Microsoft Project is defined as the application that provides the tools to manage projects. It also assists in controlling project status and schedules and presenting information about a project and organizing work. Microsoft originally purchased this software from another organization. The current version of the application is Microsoft Project 2016. The purpose of the given paper is to summarize this software’s thoughts both from a theoretical and practical standpoint.
It is a general opinion that such software as Microsoft Project might become an excellent solution for the various companies with specific business requirements. It is regarded to be a good solution for everyday work with project portfolio management. From the user standpoint, it is possible to say that it is rather easy to work with this application. The intuitive interface is well-organized and helps build a new project based on templates, which is very convenient for a beginner.
Therefore, one can do a detailed project with a schedule rather quickly. A project is presented as a tree where one can click at each level to investigate it in detail. It is also possible to assign workers to various tasks in the project. The application is integrated with Microsoft Outlook, and one can easily select the specialists for different tasks from the organization’s database. It is rather convenient for a project manager to develop a plan of works and track the progress of the various tasks and manage the budget for the project. It is also possible to create various graphical reports based on the project to use them at the specific presentations and meetings at the executives’ level.
It is believed that there are some challenges of using Microsoft Project in this course. It might be difficult to use it without the specialists’ specific data and their positions available for the project. Such information is usually not a problem for an organization where it is integrated into the software from other applications. It is also considered to be challenging to study the potential of Microsoft Project solution without applying it to real projects.
When one studies such software in some company, one has more opportunities in practicing one’s skills in working with this software while developing a project based on the works of the organization. It gives one better understanding of the nature and functions of the application. Still, it is advisable to have a general understanding of the main tasks that might be completed with this software’s help.
It should be noted that Microsoft Project software is a convenient tool to manage and track one’s schedule. It has a built-in schedule with terms for each task to organize the work efficiently. It is important to organize the tasks to meet their deadlines. It also assists in tracking the budget of the project, and it has various graphical presentations to visualize the project, which is very convenient for a project manager who is expected to follow one’s project. Therefore, it is preferable to use this application instead of Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word.
The main functions of project management are the efforts to properly plan, organize, and manage a project to ensure that it is accomplished successfully. Therefore, such an application as Microsoft Project is believed to be an effective tool in assisting the efforts of project managers to complete their projects before the deadlines and ensure the success of the organization. It is possible to say that the skills obtained while mastering this application help to develop general knowledge about the goals and objectives of project management.