Datasheet

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Chapter 1: Project Management: What It Is, and Why You Should Care
✓ 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 project
manager finds the right resource for the job, assigns that person a reason-
able 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.
This icon indicates a resource that needs help
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