Category: Best Practices

In the category Best Practices you will get introduced with ways of working that I’ve found to generate the best results. Most of these best practices are related to Microsoft Project and Project Online. But might sometimes cover more tools as well such as the Best tools for Project Managers series on TPC.

The content I write about is gathered from own experiences and things I read or hear about in the field. And it started all with a series you might want to start with called the 5 incorrect ways of using Microsoft Project Stand alone.

Take your time and soak in that Best Practices goodness. Then you will make sure you do not fall into traps others have already fallen into. Let me know if there’s a best practice you don’t agree to or if you have a practice of your own by reaching out to me in the comments.

7 Common Project Management Mistakes That Project Manager Make (With Solutions) – Guest post

Do you know that almost 50% of the project management companies close within the first three years of operations? Running out of project budget & time, or lack of involvement from the team, are some of the most common reasons behind it.

It is evident how even minor mistakes can cost dollars to projects and project management organizations. These mistakes can lead to delays, budget mismanagement, and in some cases, substantial financial losses too.

This article will discuss 7 common project management mistakes that project managers make and advise how to avoid them.

Two favorite Project reports, Online edition

Four years ago I published the 3 favorite Microsoft Project reports post. And for the second year in a row it’s the most visited post on TPC. By far! And with two thousand views already this year, I’m expecting another clear winner this year (runner up “About percent complete” is good for almost half that amount of views).

It’s difficult to recreate good “ever green” content, it’s clear that the article has everything people look for. Maybe it’s the list of actions required for a successful report in Microsoft Project. Or maybe it’s because the article describes 3 reports I like the best.

Save to say I wanted to create a follow up article. This time I’m expanding my view to the cloud. More specifically, the Microsoft project management cloud solutions.

UserVoice #6: Roadmap allow zooming to quarters and years

Hi all lovely readers,

Welcome back to the UserVoice series. It’s starting to grow on me and I’m happy to know that Microsoft is looking at the UserVoice pages and are involved in solving the user needs. You can help out by voting! so please do vote on any of the items I’ve previously covered together with my fellow MVP’s. And make sure you vote on this item as well :-).

Today I’m looking at a Roadmap UserVoice item and I’m doing this together with Ben Howard.

UserVoice #5: Tell us more articles

Hi all you lovely readers,

We are on the right track with the articles about the UserVoice website for Project Online, Microsoft Project and like minded software such as Planner.

And with the additional attention it’s getting, it would be great to get a number of items closed and implemented wouldn’t you say?

UserVoice #4: Make Start and finish dates Read only

Hi reader,

Have you ever worked on a schedule and got the idea that Microsoft just loves to put blue calendar icon’s in front of every task you create? What’s up with that? Well, you created “soft constraints” on every task by manually entering a start or finish date.

For that reason Tom Henry, a person we might know for his blog and video contributions, started a UserVoice item to make Start and Finish dates read only.

Continue reading UserVoice #4: Make Start and finish dates Read only

What does Effort Driven do in Microsoft Project?

Hi reader,

Have you ever worked on a schedule and, when adding resources, wondered about this small little checkbox called “effort driven”? It’s a small checkbox that’s not always as visible as you might want it to be. And it has massive effects on a schedule.

This post discusses the effects of the Effort driven option.

Continue reading What does Effort Driven do in Microsoft Project?

Creating a risk matrix Power BI report for Project Online

Hi reader, Risk dice

Welcome to a first mixed effort for The Project Corner! You might already know I have a YouTube channel, in it I share how to guides and reporting magic. This article is a support article to the video I created recently. In this video I share a “easy” method to create a risk matrix report for Project Online.

Here is the embedded feed for the video:

A prerequisite for this is the Power BI content pack for Project Online. You can find more about this content pack here.

Let’s dive into the actions that are shown on the video. Continue reading Creating a risk matrix Power BI report for Project Online

Four things to know about the Power BI Content Pack for Project Online

At Ignite 2017, Microsoft presented a great new content pack for the Project Online Power BI combination. And after some initial issues with the launch it’s here to stay! I’m very excited about this new version of the Power BI content pack and I would like to share four things that you might not know yet.

Continue reading Four things to know about the Power BI Content Pack for Project Online

Best tools for Project Management: Microsoft Planner

Hi Readers,

A while back, I started a series of posts about the best tools for Project Microsoft Planner Logo
Management. Since then Microsoft created new applications and I would like to take a closer look at one of them: Microsoft Planner! Or how it’s also called: Planner or Planner for Office 365.

I’ll review Planner just like I did with Excel, Project and Project Server. Here goes: Continue reading Best tools for Project Management: Microsoft Planner

Backwards scheduling vs Deadlines

Hi readers,

Every now and then this question pops-up: “Can I schedule from the end of the project, backwards?”, or any variation of this question. Most of the time I am able to persuade the people in the training of the hardships you will endure when scheduling backwards. But then, sometimes it leaves me with this nagging feeling: Why do people keep asking this? Am I doing it wrong?

This post will explore the option of Backwards scheduling and the alternative I discuss during the training sessions. If you use backward scheduling or the alternative and would like to share your experiences please leave a comment in the comments section below.
Continue reading Backwards scheduling vs Deadlines