Project 2003 For Dummies [Paperback]

Nancy Stevenson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764542494 | ISBN-13: 978-0764542497 | Publication Date: October 21, 2003

Whether your job is to manage the construction of a building, oversee the launch of a new product, host an international event, or plan a company party, Microsoft Project 2003 can help. Microsoft Project 2003 For Dummies shows you how to use the program to plan, schedule, and budget all phases of a project, assign the resources, create essential reports, and monitor your progress. If you’re new to Project, you’ll find what you need to get up to speed, including info on how Project works, finding your way around, and building your first Project plan. If you’ve used an earlier version of Project, you’ll delve into Project 2003 and all of the new features it puts at your fingertips. Complete with case histories, screen shots, and step-by-step instructions, this guide walks you through:

• Making calendar settings, building a task-outline, and entering timing and timing relationships for tasks
• Assigning resources and material costs to tasks
• Using scheduling and tracking tools: The Gantt Chart which is the main view of Project; The Network Diagram (version of a PERT (program Evaluation and Review Technique) chart; Risk management; and Resource management
• Recalculating based on what-if scenarios to solve resource conflicts, get your costs within budget, or meet your deadlines
• Understanding the task/subtask structure, creating an outline, and working with WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) codes
• Working with a combination of cost types (fixed, work, and material) and customizing costs fields with Value Lists
• Saving your plan with a baseline
• Using the tracking toolbar and to record actual activity, update fixed costs, and more
• Generating and formatting standard reports (complete with graphics), creating custom reports, and using the XML Reporting Wizard

If you have Project Server (that complements Project 2003 but is not included), this book shows you how to use Project in an enterprise environment to centralize information online and get real online collaboration. You can publish projects to the Web, allow team members to update their progress, analyze your project status, and generally communicate in one central, online location.

Microsoft Project 2003 For Dummies is complete with a bonus CD-ROM that includes:

• Add-on tools and templates
• Case history examples
• Test preparation questions for the Project Management Institute (PMI) certification exam
• Milestones Project Companion and Project KickStart trial versions
• Cobra, WBS Chart Pro, PERT Chart Expert, and TimeSheet Professional demo versions

Use this friendly guide to get comfortable with Project. You’ll wonder how you managed without it.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Check out case histories to see how Project works

Explore Project Server and use Sharepoint^TM to manage projects in multiple locations

Did you know you’ve been managing projects ever since you tackled your first coloring book? Now both the projects and the problems are bigger, but if you manage to grab this book, you’ll discover easy ways to collect and track data, share resources, prepare budgets, develop reports, and make your projects successful with Project.

Discover how to:

• Build Project plans
• Set up calendar settings, task outlines, and timing relationships
• Assign resources
• Incorporate smaller projects into a master project
• Modify item formatting
• Integrate Project with Outlook^®

All this on the bonus CD-ROM

• A selection of add-on tools and templates
• Case history examples
• Test preparation questions for the Project Management Institute (PMI) certification exam
• Milestones Project Companion^® and Project KickStart trial versions
• Cobra, WBS Chart Pro, PERT Chart Expert, and TimeSheet Professional^® demo versions

About the Author

Nancy Stevenson has written more than 40 books on topics from motivation to wireless technology. Nancy co-authored the Microsoft Project 98 Bible and a project-management textbook for college students. She’s a project management expert who has presented seminars for Fortune 500 companies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 408 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies (October 21, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764542494
• ISBN-13: 978-0764542497
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #67 in Books > Computers & Technology > Project Management > PMP Exam
  • #69 in Books > Business & Investing > Management & Leadership > Project Management

More About the Author

Nancy Muir has written over 60 books on technology and business titles, including titles that have won awards for excellence from publishing industry organizations and several bestsellers. Prior to her writing career Nancy worked for technology publishers IDG Books (now part of Wiley Publishing) and Que. Nancy writes an expert column on computers and the Internet for Retirenet.com, and runs two websites: techsmartsenior.com and iPadMadeClear.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great place to start, January 11, 2005

By 

Charles Miller (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Project 2003 For Dummies (Paperback)

Facing the new year with numerous relatively small projects that I felt were out of control, I resolved to take action. I believed that my planning tasks were unlikely to tax the abilities of Project 2003, and was not really interested in knowing every detail of the software. I picked up this book, and was able to read the sections of interest--about 75% of the content--on a flight from Atlanta to San Jose. I was not disappointed. By the evening of January 10, my three most pressing projects were organized, resources were assigned, and realistic finish dates had been determined. The book gave me the information I needed to get results without false starts. While the attempts at folksy humor can be a tad annoying, the prose is generally clear and understandable. I doubt this is the book for you if you are managing a major project with dozens of people. However, if your projects are jobs like press releases, webinars, and minor software releases, you will likely be well served by it.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the Best of the Dummies, March 18, 2007

By 

Alan D. Zimm "dradz" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Project 2003 For Dummies (Paperback)

I found this book very poorly organized. The author dives into technicalities before explaining the basics. For example, there are "tasks" and "subtasks." Tasks get immediate treatment, but then the book dives into calendars and effort management and other "advanced tab" topics without explaining subtasks, and how subtasks are entered. Even though there are examples in chapters 1-4 using subtasks, subtasks are not explained until chapter 5 (that's right, FIVE). Examples on page 65 and 78 show subtasks, but you don't learn how to enter one until page 93.
I spent a lot of time going back and re-reading, trying to find out if I missed something so that I could duplicate the examples - a lot of wasted time.
Starting with a complete and simple project, and then adding layers of complication on to it, would have been a much more effective approach. Overall, I am not happy with this book. In most "for dummies" books I can get up and running on a basic level in a few hours. I am now at hour four, page 85, and just about to learn about tasks and subtasks.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I didn't care for this book, May 25, 2008

By 

Mathew A. Shember (Cupertino, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Project 2003 For Dummies (Paperback)

I read this out of curiosity and found it to be mediocre about explaining and using Project 2003.

It felt like the effort was to explain project management with a little Project 2003 tossed in. Maybe they were trying to make a reference book? I would not keep it as a reference and I am not sure I would suggest this book to a beginner.

It was not organized well as it could have been. The command examples loose their effectiveness as you don't have the example files for use and abuse while you play.

I also found the information spread out amoung the chapters as the already mentioned tasks and subtasks in the previous review.

The chapter on using project server seems to be out of place as it could be a book in itself. A person involved with it would not read this book to get an idea of project server. It was not needed.

One thing sorely lacking are links for more information. You get links for products but not informational sources.

The CD tools are ok but they appear to be dated now.

Overall, normally a dummies book is a baby steps book but I think this would confuse a person who has never worked with project management concepts.

It would have been better if the book centered on setting up a small project and walk the user through the use of Project 2003 while building the project.