Planning and Control Using Microsoft Project 2013 and 2016 - Softcover

Harris, Mr Paul E

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1925185303 ISBN 13: 9781925185300

Publisher: Eastwood Harris Pty Ltd, 2016

Synopsis

This book is designed for users of earlier versions to upgrade their skills and for new planners to learn the software. It starts with the basics required to create a schedule, through resource planning and on to the more advanced features. Microsoft® Project 2016 is a minor update of Microsoft® Project 2013 and therefore this book covers both versions. This book is aimed at showing project management professionals how to use the software in a project environment. This book is an update of the author’s last book “Planning and Scheduling using Microsoft® Project 2013. It has revised workshops and incudes the new functions of Microsoft Project 2016.
This publication was written so it may be used as:
1. A training manual, or
2. A self teach book, or
3. A user guide.
The book stays focused on the information required to create and update a schedule with or without resources using Microsoft® Project 2013 and 2016 by:
1. Concentrating on the core functions required to plan and control a project.
2. Keeping the information relevant to each topic in the appropriate chapter.
3. Providing a quick reference at the start of each chapter listing the chapter topics.
4. Providing a comprehensive index of all topics.
The book is aimed at:
1. Project managers and schedulers who wish learn the software, however are unable to attend a training course, or require a reference book.
2. Project management companies in industries such as building, construction, oil & gas, software development, government and defence who wish to run their own software training courses or provide their employees a good practical guide to using the software.
3. Training organizations who require a training manual to run their own courses.

About this title

About the Author:

Paul Harris holds an Honours Degree in Civil Engineering obtained in the UK and is a Certified Cost Engineer through AACE International, a certified PRINCE2™ practitioner. He has worked in the project controls industry for a number of years and has assisted many companies in a range of industries to set up and run project controls systems. His Melbourne, Australia based company, Eastwood Harris Pty Ltd, offers project controls consulting and training services with a strong focus on Microsoft and Primavera software. Training organizations or companies who wish to conduct their own training may have the book tailored to suit their requirements. This may be achieved by removing, reordering or adding content to the book and by writing their own exercises. These books are registered with the Project Management Institute and PMI Registered Education Providers may award Professional Development Units when presenting courses using this material and a PowerPoint slide show is available for this course. Please contact the author to discuss this service. As a project controls consultant I have used a number of planning and scheduling software packages for the planning and control of a range of project types and sizes. I have written and published books for Primavera SureTrak, Primavera P3, Primavera Project Manager P6 and Microsoft Project. This book follows a similar layout to my previous books, but with the more advanced material moved to a new section towards at the back of the book. I trust this resource will assist you in understanding how to use Microsoft Project on your projects.

Review:

While there is a heap of information and opinions out there relating to MS Project, there are few sources of knowledge at the depth we need to use the tool properly. An incredibly flexible tool, MS Project caters to the novice right through to the advanced user. As people s level of skill and scheduling maturity grows, so too does their needs and expectations of the tool. Paul has brought us an excellent reference, building on his 20 years experience using this and other scheduling tools. With changes made in MS Project and the popularity and function of MS Project Server growing, the need to schedule, update and report consistently becomes so much more important. This book is a guide; it is a reference and so much more. --Martin Vaughan Core Consulting Group

The professional project controls people that are in the know have long been using Paul's manuals to help decipher the deceptively tricky options that the various vendors of project scheduling software produce. Once again Paul helps us to navigate through the sometimes complex settings within Microsoft s ubiquitous project scheduling tool by explaining in simple terms how each option works, often along with recommended options and settings that have been developed after years of using the tool in real world projects. Paul provides a simplified approach to the use of the tool that takes much of the mystique out and allows the user to produce a realistic schedule in a short timeframe that can provide real management information rather than just providing a pretty picture. Those of you that think that using MS Project 2013 is an easy job that requires no additional training may quickly change their minds after reading through Paul s book, and discovering that there are quite a few features that sometimes make the tool produce results that just don t seem to make sense. Paul is a project controls specialist first and an author second, this approach carries through in all his book s and also in his approach to planning and scheduling. If you are interested in using MS Project 2013 to develop a realistic project schedule that is aligned to the project scope that provides an accurate and realistic depiction of the project timeline that is also able to be updated correctly then this is the book for you. --Michael Jack PMP

About this edition

• Publisher: Eastwood Harris Pty Ltd
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1925185303
• ISBN 13: 9781925185300
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 406