Running on a shoestring budget, you know that good project management is vital for any nonprofit. Available now through our DonorTec program and TechSoup New Zealand, Microsoft Project 2010 offers a flexible, comprehensive project management solution. Find out more about what Microsoft Project 2010 can offer you and your nonprofit.

Have you ever wondered if there was a better way to manage the projects you’re working on? When you’re working with limited resources, you know how important it is to make everything you do count. You want to be both efficient and effective in how you organise yourself and your volunteers, and need an easy-to-use project management tool to do it.

Thankfully, Microsoft Project 2010 brings you a tool to do just that.

Microsoft Project 2010 is a comprehensive PC project mangaement software package which gives you an easier way to manage your next peoject with easy to read visual cues.

3 Project Management Essentials of Microsoft Project 2010 for your Non-profit

Microsoft Project 2010 has the solution for your project management needs. Here are three of the basic features which make this an essential part to managing your next project:

1. Assign people and resources to tasks and keep track of them
   Being clear about what is expected from your employees and volunteers is critical to being efficient. Microsoft Project allows you to assign team members specific tasks with specific resources. You benefit by having a team who know what they need to do and how they’re going to do it.
2. See what’s happening clearer
   Microsoft Project 2010 offers a fantastic looking timeline. What this means is that you can quickly get a visual overview of what's happening in your project. This saves you the time of having to juggle different calendars and task lists.
3. Pick it up quickly
   Microsoft Project 2010 is brings the familiar Microsoft look and feel to project management. If you’re already familiar with Microsoft Office products, you’ll quickly pick up how Microsoft Project 2010 works

These are just a few of the great features available to you from Microsoft Project 2010. You can access donated and discounted software through our technology program, DonorTec and TechSoup New Zealand. There are various versions of Microsoft Project 2010 available from DonorTec and TechSoup New Zealand which will be suitable for your organisation:

• Microsoft Project Standard 2010 (includes 1 CAL)
• Microsoft Project Professional 2010 (includes 1 CAL)
• Microsoft Project Server 2010
• Microsoft Project Server User CAL
• Microsoft Project Server Device CAL

* New Zealand charitable organisations can access Microsoft Project licenses from TechSoup New Zealand

To find a solution for your non-profit organisation Ask an Expert on MatchIT about how Microsoft Project 2010 can benefit your non-profit organisation, or order today from DonorTec.

Hints and Tips for Microsoft Project 2010

The Ribbon

Microsoft Project 2010 makes use of the ribbon interface, as do all the Office programs now.

Through the ribbon you can:

• Turning the project summary task on and off
• Insert summary tasks, subtasks, and milestones
• Show tasks, critical and late
• Set baselines in a Gantt Chart;
• Format task bars;
• Filtering, grouping, sorting

With project management's focus on tasks and resources,

Formatting

When you right-click a selection, such as a single cell, a row, or several cells ,a mini-toolbar will appears with formatting commands and options for the font, font color, background color, bold, italic, and more.

This mini-toolbar also has other frequently used commands related to what you right-click.

For example, when right clicking a task, the toolbar includes buttons for setting the percent complete on the task.

You can also change the colours of your task bars through the Gantt Chart style gallery.

Working with summary and subtasks.

Selecting the Insert Summary command creates a new summary command with one subtask below it.

You can then type in the name of the task.

By selecting multiple subtasks and then using the insert Summary command you can then have them become subtasks of the new summary task.

Efficiency Features

The status bar also has icons for displaying the most common views, such as the Gantt Chart, Task Usage, Team Planner, and Resource Sheet.

If you drag the Zoom slider on the status bar to the left or right, it will adjust the timescale.

Microsoft Excel makes it easy to find where you are in a table by highlighting the row and column, Microsoft Project does that now so you know where you are in a project view.

Wrap Text

The Task Name column automatically wraps text to show the full task name in the current width of the column. You can edit any column's settings to wrap its contents

Fast and easy column changes.

If you want to insert a column in your project, just right click the table heading and select insert column. A drop down list will appear and you then choose the field you want to add.

There is also an Add New Column on the far right of the table. When you type a value in the cells of the Add New Column, Project will decide the correct type of custom field.

Filter, group, and sort

Auto Filter is automatically turned on by Project. By clicking the down arrow in any column you can filter a table. A drop-down menu will appear with choices for sorting, grouping, or filtering by values in the column

Saving views and tables

If you have a view that you want to save click the view button on the View tab and then choosing Save View.

Project will be told to either automatically copy your customizations to the global template or to keep them in your local file unless you specifically copy them.

User-controlled scheduling

With Project 2010, the Manually Scheduled mode will put you in total control over when a task is scheduled.

With a manually scheduled task, you can pin the start or finish date, or both, to the calendar dates you want

Filling in placeholder information

When you first start a Project you may not have all the information in relation to the tasks.

Now you can create a manually scheduled task and fill in what you know. Leave cells like Start, Finish, and Duration blank,or type in placeholder text.

When you have all the information about a task, you can fill in the information and change it to an auto-scheduled task if you want.

Top-down planning

If you have been given specific time frames for summary tasks, with Manually Scheduled mode, you can create summary tasks and specify the duration you've been given by management.

Such as Design 4 weeks, Implementation 6 weeks

When creating subtasks Project can keep track of the duration you specified for the summary task and tell you whether the total duration of the subtasks fits within the summary task duration or exceeds the allotted time.

Viewing the project timeline

The Timeline view shows the date range for your project as a simple horizontal bar ,the timeline. You can use the timeline to pan and zoom around the dates in a view timescale—for example, in a Gantt Chart.

You can drag the current date range to move forward or backward in time or drag an end of the timeline bar to change the start or end date you see.

You can also add tasks to the timeline to see or communicate a high-level view of your project. Display tasks in the timeline as bars to keep your attention on key tasks. Adding tasks to the timeline as call outs is perfect for showing summary tasks like phases.

Have A Project Schedule

Configure the project schedule from the start. Creating a template for your project schedule is recommended, because you can then re-use it in the future.

Don't forget to add in holidays.

The Work Breakdown Structure

Create a work breakdown structure in Microsoft Project , especially when creating your project schedule. Having a work breakdown structure allows you to map out the project plan, then fill in with more details.

Establish A Baseline Function

Having baseline functions and then adding them into your reporting allows you to measure just how well the plan went. You can then adjust and adapt these for future projects.