Time Management In Project Management

Time management is the act of planning, controlling and finally executing specific activities, especially to increase efficiency or productivity. It applies to a wide usage area starting from personal time organization and up to business related management. For the best results and the biggest efficiency dedicated time management software should be used.

A management system is a combination of processes, tools, techniques, and methods. There are many books and case studies focusing on these notions.

Personal Time Management

The notion of time management was initially used in business related area but in time the term started to also be used for personal activities. People started to be interested on it when they felt the need to be more organized and more productive. It all happens when you start working all day long and at the end you wonder why you haven't accomplished much.

Time management methodologies consist of a series of habits and good practices which help you to get more organized. The most used and well known time management methodologies are GTD and ZTD. Getting Things Done (GTD) was created by David Allen and it is based on the following principles:

• do not use your memory to collect your ideas, tasks and arrangements
• do not delay decisions on what to do next
• if you can complete a certain task in less than 2 minutes, do it now
• Zen To Done (ZTD) is a methodology based on some GTD principles, but with the focus on deciding which reaction must be taken for an action as soon as possible, and never letting gather up.

However these skills are especially important for small business people, who often find themselves performing many different jobs during the day.

Project Time Management

Time management is an essential subset for project management and it describes the processes required to ensure timely completion of the project. More exactly according to PMBOK it consists of five main phases:

• activity definition - establish the activities necessary to produce the deliverables of the project
• activity sequencing - establish the dependencies between these activities
• activity duration estimating - estimate the effort of work necessary to complete the tasks on the necessary resources
• schedule control - control the changes made to the project schedule

The most important phase is project planning when the project plan is established. A well defined project plan can significantly contribute to the success of the project. Once established the project plan is used to create the project schedule. All it remains now is for the schedule to be respected as much as possible over time and the deadlines to be met.

Time management software is ideal to have your personal life organized. However when it comes to managing projects a better choice is to use a dedicated project management software.

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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Project Management

Managers will no longer dread the word “project.”
Fully updated and revised, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Project Management covers the tools and processes of project management, complying with the standards of the Project Management Institute (PMI) and The Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK). Packed with examples, case studies, and expert opinions, this book includes essential information on implementation strategies, setting up schedules, troubleshooting, and more.

• Perfect for the new project manager—or the re-learner
• New, updated information on software, PMBOK facts, the PMP exam, and integration management

Customer Reviews

Great information...thanks! by KB
Just great. Understandable. Complete. Each edition gets better--although I still like the humor in the 2nd edition better. Great teaching tool and great for all general project managers, which is almost everyone in business.

Perfect for college term paper by Brandi Bridges
I bought this book for my college term paper in project management, and it was very useful. Everything is explained in simple terms - as the title says: An Idiot's Guide...

I wouldn't recommend this book, if you are looking for something with depth. This one is pretty superficial, but it grazes all the basics and then some.

Excellent for beginners by Middle-Aged Professor
The previous reviewer is being grossly unfair. The entire premise of the "Idiot's Guide" series is basic information for the beginner. To fault the book for repeating information found in business education classes is missing the point. For those who do not have a business education but find themselves leading a project -- the PTA fundraiser, the Boy Scout jamboree, or even their daughter's wedding -- the book presents a wealth of useful information.

Controlling a Project When the Team Doesn't Report to You

Results Without Authority: A Project Manager's Guide

How to take control of teams and projects even when you're not the boss? .... Project leaders these days supervise few if any of the people that they rely upon for project success. Getting projects off to a good start and then maintaining control of them is an enormous challenge for a project leader who has little or no formal authority.

But there are many proven, powerful techniques a strong project leader can employ to keep projects and teams on track. Results Without Authority explores a wide range of effective methods and tools for leading a diverse team, and includes clear, insightful examples that demonstrate how they work in a variety of situations.

Packed with invaluable guidance for controlling projects of all scopes and in any field, Results Without Authority will help novice and experienced project leaders get the best from their project teams.

“Results without Authority stands out by methodically and thoroughly exploring the issue of control throughout the project life cycle….this practical project management reference brings together a lot of ideas and concepts worth considering for readers who are confronted with projects over which they have little to no formal authority."-Journal of Product Innovation Management

“...stands out by methodically and thoroughly exploring the issue of control throughout the project life cycle."
-Journal of Product Innovation Management

“…full of sound, practical, project management advice for carrying out IT and similar type projects…laced with the practical wisdom." -- Max’s Project Management Wisdom

"This book is full of sound, practical, project management advice for carrying out IT and similar type projects. It is also laced with the practical wisdom that only comes from years of "Been there, done that.'" -- Max’s Project Management Wisdom

“…important for all project managers, with and without authority… Packed with valuable guidance for controlling projects of all scopes and in any field.” – PM Network

This stuff works! "Results without Authority" is a powerful source of tools and common sense advice for people managing projects without formal authority. And most of the projects I have managed and most of the projects I am aware of are managed by people without authority. Tom Kendrick brings a depth of wisdom that can only be learned in the trenches.

