Customer Reviews

Dynamic Scheduling With Microsoft(r) Project 2000 : The Book By and For Professionals

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I was searching through bookstores and Amazon.com for a good book on how to best use Microsoft Project. There are a ton of books out there that teach you Microsoft Project, and I own two of them (Mastering Project 2000 and Project 2000 Step-by-Step). These books are great at describing features, but you can also get that information with the Help files.

For anyone who has used Microsoft Project can tell you, there are several ways to set up the application, some of which is helpful, and some of which can have you very frustrated.

What I wanted was not a description of all the features, but how to best set up Microsoft Project. I stumbled on this book on Amazon.com, and it proclaimed to be the book I needed.

I was not disappointed. The author draws upon his years of experience in developing and managing with Microsoft Project and leading the Microsoft Project department at the International Institue for Learning (IIL), upon the lessons from the many other instructors, and from his students. Being able to learn from others mistakes and tips is worth the price of the book alone.

The author's stated objectives in setting up Microsoft Project are to:
- allow the schedule to be dynamic, so that when reality comes, as it will do several times during a project, then the schedule will dynamically adjust to reflect the future
- need as little care and feeding throughout the life of the project as possible, so you can spend your time managing the project, not in front of a computer trying to update the status and plan the future (when you don't have the time).

The author walks you through step-by-step on how to set up Microsoft Project to achieve those two goals. He discusses:
- the best settings for the project's properties
- how to properly establish a work breakdown structure (WBS) and describe its elements in the project tasks
- what variables need to be visible on the Gantt data entry chart to watch how Microsoft Project will alter variables
- a complete discussion of the Scheduling Formula
- descriptions of Fixed Work, Fixed Duration, and Fixed Resources, and the concept that a task does not remain as one of these, but should be changed to control how Microsoft Project will react to replanning
- when to use constraints, deadlines, and milestones, and how to add constraints so you aren't held responsible for the impact of other organizations not fulfilling their commitments
- assigning responsibilities
- how to title resources
- when resources can be "pooled"
- how to optimize the schedule (whether for time only, time and cost, or for time, cost and resources through the use of a Resource-Critical Path - aka Critical Chain)
- the use of Monte Carlo simulations
- how to handle (and possibly hide) project buffers in a schedule
- the use of one-page reports (always!)
- establishing baselines
- tracking progress (the six basic situations and how to indicate them) and updating projections and assignments (through workgroup features or manually).

The author also describes three "hazards" with Microsoft Project, namely facility and machinery costs, gross work time vs. dedicated work time, and the use of the Effort Driven tag.

Facility and machinery costs are poorly handled by Microsoft Project, and the author describes some workarounds.

The author does describe the difference between gross work time and dedicated work time, and that planning usually is done with dedicated work time, but the difference between the two are often not correctly accounted for. Recent findings suggest that worker efficiency is not better than 65%, so this difference can be enormous. The author describes two ways of handling it when he describes the subject, and then describes a third method much later in the book (and says that method is popular). Unfortunately he does not describe the advantages and disadvantages with the approaches, to include cost implications. I would highly suggest that you only plan in gross work time, knowing the inefficiencies. By the way, Microsoft doesn't make this very easy either as the efficiencies of individual resources against a task is not an included field for the assignments.

The author describes that there are problems with using the Effort Driven tag, and gives great advice on how to deal with it (always turn it off if the task is not Constant Work - but watch it as Microsoft Project can and will change it on you). His description of how Microsoft Project treats the Effort Driven tag, however, was not complete. The Effort Driven tag attempts to hold Work constant in addition to the variable that you declare as fixed. Since the Scheduling Formula only has three variables, trying to hold two of them constant while changing the third obviously causes some confusion. I don't have room to describe how Microsoft Project will react when you set this tag, but it's not always "Effort Driven". Just keep it turned off!

There is some room for improvements in this book:
- Earned Value Management was not mentioned (except in the glossary). The author should either explain that he doesn't find it useful, or explain how he's used it productively
- The Index is weak for the volume of information included in the book
- The advantages and disadvantages of each of the approaches to hide management reserve in the schedule should be described
- There should be graphics showing how to set up constraints, milestones and deadlines, to include un-hidden management reserve
- There should be example one-page reports included
- Update for Microsoft Project 2002

Despite these shortcomings, you will not find another book that comes close to this on how to use Microsoft Project. If you manage projects with Microsoft Project (even if you use Project 2002), you should have this book on your desk (not your shelf).

As a fellow PMP and trainer of MS Project 2000, I must say that I am impressed with this book. It has finally made available in a textbook, good project management principles, and how to execute them using the MS Project 2000 tool. The book explains why certain options are chosen and gives recommendations for handling various scheduling scenarios. I would highly recommend this as a valuable tool for any project manager using MSP2000.

