Organization, time, and money management are essential to successful
business, project, and team management. MS Project software includes a host
of tools applicable to any project or task. The application enables users
to design a plan of action and clearly outlines the steps necessary for its
timely and efficient completion. Moreover, multiple members of a team can
view, edit, and track changes to the project data. Microsoft's Project
software also works in tandem with other applications in the MS Office
suite, enabling users to transfer data between other applications like MS
Word or Excel. Finally project reports can be printed using charts,
graphics, and text, so team members can have visual aides. Plans can be
easily changed or updated during the course of project management.
First-time users may find that MS Office has a high learning curve, as
it contains a wide range functions and menus. The graphical user interface
(GUI) seems daunting at times, too. Help options are limited as is the
basic manual included with the software package. Because of this, users may
be unaware of how powerful the software actually is and should rely on
support from more experienced coworkers. Because MS Project is a team-
oriented application, opportunities for informal problem solving among
coworkers abound.
Given that the cost of the software is within our budget and that we
do rely heavily on team-based initiatives, I strongly recommend that we
invest in the product. MS Project will help us become more organized and
plan our projects more efficiently, which will save us time and money in
the long run. Each project can be broken down into individual parts with
dates of expected completion and each team member will be clear about their
specific responsibilities. Moreover, MS Project integrates with other MS
Office software that we use regularly. With Project we will also be less
likely to accidentally go out of...