Robert explains that another benefit of using Microsoft Project is that projects can automatically be ranked according to priorities. This is a particularly important feature for a small engineering department with limited staff and financial resources to manage a large number of projects. Engineers must be able to prioritize new projects to work within these constraints.
Microsoft Project helps to communicate priorities by allowing the user to assign rankings to individual tasks as they are entered into a schedule. Planners can grade tasks with values ranging from low to high according to their importance. Tasks can then be sorted to schedule high-priority projects for completion before lower priority projects.
The Road Engineering Division has used Microsoft Project’s capability to prioritize tasks to improve cash flow management. Payment dates are entered as high-priority items into the master schedule. Copies of the payment schedules are then sent to the division’s accounting department, ensuring that both engineering and accounting staff are kept informed of important payment dates.
Future cash needs can be assessed with increased accuracy and coordination, eliminating problems of missed payments. This is especially important for the Department of Public Works, which receives funding from government agencies with lengthy periods of time needed to process funding requests.
Robert reports that Microsoft Project will be used in the future to expand the use of project management systems to other divisions in the Department of Public Works. He plans to revisit the existing scheduling system model, make some adjustments, and implement it in the Water Resources and Flood Control and Solid Waste and Utilities sections.
For more information about Microsoft products and services, call Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Customer Support Center at (800) 563-9048. If you require text telephone services (TT/TDD), call (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary.
Visit the Microsoft Project Home Page at http://http://www.microsoft.com/project/
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Part No. 098-66430