Microsoft Project 2000 Bible

You know it takes more than a just "do it" attitude to pull off the projects your department faces. The powerful tools packed into Microsoft Project 2000 help you meet your deadlines, build a focused team, head off problems -- and get the results you want.

Tools like wizards that automatically create charts, customize views, and link projects help you have your way with Microsoft Project 2000. Try importing files or creating macros to save yourself even more time. With this bible by your side, you'll be synchronizing tasks and making your projects flow, making you the team leader you were meant to be.

The CD-ROM features Project-related software, such as Timesheet Professional and Project Kickstart, as well as relevant templates and shareware.

Managing large projects has a lot to do with keeping track of dependencies among their components. In other words, you have to know what must be done first, before other aspects of the project can go ahead. Microsoft Project 2000 helps you identify those dependencies and monitor progress toward them, and Microsoft Project 2000 Bible can help you become an expert in using this useful program. It covers Project 2000's entire feature set clearly and completely. About the only shortcoming of this book is its lack of an evaluation version of the application on the companion CD-ROM.

Some books in the Bible Series fall into the trap of emphasizing interface documentation over practical explanations. This book avoids that snare, focusing on business goals rather than on the software itself. So sections (easily located in the index) like "Assigning Part-Time Work" and "Using the Critical Path to Shorten a Project"--in which you'll find procedures to follow and explanations of how Project complements the duties of real-life managers--are the norm. Passages on reporting and network publishing are (appropriately) more software-centric. --David Wall

Topics covered: Microsoft Project 2000 for people who use it every day to monitor and manage elaborate team efforts; Project's management of goals, tasks, resources, and actual progress; financial tracking; Project's tools for collaboration via e-mail and network publishing.