Kendrick weaves theory and practice to build a comprehensive set of tools, templates, and checklists that can be used by everyone from the newly appointed project manager to the steely veteran. This volume is the most practical, down-to-earth, treatment of managing without authority that I have ever read. And, it is a good read and an enjoyable read. "Results Without Authority" must be required reading for all project managers, whether they have authority or not. Read it today and start using it tomorrow.

Project Management Software

Project management software exists in many different levels of sofistication and variety of prices. This article aims to help project managers realize what kind of project management software tools they need and find out how computers can help them in everyday routine.

Before choosing some particular tool you should have a look at the different kinds of projects to manage and corresponding PM skills. It is very important to pick a project management software tool appropriate for you and your organization. The following types of projects and project management software should cover the field broadly, though any categorization is very relative.

Project management software for small projects, usually in single functional area

At this level project managers usually plan and schedule only durations of project subtasks rather than resource capacity or work estimates. They do not need to track a project budget and their project status reports contain only completion date tracking.

Project management software in this situation helps project managers to automate such basic routines like

* planning project flow
* occasional status reports preparing
* producing Gantt charts

If your project management tasks are not intended to grow and such functionality is enough, you should not spend a lot of money nor waste your time on long learning curve about features you’ll never use.

Project management software for managing larger projects

Project budget is very important now, therefore we need a project management tool to give us the capability to estimate resources and money at every stage of the project. As more people are getting involved in the project, software should provide the ability to create numerous status reports - from simple total project cost to more sophisticated ones.

As the size of the project grows, the number of project management techniques increases. Requirements for project management software change accordingly. At this level project management software must be able to work not only with the static representation of start and finish dates for each project subroutines, but it needs to be powerful enough to simulate the project and reschedule it every time something changes in project flow.

Project management software for huge multi-project environment

At this high-end level we need project management software that meets a lot of additional requirements. Now we need to roll-up multiple projects and require consistent information for decision-makers. Among the features they need are:

* material resources allocating (including finances)
* scheduling and tracking a pool of human resources
* sharing resources between multiple projects
* sophisticated risk assessment tools
* detailed project performance tracking
* creating a detailed project budget. This brings project management software closer to the company’s accounting system

If you need a lot, you have to spend a lot. Project management software for this purpose costs from $400 up to $3000 and even more. Such packages usually have network versions and team communication capabilities.

Categorization above was rather comprehensive over the last years. But modern project management reality changes constantly, therefore we can talk about one more project management software category.

Project management software for managing multiple projects in small and mid-size businesses

It often happens that project managers face the need to manage multiple projects simultaneously, using resources that can be shared between them. But they do not need a huge and extremely expensive project management software tool with thousands of not really needed features. What should they choose? ConceptDraw Project can be the answer. It is a cross-platform (Mac OS X and Windows) project management software tool that allows the project manager to automate project routines - from planning and assigning resources to powerful report generating capabilities

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Scrappy Project Management: The 12 Predictable and Avoidable Pitfalls Every Project Faces

The Scrappy Project Management Guides are books with ATTITUDE! They are your edge in accomplishing what seems impossible, but is actually just real hard. These are real books for real people living in the real world. They are your secret weapon in creating courage and commitment to your goals even when there is no evidence that you will succeed. They are your shield against the inevitable critics who will try to undermine you, and your comfort in the inevitable failures that accompany any worthy pursuit.

Scrappy means not relying on a title to be a leader, being willing to take chances, take risks, put yourself out there in order to do the right thing. Scrappy means having the steely resolve of a street-fighter when necessary, being willing to be scared while sticking to your guns, being committed beyond confidence and ability, committed to making a difference. Scrappy means focusing on creating something extraordinary more than worrying about social acceptance and the approval of others. Scrappy is EDGY!

Scrappy Project Managers know that the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) is a sanitized version of the world of projects. The Scrappy Project Manager wants to succeed. They want their team to be successful. They know their team DESERVES to win, and they know that the PMBOK is just the beginning of what it takes to deliver success in the higgly-piggly world where real projects live. Scrappy Project Managers don't let reality limit them. They either find a way or they make one! This book contains guidelines on how to get stuff done when the odds are against you, historical evidence says it can't be done, and the majority doesn't think it is possible. It's for people who aren't bound by convention, assumptions or self-limiting beliefs. It's for people who can be counted upon to get the job done. Are you ready to get scrappy?


Welcome to our Scrappy World!


