MakeUseOf: "For the most part, I’m a very task oriented and “to-do list” sort of guy. At work I’m able to manage the many projects and even small tasks that I’m responsible for through Microsoft Project – which is, in my humble opinion, one of the most powerful project and task management applications available for desktop PCs.
The problem is that most home users of moderate means can’t usually afford the Office package that includes Microsoft Project. The majority of home computer users will have the standard office package, such as the 2007 Home and Student edition which has Word, Excel, Powerpoint and OneNote."
7 comments:
Project management software fascinates me. Its something i've never used before, not really even heard of, before coming to CMU, but from the little bit of reading i've done it seems like a powerful tool that i wish i'd known about many years ago. I plan on giving Gantter a try, when i get a project on which it is useful, and seeing what happens. It will take time to learn the program, but it seems useful. Also, the ability to then open the file you work on in any internet browser will be a godsend.
While adding another piece of software to my life doesn't necessarily sound appealing, Gantter has greatly peaked my interest (especially since the price is right). As theatre managers we are often juggling multiple projects, venues, staff, etc. The apparent easy to use interface looks like something a first time user could easily stumble upon and use. One additional selling point to me is the ability to access the program on any computer with Internet access. Often database and scheduling programs require some sort of download or subscription and greatly limit where you can do you your work. In a portable industry such as ours, a portable scheduling and management tool is ideal.
I personally have never found programs such as this very useful... many times they are pretty complicated for a first time user and if you don't have the software on a computer, you can't access the file anyway. This however has me considering taking a chance on it. It seems very easy to use, and I love that you can access it anywhere you can access the internet. That would be extremely convenient. This might just be the one that sticks.
This looks like a pretty neat application, especially when you have a lot of things happening at once, such as in a shop setting. I don't think I have much use for it in my personal life, but I do think that there can be many uses for someone in a management position. I think its really great that you can access it on any computer, and that really helps when you have many people working on a project as it goes along. It looks like a great way to keep track of many projects happening at once, especially in its graphical view.
I tried out a bunch of different similar free products similar to Microsoft Project, and if there is one thing I've learned through that it's that you really just might be better of buying this kind of program. This one seems to cover all of what you might want to do with this kind of project, and then some. Now, I Know saying this will spark off a series of angry comments, but given that this is a Microsoft product, you're at least getting something you're almost guaranteed will do what you need it to do. I'm sure it fails in comparison to similar products, but for what most need this kind of program for, I'm willing to be the fact that it is Microsoft developed helps guarantee that it's closer to being a global standard, which probably means it will be more useful, and probably means it can interface with other Microsoft programs people use every day.
This is an interesting piece of software, but it still doesn't replace good honest-to-god project management.
I am all for technology assisted management, however I normally have reservations about newer software because of universality. With so many different platforms in use today (Windows XP, Vista, 7; Mac Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard), the fact that this product is supposedly universally accessible through any internet browser makes it much more appealing and practical. What is the point of organizing a project if no one else can take advantage of the organization.
The important thing is to remember that these programs are just tools and unless the man-power behind them knows what they want to do it will be the program deciding how to organize the project.
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