Planning Using Primavera Project Planner P3 Version 3.1 Revised 2006

Written for project managers and planners in various industries, this book shows you how to setup and use the software in a project environment. It explains in a logical sequence, the steps required to create and maintain an unresourced and resourced schedule. It also includes exercises, a number of screen dumps, many tips, and an index.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Creating a project plan Creating projects & setting up the software Defining calendars Activity codes Adding activities Formatting the display Assigning activity codes & organizing Organizing activities Adding the logic Contraints Filters & layouts Printing & reports Tracking progress Scheduling options & out of sequence progress ctivity ID's, WBS codes & alias Creating & using resources Using activity types & driving resources Statusing projects with resources Resource histogrammes & tables Resource levelling Project groups Tools & techniques for scheduling Global change Object linking & embedding Project utilities

About the Author :
Paul Harris is the founder and director of Eastwood Harris Pty Ltd, a Melbourne Australia consulting firm that serves project management professionals, engineers and large organizations around the world. Eastwood Harris offers high level consulting and training on project management and controls. Harris is the author of more than a dozen books on project management software and is a Certified Cost Engineer with AACEI, a certified PRINCE2 Practitioner and Trainer, and a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI). Visit his web site at http://www.eh.com.au

Review :
Fastest way to become productive with P3, April 12, 2002 ike Tarrani from Tustin, CA USA This book cuts through the voluminous, daunting documentation that ships with P3 and gets you quickly started in harnessing the power of this full-featured PM application. If you've used P3 you'll understand the steep learning curve. If you're seeking a book because your company is implementing P3 you'll appreciate the value of this book. The approach taken by the author is to step you through the common tasks of planning, scheduling and controlling a project, using an example project. The value of this approach is you focus on the important features and functions, instead of getting lost in the myriad of other features that you may or may not use. The book is designed to get you started with P3, not make you a P3 wizard, so this approach boils it down to the essentials. What makes the book effective is the copious use of screen shots from the program, which serve as landmarks, and the way the author conversationally discusses the finer points of project management in general while teaching you how to use P3. For example, in Chapter 9 where you'll be walked through adding logic to activities, you'll not only be shown how to perform this task, but given reasons why you should use one approach from among four possibilities to establish relationships. In this example the choices are start-to-start, finish-to-start, start-to-finish and finish-to-finish. This is but one example in which project management techniques are imparted with P3-specific procedures, and it adds value to the book. What I most like about this book is the way the author sticks to the basics, uses exercises called workshops, and resists the urge to get fancy and confuse the reader. In this respect, what he wisely leaves out of the book is as important as what is included. The tutorial approach makes this book ideal as a personal learning tool, and the structure and use of workshops makes this book useful as a training guide for companies that intend to conduct in-house training. Another point is the project management techniques that the authors shares are consistent with both the PMI PMBOK and the UK PRINCE2 methodologies, further adding to the book's value. If you are using P3 this book is the quickest way to become productive. Frank Borcherdt from Sydney Australia Approximately 300 pages of instruction on how best to set up and configure P3. As an experienced user of P3, I found the many tips on "pitfalls to avoid" and "best practice" very useful. It is a step by step guide including some 24 workshops that ensured I had understood the material before moving onto the next topic. User access to the software is essential for these workshops. I liked the "New features in Version 3.0" chapter, as it consolidated all that is new into a single handy reference.