Fearless Project Management: Welcome to Hell

Project management is one of the most demanding jobs I have ever experienced. Typically no one reports to the project manager. The project manager rarely has access to budget or staff of their own. And yet they are almost completely responsible for the success of a project. If a project is a failure, the project manager is usually blamed. If it is a success, my experience is that the project manager may not be able to benefit from the very success that she helped create. Project managers make clear what needs to be done, who is supposed to do it, and hold people accountable for following through on their commitments. They may have to tell executives things that they prefer not to hear, and even confront them with extremely negative news. This takes courage and conviction, and it is not necessarily appreciated for the valuable contribution that it is. Like a Mafia hit man, the same person that is so handy when you need someone killed may be an unwelcome guest at dinner. If you are going to be a great project manager you'd better keep your backbone in tact and be prepared to be respected, but not necessarily liked. And keep your resume up to date! You won't be effective as a leader if you can't put your job on the line to do the right thing. Leadership is not for the faint of heart. There are many people passing themselves off as leaders, but there are merely occupying the seat, not taking the stand. If you want to be the kind of leader that inspires commitment from your team, hope from your stakeholders and the admiration of your colleagues, these common sense guidelines for project management excellence will serve you well.

Projects are MESSY! From the minute the project begins, all manner of changes, surprises and disasters befall them. Unfortunately most of these are PREDICTABLE and AVOIDABLE.

Tact and diplomacy can only get you so far in the wild and wacky world of project work. A combination of outrageous creativity, sheer bravado and nerves of steel will serve you far better than any fancy-schmancy Microsoft Project Gantt chart!

'Scrappy Project Management' is about what REALLY happens in the project environment, how to survive it, and how to make sure that your team avoids the predictable and avoidable pitfalls that every project faces.

"Put this spine on your bookshelf, or in your survival kit. This is THE resource for the power starved PMs who need to learn how to street fight for resources, deal with customer insanity, and dodge the falling rocks as you stay on top of everything. A fighting spirit and a confident strategy is the RETURN ON THIS INVESTMENT."

Michele Jackman, Michele Jackman Enterprises and Adventures, co-author of Star Teams, Players.

"If you want to build energy, velocity, and momentum toward an outrageous goal, Kimberly's Scrappy Project Management is just what you've been waiting for to help you get those results with more pleasant surprises and fewer disappointing shocks along the way."

Christine Comaford-Lynch, CEO of Mighty Ventures, author of Rules for Renegades

"This book unabashedly puts forward a new, unambiguous, non-shrinking, and ultimately empowering view of what we all as project managers should commit to be and do every day in our project roles."

Cinda Voegtli, CEO of Emprend, Inc. and President of ProjectConnections.com

Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme

Gain the skills and tools to become an effective project manager

Get ready for a more robust approach to project management - one that recognizes the project environment and adapts accordingly. This resource first introduces you to the tools, templates, and processes that you'll need in your toolkit. You'll then explore five different project management life cycle (PMLC) models for managing a project: Linear, Incremental, Iterative, Adaptive, and Extreme. Along the way, you'll find step-by-step guidance on how to apply each technique. All of this will give you a complete understanding of how to successfully complete projects on time and within budget.

This comprehensive guide shows you how to:

• Apply all nine Knowledge Areas defined in PMBOK
• Establish project management life cycles and strategies
• Decide the best method for managing specific types of projects
• Select and use best-of-breed project management tools and templates for each management task
• Utilize the Project Support Office, Project Portfolio Management, and Continuous Process Improvement programs
• Prevent projects from becoming distressed and create effective intervention strategies
• Manage multiple team projects by integratingthe tools, templates, and processes into a single team

With 200 pages of new content, the fifth edition of this popular guide gives new or veteran project managers a comprehensive overview of all of the best-of-breed project management approaches and tools today, including Traditional (Linear and Incremental), Agile (Iterative and Adaptive), and Extreme. Step-by-step instruction and practical case studies show you how to use these tools effectively to achieve better outcomes of projects at hand. Plus, the book provides full coverage on managing continuous process improvement, procurement management, managing distressed projects, and managing multiple team projects. The companion Web site includes exercises and solutions that accompany the project management instruction in the book.

Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management (Theory in Practice)

In the updated edition of this critically acclaimed and bestselling book, Making Things Happen: Mastering Project Management (Theory in Practice), Microsoft project veteran Scott Berkun offers a collection of essays on field-tested philosophies and strategies for defining, leading, and managing projects. Each essay distills complex concepts and challenges into practical nuggets of useful advice, and the new edition now adds more value for leaders and managers of projects everywhere. Based on his nine years of experience as a program manager for Internet Explorer and lead program manager for Windows and MSN, Berkun explains to technical and non-technical readers alike what it takes to get through a large software or web development project. Making Things Happen doesn't cite specific methods, but focuses on philosophy and strategy. Unlike other project management books, Berkun offers personal essays in a comfortable style and easy tone that emulate the relationship of a wise project manager who gives good, entertaining and passionate advice to those who ask. Topics in this new edition include:

• How to make things happen
• Making good decisions
• Specifications and requirements
• Ideas and what to do with them
• How not to annoy people
• Leadership and trust
• The truth about making dates
• What to do when things go wrong

Complete with a new forward from the author and a discussion guide for forming reading groups/teams, Making Things Happen offers in-depth exercises to help you apply lessons from the book to your job. It is inspiring, funny, honest, and compelling, and definitely the one book that you and your team need to have within arm's reach throughout the life of your project. Coming from the rare perspective of someone who fought difficult battles on Microsoft's biggest projects and taught project design and management for MSTE, Microsoft's internal best practices group, this is valuable advice indeed. It will serve you well with your current work, and on future projects to come.

