Author: Ira Brown

Ira Brown is a leader in the field of project management and a recognized Microsoft Project expert, Project Widgets is well-known for offering add-on products for Microsoft Project and Project Online, as well as for creating custom solutions that meet their client's unique business requirements.  This company continues to extend the scope and breadth of their offerings, thereby increasing the value they provide to customers, by creating Microsoft Project solutions that are tailored to an organization's unique needs.  They even have several free, downloadable widgets available on their website that you can begin using right away.

Where There’s a Widget, There’s a Way: Unleashing the Power of Microsoft Project! – By Project Widgets

  *This is an MPUG Vendor Session. The presenter will discuss 3rd party Microsoft Project add-ons or services in a no pressure, stress-free environment. These add-ons are not out-of-the-box functionality and require product trial or purchase. Your information is safe, we do not sell or share your information.   Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs): This Webinar is eligible for 1 PMI® PDUs in the Technical category of the Talent Triangle.   Event Description: Project Widgets is pleased to showcase several “widgets” that extend the power of Microsoft Project. These products address real world challenges faced by many industries by providing the following capabilities: Create reliable “what-if” scenario plans that allow you to analyze the downstream impact of changes to a project in support of key business decisions. This capability is especially critical in these uncertain times. Automate the new project creation process, ensuring uniformity across your enterprise by leveraging existing project templates and metadata, and enforcing naming conventions. Initiate all projects within a program at once, including the establishment of interproject dependencies. Capture metadata, assumptions and other critical project information in a central repository. Create “snapshots” of important project information across your portfolio including schedule dates and project details such as metadata, key assumptions, and risks/issues. Highlight variances of key milestones from one reporting period to another. These Project Widgets products, all of which work with Project Online and Project Server, will take project management with Microsoft Project to the next level!     Presenter Info: Ira Brown, the founder and president of Project Widgets, is a leader in the field of project management, and is a recognized Microsoft Project expert. Project Widgets is well-known for offering add-on products for Microsoft Project and Project Online, as well as for creating custom solutions that meet their clients’ unique business requirements. This company continues to extend the scope and breadth of their offerings, thereby increasing the value they provide to customers by creating Microsoft Project solutions that are tailored to an organization’s unique needs. They even have several free, downloadable widgets available on their website that you can begin using right away   Have you watched this webinar recording? Tell MPUG viewers what you think! [WPCR_INSERT]  

Where There’s a Widget, There’s a Way: Unleashing the Power of Microsoft Project

Project Widgets has created powerful, easy to use “widgets” that extend the capabilities of Microsoft Project and make the overall project and portfolio management process more intuitive and streamlined. Most importantly, these solutions have been designed to build integrity and governance into your project plans, thereby providing a solid foundation for significant decision-making that these uncertain times demand. This article will provide a brief overview of some of the widgets currently available. These Project Widgets products, all of which work with Project Online and Project Server, will allow you to take project management with Microsoft Project to the next level!    Scenario Builder Widget As we prepare for an ever-changing future, the need for reliable “what-if” scenarios has never been more critical. Project Widgets has focused on this problem for a long time, and we have created a tool that leverages Microsoft Project to create trustworthy scenario plans that support key business decisions. The Scenario Builder Widget allows leaders to make confident portfolio decisions by better understanding the downstream impact of the available options. The Scenario Builder Widget allows you to create unlimited scenario versions of a project. As the Scenario Builder Widget has been seamlessly integrated with OnePager Pro by Chronicle Graphics, you can create visually stunning reports that compare different scenarios to each other, as well as to the active project on which they are based.   Project Initiation Widget It is often challenging to ensure that project managers create schedules that follow organizational standards and best practices. To solve this problem, Project Widgets’ Project Initiation Widget automates the new project creation process, ensuring uniformity across your enterprise by leveraging existing project templates and enforcing a standard naming convention. The Project Initiation Widget’s user interface is template-driven and dynamic. Types and quantities of tasks included in a new project are determined by the user’s response to prompts. You can even create multiple projects for an entire program at the same time! The Project Initiation Widget is integrated with MasterLink from Matan and will automatically create links between projects upon their creation based upon your template configuration. This eliminates the need to manually create inter-project dependencies between projects!   Project Details Portal The Project Details Portal provides an intuitive, modern user interface that enables you to capture critical project information that can then be used for reporting purposes throughout the life of a project. This includes: Project Metadata Objectives and Assumptions Risks, Issues, and Actions Project Status Key Decisions Stakeholders The Project Details Portal stores this information in a central repository that is integrated with Project Online or Project Server.   SnapIt! SnapIt! allows you to create “snapshots” of important project information across your portfolio. This information includes schedule-related information such as key task and milestone dates, as well as information captured in our Project Details Portal such as metadata, key assumptions, and risks. Similar in concept to saving a project baseline, SnapIt! provides the ability to capture unlimited snapshots as a centralized function of your PMO. SnapIt! will automatically highlight variances of key tasks and milestones from one reporting period to another so that nothing slips through the cracks!   Interested in Learning More? I dive deeper into these widgets and their capabilities in my on-demand MPUG session, Where There’s a Widget, There’s a Way: Unleashing the Power of Microsoft Project. It’s part of MPUG’s Vendor Showcase 2020.   The above article is a sponsored contribution. We thank Project Widgets for being a community sponsor of MPUG.  

