Deliver Winning Projects with Microsoft Project 2016

By: Corporate Training Options, Australia

Many organisations use Microsoft Project for their Project management teams. Developing practical skills with Microsoft Project training will allow you to easily create new projects, manage multiple tasks and resources, and be able to schedule, track and manage costs and budgets for your projects.

If you and your team are becoming overrun by various projects, or need solutions to increase efficiency, Microsoft Project is without a doubt a must-have for your staff and organisation. 

At its core, Microsoft Project is innovative project management software. Its power is in streamlining time consuming tasks involved with any project.  

From the conception of an idea to the final creation and action, Microsoft Project allows you to follow a structured outline of your project, step by step. And with its highly effective collaborative interface, all updates from each team member come together harmoniously. 

If you’re looking for real-world practical skills and training to take your project management and team productivity to the next level, the Corporate Training Options Microsoft Project Introduction Course will benefit you. 

Some of the time consuming tasks Microsoft Project can reduce in your organisation:

• Entering tasks into a project file
• Creating and monitoring team member involvement and specific tasks for each project
• Printing effective project information
• Managing a budget
• Adding resources, including labour, materials and equipment to your projects
• Creating schedules for your tasks or projects

Microsoft Project is an extremely flexible, powerful, all-inclusive solution for the daily tasks your project management involves. From the progression of specific functions to team members hours, supplier costs and project budgets, there’s plenty of benefits to using Microsoft Project for you, your team and your organisation.

Tips to work more successfully with Microsoft Project

Simplify Project Planning

The planning and steps to be taken with any new project are undoubtedly most important. Sometimes it can be difficult to ensure everyone is clear on the plan and the steps required for each schedule or project your team has on the go.

With Microsoft Project you can simplify project planning for you and your team, and you can adjust accordingly as your project evolves. 

Information required for your projects can be laid out in a simple view, so your project planning falls into place with ease, allowing you to:

• Easily assign tasks to individual team members and teams
• Plan project completion dates
• Schedule each team members involvement and contribution to each project 
• Ensure collaborators are on the same page for your project plan, goals and outcomes.

Plus, when team members can view which tasks need to be executed, when and by whom, motivation and communication in your team, and productivity, increase dramatically. 

Update Critical Changes and add Milestones with a click of your mouse 

When working on both large and small-scale projects, critical changes, milestones and updates can occur during any stage. 

Microsoft Project 2016 keeps all your team members up to date by setting any newly added constraints, deadlines, over-allocated resources, change of schedule and other data and tasks in a single sheet view, or Gantt chart.

Bonus Tip: A Gantt chart is an excellent tool that equips you with the ability to oversee each element of the project and actively track its progress, such as critical changes and milestones. This is must-have information for project managers and their teams. 

Plus, by being able to update critical changes and add milestones when required, communication is vastly improved for everyone involved, which keeps your project on track and reduces confusion. 

Track Costs to avoid expenses overrun  

Undoubtedly, all organisations strive for projects that are completed on time and within budget.

Microsoft Project 2016 allows your team to assign resource project costs collaboratively to create accurate cash flow projection. By creating sheet files and Gantt charts, newly imported data and expenses can be easily updated and accessed by those allocated to the data. 

Microsoft Project allows for a high-level estimate of resources required for a particular project. Essentially, this is an excellent tool to help you stay on budget and identify cost or resource blowouts. 

Monitor Individual Team Member Progress 

Another powerful feature and benefit of Microsoft Project 2016 is the team planner tool. This feature allows you to have access to an overview of the project in progress, while monitoring how each team member is progressing with his or her tasks. 

With the added team planner tool, you’re able to keep up with the work status of your team members and oversee their percentage of completion. 

Other key features and benefits of the Microsoft Project team planner tool are:

• Increased team efficiency
• Each team member has accountability 
• You can easily update and reassign tasks to specific team members if required 
• Ability to amend your project in real time for everyone to see, which keeps your project on track 

These functions can be carried out in one core collaborative worksheet within the team planner tab so everyone can access, view and adjust current or reassigned tasks.  

Manage Multiple Projects with ease with Microsoft Project’s Priority Review Tab

Are you managing more than one project in your organisation? Most of us are, and subject to your current project management processes, having multiple projects on the go can be stressful. For small organisations, or others beginning to operate on a larger scale, it’s essential to ensure that each project is scheduled, managed and prioritised accordingly. 

Microsoft Project’s priority review tab can help you track, monitor and maintain the overall progress of multiple projects at any one time. 

Using the priority review tab, you’re able to see the top-to-bottom prioritisation scores of each project, including overall budget and constraints, and other critical areas of your projects.

In Summary

We hope you’ve found these Microsoft Project tips beneficial. Of course, this is merely a snapshot of how Microsoft Project training can benefit you, your team and your organisation.

It’s also why we’re seeing more and more organisations coming to Corporate Training Options for Microsoft Project training. 

Project Managers realise it is a must-have for their organisation’s productivity, if they are to manage their teams, expenses and their projects, so they deliver a positive return on investment in time and money.

Upon the completion of the CTO Introduction to Microsoft Project course, you will be able to: 

• Start Microsoft Project and identify how it works
• Explain some of the key concepts associated with project management
• Enter tasks into a project file
• Create relationships between tasks in a project
• Understand and use resource assignment calculations
• Allocate resources to tasks using a number of different methods
• Use various techniques for levelling over allocation of resources
• Assign material resources in a project
• Track costs within a project
• Apply constraints and deadlines to tasks in a project
• Monitor the progress of a project
• Print various aspects of your projects

To discover more about the Microsoft Project Introduction course at Corporate Training Options, please view the course outline here.

Alternatively, please contact us by email at training@cto.com.au for the latest Microsoft Project training packages.

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The Benefits of completing your Microsoft Project training with CTO include:

• We focus your training on the outcomes you require for your team
• Your training is presented on the dates which suit you
• Training can be provided for many trainees for the same daily rate
• You can choose topics from different course levels, and your trainer will tailor your sessions around these requirements
• Our facilitators are available to present your training within two weeks of your booking date.

 Why Choose Corporate Training Options ?

• Your Trainers are certified experts who are also real-world practitioners
• The courses are interactive, well organised and fun – making it easier for you to learn
• Small group training sessions mean each trainee will receive individual attention and can be confident about the skills gained
• Our complimentary trainer consultation prior to your training ensures your objectives will be met
• CTO is a Business Excellence Award winning company

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About Corporate Training Options

Corporate Training Options is Australia’s leading professional development training company, incorporated in 1992. In that time, CTO has facilitated  thousands of business training courses Australia wide.

CTO training provides a cost-effective way of ensuring you and your staff are presenting your best image to the world.   Your Professional Development and IT Training courses are customised to meet your requirements, and your training is provided on-site, on dates, which suit you.

The courses will assist you to develop strong skills in: 

• Customer Service 
• Leadership & Management
• Strategic Business Planning
• Project Management
• Marketing & Sales
• Business Administration
• Finance & Accounting
• People & Culture 
• Computer Training
• Personal Development

Each CTO trainer has specific areas of expertise. This enables them to provide invaluable assistance to organisations like yours, seeking to maximise your investment in your teams and your technology.

So if you’re ready to upgrade your skills, or you wish to tackle some new challenges, contact Corporate Training Options today. We’ll meet your specific needs with a tailored training course to suit your requirements.

We look forward to working with you, to build your confidence, improve your efficiency and maximise your potential.

Rosy King

Corporate Training Options

Professional Training  –  Exceptional Results

training@cto.com.au

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