Based on his nine years of experience as a program manager for Microsoft’s biggest projects, Berkun explains to technical and non-technical readers alike what it takes to lead critical projects from start to finish. Here are 16 chapters on the critical and common challenges of leading projects and managing teams, diagrams, photography, and war stories of success and failure. Berkun offers practical tools and methods to make sure your projects succeed.

What To Do When Things Go Wrong
From Making Things Happen, Chapter 11

1. Calm down. Nothing makes a situation worse than basing your actions on fear, anger, or frustration. If something bad happens to you, you will have these emotions whether you’re aware of them or not. They will also influence your thinking and behavior whether you’re aware of it or not. (Rule of thumb: the less aware you are of your feelings, the more vulnerable you are to them influencing you.) Don’t flinch or overreact—be patient, keep breathing, and pay attention.

2. Evaluate the problem in relation to the project. Just because someone else thinks the sky has fallen doesn’t mean that it has. Is this really a problem at all? Whose problem is it? How much of the project (or its goals) is at risk or may need to change because of this situation: 5%? 20%? 90%? Put things in perspective. Will anyone die because of this mistake (you’re not a brain surgeon, are you?)? Will any cities be leveled? Plagues delivered on the innocent? Help everyone frame the problem to the right emotional and intellectual scale. Ask tons of questions and get people thinking rather than reacting. Work to eliminate assumptions. Make sure you have a tangible understanding of the problem and its true impact. Then, prioritize: emergency (now!), big concern (today), minor concern (this or next week), bogus (never). Know how long your fuse is to respond and prioritize this new issue against all existing work. If it’s a bogus issue, make sure whoever cried wolf learns some new questions to ask before raising the red flag again.

3. Calm down again. Now that you know something about the problem, you might really get upset (“How could those idiots let happen!?”). Find a way to express emotions safely: scream at the sky, workout at the gym, or talk to a friend. But do express them. Know what works for you, and use it. Then return to the problem. Not only do you need to be calm to make good decisions, but you need your team to be calm. Pay attention to who is upset and help them calm down. Humor, candor, food, and drink are good places to start. Being calm and collected yourself goes a long way toward calming others. And taking responsibility for the situation (see the later section “Take responsibility”), regardless of whose fault it was, accelerates a team’s recovery from a problem.

4. Get the right people in the room Any major problem won’t impact you alone. Identify who else is most responsible, knowledgeable, and useful and get them in together straight away. Pull them out of other meetings and tasks: if it’s urgent, act with urgency, and interrupt anything that stands in your way. Sit them down, close the door, and run through what you learned in step 2. Keep this group small; the more complex the issue, the smaller the group should be. Also, consider that (often) you might not be part of this group: get the people in the room, communicate the problem, and then delegate. Offer your support, but get out of their way (seriously—leave the room if you’re not needed). Clearly identify who is in charge for driving this issue to resolution, whether it’s you or someone else.

5. Explore alternatives. After answering any questions and clarifying the situation, figure out what your options are. Sometimes this might take some research: delegate it out. Make sure it’s flagged as urgent if necessary; don’t ever assume people understand how urgent something is. Be as specific as possible in your expectation for when answers are needed.

6. Make the simplest plan. Weigh the options, pick the best choice, and make a simple plan. The best available choice is the best available choice, no matter how much it sucks (a crisis is not the time for idealism). The more urgent the issue, the simpler your plan. The bigger the hole you’re in, the more direct your path out of it should be. Break the plan into simple steps to make sure no one gets confused. Identify two lists of people: those whose approval you need for the plan, and those who need to be informed of the plan before it is executed. Go to the first group, present the plan, consider their feedback, and get their support. Then communicate that information to the second group.

7. Execute. Make it happen. Ensure whoever is doing the work was involved in the process and has an intimate understanding of why he’s doing it. There is no room for assumption or ambiguity. Have specific checkpoints (hourly, daily, weekly) to make sure the plan has the desired effect and to force you and others in power to consider any additional effort that needs to be spent on this issue. If new problems do arise, start over at step 1.

8. Debrief. After the fire is out, get the right people in the room and generate a list of lessons learned. (This group may be different from the right people in step 4 because you want to include people impacted by, but not involved in, the decision process.) Ask the question: “What can we do next time to avoid this?” The bigger the issue, the more answers you’ll have to this question. Prioritize the list. Consider who should be responsible for making sure each of the first few items happens.

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge: (Pmbok Guide)

The PMBOK9 Guide – Fourth Edition continues the tradition of excellence in project management with a standard that is even easier to understand and implement, with improved consistency and greater clarification.

• Standard language has been incorporated throughout the document to aid reader understanding.
• New data flow diagrams clarify inputs and outputs for each process.
• Greater attention has been placed on how Knowledge Areas integrate in the context of Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing process groups.
• Two new processes are featured: Identify Stakeholders and Collect Requirements.

