of anticipating risks, ranking them from most
to least likely, and determining strategies to prevent the most likely ones
from occurring. Project helps you with risk management by allowing you
to try out
what-if scenarios: You can change the start date or length of
a task or phase of tasks (for example) and see just what that change
does to your schedule, such as the delays, cost overruns, and resource
conflicts that might occur in such a scenario, down to the last hour and
penny. Having this kind of information at your fingertips makes risk man-
agement easier and (almost) painless.
 Resource management consists of using resources wisely. A good pro-
ject manager finds the right resource for the job, assigns that person a
reasonable workload, stays alert for shifts in the schedule that cause
that resource to be overbooked, and during the life of the project makes
adjustments that keep all resources most productive. In Project, tools
are available, such as a
resource graph (traditionally called a histogram)
and the resource usage chart (shown in Figure 1-9), which reflects
resource workload.
Figure 1-9:
A resource
usage
chart helps
you spot
resource-
scheduling
problems.
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Chapter 1: Project Management: What Is It, and Why Should You Care?
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