Write a brief note on Microsoft project management application software.

Write a brief note on Microsoft project management application software.

The Microsoft Project family of products offers tools to work on a project from management point of view. Microsoft Project is designed for people who manage projects independently and don’t require the capability to manage resources from a central repository. Microsoft has a team project management solution that enables project managers and their teams to collaborate on projects. After creating a fairly complete final project plan it is a good idea to create a baseline version to compare the original project plan with actual events and achievements.

The following is the typical process followed for project management through this software as shown as under:

 
Reviewing the Baseline:
The Baseline created can be used to
compare the original project plan with actual events and achievements. This will display the days required for each task and project phase. For actual operating instructions please refer the Microsoft Project User Handbook.


Tracking Progress:
 After creating a baseline, if the project has begun, it is necessary to enter actual dates for the tasks that are being completed and the resource utilization used to complete them. Again review different views and the cost and summary tables before proceeding to the next section. Return to the Entry view of the Gantt chart before proceeding.

Balancing Workloads:
 At times people and equipment may be assigned more work than they can complete in normal working hours. This is called over allocation. Project can test for this condition and reschedule (or level) their workload to accommodate completing tasks during a normal day

Monitoring Variances:
 After a baseline has been established and the project has begun, it is desirable to determine if tasks are being accomplished on time and /or if cost overruns are occurring. We also need to keep monitoring the performance to detect early deviations.

Creating Reports:
 Project has many different built-in reports and has the capability building custom reports and exporting data to other MS Office applications for integration into other reporting venues. These are often intelligent reports.