Project 2013 For Dummies

Learn to:

• Create project plans, assign resources, and manage costs
• Track your progress to stay on schedule and on budget
• Communicate and collaborate with all members of your team
• Implement project management best practices in your organization

Project manager, meet your assistant! Learn how to get things done with Project 2013

Once you master Project 2013, you'll be amazed at how efficient and effective the project management process can be. This friendly guide shows you how to get started, enter tasks and estimate durations, work with resources and costs, fine–tune your schedule, set baselines, collect data, analyze progress, and keep your projects on track. Take charge of your next project with Project 2013 For Dummies.

• Ready to start learn to navigate Project views, develop a work breakdown structure, and enter and sequence tasks
• Get resourceful find out how to assign people, material resources, and fixed costs to tasks in your project and how they impact your budget
• Finishing touches use the Project toolbox to modify resource assignments, trim costs, adjust schedules, and set up a baseline
• Make tracks track your progress and develop a communications management plan
• Report the news take advantage of Project 2013's revamped reporting function to create lively reports

Open the book and find:

• Various ways to enter tasks
• Different estimating techniques
• Types of resources and calendars
• How to give your plan a tune–up
• What a Gantt Chart is and how to format one
• Secrets of setting baselines
• How to manage consolidated projects
• Ten "golden rules" of project management

Part I: Getting Started with Project 2013 7

Chapter 1: Project Management, Project 2013, and You 9

Chapter 2: Starting the Project 21

Chapter 3: Becoming a Task Master 41

Chapter 4: The Codependent Nature of Tasks 55

Chapter 5: Estimating Task Time 69

Chapter 6: Check Out This View! 85

Part II: Managing Resources 105

Chapter 7: Creating Resources 107

Chapter 8: Working with Calendars 121

Chapter 9: Assigning Resources 135

Chapter 10: Determining a Project s Cost 147

Part III: Before You Baseline 157

Chapter 11: Fine–Tuning Your Plan 159

Chapter 12: Negotiating Project Constraints 173

Chapter 13: Making the Project Look Good 187

Chapter 14: It All Begins with a Baseline 203

Part IV: Staying on Track 211

Chapter 15: On the Right Track 213

Chapter 16: Project Views: Observing Progress 235

Chapter 17: You re Behind Now What? 249

Chapter 18: Spreading the News: Reporting 265

Chapter 19: Getting Better All the Time 287

Part V: The Part of Tens 297

Chapter 20: Ten Golden Rules of Project Management 299

Chapter 21: Ten Cool Shortcuts in Project 2013 307

Appendix: Glossary 313

Index 323

Cynthia Snyder is a project manager, author, consultant, and trainer in project management. She has written eight books on project management, including PMP Certification All–in–One For Dummies. Nancy Muir has written more than 100 books on topics ranging from desktop applications and project management to distance learning.