Beyond Macros Revisited: Automating Microsoft Project for Non-Techies Part 2

  Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs): This Webinar is eligible for 1 PMI® PDUs in the Technical category of the Talent Triangle.   Event Description: Due to the positive response to our previous session regarding the use of macros in Microsoft Project, Ira Brown, a recognized Microsoft Project expert, will build on his last demonstration to show you even more exciting ways that macros can be used to automate this application. This session, which is geared toward the Microsoft Project business user rather than a technical programmer, will provide practical, real-world illustrations for solving the common challenges a user faces when working with Microsoft Project. Topics include: • Recording and editing basic macros • Assigning a macro to a button in the ribbon • Creating automated printing routines • Rounding a task’s Duration to the nearest complete day • Using automation to import resource rates from a Microsoft Excel file • Distributing your macros and custom ribbon to others Receive a copy of the presentation materials and all of the sample macros created during this webinar by contacting the presenter.   Watch Part 1 on-demand   Presenter Info: Ira Brown, the founder and president of Project Widgets, is a leader in the field of project management, and is a recognized Microsoft Project expert. Project Widgets is well-known for offering add-on products for Microsoft Project and Project Online, as well as for creating custom solutions that meet their clients’ unique business requirements. This company continues to extend the scope and breadth of their offerings, thereby increasing the value they provide to customers by creating Microsoft Project solutions that are tailored to an organization’s unique needs. They even have several free, downloadable widgets available on their website that you can begin using right away.   Have you watched this webinar recording? Tell MPUG viewers what you think! [WPCR_INSERT]  

Beyond Macros Revisited: Automating Microsoft Project for Non-Techies

  Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs): This Webinar is eligible for 1 PMI® PDUs in the Technical category of the Talent Triangle.   Event Description: Ira Brown, a recognized Microsoft Project expert, will deliver this fun and informative presentation that will provide you with an understanding of the automation capabilities of Microsoft Project. The session, which is geared toward the Microsoft Project business user rather than a technical programmer, will provide practical, real-world illustrations for solving the common challenges a user faces when working with Microsoft Project. Topics include: • Recording and editing basic macros • Assigning a macro to a button in the ribbon • Creating a “zoom in/zoom out” macro to adjust text size in your project • Creating automation to count the number of displayed tasks after a filter has been applied • Creating automation to increase or decrease the work for a task by a specific percentage • Creating a project status report in Microsoft Word • Distributing your macros and custom ribbon to others Receive a copy of the presentation materials and all of the sample macros created during this webinar by contacting the presenter.   Watch Part 2 On-Demand   Presenter Info: Ira Brown, the founder and president of Project Widgets, is a leader in the field of project management, and is a recognized Microsoft Project expert. Project Widgets is well-known for offering add-on products for Microsoft Project and Project Online, as well as for creating custom solutions that meet their clients’ unique business requirements. This company continues to extend the scope and breadth of their offerings, thereby increasing the value they provide to customers by creating Microsoft Project solutions that are tailored to an organization’s unique needs. They even have several free, downloadable widgets available on their website that you can begin using right away.   Have you watched this webinar recording? Tell MPUG viewers what you think! [WPCR_INSERT]  

Automating MS Project for Non-Techies

Project Management technology should never be more complicated then managing a project!   The use of macros can enhance the efficiency of Microsoft Project significantly, but the thought of writing and recording macros to meet your unique needs can often prove challenging to those of us who are not technical programmers. This article will familiarize you, the business user, with some of the ways Microsoft Project can be customized to help you maximize its value. Record a Macro Macros help you to automate tasks that may be tedious and time consuming, while also reducing the potential for errors. We’ll use a simple example to demonstrate how this works – the creation and printing of a weekly status report that shows all completed tasks in your project. When preparing this report manually each week, follow these steps: 1. Apply the Gantt Chart view to your project. 2. Filter the view to show only project tasks that are complete: From the Filter dropdown list, click New Filter, and then define a custom view called Print Completed Tasks Only. Set % Complete equal to “100.” Click 3.Print the Print Completed Tasks Only view: From the File menu, click Print. Customize the printed view by clicking Page Setup. Modify the layout as shown, and then click Print: 4. Remove the applied filter, changing Print Completed Tasks Only to [No Filter]. Now it’s time to automate the four steps above. From the View menu, click Macro > Record Macro. In the Record Macro dialog, name your macro PWProjectCompletedTasks, and click OK. Note that once you click OK, all the following steps will be recorded until you click Macros > Stop Recording. Run through Steps 1 – 4 above, following the process you manually follow to create and print this report. Then click Macros > Stop Recording. Watch an MPUG training webinar for free and improve your Microsoft Project skills in less than 1 hour. Assign a Macro to a Button in the Ribbon Adding a button to the Ribbon to initiate this macro ensures that creating your weekly report is as simple as clicking a button. 1. Right-click in the Ribbon and select Customize Ribbon. 2. In the left column of the Project Options dialog, select the recently created macro and move it to the right column (select your preferred location there) by clicking Add. 3. Once the macro has been added to the ribbon, you can select it and click Rename… to provide a more user-friendly name and associated icon. 4. Click OK and you will see your new macro. Simply click the Print Completed Tasks button to run and print your weekly report! I dive deeper into this topic and describe how to effectively use these and other tools in a two part on-demand webinar series: Beyond Macros Revisited: Automating Microsoft Project for Non-Techies and Beyond Macros Revisited: Automating Microsoft Project for Non-Techies Part Two. Learn how an MPUG Membership helps individuals and teams become better project managers and Microsoft Project users through Microsoft Project Training. Join MPUG to attend live training webinars, access 500+ hours of on-demand sessions, receive certificates of completion and earn the Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs) that you need.

