1. Thank you for attending our presentation this evening, and thank you to our Sponsors (Microsoft, Executive Training Solutions, Zero Hour PM, ASG software solutions and TBConsulting.) A special thanks goes to Statêra, our meeting sponsor, who has supported me in developing this presentation.
As many of you know, I am stepping down as President. It has been an honor to serve all of you for the last 4 years on the Phoenix Chapter Board. The experience has impacted my career in many ways, and I am truly grateful to those that have participated as volunteers in this fine organization.
The growth of my personal network, in which I include each one of you, has been an important personal goal of mine. I am satisfied in achieving this goal, and I wish for each of you to achieve your goals through professional organizations like this one.

2. What We Will Cover Importance of Project Management Planning
Getting Started – Get Productive Quickly
Plan – Effectively Manage & Understand Schedules
Communicate – Build Professional Charts & Diagrams
Track & Analyze – Effectively Track & Analyze Projects to Meet Goals
The Office Server Features
Evaluating the End Results
Here’s our agenda for this evening

3. Typical Planning Complaints
“ I do not have time to plan”
“ Management wants results, not plans”
“ I do not know where to begin”
“ I know the story, but I never get a chance to exercise it”
“ I know Microsoft Office Project can help, but I have never been given the proper training to use it effectively”
Are these really valid excuses?

4. Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
The bottom line on failed projects:
51% of all projects come it over budget or run past the original deadline
15% of projects fail altogether
93% of IT Project go through a “restart”*
$55 BILLION wasted on failed project in the US*
Who wants to explain wasted money on their project to the Management of your Organization?
*Source: the Standish Group, CHAOS Chronicles, March 2003
Who wants to explain wasted money on their project to the Management of your Organization?

5. Why is Project Management Important?
Align activities to achieve your organizational goals
Clearly define project activities versus daily ongoing tasks
More adaptable to changes and customer demands
More effective focus on deliverables
Doing more with less – more efficient resource utilization
Produces faster response and turnaround times
Provides a better approach to dealing with unique, temporary, and complex endeavors
Better able to deal with scope, time and resource constraints
Don’t read any of these!

6. Manage Your Constraints
Manage Scope through Performance Metrics
Manage Cost through Resource Metrics
Manage Time through Schedule Metrics
I encourage each of you to use MS Office Project 2007 as THE TOOL to do this!

7. Get Productive Quickly
How does the project start date affect the schedule?
How do I adjust project options?
How do I use work time?
How can I save time and ensure consistency across multiple projects?
Lets review some of the unique features of MS Office Project 2007 in the context of the project lifecycle and managing project constraints.
How does the project start date affect the schedule?
Project | Project Information – the start date for all tasks, even after the project started it is an option to modify this
Increase Font for projection viewing
How do I adjust project options?
Project Options – these can impact view, calculation and other items (task type as example);
View – Bars in 3D, international calendar types
General – Undo Levels
Security & Collaboration ALL NEW
How do I use work time?
Change Working Time – list at the bottom will update the calendar display
How can I save time and ensure consistency across multiple projects?
File New – tons new templates (consistency and improve time to complete on schedules)

8. Effectively Manage & Understand Schedules
How do I create a work breakdown structure?
Can I use the show outline button to expand/collapse the plan?
How do I use existing task lists from Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft Office Outlook?
How can I determine the factors that are affecting task dates and easily tract the source of these issues?
How do I calculate the critical path?
How do I create a work breakdown structure?
Go to “List Tasks” in Project Guide
Format | Text Styles |Increase Font size for viewers
3d visibility
Can I use the show outline button to expand/collapse the plan?
Tools options, turn on row 0
Indent and out dent to format the schedule
How do I use existing task lists from Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft Office Outlook?
Leverage data that exists in excel – Task Guide tool bar, Import – through a wizard will create a map of the excel data for import as a new task list or schedule
Format timescale
Date in from outlook
Tools _| Import from Outlook
This is an import, not a link
How can I determine the factors that are affecting task dates and easily tract the source of these issues?
On import they all were created as fixed duration & must start on constraint (select all, project | task information)
What's up with the blue highlights
When you change a project, all affected tasks can be automatically highlighted (for example, dependencies and summary task). The highlights reflect only the most recent change.
How can I determine the factors that are driving my schedule dates?
Project | Task Drivers
All of the variables that are impact this task are lists
Add a relation ship and this will be modified
Add duration (see blue)
This pane appears to the left of the table portion of the view. It shows prerequisite tasks and resource constraints that drive the start data of the selected task. You can click these drivers to link to relevant information.
How do I calculate the critical path?
How do I calculate Critical Plath?
Group | Group by CRITICAL
Filter |Critical
Format | Text Styles| Critical (You now have BACKGROUND Color capability)

