Introduction
Project management is a broad term that can mean something very formal and specific to one person, but something very organic and pieced together to another. The fact of the matter is that “pieced together” can get you only so far. Spreadsheets, sticky notes, and email are all great tools, and they may work fine for smaller projects, but when you start adding just a few more people working on a project, or just one or two more reports to generate for upper management, project management becomes more complicated. Your blood pressure goes up a smidge and gathering bits and pieces from the various tools you’ve been using to track your projects gets to be more tedious than you may have time for.
Microsoft Project 2010 addresses these issues gracefully and powerfully. I can’t lie; it has a steep learning curve, but it’s absolutely worth your time to figure it out, even at a rudimentary level. The amount of time it ultimately will save you is reason enough. And as you complete projects, you can review the project data to help make decisions about future projects. It’s a thing of beauty, really, especially if you’ve been used to a lot of manual updating and high-maintenance project and resource tracking.
Project 2010 is versatile enough to help bring order to a novice project manager’s plans, while offering rich solutions for experienced project managers. The latter will benefit from items such as earned value and critical path analysis, resource leveling, and heavy customizability to meet organizational needs.
How This Book Is Organized
This book introduces you to Project 2010. It is designed to familiarize you with project management terminology, as it is used in Project 2010, and covers functionality that was brought forward from previous versions of Project, as well as features that are new in Project 2010. This book is far from a be-all, end-all reference book for Project 2010. Instead, it focuses on introducing the concepts and procedures that are most commonly used. Using Microsoft Project 2010 offers you the following:
• Some high-level project management theory, as it applies to Project 2010
• An introduction to new features in this version
• An orientation to Project 2010, including the different parts of the Project window and the many views available to you
• A walkthrough of the process of creating a project, from adding tasks and assigning resources, to tracking costs and reporting on progress
• Information about some simple customization options, as a starting point for more advanced topics
• Some solutions to commonly encountered project issues
Using This Book
This book allows you to customize your own learning experience. The step-by-step instructions in this book give you a solid foundation in using Project 2010, while rich and varied online content, including video tutorials and audio sidebars, provide the following:
• Demonstrations of step-by-step tasks covered in this book
• Additional tips or information on a topic
• Practical advice and suggestions
• Direction for more advanced tasks not covered in this book
Here’s a quick look at a few structural features designed to help you get the most out of this book:
• Chapter objective— At the beginning of each chapter is a brief summary of topics addressed in that chapter. This objective enables you to quickly see what is covered in the chapter.
• Notes— Notes provide additional commentary or explanation that doesn’t fit neatly into the surrounding text. Notes give detailed explanations of how something works, alternative ways of performing a task, and other tidbits to get you on your way.
• Tips— This element gives you shortcuts, workarounds, and ways to avoid pitfalls.
• Cautions— Every once in a while, there is something that can have serious repercussions if done incorrectly (or rarely, if done at all). Cautions give you a heads-up.
• Cross-references— Many topics are connected to other topics in various ways. Cross-references help you link related information together, no matter where that information appears in the book. When another section is related to one you are reading, a cross-reference directs you to a specific page in the book on which you can find the related information.
LET ME TRY IT tasks are presented in a step-by-step sequence so you can easily follow along.
SHOW ME video walks through tasks you’ve just got to see—including bonus advanced techniques.
TELL ME MORE audio delivers practical insights straight from the experts.
Special Features
More than just a book, your Using product integrates step-by-step video tutorials and valuable audio sidebars delivered through the Free Web Edition that comes with every Using book. For the price of this book, you get online access anywhere with a web connection—no books to carry, content is updated as the technology changes, and the benefit of video and audio learning.
About the Using Web Edition
The Web Edition of every Using book is powered by Safari Books Online, allowing you to access the video tutorials and valuable audio sidebars. Plus, you can search the contents of the book, highlight text and attach a note to that text, print your notes and highlights in a custom summary, and cut and paste directly from Safari Books Online.
To register this product and gain access to the free Web Edition and the audio and video files, go to quepublishing.com/using.