Yearly Archive: 2024

Many users have questions about Microsoft Project fixed work vs fixed duration fields.  This lesson focuses on the project planning phase and using the different task types to build an accurate work breakdown structure. After the project manager and other stakeholders understand the project scope, the project can be decomposed into manageable chunks and...

Google has over 13 million pages that describe project status reports. If you read all of them, you’ll find many discussions on the purpose of status reporting, key components, and numerous templates. I’ll save you the time of reading 13 million pages and provide three useful formats to include in...

When ready to advance your project management skills, consider investing in PMP certification training books and courses. PMP Certification is frequently sought-after for novice and experienced professional project managers. Andy’s Add-on:  The credential helps establish a common language and understanding between project managers.  With this credential, you’ll know you won’t...

I recently received an email regarding using recurring tasks in Microsoft Project. The question was, “What are the pros and cons of using a recurring task in Microsoft Project versus scheduling individual tasks for a weekly status meeting?” My response was I don’t use them.  Here’s why: I prefer avoiding...

A work breakdown structure (WBS) is the hierarchy of project tasks represented by a combination of numbers or letters. A WBS code identifies a task’s unique place in the project plan. The number of levels in the WBS can vary depending on the project’s complexity. MS Project plans lack a...

I always enjoy reading emails from project managers who implement Microsoft Project techniques.  I received an email from an employee at the United States Central Command asking about using Microsoft Project to track personnel on a military base and monitor resource levels as units deactivate during a base closing. The goal was...

In this Atlassian Confluence tutorial, you’ll learn how to build a project status dashboard in 3 easy steps Atlassian’s Confluence product is a potent and flexible collaboration tool that enables distributed teams to build better software products. Confluence is a single collaboration tool where teams can organize, create documents, and discuss...

The project management office (PMO) often emerges as a construct to manage the project portfolio as a company’s project management maturity increases. The PMO may sit at different levels in the organization and provide a variety of functions to a program, organization, or enterprise. Before organizations implement a PMO, they should understand the different...

A typical team status meeting includes the project manager reviewing the work plan and asking team members to report on relevant task progress in the work plan. A typical response from team members is “The task is 90 percent complete,” or some variable percent. Project managers can make the mistake of...

A PMO handbook is helpful for organizations seeking a standard set of steps to support project management processes. It can also quickly orient new project managers to the organization’s project management expectations and help align activities to standardized processes and tools. Here’s an example to get you started. How do...

In this Microsoft Project Tutorial, you’ll learn how to use a custom filter to find late tasks in Microsoft Project. When managing a project schedule of even a moderate size, it’s valuable to quickly identify late tasks without scrolling through a large hierarchy of tasks. In Microsoft Project, you can...