The PMBOK Guide is a standard for the project management profession. Its intention is to serve as a guide to the body of knowledge within the project management community and as practiced by members of the profession. There is no single document that contains the project management body of knowledge. Indeed, some of it is not published at all but, rather, is simply recognized as good practices and norms within the profession. This body of knowledge is growing every day.

The PMBOK Guide is not intended to be used to learn project management or project management concepts. It's especially not intended to teach or suggest PM techniques or methodologies.

This project management book is not a "how to" book nor is it a description of a methodology. It's a standard, not a methodology. PM professionals and the organizations they work for can use the PMBOK Guide as a guide for developing their own methodologies or for creating organization standards. 

It's particularly important to understand that it is not a standard or specification for the examination portion of the PMP certification. For one thing, at least 30% of the material on the examination is not covered by the PMBOK Guide. (There IS an exam on the PMBOK Guide. It's the CAPM exam, which only covers knowledge of the PMBOK Guide.)

While the PMBOK Guide only changes once every 4 years, the exam component of the PMP credential is constantly changing. Much of the material that showed up in the 4th (2008) edition of the PMBOK Guide has ALREADY been showing up on the PMP exam for several years - e.g., PTA, TCPI, etc. PMBOK Guide 4th edition came out in December, 2008, but these topics have been showing up on the PMP exam as early as 2006. The group at PMI that develops the standards (such the PMBOK Guide, the Standard for Risk Management, etc.) and the group at PMI that develops the the certifications and their corresponding exams (such as PMP, CAPM, PMI-SP, etc.) are two separate groups that DO NOT interface with each other. They are two separate groups. If anything, the standards group looks at the work that the credential group (PMP, CAPM) does and uses it as one of the many inputs for what they put into the standards such as the PMBOK Guide.

The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management (Portable Mba Series)

The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management (Portable Mba Series) is one of the bestselling books ever published on the topic of project management. Now in a revised new third edition, it presents you with a wealth of proven techniques for managing projects from establishing project objectives to building schedules to projecting costs. It includes all the basics on defining, planning, and tracking a project, as well as building stronger project teams. This new edition of the Fast Forward MBA in Project Management (Portable Mba Series) includes new chapters on Agile Project Management, PMI exam prep, and more.

Until the early '90s, project management was definitely located somewhere near the unsexy end of the business spectrum. But now, with the rise of downsizing and outsourcing, it has become one of the hot disciplines. Professional membership of the U.S.-based Project Management Institute has quadrupled in the last decade, and Microsoft claimed recently to have over 2 million users worldwide of its project-management software. The reasons for this growth are simple. Project management is about managing "projects," that is, unique pieces of work (as opposed to ongoing operations). Downsizing, outsourcing, and the accelerating pace of change have meant that, increasingly, work is carried out on an ad-hoc, one-off project basis. The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management  is designed as an advanced textbook for businesspeople with a grasp of the basics and insufficient time (or inclination) to go back to school to learn more. Written by Eric Verzuh, president of the Versatile Company, a leading project-management consultancy, this is not a heavy academic text.

Like the rest of the Fast Forward series, The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management (Portable Mba Series) is designed to let the reader extract maximum information in minimum time. There is a strong use of graphics with tables, charts cross-heads, and bullet points. Important passages are flagged in bold and/or emblazoned with the words key concept. When you read it, you realize that there is nothing magical about project management, just the application of careful common sense. The book covers all the basic stuff like planning, time-tabling, quantity and price estimation, resource allocation, and scheduling. But it also acknowledges that there is inevitably a political dimension to every project, no matter how small. So it has important sections on how to ensure that all the stakeholders in the project are kept "on board" and the importance of communication.

As Verzuh states in his introduction, "Every project participant from part-time team member to executive sponsor, becomes more effective once he or she understands the basics of project management." Really, this is a book about management that every manager should read, whether he or she has a project or not. --Alex Benady --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management (2nd Edition)

Why learn project management the hard way?

Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Project Management, Second Edition will have you managing projects in no time! Here’s a small sample of what you’ll learn:

• Key concepts and fundamentals behind best-practice project management techniques
• The mindset and skill set of effective project managers
• Project techniques that work in any industry, with any tools
• The common elements of successful projects
• Lessons from failed projects
• The value and importance of project leadership versus project management
• How to manage growing project trends and tough project types that first-time project managers are likely to encounter
• How to make better use of Microsoft Project
• How to respond when project reality does not match textbook scenarios
• Expert insight on key project management concepts and topics
  

You’ve just been handed your department's biggest project. Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management will show you exactly where to start–and walk you step by step through your entire project!

Expert project manager, Gregory Horine, shows you exactly what works and what doesn’t, drawing on the field’s proven best practices. Understand your role as a project manager...gain the skills and discover the personal qualities of great project managers...learn how to organize, estimate, and schedule projects effectively...manage deliverables, issues, changes, risks, quality, vendors, communications, and expectations...make the most of technology...manage virtual teams...avoid the problems that trip up new project managers!

