How to Achieve PM Maturity in Microsoft Project®
by Jim Peters, PMP
Over the last 20 years, many organizations have worked with enterprise class project management software. These products usually contain features such as a common repository for project scheduling and planning data, auditable methods for maintaining key tracking data, and a global resource pool from which to select project team members. There are many variations on the theme, but consistency and control are typically emphasized. Organizations that are maturing in their project management processes have inspired many of these enterprise features. So what do Project Managers do to take advantage of the maturity of the tools when they are not working in organizations that use the enterprise features of project management software products? Here are some initial steps individual Project Managers can use to apply a more mature approach in their use of Microsoft Project®.
A starting place for Project Managers to apply enterprise-oriented techniques to their use of Microsoft Project is in the planning stage. Most Project Managers determine the overall status reporting process during planning but often do not apply it to the project management software usage. When planning projects, consider how the needs of the sponsor, customer, and key stakeholders in reviewing project status impacts the use of or is supported by the Microsoft Project schedule. If a formal communication plan is developed, then specify the reports that come from Microsoft Project that will be used to present status. Project Managers often maintain two views of the world – in a summary view presented to management and a detailed view presented to the project team, with separate documents for each. Maintaining two schedules can add a significant amount of work for managers, especially when the two views attempt to present two different stories! Since sponsors often desire the details for one area of the project, maintenance of a single schedule will allow the summary information to be viewed easily but the details to be exposed as necessary. The best approach is to tell the same story and orient it toward the needs of differing audiences.
One technique that makes viewing summary information very straightforward is to place all of the reporting milestones (e.g., the MTA PM Method Milestone Schedule) at the top of the schedule. This helps avoid focusing on the minutia of activity details when the goal is to understand the overall status of the project. In one organization, this technique is applied for every project in the portfolio, each project having a set of 10-12 fairly standard milestones as the first section in the project schedule. This allows executives to focus very quickly on key issues while at the same time allowing them to drill down into the details if needed. Milestones that are more specific to the inner workings of the project team are still located in the body of the schedule. Thus the milestones at the top are oriented toward external reporting, and milestones in the body of the project schedule are deliverable or activity oriented. A side benefit of this method is that since the project schedule is used by management, there is an intrinsic motivation to maintain the schedule during project execution. It is also much easier to maintain a consistent story – preferably nonfiction – if the management and team views of the project come from the same source. A sample is shown that displays the Milestones grouped together but the full benefit of the technique can only be imagined when there are hundreds of detailed activities in the schedule.