Datasheet

Part I: Setting the Stage for Project

Figure 1-9 also shows an exclamation point icon (indicator) that tells you

that one resource needs help, which might involve using resource level-

ing, a calculation that automatically reschedules resources to resolve

overbooking. Resource leveling can enable you to manage resources

much more effectively. You can see how overbooked the PR Manager is

on two dates.

You can use codes for resources that designate skill levels or abilities so that

finding the right resource for each job is as simple as performing a search.

From To-Do List to Hard Drive

If you’re reading from start to finish in this chapter, you’re probably shaking

your head and saying, “Boy, handwritten to-do lists look pretty good right

now. Beats creating hundreds of tasks, assigning them durations, establishing

dependencies among them, creating resources, entering resource calendar

and rate information, assigning resources and costs to tasks, entering activity

performed on tasks . . .” and so on.

Well, you’re right and wrong about that. You do have to enter a lot of infor-

mation into Project to get the benefit of its features. But you can also get a lot

out of Project.

Getting up to speed with Project

Take a moment to look at some of the wonderful things Project can do for

you. This list describes why you (or your company) bought it and why you’re

investing your time to read this book.

With Project, you enjoy the following benefits:

✓ Project automatically calculates costs and timing for you based on your

input. You can quickly recalculate what-if scenarios to solve resource

conflicts, get your costs within budget, or meet your final deadline.

✓ Project offers views and reports that, with the click of a button, make a

wealth of information available to you and those you report to. You no

longer have to manually build a report on total costs to date to meet a

last-minute request from your boss. If she wants to know total costs to

date, you can just print your Tracking Gantt view with the Cost table dis-

played or print the Budget report. See Chapter 16 for information about

reporting.

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