Course Description
You'll learn ...
- How to import tasks into your project from virtually any source
- How to pull resources from Microsoft Outlook, Active Directory and other sources
- How to merge multiple projects into a single master project
- How to take advantage of templates and Wizards that can dramatically reduce your project planning time
- And much more!
In today's "do more with less" business environment, managing projects effectively has become a key success strategy. With budgets and head counts cut to the bone, any misallocation of project resources could spell disaster, not only for the project at hand, but for an entire company. With so much at stake, more people than ever are turning to Microsoft Project to help them keep projects of all sizes on time, on track and on budget. The ability to manage projects is one of the most vital business tools you can have in your arsenal. Whether you're managing people, time or tasks, put the versatility of Microsoft Project to work for you today.
Day one: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
The essentials of project management
Before you begin to use Microsoft Project to manage your projects, you need a firm grounding in the essentials of project management. That's what this session is all about. You'll learn what tools the project management pros use, such as the Gantt chart, tracking Gantt, Network Diagram and many others. Find out why projects often fall short of expectations and the things you can do to avoid the same pitfalls. You'll also learn ...
What components make up a project such as resources, tasks and moreThe differences among the various versions of Microsoft Project-including Standard, Professional and Server versionsInstallation tips and techniquesThe function of each menu item and some time-saving shortcuts you can use when working with the Microsoft Project interfaceHow to get a jump on setting up your project by using the templates included with Microsoft ProjectPlanning the project
The most critical part of any project is a good, workable project plan. This session shows you how you can use Microsoft Project to develop a project plan quickly and efficiently and give your project an even greater probability of success. You'll learn how to create a task hierarchy and how to determine the duration of your tasks. You'll also find out ...
How to use the Wizard to start entering tasks even if you don't know start or end datesHow to manually enter, reorder and relate or link tasks and organize them into phasesThe types of additional information fields that can be added to your project and how you can create custom information fieldsHow to add documents to your projectHow to use PERT analysis to estimate task durationCreating and managing deadlines, constraints and task calendars
Task calendars, constraints, deadlines-the more you know about these features, the more fine-tuned your project management skills become. In this session, we'll cover how to use task calendars as a technique to get your schedule back in line with a deadline constraint, show you how to incorporate restrictions in a schedule using deadlines and constraints, how to display, read and analyze the critical path, plus how to use task drivers in the analysis. But that's not all-you'll also learn:
The in's and out's of using deadlines, constraints and task calendarsHow to add deadlines and constraints to your project tasksHow to modify deadlines and constraintsHow to create and modify task calendarsThe right way to identify critical tasksAssigning resources-people, equipment and materials
Project resources are the people and equipment that are used to get the tasks done. This session shows you how to assign your resources to your tasks in the most efficient way possible. The task of adding resources to your project can be extremely time-consuming, but we'll show you several different methods to streamline this process and get the job done in a snap. You'll discover why it's important not to just start assigning resources to tasks, but instead create a resource pool before you begin to make assignments. You'll also learn ...
How to easily import resources from your company Address BookA quick way to modify the working times for your resourcesHow to assign resources to tasks both with the Wizard and manuallyThe right way to enter resource costs for workers, equipment and materialsWhat to do when you need to edit or add information for your resourcesDay two: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Tracking and managing your project
Once you have all your project tasks and resources entered, you must now begin the process of tracking and managing your project. In this session, you'll learn what a project baseline is and why you might need more than one baseline for your project. You'll also find out what an interim plan is and how to create one. We'll show you how to update the status of your tasks so Microsoft Project can automatically reschedule remaining tasks and give you a way to measure progress. Also in this session ...
3 different ways to track the progress of each taskFind out how to accurately use the status date when updating project tasksDiscover what each status indicator means and how to use them to get a quick view of your overall project statusHow to apply filters to zero in on only those tasks that are necessary to monitorHow to use the Project Guide: Edit Assignments view to quickly make changes to your projectViews and reports
While getting information into Microsoft Project can be a little difficult to the untrained user, getting information out can be virtually impossible. In this session, you'll learn how to make sense of all the different project views that are available and find out how to quickly generate clear and concise reports that contain exactly the information you want. Learn how to format the text, bar styles, timeline and gridlines in your project. Plus ...
How to group, filter and sort dataAn easy way to see more of your project information by using the Split View featureHow to compare the actual progress of your project against the baselineHow to use the built-in reports and how to quickly create custom reports from your project dataWhat a critical path is and how to view your project's path to make sure you're on trackIntegrating Project with other Office applications
One of the best features of Microsoft Project is its ability to integrate with other Microsoft Office applications. This session will show you how you can maximize the functionality of Microsoft Project by taking advantage of its smooth integration features. You'll learn how to quickly import tasks from Microsoft Outlook with a few simple mouse clicks. You'll also discover ...
How easy it is to import data from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheetHow to connect to a Microsoft Access database and import table data into your projectAn easy method of importing data from any ODBC data source such as Microsoft SQL ServerHow to export your project data to a variety of file types including spreadsheets, database tables, text files and moreHow to save your project data as a Web pageWorking with multiple projects
Most project managers have to deal with multiple projects, which can be a daunting task. But in this session, we'll show you how Microsoft Project can help you keep all your projects running smoothly. You'll learn how to create task dependencies between different projects and how to enter lead or lag time for task links between projects. Also in this session ...
How to insert subprojects into a project file to consolidate your projectsHow to create a shared resource pool between multiple projectsAn easy way to view your subproject statistics without having to sift through the entire project status reportWhy you might want to break down a large project into a master project with subprojects, and how to accomplish itHow to quickly view the critical path of multiple projects and make sure they're all on the right track Comments
Registrations for classes must originate from either the United States or Canada.Cancelation Policy: If you cannot attend an event, you may send someone else in your place. If that isn’t an option for you, cancellations received up to five working days before the event are refundable, minus a registration service charge ($10 for one-day events; $25 for multiple-day events). After that, cancellations are subject to the entire seminar fee, which you may apply toward a future seminar. Please note that if you don’t cancel and don’t attend, you are still responsible for payment.