Re: The 10 things MS Project won't do for you...
From: Mark Durrenberger (durrenm_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 03/30/04
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Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 18:59:46 -0500
Dominic, I replied to your "guestbook" entry. Hopefully you've received it
by now. (of course now is midnight your time if you are in England)..
Mark
-- _________________________________________________________ Mark Durrenberger, PMP Principal, Oak Associates, Inc, www.oakinc.com "Advancing the Theory and Practice of Project Management" ________________________________________________________ The nicest thing about NOT planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise and is not preceded by a period of worry and depression. - Sir John Harvey-Jones "Dominic Moss" <no.spam.to-dominic.moss@no-spam.projectability.co.uk> wrote in message news:eH$fTCoFEHA.1600@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl... > Mark, > > Thanks for the validation of my comments - I tried to contact you via your > ng e-mail but it bounced back - best way to contact me is using - > http://www.projectability.co.uk/response.shtml . Would be interested in > sharing experiences and ideas with regards to MS Project as we are in the > same field although separated by a large Ocean. > > -- > Dominic Moss > > www.projectability.co.uk > > Helping people achieve more with Microsoft Project > > Tel +44 8707 303 400 > Fax +44 8707 303 500 > "Mark Durrenberger" <durrenm@yahoo.com> wrote in message > news:ezu72jCFEHA.2768@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl... > > Hear, hear! (or is that here here?) Nicely said, Dominic. > > > > I posted this a long time ago in another PM News group, but it's time > > again... > > > > It's not a knock against Project, it's a knock against the uninformed > > user... > > > > The 10 things MS Project (Or any PM software) will not do for you... > > > > 10) It will not make your team members plan, > > 9) It will not improve the estimates you get from your people, > > 8) It will not force people into meeting unreasonable deadlines, > > 7) It will not provide you with additional resources > > 6) It will not remove the bugs from your product > > 5) It will not discover the scope you missed > > 4) It will not de-scope your project to meet budget > > 3) It will not negotiate with management for a new date > > 2) It will not always tell you good news and > > > > ...And... > > > > 1) It will not turn you into a project manager > > > > > > > > If you use this, please reference me and my company > > > > > > -- > > _________________________________________________________ > > Mark Durrenberger, PMP > > Principal, Oak Associates, Inc, www.oakinc.com > > "Advancing the Theory and Practice of Project Management" > > ________________________________________________________ > > > > The nicest thing about NOT planning is > > that failure comes as a complete surprise and is not > > preceded by a period of worry and depression. > > > > - Sir John Harvey-Jones > > "Dominic Moss" <no.spam.to-dominic.moss@no-spam.projectability.co.uk> > wrote > > in message news:%23IfW649EEHA.4080@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl... > > > fwiw here is my opinion on this subject: > > > > > > I have been training people to use MS Project and also in the principles > > of > > > effective Project Management for the past 8 years, prior to this career > I > > > spent 15 years working in construction primarily in planning & project > > > management - I have been using computer based scheduling tools since > 1984 > > > and if you think Project is a RPITA you should thank your lucky stars > you > > > didn't have to use some of the tools I used back in the 1980's. Not > > > surprisingly I am with Mark D and Dale H on this one. > > > > > > I encounter some people who just list out tasks and expect project to > sort > > > it out for them, they don't have a sequence or any logical structure to > > > their project it is just a whole pile of stuff, sometimes non-related > > stuff, > > > that has to be done - there used to be a tool "Microsoft Team Manager" > > that > > > could do this very neatly. It used what Microsoft called "Best Fit > > > Scheduling", it could handle priorities, deadlines and dependencies and > > was > > > ideally suited to "Process" working where the focus is on keeping all > the > > > balls up in the air. If you entered tasks 1,2,3,4 they were scheduled in > > > sequence one after the other - if you changed the priority of task 3 the > > > sequence went 3,1,2,4 if you said 2 has a deadline of tomorrow it would > > then > > > go 2,3,1,4 etc - it was pretty neat and I was really disappointed when > it > > > was dropped as it was ideally suited to organisations that are reactive > > and > > > have an overwhelming workload to schedule with many conflicting > deadlines, > > > priorities etc. > > > > > > Projects are intrinsically different, they need to stop, ideally at > > planned > > > completion but sometimes earlier if circumstances change. Implicit in a > > > project is a logical sequence, one thing leading to another from > > > commencement through to completion, ideally structured into stages or > > phases > > > with milestones along the way. > > > > > > Just entering tasks and expecting a tool to sort it all out is to my > mind > > > abdicating or abandoning responsibility by the manager, the tool is > > designed > > > to provide you with information which you then interpret and make > > decisions > > > upon. I once had a person on a course who reacted to one of the features > > of > > > Microsoft Project by bleating "why doesn't it tell me what to do?" - > > > fortunately their co-worker interjected and said "that is what you are > > paid > > > for, do you want to be replaced by a computer?". > > > > > > I could also digress into the whole duration vs work argument as well > but > > > think it best to save that for another day. > > > > > > Happy planning. > > > -- > > > Dominic Moss > > > > > > www.projectability.co.uk > > > > > > Helping people achieve more with Microsoft Project > > > > > > Tel +44 8707 303 400 > > > Fax +44 8707 303 500 > > > "David White" <djwh1te2@rogers.com> wrote in message > > > news:o_79c.5123$k4F1.3864@news01.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com... > > > > Why do people insist on using a 'planning' tool to run a project? > > > > The comment from Doug Scott (IEEE) is the most true - Project > Manager's > > > > should manage the tasks, the resources and use Project as the planning > > and > > > > reporting tool that it is. > > > > After all if Project was the be all and end all then we wouldn't need > > > > methodologies like Prince would we? > > > > > > > > BR > > > > Dave > > > > "Oreka" <something@microsoft.com> wrote in message > > > > news:c4185a$1k6q$1@news.wplus.net... > > > > > > > > > > Why Does project insist on scheduling tasks at the same time: > > > > > > > > > > Example: > > > > > > > > > > Task A - R1, R2 > > > > > Task B - R1 > > > > > > > > > > Project will schedule these two tasks on the same day. The only way > > to > > > > stop > > > > > this is to remove R1 from both tasks then replace and the problem > goes > > > > away > > > > > > > > > > Note: this example is from a project with about 120 tasks or more. > > > > > > > > > > I have had this problem with many versions of Project. If you > assign > > > 100% > > > > > of a task on a given project SURELY it shouldn't assign that > resource > > to > > > > > another task. > > > > > > > > > > I am at the stage that I need to find another PM package that works > > > > > properly. > > > > > > > > > > Regards > > > > > > > > > > T > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
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