The Project Manager's Dirty Little Secret (Hint: It's Made by Microsoft but it's not MS Project...)
From the Certification Insider Blog
by Cornelius Fichtner
Cornelius Fichtner help you with your PMP Exam Prep (https://www.project-management-prepcast.com) as well as earn free PDUs (www.pm-podcast.com/pdu). Passing the PMP Exam is tough, but keeping your PMP Certification alive is just as challenging. Preparing for the exam requires an in-depth study of the PMBOK Guide and dedicated study discipline. And once you are PMP certified, then you are required to earn 60 Professional Development Units (PDUs) every 3 years to keep your certification alive. Let me help you make this journey easier with tips and tricks on how to prepare for and pass the exam as well as efficiently earning your PDUs once you are certified.
Recent Posts
Episode 549: How to Bring Clarity to Chaotic Projects
Episode 548: From Project Delivery to Value: How Project Managers Create Real Business Impact
Episode 546: The Real Reason Project Requirements Keep Changing
Episode 544: The Four Pillars of Project Success
Episode 543: Catch Project Trouble Early and Protect Your Delivery
Categories
AGILE,
Agile,
Agile,
Agile Projects,
Annual Plan and Portfolio,
Artificial Intelligence,
Audit,
Best PMP Exam Simulators,
Business Analysis,
Business Analysis,
Business Analysis Practitioner,
Business Management,
CAPM,
Career Development,
CCRS,
Change Management,
Communication Management,
Communications Management,
Earning PDUs,
Education,
Emotional Intelligence Tools,
Entrepreneur,
Free PDUs,
Interpersonal Skills,
Knowledge Areas,
Knowledge Management,
Leadership,
Lessons Learned,
Lessons Learned Management,
Management,
meeting management,
Millennial Project Managers,
Multiple Projects,
NASA,
Opportunity Cost,
PDU,
PDU Podcast,
PDUs,
PDUs: Business Acumen,
PDUs: Not Applicable,
PDUs: Power Skills,
PDUs: Ways of Working,
PgMP®,
Planning,
PM Exam Simulator,
PM Formulas,
PM Podcast,
PM PrepCast,
PMBOK,
PMBOk 8,
PMBOK Guide,
PMBOK® Guide,
PMI,
PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® Exam,
PMI Audit,
PMI Educational Foundation,
PMI Global Congress,
PMI Talent Triangle,
PMI Talent Triangle/PDUs: Not Acceptable,
PMI-ACP,
PMI-ACP Certified,
PMI-ACP Eligibility,
PMI-ACP Exam,
PMI-ACP Exam Formulas,
PMI-ACP Exam Prep,
PMI-ACP®,
PMO,
PMO,
PMO,
PMP,
pmp,
PMP Audit,
PMP Cerficiation,
PMP Certification,
PMP ebook,
PMP Exam,
PMP exam coach,
PMP Exam Overview,
PMP Exam Prep,
PMP exam prep material,
PMP Exam Prep Video,
PMP exam sample question,
PMP Exam Tip,
PMP Lessons Learned,
PMP Mock Exam Free,
PMP Mock Exam Online,
PMP Re-certification,
PMP sample question,
PMP Study Materials,
PMP training,
PMP®,
podcast,
Portfolio Management,
Positive Leadership,
Power Skills,
Process Groups,
Professional Development Units,
project,
Project Assumptions,
Project Business,
Project Business Management,
Project Integration Management,
Project Leadership,
Project Management,
Project Management Basics,
Project Management Institute,
Project Management Methodology,
Project Management Podcast,
Project Management Principles,
Project management professional,
Project Management Skills,
Project Management Trends,
project manager,
Project Manager Skills,
Project Manager Soft Skills,
Project Managers,
Project Metrics,
Project Planning,
Project Schedule,
Project Sponsorship,
Project Success,
RAM,
RBS,
Resource Breakdown Structure,
Responsibilities,
Responsibility Assignment Matrix,
Risk Management,
Risky Projects,
Roles,
sample PMP exam,
Situational Project Management,
soft skills,
Strategy implementation,
study,
Study Techniques,
Study Tips,
Teams,
Technical Project Management,
The Agile PrepCast,
Virtual Communication,
Work-Life Balance
Date
Here’s a little secret for you -- everybody does it. At one point or another during their careers, every project manager will use Microsoft Excel to manage one of their projects!
That in itself is not surprising. After all, budgets are often tight and companies may not want to invest into full blown project management software. And if they have such a software there are only a limited number of licenses available, which means many stakeholders cannot access the tool. So we project managers make due with what we have. And practically everyone has Microsoft Office.
But what is surprising is the fact that we just improvise. We will simply use Excel to the best of our often mediocre knowledge in order to somehow force a project schedule into those cells.
Well... enter Doug Hong (http://www.linkedin.com/in/doughong/en) and his series of seven free Microsoft Excel tutorials, that you can find at http://www.exceltraining101.com/excel-project-management/. In these seven short videos Doug shows you how to use MS Excel and create professional Gantt charts, work breakdown structures, checklists, pareto charts and more. All for free.
And because I liked the free approach I decided to invite Doug and ask him when and how we should use MS Excel, what Excel features we should learn about to better use it for our projects, and how we can identify the moment in our projects when Excel is really no longer the right tool and we have to upgrade to something more solid.
Until Next Time,
Cornelius Firchtner, PMP, CSM
Posted on: March 30, 2015 05:26 AM |
Permalink
Comments (8)
Please login or join to subscribe to this item
Dave Davis
Senior Project Manager| Cincinnati Children's Hospital
Springboro, Oh., United States
they will also use PowerPoint to explain project scope and status. The PM needs all of the communication tools in their toolbox.
Dave
Salam Kalandos
Chief, Healthcare Technology Management - Clinical Engineering | US Department of Veterans Affairs
Chandler, Az, United States
Sabedin Meha
System Design Engineer| DataProgNet
Ferizaj, Kosove, Albania
You can use Excel Online to share project documents with other team members and work together at the same time. I really like working with Excel and other Office tools.
Greta Blash
Speaker|Author|Project Management and Business Analyst Professional| Facilitated Methods
Escondido, Nv, United States
All the Microsoft tools have been nicely integrated into SharePoint
MIGDALIA VAZQUEZ
Project Management Professional| Healthcare
Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
Thanks for sharing this info.
great information thatnks for sharing
Please Login/Register to leave a comment.
|
"Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?"
- Groucho Marx
|