This new edition jumpstarts your project management expertise even faster, with all-new insights on Microsoft Project, challenging project situations and intriguing project management topics of the day.

Franklincovey Projectsplus For Microsoft Outlook

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PERFECTION FOR EVERYONE

Each day, professionals at every level perform key duties as part of a group effort to complete an important project. That's why equipping yourself with robust resources that increase your efficiency and help you meet deadlines is a surefire way to career longevity and prosperity. To that end, the brilliant new Franklincovey Projectsplus For Microsoft Outlook offers simple, intuitive project management for everyday professionals-and it runs inside your existing Microsoft Outlook application. Franklincovey Projectsplus For Microsoft Outlook makes it a cinch to set up a project and its associated subtasks, and its simple outline-style interface lets you nest tasks in multiple levels. Project management has never been easier, simpler, or more integrated with proven solutions.

Key functional features:

• Familiar outline format uses drag-and-drop functionality and enables easy definition of milestones and tasks
  
• Project tasks automatically appear in Outlook's TaskPad
  
• Progress view lets you track accountability by showing the status of individual elements or the entire project
  
• Facilitates easy creation and e-mailing of detail and summary reports
  
• Allows you to save projects as templates for future use
  
• Microsoft Exchange Server compatibility lets you delegate to team task lists and see automatic progress updates

Microsoft Project 2007 Training Course

This training CD is ideal for self-study of Microsoft Project 2007. Finding time to attend classes is difficult for most people. This Microsoft Project 2007 Training Course lets you start and stop as time permits. Bookmarking features let you mark the place you left off and come back to it hours, days, or even months later. If you need to review a section, you can re-watch the videos at any time. For engaging, dynamic, and effective alternative to instructor-led classes, choose CD training at its finest.

Course Outline for Microsoft 2007 Basic:
1.0 Reviewing the Workspace
2.0 Getting started
3.0 Adding Project Detail
4.0 Editing Text
5.0 Editing Tasks
6.0 Reviewing the Projects
7.0 Reporting

Speical Bonus: PowerPoint 2007 Training CD

Quantum Project Manager

Quantum Project Manager produces estimates, completes contract documents, generate payment applications, prints certified payroll reports and tracks all of your communications. You can purchase one or more of the 5 integrated programs included as needed. The price listed for this item is for all 5 programs. The Contractor Billing program completes the application for payment, continuation page, schedule of values, remaining balance worksheet, and other project reports and forms. Print to our plain paper formats or to pre-printed forms.

The Certified Payroll program collects weekly hourly time card information, does all your taxes and deductions automatically and then prints the certified payroll reports. It can generate the U.S. Department of Labor WH-347 and WH-348 formats as well as many state formats. The Communications program will allow you to enter basic company contact information and track project communications including RFIs, Notices, Transmittals, Submittals, Proposals, Letters, Waivers and Releases, Insurance and Insurance Notices, Punch Lists, Meeting Minutes, Schedules and Gantt charts, Daily Reports, Telephone Log, Correspondence Sent Log, and Correspondence Received Log. There is also a program for estimating and one for contract documents.

EasyProjectPlan (Excel Project Plan)

EasyProjectPlan tasks can be synchronized with Microsoft Project and Outlook. EasyProjectPlan simulates an enterprise task management system using a low cost Excel template that requires no installation program or add-ins. EasyProjectPlan is designed to distribute, share and collect project task information using a user-friendly and intuitive Excel template. Version 11.8 is compatible with all versions of Excel including Excel 2007.

• Are you having problems distributing and communicating tasks to your project team?
• Are your team members having problems updating their tasks?
• Are you having problems collecting and merging tasks?
• Are you having problems managing project information with teams in remote locations?
  

EasyProjectPlan solves all of the above issues with an easy-to-use Excel Project Plan with the following powerful features:

• NO INSTALLATION PROGRAM – Implement EasyProjectPlan in any company immediately.
• Distribute to anyone using Excel.
• Easy-to-use: Team members can immediately open, understand and edit the Excel file.
• Sync with Microsoft Project
• Sync with Outlook Tasks
• Sync with Outlook CalendarSync with Outlook Email
• Create and Print Gantt Charts directly from Excel – Microsoft Project NOT required.
• Compatible with SharePoint
• Compatible with Microsoft WorkspaceCompatible with Seavus Project Viewer.
• EasyProjectPlan file is only 2MB - the entire project plan can be emailed as a single 2MB file attachment.
  

Compulink Earned Value Management (EVM)

Earned Value Management (EVM) is a project management system that combines schedule performance and cost performance to answer the question,

“What did we get for the money we spent?”

Earned Value has been used since the 1960’s by the Department of Defense as a central part of the Cost/Schedule Control Systems Criteria. Recently, the DOD revised the 35 criteria contained in the C/SCSC and produced the 32 criteria for EVMS (Earned Value Management Systems).

