EPM, Microsoft Project and You

BY: Tanya Foster

Have you ever noticed that there is more than one way to do the same thing in Microsoft Project?  I didn’t specify a version, because I’ve noticed it in multiple versions of Microsoft Project.  That’s one thing I love about Project… you’re shortcut may not be my shortcut, but we both end up at the same place.  Now this may not be the case for everything in Microsoft Project, but for several things, it’s definitely the case.  Take linking tasks for example.  Let’s say you have a schedule, and the tasks are going to be sequential.  I would just quickly highlight the tasks and hit the link button on the menu bar.  I had a colleague once that liked to see how one task related to the other and if there were any tweaks he needed to make at that point and time. 

So he would double click on a task to open the task information box, type the linking and task information in there and then move on to the next task. 

Me… I’ll link them, then I’ll see how they line up and I’ll tweak them if need be.  We’ll both have the same outcome, we just get there different ways.  And thank goodness that Microsoft took both of our personalities into consideration when creating Microsoft Project!  Well… I’m sure if we asked the programmers, the users different personalities was probably the furthest thing from their mind, but hey… it worked out!

Another great example is assigning resources.  Once you’ve added resources to your team, you can simply add resources by selecting them from the drop down box.

Or you can assign them by using the Assign Resources dialog box.

How about task entry?  Couple of different ways for that too!  Just type it in, right in the Task Name cell of an empty cell.  Double click an empty cell and bring up the task information box and fill out all of the information that way, or right mouse click, select Insert Task type in the task name when it inserts a new empty cell. 

Now it’s your turn.  Let us know of any great shortcuts you’ve found or multiple ways of doing things in Microsoft Project.  If we get enough feedback from you, our faithful readers, we’ll post the list as a future blog post!

BY:  Bruce Lofland

All tasks are being completed when planned and within budget.  There are no issues, risks have all been mitigated, and the project team members love each other and work perfectly together.  How would you like to give that status for your projects every week?  If you did, would anyone believe it?

Real projects don’t go perfectly most of the time.  They have a few warts and sometimes are downright ugly.  Our job as Project Managers is to report the truth, whatever that is, to the world.  Getting that truth from the project team is sometimes difficult though.  What follows are some tips that will help you get to that truth.

1. Don’t shoot the messenger – During the Operation Desert Storm (the first Gulf War), there were stories being reported by the media that Saddam Hussein would shoot his Generals if they didn’t perform well.  As a result he was often not told the truth about what was really going on.  This caused him to make a lot of bad decisions.  Verbally attacking project team members that do not tell us what we want to hear has the same effect on our projects.  If you have a customer, project sponsor, or boss that is like that you may be tempted to be less than candid in your status reporting.  Don’t go over to the dark side!
2. Document issues – When a task does not go as planned it should be documented as an issue in an issues log.  The task could be late or over budget for a lot of different reasons.  It is important to document these in an objective way that identifies the problem and what is being done about it; but does not blame team members.   This issues log should be public to build or maintain a culture of transparency.
3. Probe estimates – The estimates of time or cost that seem too good to be true probably are.  People are often very optimistic and do not account for risks when giving estimates.  Making mistakes and having to do rework is a daily reality in the workplace that is not always taken into account.  Reminding resources about this and asking them for more detail about the task being estimated and what they need to do it usually yields more realistic estimates.
4. Ask for clarification until you get it – Sometimes people create confusion deliberately to hide their own failures.  This can be done with technical gibberish or just disorganized rambling.  When someone you are collecting status from does this, take the time to organize what they are saying and ask them to explain until you have enough information.  This requires some patience, but stick with it until you know the truth.  There is probably something there that you need to know

Bruce Lofland writes his PM Technix blog at http://blog.pmtechnix.com/ .   PM Technix is a blog about practical techniques to manage projects that can be used by most project managers.  Bruce Lofland has been a Project Manager in the Kansas City area since 1999 and a certified PMP since 2007.  He was a software developer for many years before that on a wide variety of platforms.