Microsoft Project Best Practices: How to Get the Most Out of Your PM Software

Posted on 11/29/2023 by Niko Venev

Project managers have a lot on their plate. It's up to them to make sure that their entire team is on track to meet all of their deadlines, meaning that they're ultimately the ones responsible for whether a project gets done on time or not. Many of these professionals use Microsoft Project to schedule tasks and manage resource allocation, but what many of them may not know is that this software also has a lot of more advanced capabilities that can help them maximize their efficiency. Learning some of these best practices for Microsoft Project can be a great investment in lowering your future stress levels and better satisfying both team members and project stakeholders.


       

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Four Best Practices for Optimizing Microsoft Project

Schedule Tasks Automatically

The software defaults to letting you schedule all of your tasks manually, but you don't need to bother entering all of that in. Take advantage of the program's ability to calculate when tasks should be done based on factors like how long a task should take and the availability of resources. When you need to adjust schedules, use task options like "Finish no later than" or "As soon as possible" and let the software do the work.

Save a Copy of Your Original Plan

When you set up a new project, save a copy right then and put it aside. This is one of the most overlooked MS Project best practices, but it will allow you to go back later and compare your original plan to what actually happened. Once you examine which elements of the projects needed to be adjusted and why, you can factor this in to make future project plans more accurate and useful.

Create Automated Project Status Reports

If you manage multiple projects and need to keep higher-ups in the loop, Project's automated report functionality can be a real lifesaver. With just a few clicks, you can get a project overview that shows where every part of the project stands and which deadlines are coming up next. You can use these reports as is or customize them to include the information you want or even change up how visualizations are presented.

Use Microsoft Project Roadmap to Get a High-Level View of Your Work

Microsoft Project's Roadmap feature allows you to visualize everything that you're working on across multiple projects at once. This function lets you create a bar chart showing tasks and milestones for projects on one timeline, so you can quickly see how much you're doing at once and when deadlines are for each piece of the puzzle. You can even create new projects, add them as rows, and share them through Project Online or Azure Boards. The Roadmap function gives you a great way to see how busy your team is and spot potential bottlenecks in production before they become problems.

 

How Long Does it Take to Learn Microsoft Project?

Learning with a live instructor can take as little as a day or two, but if you learn on your own, it's likely to take longer. If you choose Certstaffix Training's e-learning option, you'll have up to six months to complete each course, which should be plenty of time. But if you're just trying to figure out the software yourself through trial and error, there's no way to know how long it could take; some people who've learned on their own for years still haven't completely mastered the program.

 

Learn MS Project Best Practices From Certstaffix Training

These four best practices for optimizing Microsoft Project can maximize the value of this software to your operations, but another way to ensure that you're getting the most out of MS Project is to get adequate training in the ins and outs of this program. At Certstaffix Training, we offer multiple Microsoft Project training courses to help people bolster their productivity with this software. In our Level 1 course, we'll walk you through the basics of MS Project, while the Level 2 course delves deeper into Microsoft Project best practices and advanced skills. Both of these courses are offered either online or in person with a live instructor, so you'll be able to get hands-on experience with the software and real-time feedback as you learn. You can also opt for a self-paced course if you prefer to learn on your own. Either way, when you learn with Certstaffix Training, you'll get the skills you need to use this project management software and an understanding of best practices for Microsoft Project users, all in just a day or two. Sign up today to get started!

 


 

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Self-Paced Microsoft Project eLearning courses cost $150 at the starting point per student. Group purchase discounts are available.







 

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