Audience(s)
Project Managers
The cost of projects account officials
Project planning officials
Prerequisites
Microsoft Office
A project plan is an essential part of any project manager’s toolkit. While it can be tempting to get started on completing tasks as soon as possible, taking the time to map out your strategy can help you save money and resources. Your project will constantly be shifting, and you need a project plan template that can keep up.
Microsoft Project (MS Project) has been around a long time (the first edition launched in 1984) and it is a staple in a project manager’s arsenal. There’s good reason - it includes all the tools you need to assign resources, track progress, develop plans, manage budgets, and create schedules. Effective project management requires tools like MS Project that are both flexible and provide structure. However, Microsoft Project has a couple of limitations. First, it only works on PCs, and second, MS Project requires a license to use. If your company already uses Microsoft Project, those issues may not be challenges for you.
To help you get started with Microsoft Project 2016, this tutorial will walk you through the steps to create a project timeline, assign resources, and run reports. If you want to create your own project, you’ll need an MS Project license (which is likely supplied by your company). We’ll also demonstrate how to perform the same tasks in Smartsheet for a MS Project alternative. Since Smartsheet is a cloud-based web app, you can use a PC, Mac, or mobile device and share your work with anyone.
How to Use Microsoft Project 2016
For this course, we’ll be using the most recent version, Microsoft Project 2016. There are many versions available, so you’ll want to check which one you’re using. There are similarities in the steps for some of the releases, so some of the steps will translate well among the various versions. If you’re using Project 2010 or Project 2013, you shouldn’t have any issues importing them to 2016 (if you plan on upgrading) since they use the same file format. However, Project 2016 is a bit more robust and has more timeline features, a handy search tool called “Tell Me” for finding features, improved resource management, and office add-ins. This MS Project tutorial will just cover the basic features that are found in most versions.
Microsoft Project has a lot of features for setting up projects and running automated reports based on progress, budget, time tracking, and more. We’ll take you through the steps needed to set-up a timeline, add and schedule tasks, add resources, setup dependencies, generate reports, and track progress. As an example, we’ll use a common business requirement when dealing with vendors: tracking the progress of calling for RFPs.
