Could your team members improve their estimates? My own estimates are consistently too low by a factor of 1.5. How do I know? Well, I track my time on a project. At the end of the project, I compare my total hours to the sum of the original estimates in the Resource Sheet as shown…

Cost resources are a very useful feature of Project (and also therefore of Project Server), but there is at least one rule you need to follow.   Rather than telling you how to use cost resources, please read the following Microsoft excerpt to see why costs and resources really don’t mix on the same task….

The great Stephen R. Covey inspired so many of us.  His teachings are integrated into every aspect of my personal and professional life.  I recently took some time to pause and reflect on how the ‘7 Habits’ have impacted my own career as a scheduler and project manager.  Specifically, here are some thoughts on how…

The biggest decision in the life of a project is the original commitment to pursue the project. It sets the goal and begins a series of events that could last for years. It makes sense that initiating a new project should be based upon careful, thorough analysis. But with so many kinds of projects out…

In this continuation of my previous article, I offer five additional best practices that project managers should keep in mind when using their current version of Microsoft Project. Know the Limitations of Critical Path Methodology Critical Path Methodology (CPM) was developed by DuPont over 50 years ago as an effective method to identify activities with…

No matter what features Microsoft introduces into its latest release of Microsoft Project, it will forever fail to address some basic needs for project managers as they approach the tool. Here are six practical suggestions when using any version of Microsoft Project. Understand the Challenges to Using Microsoft Project There’s a reason that spreadsheets are…

Have you ever created a project schedule and later realized that you should have approached it a little differently? Have you ever created a schedule and then found that the way the information is organized makes it hard to identify potential problems? Have you ever wondered whether there’s an easy way to start creating a…