Project® 2013 Absolute Beginner’s Guide

Project® 2013 Absolute Beginner’s Guide

by Brian Kennemer, Sonia Atchison
Released August 2013
Publisher(s): Que
ISBN: 9780133353679

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Book description

Make the most of Project 2013—without becoming a technical expert! This book is the fastest way to take control of Project 2013, and use it to efficiently manage every phase of your project, from up-front planning through project completion and post-mortems. Even if you’ve never used Microsoft Project before, this book will show you how to do what you want, one incredibly clear and easy step at a time. Project 2013 has never, ever been this simple!

Who knew how simple Project® 2013 could be?

This is the easiest, most practical beginner’s guide to running real projects with Project 2013… simple, reliable instructions for doing everything you really want to do! Here’s a small sample
of what you’ll learn:

•     Master today’s best project management techniques

•     Use Project 2013 to solve many key project management problems

•     Master Project’s revamped interface, from Start screen to Backstage

•     Leverage Project 2013’s best new features in your day-to-day work

•     Get comfortable with the Project Window and its powerful views

•     Set up realistic project schedules and calendars

•     Add new tasks, dependencies, and resources

•     Create budgets, track costs, and quickly resolve cost overruns

•     Smoothly reflect changes in your project

•     Report on progress, from completed work to anticipated finish dates

•     Strengthen decision-making with dashboards, plans, and timelines

•     Streamline processes by integrating Project with SharePoint and Office

•     Securely share project data with team participants and stakeholders

•     Improve efficiency by customizing Project’s interface to your needs

•     Coherently manage complex project portfolios

•     Extend project management to smartphones, tablets, and the cloud

Brian Kennemer, Microsoft MVP for Project and Project Server, has worked with Project since 1997. He served on the Microsoft Consulting Services Global Enterprise Project Management team for five years, and has helped several Microsoft Partners design and deploy Project Server-based systems. Sonia Atchison has worked with Microsoft Project since 1999. In 2006,  she joined Microsoft’s writing team, producing extensive help content, videos, and content for Office.com and TechNet.

Table of contents

  1. About This eBook
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Contents at a Glance
  5. Table of Contents
  6. About the Authors
  7. Acknowledgments
  8. We Want to Hear from You!
  9. Reader Services
  10. Introduction
    1. How This Book Is Organized
    2. Conventions Used in This Book
  11. 1. Introduction to Managing Projects with Microsoft Project 2013
    1. What Microsoft Project 2013 Can Do for You
    2. Laying a Foundation
    3. The Project 2013 Version You Need
    4. What’s New in Project 2013?
  12. 2. Navigating Project 2013
    1. Using the Ribbon
    2. Understanding Project Views
    3. Working with Project Views
    4. Using the Timeline
  13. 3. Starting a Project
    1. Setting Up a Project
    2. Setting Project Properties and Options
    3. Choosing a Project Start or Finish Date
    4. Setting Up Your Project’s Calendars
  14. 4. Working with Tasks
    1. How Does Project 2013 Schedule Tasks?
    2. Understanding Task Types
    3. Adding Tasks to Your Project
    4. Setting Up Task Dependencies
    5. Creating a Work Breakdown Structure
  15. 5. Working with Resources
    1. Understanding Resource Types and Other Factors
    2. Adding Resources to Your Project
    3. Adjusting Resource Calendars
    4. Assigning Resources to Tasks
    5. Editing an Existing Resource Assignment
  16. 6. Accounting for Project Costs
    1. Understanding Types of Costs
    2. Creating a Budget for Your Project
    3. Comparing Actual Cost and Work Values with the Project Budget
    4. Accounting for Overtime Spent on Project Tasks
  17. 7. Capturing Project Progress
    1. Baselining Your Project
    2. Gathering Status Updates from Resources
  18. 8. Sharing Your Project with Others
    1. Reporting on Your Project
    2. Sharing Data with Others
    3. Collaborating with Others on Your Project
  19. 9. Customizing Project 2013
    1. Creating Custom Fields
    2. Adding and Removing Columns in a View
    3. Saving a Set of Columns as a Table
    4. Creating and Editing Views
  20. 10. Understanding Project Options
    1. General Project Options
    2. Display Options
    3. Schedule Options
    4. Proofing Options
    5. Save Options
    6. Language Options
    7. Advanced Options
    8. Customize Ribbon Options
    9. Quick Access Toolbar Options
    10. Add-Ins Options
    11. Trust Center Options
  21. 11. Dealing with Problems
    1. Problem: One of My Resources Is Overallocated
    2. Problem: My Schedule Goes Longer Than My Deadline
    3. Problem: My Costs Are Exceeding My Budget
  22. Appendix. Guide to Project Fields
    1. Fields
    2. Task-Timephased Fields
    3. Resource Fields
    4. Resource-Timephased Fields
    5. Assignment Fields
    6. Assignment-Timephased Fields
  23. Index

Product information

  • Title: Project® 2013 Absolute Beginner’s Guide
  • Author(s): Brian Kennemer, Sonia Atchison
  • Release date: August 2013
  • Publisher(s): Que
  • ISBN: 9780133353679