Eric has skillfully combined Project Management methods and practices with a practical approach to using Microsoft Project 2000. He gives an excellent presentation of the PMI Project Life Cycle and how Project 2000 can be used to follow that life cycle. The style of the book is such that anyone from a beginner to the consummate professional will understand project management methods and tool techniques to bring in a successful project. I especially like the use of a single project throughout the book. This gives continuity not seen in other reference books. I highly recommend this book as a must read for anyone in the project management community using Microsoft Project 2000.

This book provides project management best practices integrated into the framework of Microsoft Project 2000. Not only does it tell me how to do things in MS Project, but it also tells me why!! I've met hundreds of people who use Microsoft Project, but only a handful who know how to use it properly. If you're ready to move beyond building a pretty picture of last year's project, and start building dynamic schedules that accurately reflect the status of your project, you need this book.

This is years of experience in project management and the use of Microsoft Project that's built into one easy to use book. You can either read it end to end or use it as a reference book. Either way, it's great value for money.

The concept of Dynamic Scheduling is a logical one, in that every task must be linked and the schedule is but a model of the project. This is a book that is extremely helpful and provides key project scheduling tips that every Project Manager or scheduler should know when working with project schedules. The book follows good project management principles and unfolds as one would set up and maintain a project schedule. The writing style is in plain English with explanations that are well thought out, including plenty of visuals, which is a great way to learn and actually remember - there is no "textbookese" here.

Very interresting book that shows you the different steps to plannify your project and to follow it...

This book is about to create a planning that will be "dynamic" during your project... using MS Project. It is NOT, and that's a good think, a book that explains you MS Project but rather what is a dynamic planning and how you can use MS Project to help you.

The first chapters are basic but -already- introduce some strong ideas.

Then, you go deeper in "how to draw your planning" with the majors parameters that MS Project offers. You will see clearly what to do and which parameters must/can be set (and when). The main idea towards the book is to be able to follow your planning once it is created... during your project lifecycle.

At the end, you will be able to master the major features of a planning in order to schedule it dynamically.

So, if like me, you want to use your planning during the entire lifecycle of your project (and not only at the begining) and, if like me, you only use 5% of MS Project, buy this book!!!

This is a well organized presentation of not only the workings of MS Project, but insightful ways to apply them. The book is filled with project management gems that alone are worth the price of admission. I have not come across another volume that brings this much expertise to the table while at the same time exposing the guts of a very complex program. If you are serious about managing projects using MS Project, then this is the book to get. You will not be disappointed.

I find the book an easy-to-read guide toward practical use of Project 2000 in real projects. The organization of the book is
clear and straight-forward. Helpful charts and diagrams supplement the text. This book would be valuable to all levels of Project 2000 users, from those with beginning to advanced experience with the product.

I've been using MS-Project for a few years now, starting with Project 98, and now 2000. I've always looked at it as a quirky tool that I use to create task lists, rough schedules, and charts to use in project plans. I've never considered it a serious tool for planning, let alone controlling a project. "Too many inconsistencies," I thought, considering myself an intermediate user. I've taken CBT's, and read MS-Project for Dummies - what more should I need?

This book has changed how I look at the tool, and how I schedule projects. MS-Project really does work - you just need to know what is going on behind the scenes to make it work for you! The author clearly walks you through how to perform tasks from a project manager' perspective (I' not a PM, but happen to do some of it, so don't think you need to know all about PM to benefit from this book), and examines common pitfalls and best practices gathered from obvious extensive practical experience using the tool. The title is accurate - the book revolves around creating a "dynamic schedule," i.e. one that easily updates as variables in your project update. The chapter on optimizing the schedule was especially helpful, and immediately applicable.

MS-Project is not a quirky tool for high-level plans and pretty pictures - it is a powerful project planning and controlling tool that will cut hours and frustration out of your project. Impressive text - do yourself a favor and read it cover to cover. You'll be happy that you did.

Finally, a book that promotes the use of MS Project to do real project planning and tracking, rather than just using it to draw pretty charts. The author brings the reader up to speed on the essentials of MS Project, and then takes the reader through the process of optimizing the plan and ongoing project tracking. It provides a clear rationale for using MS Project to build a model of the project that can be used to do what-if analysis and to help the project manager to see the effects of change on the plan when reality differs from the plan (always does). The book clearly draws on real-world experience in trying to balance and optimize resources, as shown in the section that describes a resource critical-path method. The book is clear, concise and practical. The techniques show how MS Project can actually be useful, rather than as something a project manager is forced to do just to keep management happy.