These criteria have since been accepted by the American National Standards Institute/Electronic Industry Association as a new standard, called ANSI/EIA 748. Now, EVM is being used in a wider variety of government contracts, and is spreading through the private sector as a valuable tool for project managers.

Monitor the Health of your Project through Compulink Earned Value Management (EVM) is a systematic approach to the integration and measurement of cost, schedule, and technical (scope) accomplishments on a project or task. It provides both the seller and buyer the ability to examine detailed schedule information, critical program and technical milestones, and cost data.

It helps reducing guesswork in “Measuring performance & Forecasting”. It is an industry standard way to measure a project’s progress, forecast its completion date and final cost while providing schedule and budget variances along the way. By integrating three fundamental measures it provides consistent numerical indicators with which you can evaluate and compare projects.

This Computer-Based Training (CBT) helps the user to describe the benefits of Earned Value Management (EVM), detail the pre-requisite of using Earned Value Management (EVM), demonstrate how a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is essential for Earned Value Management (EVM), apply tools and techniques of Earned Value Management (EVM) to plan, schedule and budget a project, apply Earned Value Management (EVM) parameters to assess project’s progress and generate reports based on the Earned Value Management (EVM) parameters to explain project status. PLUS, can earn 6 PDUs after learning this CBT.

Project Management Professional Certification Practice Exam

Project Management Professional Certification Practice Exam products are industry-best exam simulations that provide realistic simulations of IT certification exams. The PMI PMP4ED practice exam prepares you for your PMP certification in confidence with our 100% pass guarantee. The Project Management Professional exam measures the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques that are utilized in the practice of project management.

Project Management Professional Certification Practice Exam measures the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques that are utilized in the practice of project management. Before taking the PMP exam, individuals must meet specific education and experience requirements and agree to adhere to a code of professional conduct. This product prepares individuals for the PMP exam (PMBOK Fourth Edition).

PMP Certifications
PMP candidates include those who are typically responsible for leading a project within the constraints of schedule, budget and resources. Candidates must be able to demonstrate sufficient knowledge and experience to appropriately apply a methodology to projects that have reasonably well-defined project requirements and deliverables. The PMP designation following your name tells current and potential employers that you have demonstrated a solid foundation of knowledge from which you can competently practice project management.

PMP Certification Preparation
Count on Transcender for your successful PMP certification training. It offers a range of PMP certification training products that include practice exams, online training, e-learning courses and study guides. Gain your IT training in confidence with Transcender certification prep products.

Compulink Project Risk Management

"Control your projects instead of having them control you!"

Managing risks is definitely one of the major features —but avoiding the mistakes others have made is key to overall project success. Compulink Project Risk Management CD, seeks to anticipate and address uncertainties that threaten the goals and timetables of a project. Compulink Project Risk Management provides project teams and managers with a step-by-step process for managing innovation risk in an effective cross-functional manner.

In addition to providing an inside view of the risk management framework as outlined in the Project Management Body of Knowledge [PMBOK Guide], this CD illuminates the rationale of managing project risks allowing project and product development managers to successfully adapt the process to their projects and organizations. Compulink Project Risk Management stands apart from much of the other literature on Project Risk Management in its practical, easy-to-use, case study approach to managing majority of the risks associated with a project. The depth of actual how-to information and techniques provided here are UNIQUE! PLUS, can earn 6 PDUs after learning this CBT.

TurboProject 4.0 Standard

TurboProject 4.0 Standard is the feature-rich project management software that rivals Microsoft Project, but for a fraction of the cost. TurboProject 4.0 Standard has the ability to create project schedules and resource plans that can be used on projects as complex as launching a satellite to projects as small as organizing an office move. Its versatility is unparalleled. Sharing information is made simple with TurboProject 4.0 Standard's reports and web publish feature. Hi-quality graphics allow you to present your project with professional flair.

A solid, cost-effective alternative to Microsoft Project. Anybody who needs to produce project schedules, Gantt charts, resource calendars and progress reports will find this program quick to learn, easy to use and incredibly versatile. Project work breakdown structures (WBS) are easy to create with the outline tools. Activities can be duration or resource driven depending on whether you want to create a top-down, or bottom-up project schedule.


Resources can be assigned based upon skill types, fixed work, fixed duration, or fixed units. Resource allocations can even be distributed unevenly as in front-loading or back-loading work effort. Table columns can be customized to support any view of project data. Schedule updates and progress posting are made easy with the tracking tools. Work can be baselined and then compared to a current or proposed plan to determine specific areas of concern. Full support of critical path method and earned value. Projects can export to MS-Project.

Full-featured project control with superior resource management

For anyone who spends time scheduling work, TurboProject 4.0 Standard cuts scheduling time in half. Create project calendars in minutes, then assign resources and tasks, and check them off as they get completed. Import from Microsoft Project, Word, Excel and more.

PlanBee Pro Project Management

Do you ever need to create a schedule or a project management plan? Do you need to ensure that your projects stay on track and on time? Do you need to calculate and include time line information in a business plan? Do you need graphical, as well as text, output in bar (Gantt) chart or PERT format output for your CPM (Critical Path Method) plan? Do you find most PERT chart software hard to use? Do you want to avoid spending hundreds of dollars for one of the "big name/big buck" project management software like Microsoft Project, full of features that 99% of people will never use?

