microsoft project ??????????

paulyoung666 · 09-09-2004, 20:52

i was wondering if anyone uses this program at work , as i am now officially an engineering planner at work ( well apprentice anyway

) , i will have to use this program at some point , i was wondering if it is easy to use or a right ****

SMHarman · 09-09-2004, 22:19

Easy though it can soon get very complex as your gantt charts expand.

paulyoung666 · 09-09-2004, 22:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMHarman

Easy though it can soon get very complex as your gantt charts expand.

never even heard of them

tomw · 09-09-2004, 22:41

Micro Project is very simular to Excell apart from the bars but it runs and feels the same and is fairly easy to get used to.
Wait till you start on primavera and sure track now thats a different kettle of fish

09-09-2004, 22:43

hey you said 'officially' - good on you Paul

- 'project' looks ok, I've only seen printouts of critical paths for new products, rather than planned maintenance, for example, though

- the help files are usually good if you have a few hours

Matthew · 09-09-2004, 22:48

I have got it installed on my system but I do not know what it does. Can some one please explain?

paulyoung666 · 09-09-2004, 22:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by homealone

hey you said 'officially' - good on you Paul

- 'project' looks ok, I've only seen printouts of critical paths for new products, rather than planned maintenance, for example, though

- the help files are usually good if you have a few hours

cheers my mate , yup -------- officially

, i was given the unofficial nod yesterday so today confirmed it , now the fun starts

, mind you i reckon it aint going to be a bad thing to get into , i hope

MetaWraith · 09-09-2004, 22:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by SMHarman

Easy though it can soon get very complex as your gantt charts expand.

PERT charts is another term, and no it does not refer to Page 3 or FHM etc

Lord Nikon · 09-09-2004, 22:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetaWraith

PERT charts is another term, and no it does not refer to Page 3 or FHM etc

wouldn't those be "PERKY" charts?

paulyoung666 · 09-09-2004, 23:17

does anyone fancy reassuring me that i am getting into something good here

**Paul** · 09-09-2004, 23:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulyoung666

does anyone fancy reassuring me that i am getting into something good here

No.

Run like hell from it .....

greencreeper · 09-09-2004, 23:40

Project can get quite complicated - awful lot of features to it. I'm not that big on using project planning tools like Project - you tend to get bogged down in making the plans look nice and fiddling with your figures. It's not hard to learn though - you can be creating plans and resourcing them in no time

MetaWraith · 10-09-2004, 00:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by greencreeper

Project can get quite complicated - awful lot of features to it. I'm not that big on using project planning tools like Project - you tend to get bogged down in making the plans look nice and fiddling with your figures. It's not hard to learn though - you can be creating plans and resourcing them in no time

Exactly - I know too many project planners that, once hiccups occur, they keep changing the plan but never the resource needed.

Too many true stories of along the lines of
Planner : "How much time will it take you to do xxxxxxxxx "
Engineer : "I'll need at least 2 weeks, once the test gear is available"
Planner : "You've got 2 days, says so in my plan"
Engineer : "2 days !!!!!! We're doomed......."

greencreeper · 10-09-2004, 01:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetaWraith

Exactly - I know too many project planners that, once hiccups occur, they keep changing the plan but never the resource needed.

Too many true stories of along the lines of
Planner : "How much time will it take you to do xxxxxxxxx "
Engineer : "I'll need at least 2 weeks, once the test gear is available"
Planner : "You've got 2 days, says so in my plan"
Engineer : "2 days !!!!!! We're doomed......."

All about them is chaos and yet the planners keep tweaking the plan and thinking it's all under control

If you have to keep altering the plan, bin it and start again - a plan should be altered infrequently.

Key things - be realistic with your planning (know how long things will take), build in plenty of milestones, and monitor the plan - the sooner you know things are going tits up, the sooner you can allocate more resources, scream at contractors... Keep activities as atomic as possible, and run as many activities simultaneously as you can.

I'm not big on planning to be honest - IME too much time goes into planning and not enough into the doing. I once attended a meeting to decide the date for the meeting at which we'd decide what we're going to do!

skyblueheroes · 10-09-2004, 07:05

Project is a good, useful too, but it can get complicated.

Like someone said, the best bet is to use the very good Help or Tutorials.