Tag: Baselines

Not using the baseline functionality (flaw 5)

Hi there,

This is my last post in my series about incorrect way’s to use Microsoft Project stand alone version. In it I have discussed some of the common flaws people run into when using the Project application. This post will be about the baseline functionality, it is often forgotten or ignored by project managers. I will be talking about why you should want to have a baseline in your project. Again this is a very theoretical subject and you should always check with your company if there are any policies regarding baselining a project. Continue reading Not using the baseline functionality (flaw 5)

Five incorrect way’s to use Microsoft Project stand alone version

Hi there,

As a consultant you come across a lot of different projects/companies/people. I’ve been doing this for 5+ years and there are some flaws that keep popping up, regardless of the company, project or person.

In this post I would like to announce 5 of these flaws, the next couple of blogs will be dedicated to explaining and subsequently solving the situation.

Here we go:

Flaw 1: Date related planning

Flaw 2: Capacity as activity

Flaw 3:Lack of structure (Work Breakdown Structure)

Flaw 4: To much detail in the schedule

Flaw 5: No way back! Not using the baseline functionality

Edit: 12 November 2013

I got some really great responses on the flaws mentioned above. And some people have suggested new flaws. I will post about these flaws as well and ad the links to this post to give you a complete overview.

Flaw 6: using predecessors in summary tasks

Flaw 7: What’s your status? Forgetting to set a status date

If you are done reading all the articles above here are two suggestions for more:

  • The TPC newsletter: a periodic newsletter with information about PPM and Project (management).
  • The TPC OneDrive: a place with valuable project content such as whitepapers and reports.