If you are looking for a simple project management software, then you come to the right place.

PlanBee Pro Project Management is a critical Path project management planning tool, an inexpensive alternative to Microsoft Project. Calculates Early Start, Late Start, Early Finish, Late Finish, Float (Slack) and identifies Critical Path activities. Calculates and summarizes resource costs. Shows all project data in a "spreadsheet" pattern for ease of understanding. Data may be manually entered or imported from a file or the clipboard. Independent re-sizeable and hideable windows show PERT views and Gantt (bar chart) views of the project in addition to the "spreadsheet" view. Activities and links may be set up and edited in either spreadsheet or PERT views or both at once, since all views are kept synchronized. Up to 1,000 activities. No limit on links per activity (within total of 2,000 links). Links may be Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Start or Finish-to-Finish to handle overlapping activities. Links may have minimum time lags specified. Individual activities may have their dates "fixed".

Pop up "working day" calendar with 200 year range. Easy to change working/non-working days. Activity durations and lags may be specified as either "working days" or "calendar days" - both types may be used in the same plan. Scale of PERT and Gantt charts are adjustable both on-screen and for printing (to make best use of pages). Reports, PERT charts and Gantt charts may be either printed, or copied to the clipboard for pasting into other programs. Each project may have its own resources list, or master resource lists may be maintained for use across projects. Activities may be grouped into up to three levels, with resource cost summaries available at each level.

On a network other users may have read-only access while one user has a file open for exclusive update. Includes features for use with larger plans and in a corporate environment, including resource leveling, costing, administrative detail and enhanced export facilities including the generation of HTML (web page) reports.


PlanBee Pro Project Management is easy to use because it's intuitive. If you can use a computer, you can set up a project in PlanBee Pro Project Management. It's even easier than most spreadsheet applications, yet with a similar interface. All you have to do is enter the task names, task durations and linkages in the grid and the project is created for you - with the program assuming the most prevalent values about task and linkage characteristics. By following the Quick Start Guide beginners can set up simple project plans in no time at all, yet skilled users can create plans of great complexity by using the advanced features available.

Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0

Aimed at those who won't put up with limits in their project management software, Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0 provides an excellent all-around package for getting control of time, resources, and budget. With excellent built-in Web and collaborative capabilities, this is a program that can simplify any busy manager's life.

To get started, Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0 bundles the KickStart tool, which lets even those new to project management software get going productively. In testing, this wizard asked us a series of questions about project phases, goals, people, potential obstacles, and the like, with extensive help from a built-in library of sample entries for many different industries. (If you have been using Microsoft Project, Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0 supports importing and exporting to .MPJ files, which is another way to start.)

Communicate with professional-quality reports and graphics. Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0 combines ease of use, power, and affordability. With Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0, you can create schedules graphically, as well as point and click to create relationships between activities. It is ideal for resource planning and control on small- to medium-sized projects.

Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0 features extensive support for the two traditional views for tracking a project: Gantt charts, which show a time line of various tasks, and PERT charts, which show logically connected diagrams of tasks along with dependencies. We liked the support for distributing a variety of reports over the Web using HTML. The product also allows managers to e-mail reports to other team members, plus you can add hyperlinks to any report or view.

Another notable feature included here is the ability to define custom resources (for instance, costs per employee, based on skill sets and project roles), "activity codes," and even specialized calendars. The control over costs in Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0 is certainly one of the product's strengths. You can track every cost associated with a project and see exactly where you are with your budget at any point within the project cycle.

Finally, at a time when most printed manuals are being downsized in favor of online help, we appreciated the Primavera SureTrak Project Manager's 500 pages of tutorials and documentation. Overall, Primavera's product delivers a well-thought-out project management package, one that can be used effectively by beginner and expert alike to track even large projects effectively. --Richard Dragan

Anticipate obstacles:
See how rescheduling one activity affects the predecessor and successor activities in the Trace Logic window of PERT. As you encounter project delays or resource shortages, SureTrak automatically displays the downstream effects on the rest of the project, and most importantly, on the critical path.

Send it in writing:
Print out what you see on-screen as a report or save as HTML format. Choose from over 40 industrial-strength reports, or create your own. Emphasize deadlines, communicate priorities or clarify responsibilities by embellishing with graphics, vivid colors and attention getting fonts.

Send it faster:
Get the latest priorities and schedule changes to your team members quickly using e-mail. Freely distribute Primavera's easy-to-use Primavera Post Office to project team members. They'll see their assignments and update their work, indicating when activities started and how much work remains. When project updates are received, audit them for accuracy, approve them and automatically merge them into the schedule - without any dual entry.

Send it farther:
Share graphical reports and layouts in HTML format. Communicate assignments, deadlines and project status with project participants at all levels in all locations with the Primavera SureTrak Web Publishing