MS Project Introduction

Introduction

Microsoft Project is aproject management software program developed and sold by Microsoft, designed to assist a project manager in developing a schedule, assigning resources to tasks, tracking progress, managing the budget, and analyzing workloads.

Project creates budgets based on assignment work and resource rates. As resources are assigned to tasks and assignment work estimated, the program calculates the cost, equal to the work times the rate, which rolls up to the task level and then to any summary task, and finally to the project level.

Each resource can have its own calendar, which defines what days and shifts a resource is available. Microsoft Project is not suitable for solving problems of available materials (resources) constrained production. Additional software is necessary to manage a complex facility that produces physical goods.      

Project Management 

MS Project is feature rich, but project management techniques are required to drive a project effectively. A lot of project managers get confused between a schedule and a plan. MS Project can help you in creating a Schedule for the project even with the provided constraints. It cannot Plan for you. As a project manager you should be able to answer the following specific questions as part of the planning process to develop a schedule. MS Project cannot answer these for you.

• What tasks need to be performed to create the deliverables of the project and in what order? This relates to the scope of the project.
• What are the time constraints and deadlines if any, for different tasks and for the project as a whole? This relates to the schedule of the project.
• What kind of resources (man/machine/material) are needed to perform each task?
• How much will each task cost to accomplish? This would relate to the cost of the project.
• What kind of risk do we have associated with a particular schedule for the project? This might affect the scope, cost and time constraints of your project.

Common Project Process 

Initiation

The project initiation phase is the first phase within the project management life cycle, as it involves starting up a new project. Within the initiation phase, the business problem or opportunity is identified, a solution is defined, a project is formed, and a project team is appointed to build and deliver the solution to the customer. A business case is created to define the problem or opportunity in detail and identify a preferred solution for implementation

Planning

Project planning (2nd phase) is a procedural step in project management, where required documentation is created to ensure successful project completion. Documentation includes all actions required to define, prepare, integrate and coordinate additional plans. The project plan clearly defines how the project is executed, monitored, controlled and closed.

Executing

The Project Execution Phase is the third phase in the project life cycle. In this phase, you will build the physical project deliverables and present them to your customer for signoff. The Project Execution Phase is usually the longest phase in the project life cycle and it typically consumes the most energy and the most resources.

To enable you to monitor and control the project during this phase, you will need to implement a range of management processes. These processes help you to manage time, cost, quality, change, risks and issues. They also help you to manage procurement, customer acceptance and communications.

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Controlling

Project controls are the data gathering, management and analytical processes used to predict, understand and constructively influence the time and cost outcomes of a project or program; through the communication of information in formats that assist effective management and decision making. This definition encompasses all stages of a project or program’s life cycle from the initial estimating needed to ‘size’ a proposed project, through to reflective learning (lessons learned) and the forensic analysis needed to understand the causes of failure (and develop claims).

Closing

Documents the formal acceptance of the project’s product and brings all aspects of the project to a close.

Element of a Project Life Cycle                                                

Overview of Microsoft Project Features

• Project Portfolio Management
• Simplify IT management
• Give effective presentations
• Anticipate change
• Work seamlessly across tools
• Communicate in real time
• Stay organized
• Deliver projects successfully
• Improve everyday collaboration
• Access from virtually anywhere
• Select optimal portfolios
• Deliver projects successfully
• Discover and share information 

The Below Diagram demonstrate the all common elements of developing a project plan.               

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