- \n
- Compatibility<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 Many people do not have MS Project loaded on their computers by default. So, when working with MS Project, I either have to acquire licenses for all stakeholders (and this can be quite expensive) or make sure I export all my work into PDF\/Excel (also a slow process).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- \n
- User Friendliness<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 There is definitely a learning curve new users will have to climb before getting comfortable with MS Project. But even now, after using the software on multiple projects and having been to multiple\u00a0training sessions,\u00a0I find it can be hard to figure out the simplest of things. Also, many of the hotkeys that are standard across MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, and MS Word are not\u00a0transferable to MS Project.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
About a year ago I got so frustrated with MS Project, I decided to start working with Excel. While Excel does not support all the functionality that MS Project provides, it more than sufficiently satisfies the basic requirements of any project management tool. Excel is also far more customizable and compatible than MS Project, allowing me to build reports and share my work more easily with others.<\/p>\n
![\"excel_microsoft_project\"](\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/excel_microsoft_project.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI recently uploaded a\u00a0Project Management Tool<\/a>, built in Excel,\u00a0to\u00a0flevy.com<\/a>. I have gathered some of the most useful functions\/templates I have built in the past and condensed them into one document. The tool includes:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Overview of a project management Framework I have used in the past.<\/li>\n
- The ability to document and connect requirements, projects, and tasks.<\/li>\n
- Fully functional and automatic Gantt Chart.<\/li>\n
- Built in program level completion and heat map reporting functionality.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nAside from the author’s Excel-based Project Management Tool<\/a>, Flevy offers a number of other PM tools and methodologies, including: (Alternate) Excel-based Project Management Tool<\/a>, Excel-based Project Prioritization Tool<\/a>, and PRINCE2 Project Management Overview<\/a>.<\/div>\n
Although not as deep in functionality as MS Project, I find tools like this are far easier to use and manage, allowing me to focus on the project at hand. Most importantly, I can easily customize these documents to best fit the project\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Project management is not easy. \u00a0Keeping track of deadlines, status, risks, issues, and competing priorities is not piece of cake. \u00a0There are hundreds of articles and management gurus out there with tips and advice on effective project management. \u00a0However, few (that I have seen) provide tools to put the ideas they provide into action. While… Sick of Microsoft Project? Manage Your Project in Excel<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[84,82],"tags":[164,163,165],"class_list":["post-436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-information-technology","category-operations","tag-microsoft-project","tag-ms-project","tag-project-management"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":738,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436\/revisions\/738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- User Friendliness<\/strong><\/span> \u2013 There is definitely a learning curve new users will have to climb before getting comfortable with MS Project. But even now, after using the software on multiple projects and having been to multiple\u00a0training sessions,\u00a0I find it can be hard to figure out the simplest of things. Also, many of the hotkeys that are standard across MS PowerPoint, MS Excel, and MS Word are not\u00a0transferable to MS Project.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n