Microsoft Office Project 2007 Advanced

Tips & Tricks

Keith Wilson, Executive/Senior Consultant
Project Management Practice Inc.
 Improved Business Results

Microsoft Office Project 2007 Advanced

Tips and Tricks
What is a project?

A Temporary Endeavor
Undertaken to Create
a Unique
Product or Service

PMBOK
What makes a project fail?
Project goals are not known or understood
in specific and measurable terms
Not enough detail in the project plans,
leading to insufficient time allocated to
achieve goals and inadequate budget
and/or other resources
No risk analysis
Scope creep
Lack of buy-in
Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail

The bottom line on failed projects:

51% of all projects come in over budget or run past
the original deadline*
15% of projects fail altogether
$55 billion wasted on failed projects in U.S. alone!

Can your business afford the cost of failed projects?

*Source: The Standish Group, CHAOS Chronicles, 2003

Why is Project Management Important?
Align activities to achieve your organizational goals
Clearly define project activities vs. daily ongoing tasks
More adaptable to changes and customer demands
More effective focus on deliverables
Doing more with less – more efficient resource
utilization
Produces faster response and turnaround times
Provides a better approach on dealing with unique,
temporary, and complex endeavors
Better able to deal with scope, time, and resource
constraints
Constraints Operations Have to Live By

Office
Project
2007

Managing your constraints

Getting Started –
Get productive quickly
How does the project start date affect
the schedule?
How do I adjust project options?
How do I use change work time?
How can the Project Guide help?
How can I save time and ensure
consistency across multiple projects?
Demo
Getting Started
What We Discussed –
Getting Started
Setting the project start date
Adjusting project options
Changing work time
The Project Guide
Using Templates
PLAN: Effectively Manage &
Understand Schedules
How can I determine the factors that are affecting task dates
and easily trace the source of issues?
How do I leverage existing task lists from Microsoft Office
Excel and Microsoft Office Outlook?
How do I create a work break down structure?
How do I manage multiple projects?
How do I calculate the Critical Path?
How do deadline dates affect the schedule?
How do I share resources?
How can I gain greater control of resources and finances?
How do I resolve Resource Conflicts?
How can I easily see the impacts of a change?
Demo
Plan
What We Discussed –
PLAN: Effectively Manage &
Understand Schedules
The factors that affect task dates
Leveraging existing task lists from Microsoft Office Excel
and Microsoft Office Outlook
Review- Creating a work break down structure
Managing multiple projects
Calculating the Critical Path
Deadline dates
Sharing resources
Control of resources and finances
Resolving Resource Conflicts
See the impacts of a change
COMMUNICATE: Build professional
charts and diagrams
How do I experiment with what-if scenarios?
How do I create custom columns with graphical
indicators?
How do I quickly access the information I need?
How do I create and modify tables and views?
How do I highlight cells to convey a different
meaning?
How do I analyze and report project data in
professional reports and charts?
Demo
Communicate
What We Discussed –
COMMUNICATE: Build
professional charts and diagrams
What-if scenarios
Creating custom columns with graphical
indicators
Accessing necessary information
Creating and modifying tables and views
Highlighting cells to convey a different
meaning
Analyze and report project data in
professional reports and charts
TRACK & ANALYZE: Effectively Track
& Analyze Projects to Meet Goals

How do I update tasks?

How do I create or use baseline data
How do I track projects according to
specific needs?
How do I easily identify the difference
between versions of projects?
Demo
Track & Analyze
What We Discussed –
TRACK & ANALYZE: Effectively Track
& Analyze Projects to Meet Goals

Updating tasks
Creating or using baseline data
Tracking projects according to specific
needs
Identifying the difference between versions
of projects
What are the End Results?
 Set up plans quickly and easily
 Communicate more effectively to keep project stakeholders
informed & aligned
 Track & analyze to stay on course and resolve problems

Achieve Your Goals and Meet Challenges

 Quickly develop effective timelines
and determine if they are realistic
 Use templates or create phases &
tasks to adhere to standards
 Easily plan projects and identify
constraints to obtain buy-in
 Access & share the right
information quickly to inform and
align stakeholders
 Easily identify and communicate
resource types and workload needs
 Define and understand project costs and
compare with ROI goals
 Clearly understand the impact of change in
scope, time and cost
 Easy to use tools to track progress and
identify & resolve problems early on
 Effectively manage project objectives and
changing requirements to meet or exceed
customer expectations
Summary
Communicate
Project Data
Plan
Effectively
Projects
Quickly

Efficiently
Track & Analyze
Projects
 Questions & Answers

Keith Wilson
kwilson@pmpractice.com

Sean Creaghan – (877) 585-9909

screaghan@pmpractice.com

www.pmpractice.com

http://www.pmpractice.com/tnt_form.htm
For a free copy of:
Project Management PowerPoint Presentations,
White Papers, and Microsoft Office Project Templates
Thank You!