Book Image

Learning Microsoft Project 2019

By : Srikanth Shirodkar
Book Image

Learning Microsoft Project 2019

By: Srikanth Shirodkar

Overview of this book

Microsoft Project is one of the most popular project management tools for enterprises of all sizes thanks to its wide variety of features such as project scheduling, project budgeting, built-in templates, and reporting tools. Learning Microsoft Project 2019 will get you started with the basics and gradually guide you through the complete project life cycle. Starting with an overview of Microsoft Project 2019 and a brief introduction to project management concepts, this book will take you through the different phases of project management – initiation, planning, execution, control, and closure. You will then learn how to identify and handle problems related to scheduling, costing, resourcing, and work allocation. Understand how to use dynamic reports to create powerful, automated reports and dashboards at the click of a button. This Microsoft Project book highlights the pitfalls of overallocation and demonstrates how to avoid and resolve these issues using a wide spectrum of tools, techniques, and best practices. Finally, you will focus on executing Agile projects efficiently and get to grips with using Kanban and Scrum features. By the end of this book, you will be well-versed with Microsoft Project and have the skills you need to use it effectively in every stage of project management.
Table of Contents (32 chapters)
1
Section 1: The Iron Triangle – a Quick Primer for Project Management
3
Section 2: Project Initiation with Microsoft Project
8
Section 3: Project Planning Like a Pro!
13
Section 4: Project Execution – the Real Deal
15
Chapter 11: Overallocation – the Bane of Project Managers
18
Section 5: Monitoring and Control with Microsoft Project
23
Section 6: Project Closure with Microsoft Project
Appendix A: Using This Book as a Textbook
Appendix C: Keyboard Shortcuts
Appendix D: Glossary

Project for this chapter

Case study: You are the vice president of marketing for a luxury watch manufacturing company. Your project is to launch the latest watch, named SeaMaster 5300, at a company sponsored event. The task list for your project, in order of their execution, will look like this:

  1. Event roadmap approval
  2. Budget approval
  3. Set up an internal team
  4. Event website – CVENT
  5. Channel promotion
  6. Engage venue vendor
  7. Engage advertising vendor
  8. Worldwide press release
  9. Independent media release
  10. Loopback production database

Fire up Project and key in the tasks so that you can follow along and get some hands-on experience. We will keep the project's logic simple so that the focus remains on baselining. When you have finished linking the tasks, your schedule should resemble the following screenshot:

Figure 12.1 – Hands-on project for this chapter

Remember that baselines are purely a project managerial...