Thursday, June 21, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Using MS Project to Set-up your Project for Success « PM-Foundations
Using MS Project to Set-up your Project for Success « PM-Foundations
Project managers that are not as familiar with using tools like MS Project to create a project schedule often “dive in head first” creating their project schedule. These project managers open a new file, start furiously loading project tasks, and the project schedule evolves as project planning progresses. After the project schedule baseline is established, and project execution begins, these project managers begin the weekly battle to maintain the project schedule in a manner that keeps it close to reflecting reality. Some of the telltale signs that your schedule is difficult to maintain include:
- You change the dependency on a task and the dates do not change
- You extend the duration and the work hours do not change
- You add a new resource and the dates change unexpectedly
- Your schedule shows people working on Thanksgiving and Christmas
- Durations are displayed in hours, and work is displayed in minutes
I was working with a project manager whose schedule had become so difficult to maintain that he declared that his “tool had become compromised”. This created much frustration for the project manager, but the even worse result was that he was not sure that the milestone commitments established in the schedule were correct or achievable (and he did not know how to fix it).
Obviously, how well the WBS is organized has a significant impact on the ability to effectively and efficiently maintain the schedule throughout the project life cycle. In addition, there are several set-up activities within MS Project that allow the project manager to tailor the project schedule to meet their needs. Paying attention to these set-up activities when the project is first created allows you to better understand and control the behaviors within the schedule as you update the project schedule to reflect progress. The set-up tips described below include defining the project start date and project calendar, establishing default schedule options, and entering your project resources.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
SharePoint Automation
SharePoint Automation - Provisioning a complete SharePoint Farm - Servers, Site Collections, etc...
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Thursday, June 07, 2012
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