Customer Reviews

Project 2003 For Dummies

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Got some "dummies", but this is not the best one. The contents of the supplied CD-ROM is hardly useful for beginners. Project 2003 Step by Step is imo a better book with good digital samples and a digital version of the book on the CD-ROM.

This manuel was an excellent start for some of us "dummies" out there. Though I have signed up for a Project Class to be taken in person, this book as definately helped me to get by with a little help from the Dummy Writers.

It was a great addition to the other products purchased. I would recommend this purchase as well as Step by Step for Microsoft Project.

I did not like the book because it is assumed that you are dummy even after you finish the book! It does not have enough material and comparatively not a good book. I also bought MSP Step-by-Step and it was much better.

This product was very easy to follow. It also came with a CD which made it even easier to use. I had never used this software before, but with the help of this book, I was able to!! Highly recommend.

Earlier this year I purchased Project 2003 for Dummies and I must say that it has been a very useful tool. Since purchasing the book from Amazon I have been able to build and use Microsoft Project 2003 for a number of incentive and loyalty marketing projects that I have either launched or worked on. I would highly recommend Project 2003 for Dummies to anyone who needs to build or manage a project plan.

This was a good book. As with all the "dummies" books it was fairly straightforward. Pretty basic. It is a good place to start.