Project Management Challenges And Solutions – Tools, Process, And A Little Magic

Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs): This Webinar is eligible for 1 PMI® PDU in the Technical category of the Talent Triangle. *This is an MPUG Vendor Session. Presenter will discuss Microsoft Project add-ons and how they can streamline the integration of various applications and Microsoft Project in a no pressure, stress-free environment. These add-ons are not out-of-the-box functionality and require product trial or purchase. ***Please note: Non-Members may view this session on Project Widgets’ Vendor Page.*** Event Description: Project Widgets is pleased to showcase several tools that extend the value of Microsoft Project by successfully addressing several common program and project management challenges. These solutions focus on real world issues faced by many industries, including those with complex and lengthy product development lifecycles. They hold special value for those using iterative project management methodologies, including technology-focused projects. These Microsoft Project add-on solutions provide the following capabilities: This presentation will focus on introducing several tools that make working with Microsoft Project much more efficient and effective, and will include some time for Q&A. Presenter Info: Ira Brown Ira is the founder and president of Project Widgets, a leader in the field of project management, and is a recognized Microsoft Project expert. He has over 25 years of experience helping organizations implement enterprise project management solutions. Brown is the widely published author of several Microsoft Project books and a frequent MPUG webinar presenter on the topic of automating Microsoft Project. Project Widgets offers several add-on products for Microsoft Project. For more information, visit Project Widgets’ Vendor Page Have you watched this webinar recording? Tell MPUG viewers what you think! [WPCR_INSERT]

Performing What If Analysis with Microsoft Project

MPUG VENDOR SHOWCASE SESSION* Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs): This Webinar is eligible for 1 PMI® PDU in the Technical category of the Talent Triangle. Event Description: Project managers are often asked to perform What If analysis for a project. This can be challenging for many reasons: • Project managers are often hesitant to modify real projects • It’s easy to confuse real and scenario versions of a project • Understanding and visualizing the impact of potential project changes to a project’s downstream activities is often difficult Project Widgets CEO Ira Brown will demonstrate tips and tricks that will help you create What If scenarios for existing projects, while avoiding the challenges noted above. He will also demonstrate our new Scenario Builder Widget, a tool that allows you to create one or more What If scenario versions of a project. This application also integrates seamlessly with OnePager Pro to create presentation quality graphical reports comparing an active project to one or more scenarios. Vendor Profile: For more information, visit Project Widgets Vendor Page *This is an MPUG Vendor Session. Presenter will discuss Microsoft Project add-ons and how they can streamline the integration of various applications and Microsoft Project in a no pressure, stress-free environment. These add-ons are not out-of-the-box functionality and require product trial or purchase.   Have you watched this webinar recording? Tell MPUG viewers what you think! [WPCR_INSERT]

Best Practices for Initiating a New Project Schedule with Microsoft Project, Part 2

Project Management Institute (PMI)® Professional Development Units (PDUs): This Webinar is eligible for 1 PMI® PDU in the Technical category of the Talent Triangle. Event Description: In the second webinar of this multi-part series, Microsoft Project expert Ira Brown will present additional techniques for initiating a new project that is consistent with established organizational standards. This presentation will cover topics such as: o Quick review of topics covered in Part 1 including initiating a project from a template and making the necessary adjustments for a real project o Initiating a new project from an existing project o Using the Import Project Wizard to transform a standalone MPP file into an enterprise project o Replacing generic resources with named resources o Replacing generic resources with multiple named resources who will be fulfilling the same role o Adding additional activities to a project that is underway Presenter Info: Ira Brown is the founder and CEO of Project Widgets, the Microsoft Project customization experts! He has 20+ years of experience helping organizations implement, configure and customize Microsoft Project solutions, and he is a widely published author of several Microsoft Project books. Click to view part 1 Have you watched this webinar recording? Tell MPUG viewers what you think! [WPCR_INSERT]