9. Communicate with Professional Charts & Diagrams
How do I quickly access the information I need?
How do I create and modify tables & views?
How do I highlight cells to convey a different meaning?
How do I analyze and report project data in reports & charts?
Planning is just the beginning – maybe only just a THIRD of its capability
How do I quickly access the information I need?
Change column order and insert columns of data that may be needed to status or communicate
To find more data about costs, lets look at another table : Cost table, including a new type of resource - cost
View | Resource Sheet
Work Resources and Material Resources shown
A new type of resource Add this resource and assign it to a summary tasks
Not driven by duration or effort, but you now have a way to accrue costs to a project without impacting task schedule
How do I create and modify tables & views?
New Table (stoplight) add ID, task name, cost
Fast way to see the data I’m trying to communicate
Updated calendar view
More views
Add an ew view (stoplight) group by criticalk, and filter
For communicates and speed to communicate
How do I highlight cells to convey a different meaning?
How do I analyze and report project data in reports & charts?
Give me WOW
Users can create customer reports or archive Office Project Standard 2007 or Office Project Professional 2007 values with data exported from Office Project 2007 into a Microsoft Office Access 2007 database and OLAP cubes. Five cubes are generated: Task Time Phased, Task Non-Time Phased, Resource Time Phased, Resource Non-Time Phased, and Assignment Time Phased.
Visual reports
Report Menu
- Many report templates that take current schedule and exports the date to either Excel, Visio or PowerPoint
Critical Task Summary
(Visio is already running)
Click view, takes a snapshot (already have the Visio created so we don’t wait or it bombs)

10. Effectively Track & Analyze Projects to Meet Goals
How do I update tasks?
How do I create or use baseline data?
How do I track projects according to specific needs?
How do I update tasks?
Add resources to projects; And an new type of Resource, the COST resource
Cost Resources is the resource type for fixed costs assignable to a task. It more accurately monitors project financials by assigning multiple costs to a task, tying costs to account codes, and rolling up costs against budgets. Additionally, the costs are not tied to the work contours, so changing the percent complete or end date of the task will not affect Cost Resources
Multi-level Undo
You can reverse your most recent series of changes (that is, undo and redo changes) to views, data, and options. This functionality also enables undo actions or sets of actions from macros or compliant third-party extensions.
How do I create or use baseline data?
Project Guide – Save a baseline to perform variance analysis
How do I track projects according to specific needs?
Manage Scope through Performance Metrics – Use Task Creation and Baseline techniques to understand the movement of your scope over time (which is the best time to rebaseline? Approved change order or Major schedule overun approved by the customer?)
Manage Cost through Resource Metrics – Use Resource allocation and utilization reports (allocation is 100% but utilization is 75%, what’s wrong?)
Manage Time through Schedule Metrics – Varience analysis on elements of start, finish and duration

11. Microsoft Office Project Server 2007
The new Office Project Server 2007 features include:
Active Cache
Assignment Owner
Deliverables
Programs and Proposals
Timesheets
Cube Building Service
Event Model
Multi-currency support
Project Server Interface
Queuing Service
Reporting Data Service
Server-side scheduling

12. What are the End Results?
Set up plans quickly and easily
Communicate more effectively to keep project stakeholders informed and aligned
Track and analyze to stay on course and resolve problems
Achieve Your Goals and Meet Challenges
Quickly develop effective timelines and determine if they are realistic
Use Templates, or create phases and tasks, to adhere to standards
Easily plan projects and identify constraints to obtain buy-in
Access and share the right information quickly to information and align stakeholders
Easily identify and communicate resource types and workload needs
Clearly understands the impact of change in scope, time, and cost
Easy to use tools to track progress and identify and resolve problems early on
Effectively manage project objectives and changing requirements to meet or exceed customer expectations

13. Microsoft Office Project Portfolio Server 2007