Project 2013 Absolute Beginner's Guide

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:
Introduction ..................................1 How This Book Is Organized ................. 2 Using This Book ..................... 3   1 Introduction to Managing Projects with Microsoft Project 2013 .......5 What Microsoft Project 2013 Can Do for You ........ 6 Laying a Foundation........................... 7     Project ................................. 7     Task ............................. 7     Resource ................................ 8     Assignment ................................... 8 The Project 2013 Version You Need .................... 8 What’s New in Project 2013? .......................... 9     Updated User Interface ......................... 9     Manually Scheduled Tasks (Professional and Standard) ........... 9     Team Planner View (Professional Only) ................10     Timeline (Professional and Standard) .....................10     Task Path (Professional and Standard) .....................11     Reporting (Professional and Standard) ......................12     Inactive Tasks (Professional Only) .................................12     SharePoint Collaboration (Professional Only) ......................13   2 Navigating Project 2013 ...................15 Using the Ribbon ............................................16 Understanding Project Views ..............................17 Working with Project Views ................................22     Grouping Data in a View ..............................22     Sorting Data in a View ................................23     Filtering Data in a View ...............................24     Highlighting Data in a View ...............................25     Displaying Two Views at Once ........................26 Using the Timeline .......................................27   3 Starting a Project ........................31 Setting Up a Project .....................................32     Creating a New Project ............................32     Saving a Project ..........................................33 Setting Project Properties and Options ....................37     Setting Project Properties.................................37     Setting Project Options ................................37 Choosing a Project Start or Finish Date ..................39 Setting Up Your Project’s Calendars ......................40     Modifying an Existing Base Calendar ..........................41     Creating a New Base Calendar ...................................45     Setting Up Your Project’s Calendar .....................46   4 Working with Tasks ...................................49 How Does Project 2013 Schedule Tasks? ...................50     Scheduling Methods in Project 2013 .....................50     Factors the Project Scheduling Engine Considers ..................50     Which Scheduling Method You Should Use .....................51     The Project Scheduling Formula .......................52 Understanding Task Types ...........................54     Fixed Units ...........................55     Fixed Work ......................................56     Fixed Duration ......................................56 Adding Tasks to Your Project................................56     Adding a New Task ..................................57     Setting a Task Calendar ..............................59     Indenting and Outdenting Tasks .......................60 Setting Up Task Dependencies ..................................61     Adding Dependencies Between Tasks .................................63 Creating a Work Breakdown Structure .................................64     Setting Your Project’s WBS Code Structure ..................66   5 Working with Resources ...........................69 Understanding Resource Types and Other Factors ............70 Adding Resources to Your Project ........................71 Adjusting Resource Calendars ................................73 Assigning Resources to Tasks ..................................73     Assigning a Resource Using the Task Information Dialog Box ......74     Assigning a Work Resource Using the Team Planner View .............75 Editing an Existing Resource Assignment .................76     Splitting a Task to Create a Gap in Work ......................77     Fine-Tuning a Resource’s Work Schedule for a Task ................77     Assigning Remaining Work on a Task to Another Resource ...........78   6 Accounting for Project Costs .......81 Understanding Types of Costs ..................82 Creating a Budget for Your Project ...............82     Creating and Assigning Budget Resources ...............83     Adding Values to Budget Resources ......................85     Pairing Resources with Budgets ...................85 Comparing Actual Cost and Work Values with the Project Budget ........87 Accounting for Overtime Spent on Project Tasks............88     Planning for Overtime Work and Costs ...........................89     Recording Actual Overtime Work and Costs .......................90   7 Capturing Project Progress ..........93 Baselining Your Project ....................................94 Gathering Status Updates from Resources ..............................96     Actual Start, Percent Work Complete, Remaining Work .........................96     Actual Start, Actual Work, Remaining Work, Expected Finish Date ..100     Actual Work Per Day, Remaining Work, Expected Finish Date ..............102     Assessing the Impacts of Updates ....................................105   8 Sharing Your Project with Others ........................ 107 Reporting on Your Project ..................................108     Generating and Customizing a Visual Report .....................109     Generating and Customizing a Basic Report ......................113 Sharing Data with Others ...................................116     Copying the Timeline .....................................116     Exporting Data to Excel ...........................................117     Taking a Picture of Your Project Data .....................117     Saving the Project as a PDF or XPS File .............................118 Collaborating with Others on Your Project .....................119   9 Customizing Project 2013 .............. 121 Creating Custom Fields .............................122 Adding and Removing Columns in a View ................124     Adding a Column to a View ..........................125     Hiding a Column in a View ...........................126 Saving a Set of Columns as a Table ...........126 Creating and Editing Views ......................128   10 Understanding Project Options ......... 133 General Project Options ...........................135     User Interface Options .............................135     Project View ................................137     Personalize Your Copy of Microsoft Office .........137     Startup Options .................................138 Display Options ......................................138     Calendar ............................................139     Currency Options for This Project .....................139     Show Indicators and Options Buttons For ...................141     Show These Elements ............................141 Schedule Options ..........................142     Calendar Options for This Project .....................143     Schedule .....................................145     Scheduling Options for This Project ..................145     Schedule Alerts Options ............................148     Calculation ...............................148     Calculation Options for This Project ...................149 Proofing Options ...............................150     AutoCorrect Options ..............................151     When Correcting Spelling in Microsoft Office Programs..........151     When Correcting Spelling in Project ................151 Save Options ..................................152     Save Projects ............................................153     Save Templates ..................154     Cache ....................................154 Language Options .............................155 Advanced Options .....................................156     General ...............................................156     Project Web App ......................................158     Planning Wizard .........................................159     General Options for This Project .........................159     Edit .................................................160     Display ...................................................161     Display Options for This Project .............................163     Cross Project Linking Options for This Project ...................164     Earned Value Options for This Project ..................165     Calculation Options for This Project .....................166 Customize Ribbon Options ...........................167     Customize the Ribbon ................................168 Quick Access Toolbar Options .........................170     Customize the Quick Access Toolbar .....................171 Add-Ins Options ..................................172 Trust Center Options .................................172   11 Dealing with Problems .............. 175 Problem: One of My Resources Is Overallocated ...................176 Problem: My Schedule Goes Longer Than My Deadline ..............180 Problem: My Costs Are Exceeding My Budget ........................182     Assigning Work to Fewer People ...............................183     Cutting Back on What Needs to Get Done .......................183     Trimming Budget Amounts ......................184   Appendix Guide to Project Fields ............ 185   Index ...................... 249