Using Excel for Project Management
Project Managers working on small to midsize projects can use Microsoft Excel to visualize, plan and track their projects. This may be a simple project management spreadsheet an Excel project tracker or something even more complicated like an Excel project management dashboard. For important client and executive communications Excel data can also be converted into PowerPoint slides.
Excel Budget Template
Project Plan 365 is an intuitive solution for project planning and project collaboration perfect for individual Project Managers and/or small teams working in fast-paced collaborative environments which may be across disparate geographic locations. Project Plan 365 looks and feels exactly like MS Project! Visio Pro for Office 365 is sold on a subscription basis. It costs $15.50 per month or $13 per month with an annual commitment, which works out to $156 for the year. Visio Standard 2016 costs $299.
Project Managers working on small to midsize projects can use Microsoft Excel to visualize, plan and track their projects. This may be a simple project management spreadsheet an Excel project tracker or something even more complicated like an Excel project management dashboard. For important client and executive communications Excel data can also be converted into PowerPoint slides.
Download this Excel Budget Template
Excel-Budget-Template.xlsxExcel Project Review Template
Project reviews are usually conducted at the end of each project phase to evaluate the current status of a project. To help document and share the results of their reviews, Project Managers can use an Excel spreadsheet that shows a clear overview of completed, outstanding, and planned deliverables, while also including risk management details and financial information. This will make it easier for them to measure progress and clearly communicate key data that clients and executives want to know.
Download this Excel Project Review Template
Excel-Project-Review-Template.xlsxExcel Sprint Project Tracker Template
Agile projects require thorough sprint planning and management. Managers can use Excel to plan and track their Agile project, as well as prioritize features that must be delivered each sprint. Sprint project tracker spreadsheets usually list the start date, finish date and duration of every task, including the percentage of work that has been completed. Color codes can also be added to instantly show the tasks’ status.
Download this Excel Sprint Project Tracker Template
Excel-Sprint-Project-Tracker-Template.xlsxExcel Project Schedule Template
Effective project management requires a clear view of all the work associated with delivering a project on time. Using project schedule spreadsheets enables professionals to efficiently manage their project by the hour and see exactly how much time is left to complete a task or if there is any work overdue.
Download this Excel Project Schedule Template
Project-Schedule-Template-Excel.xlsxExcel Project Status Report Template
Project managers who want to inform team members, executives and clients of where a project stands can use Excel to illustrate and track the progression of all critical activities involved. Project status spreadsheets list the key deliverables, developments and risks associated with a project and help measure the progress toward the completion of each objective.
Download this Excel Project Status Report Template
Project-Status-Report-Template-Excel.xlsxExcel Project Tracker
Project Management requires that all scheduled work or tasks are tracked. A project tracking spreadsheet is a useful visual tool to track each task’s progress against the original plan. The spreadsheet should include all tasks, their status, the owner of the task, the percent complete and the planned duration versus actual duration.
Download this Excel Project Tracker
Excel-Project-Tracker.xlsxExcel Critical Path Tracker
Project Managers need to see which tasks are dependent on the completion of preceding tasks before they can begin. To do this they can utilize a critical path spreadsheet which lists all of their tasks, the planned duration for each task and whether the task is dependent on another. This provides Project Managers a visual way to plan the quickest path for completing their project.
![Project Plan 365 For Mac Review Project Plan 365 For Mac Review](https://static.macupdate.com/screenshots/237348/m/project-plan-365-screenshot.png?v=1592810448)
Download this Excel Critical Path Tracker
Excel-Critical-Path-Tracker.xlsxExcel Milestone Tracker
Projects need to be managed on a timeline. Tracking progress toward the important events or to specific points on a timescale is a good technique for monitoring the progress of a project. Project Managers can use an Excel milestone tracker to list their critical milestones and to monitor their performance against that timeline.
Download this Excel Milestone Tracker
Excel-Milestone-Tracker.xlsxProject Plan 365 For Mac Reviews
If you are a project manager using Apple devices, then you know that a PC-bias still exists in the software industry, especially when it comes to anything Microsoft Project. But in 2019, we have options.
While most all software manufactures provide versions of their apps and services that work on both Macs and PCs, Microsoft does not have a macOS version of Project, making your team project work awkward, indeed. To restore harmony in this fractured computer-verse (Mac vs. PC, Apple vs. Google, iOS vs. Android, Siri vs. Alexa, etc.), there are a number of ways for you and your project team to get to Microsoft Project plans:
- The long road, where you use an app to create a “virtual” second computer onboard the hard drive of your MacBook, iMac or MacPro (called a virtual machine), and then you install Microsoft Project within a virtual Windows.
- The winding road, where you meander from Safari to the Project Online website (through an Office 365 subscription), or you are directed to some other project website running SharePoint with a Project Server, and that’s where you do all of your project work - from within a web browser.
