Microsoft Project 2010 Step by Step (Step By Step (Microsoft)) [Paperback]

Carl Chatfield (Author), Timothy Johnson D. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 28, 2010 | Series: Step By Step (Microsoft)

Experience learning made easy-and quickly teach yourself how to manage your projects with Project 2010. With Step By Step, you set the pace-building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Topics include building a project plan and fine-tuning the details; scheduling tasks, assigning resources, and managing dependencies; monitoring progress and costs; keeping projects on track; communicating project data through Gantt charts and other views.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Carl is a principal content project manager at Microsoft. In this role Carl oversees development of assistance material, UI text and web content for a variety of V.1 products and services. Carl also teaches software user assistance in the Human Centered Design and Engineering department at the University of Washington. Carl is a graduate of the Master's program in Technical Communication at the University of Washington and is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute. Carl blogs regularly about Project, project management and knowledge worker teams.

Tim's first connection with Project began as a product support professional at Microsoft, starting with Project 3.0. Later Tim worked in the Project user assistance team, where he brought his first-hand knowledge of Project customers' issues to new learning solutions for Project. Tim remains involved in the computer industry and continues to look for ways to help customers better understand and use their computer applications.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Microsoft Press; Pap/Psc edition (June 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735626952
• ISBN-13: 978-0735626959
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Computers & Technology > Microsoft > Applications
  • #9 in Books > Computers & Technology > Project Management > PMP Exam
  • #89 in Books > Computers & Technology > Software

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good hands-on begging book on Project, September 13, 2010

By 

George J. Sawyer III "Technology Coach & CEO ... (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Project 2010 Step by Step (Step By Step (Microsoft)) (Paperback)

If you are looking for a simple, easy way to teach yourself Project 2010 Step by Step by Carl Chatfield and Timothy Johnson is a good choice. Step by Step (SBS) is a series of textbooks published by Microsoft for learning the applications in the Microsoft Office Suite. The format is hands-on with brief explanations of concepts followed by step by step exercises demonstrating key tasks. Most students can work through the book and its exercises in about 2-3 days of solid study. Disciplined students often find a chapter-a-day to be a reasonably workable pace.

You can very effectively skip through the text taking a chapter at a time to learn specific tasks. However, don't plan on using the SBS series for reference book or quick how-to guide. In Project 2010 SBS you will cover the core skills needed for using Project as a standalone application but helps are sprinkled throughout on using Project Server. SBS assumes the reader is already comfortable with the computer and has some experience with the Microsoft Office 2007 or 2010 Ribbons.

Project 2010 SBS is a great book for learning the application and does contain many tips and tricks on the project management methodology. However, SBS is not a book on methodology. The brief appendix "Short Course in Project Management" is helpful but not a replacement for training and experience in project management. While the SBS series is best suited for individual study it can be used in the classroom in a pinch. I have used SBS series texts for several applications in classes but they are far from the best option. The price point of around $19.79 on Amazon is appealing for classrooms. The new appendix on using SBS in the classroom is unfortunately not at all helpful for an experienced instructor.

Disclaimer: As is common practice in book reviews I was given a free copy of Project 2010 SBS for review. This review was originally published on my blog at [...]

George Sawyer is Technology Coach & CEO of Sawyer Training & Technologies

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Incorrect practice file, July 10, 2011

By 

Adrian (Arlington, VA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Microsoft Project 2010 Step by Step (Step By Step (Microsoft)) (Paperback)

Being in the software industry, I generally accept errors between content and associated practice files. But with this book, there are too many errors for me to ignore.

Everything was going great until I got to Chapter 9. There were some gross errors related to resource allocation that I brushed off; but then I got to Chapter 10. I am unable to perform any of the over-allocated resource tasks because the practice file is not even close to the chapter's content. It appears that the "Advance Plan_Start" file was published in the final state of the chapter vice the beginning. Therefore, all resource over-allocations have been resolved leaving the user with nothing to do.

Because of my frustration, I will have to continue with Chapter 11 later this week.

Without the correct practice file, I will not recommend this book for novice users. Advanced user will be able to apply knowledge from earlier version of Project to understand the concept of resource leveling, etc.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid title with good content, December 28, 2010

By 

IT SuperFreak (San Diego, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Microsoft Project 2010 Step by Step (Step By Step (Microsoft)) (Paperback)

This is a solid introduction to Project 2010 with some overlap of material for SBS version 2007. There is some rehash of material from 2007 because of the functionality staying relatively similar or same in some cases. The screen shots are very helpful as you walk through this book.

There is some light coverage of Project Server and SharePoint but it's very light and not all that helpful. There is also an appendix on "Project Management 101" fundamentals of project management. I'm not sure why the authors feel this should be included; I guess they felt this could encourage less-experienced/aspiring project managers to buy this book and learn the tool. As a veteran PM, I did not find any benefit in this section.

Also, there is no longer a CD included as in the 2007 version, but you can get the PDF download and all the practice files from the publisher website.

All in all, a decent title and introduction to MS Project 2007. I will likely look for a more in-depth book/resource in the near future to supplement the information.