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Here are some Microsoft Project Best Practices to follow:
- Always place the Project Summary task at line 0 of your Gantt Chart Entry Table, instead of placing it on line 1. You will need to enable the display of the Project Summary Task via a checkbox on the Format Tab, Show/Hide Group.
- Link Tasks at the detail Task level rather than the Summary Task level.
- Use Automating Task Scheduling as soon as possible to take full advantage of Project’s automatic scheduling engine.
- Do not enter Dates for Start/Finish directly into the Entry Gantt Chart, let Project’s scheduling engine calculate them for you based on duration, linking, and resource availability.
- Enter resources in the Resource Sheet as soon as possible, you can then pick them from a menu on the Entry Gantt Chart or the Resource assignment, rather than entering them manually into the Entry Gantt Chart risking duplications or misspelled resources.
- Edit the Project Calendar to include all of the company’s working days (such as Monday through Friday) and non-working days (such as weekends and company holidays), and edit individual resource calendars for vacation time specific to a particular resource.
- On the Resource Sheet, use the Group column to enter in which department the resource belongs to assist with filtering and reporting.
- Baseline your project to track Planned vs. Actual values, then use interim baselines to track multiple baselines.
- Create custom filters, tables, views to report data to stakeholders in a custom formats that meet the needs of all stakeholders.
- Use the Organizer tool to copy these custom filters, tables, views, and reports between projects.