- The short cut…
This article discusses the long and winding road (and reveals the shortcut) in terms of pros and cons, as well as providing estimated “travel” costs for your journey…
1) The Long Road: Virtualizing your Mac to run Microsoft Windows + MS Project
What may sound like a quick jog (just run windows on your Mac) this is actually the road less traveled, and for good reason. This slog involves subscribing to one of many providers of a virtualization layer (Parallels Desktop, VMware, etc.) used before you install any flavor of Microsoft Windows that you may have on hand - and finally, once that’s all up and running, then can you install Microsoft Project and get to your work on an Apple device.
PROS
- In addition to running Microsoft Project, you can install and run any Windows app that you want.
- If something goes wrong with Windows or Project (as things sometimes do), you can just “blow away” that virtual machine and use your automatically created backup copy.
CONS
Project 365 Plans
- Requires one more subscription to a software service (for example, Parallels or VMWare).
- Adds another layer to your Mac that needs a bit of worrying about (in addition to everything else that worries you).
- Creates files so large (after all, there’s an entire computer stuffed inside) you may have to upgrade your Mac’s internal hard drive to something gigabytes bigger.
2) The Winding Road: Using Project Online and all the restto get there..
There are many reasons that you might want to take the meandering path of using your Mac’s web browser to access Microsoft Project data, but simplicity would not be one of them. If all you want to do is to open, edit or create new Microsoft Project files, then don’t install SharePoint Server or any other servers just to do that – that would be silly and overly complex in this age of cloud computing and software-as-a-service (SaaS). Just jump to #3 for a much shorter path.
PROS
- This setup may be essential to your large enterprise (in other words, you have no choice but to follow this path).
CONS
- If you work anywhere that the internet doesn’t, you are out of luck.
- If you are a small-to-mid sized business, the expense of it all may bust your bottom line.
- If you are the Project Manager for your team without dedicated IT support, this could be trouble.
(It’s easier to raise children then to manage all of these systems.)
3) The Shortest Distance Between Two Points: Project Plan 365
If all you want to do is to collaborate with other folks sharing or creating Microsoft project data, then just download the free 30-day trial of either Project Plan 365 for Mac or Project Plan 365 for iOS. This gives you the flexibility to work on any Microsoft Project-created data file, regardless of your hardware or internet connection. Both apps allow you to do exactly the same thing: open, edit or create any Microsoft Project file (.MPP) with no conversions or imports from other odd formats, like .XML or .XLSX - or any other type of file where things can go wrong and mess with your precious project data. This is by far the “shortest distance between two points” for any Project Manager wanting to work on a Mac.
Current users of Microsoft Project will instinctively know how to use Project Plan 365, as the interface is virtually the same – no learning curve here to slow you down.
In addition, by subscribing to the Business (PMO) plan, project managers (especially those working in small-to-medium sized businesses) can augment their Microsoft Project experience as well, by using such Project Plan 365 features as real-time collaboration, portfolio and resource management and more. In short, a Project Management Office (PMO) can be set up on the cheap and within a few hours after your team subscribes to this plan.
PROS
- The simplest solution for the stated problem.
- The cheapest solution for the stated problem.
- Adds even more to the experience of being a Microsoft Project user, and gives your team more capabilities as you roll out your projects.
CONS
- None to speak of ?
The Bottom Line..
The bottom line depends on how far you are willing to go, just to get to a Microsoft Project file, or to collaborate with your team who are all using the same set of Microsoft Project data. Must your team use Project Online / SharePoint / Project Server because your management team has made that edict? Well, we feel for you… perhaps a new Microsoft laptop is in your future, leaving your shiny new Mac in the dust. But if not, taking the shortcut (#3 above) is going to save you time and money:
Road Taken..
1. The long road:
2. The winding road:
3. The shortcut:
Cost per user, per year (in USD)
Approximately $1000
Mega-bucks in Enterprise dollars!
$200
Which solves the problem? #1 yes, #2 not really and #3, sure thing!
In addition to user cost savings per year, other intangibles are gained, such as the convenience of working on your project plans (or having someone else updating your plan) no matter where in the world you or anyone on your team is working (say on the plains of the Sudan, the beaches of Fiji or atop Mt. Everest) – you will always have a way to edit your Microsoft Project plans on your favorite Apple device.
For installing Kon-Boot you will need an USB drive. Unzip the downloaded Kon-Boot folder (It is Malware/Virus free) 2. Install kon boot to usb driver. First insert the USB flash drive that you want to install Kon-Boot and format it as FAT32 file system. Then download UNetbootin from the link below and run it. Select the Diskimage radio button, click the drop down menu and select Floppy. Then browse for the Kon-Boot floppy disk image which is FD0-konbootv1.1-2in1.img. (Kon-Boot is'nt free anymore) In this step-by-step tutorial i will show you how to easily install Kon-Boot on your USB. Kon-Boot is a handy tool to have when you forget your password to your Windows user. I would be installing the free version of Kon-Boot but you can buy the full version.
Office 365 For Mac Cost
Project Plan 365 also allows you to take Microsoft Project files and go well beyond what you can do within the Microsoft app; for example, with Project Plan 365 you can build a PMO on the cheap, manage and report on your entire portfolio of projects, and store your files in a private and secure cloud - without having to purchase expensive software servers or buy any more new hardware.