What is Microsoft Project for the Web?

MS Project for the web (also known as Project) is Microsoft’s most recent offering for cloud-based work and project management. Project for the web provides simple, powerful work management capabilities and can be used by project managers and team members to plan and manage work of any size.

With Project, all members of the project team are provided with a simple and intuitive way to track schedules, tasks, and task progress.   Microsoft has included multiple ways to interact with a project plan and personalize your experience based on the needs of your organization and your own personal preferences.

Licenses

Project for the web is available for resources with Project Plan licenses 1, 3, or 5.  If you are currently using Project Online, your existing license will likely work with Project for the Web.

Access

On the Microsoft Project Home page, select the “+ New project” option.

Create a new project

Create a new “Blank project” or use one of Microsoft’s pre-made templates

Once you have selected an option, your new project will open and you are ready to work on your project!

Name your project – click the “Untitled project” section to begin entering project details

Enter tasks – Click “+ Add new task” and begin entering a task name.  To quickly enter task details, press “Tab” to move from one column to the next.

Capture additional task details by hovering over a task and selecting the “Open Details” option.  Additional task details display on the right panel.

Note:  Tasks can only be assigned to resources that are included in your organization’s Power Platform environment.
Views
The views provided by Microsoft allow you to work on schedule updates in multiple ways.

The Grid view uses columns to organize task details and includes a detail pane to capture task details.
The Board view works like MS Planner and uses cards to track task details and allows dragging and dropping to make quick task updates.
The Timeline view includes an interactive Gantt chart that can be used to add dependencies, schedule tasks, and update durations.
The Charts view displays the state of project tasks at a glance.
The People view uses cards, grouped by resources, and provides a way to view tasks based on assignments.
The Goals view allows you to track project tasks based on specific goals identified by the project manager.
The Assignments view allows tracking of tasks assigned to each resource, and the distribution of effort over time.
Your project will save automatically.  When you want to revisit an existing project, you will see it listed on the MS Project Home page.

Microsoft has created a straightforward, intuitive, and flexible way to build and maintain schedules in Project.

Expanding with PPM360

In addition to tracking project schedules and tasks, most organizations will also require tracking additional project details.

At Marque360, we have extended Project capabilities with our PPM360 accelerator which provides efficient ways to track projects throughout the project life cycle, including intake requests, time tracking, program/portfolio management, RAID tracking, Resource Management, MS Teams integration, Cost tracking, and reports.  PPM360 is pre-configured and it is modular, so you can focus on the parts that will bring the most value to your organization and add more as you grow.

Marque360 is proud to be recognized as 2023 Microsoft Global Partner of the Year,  Finalist for Project & Portfolio Management- two consecutive years in a row! This recognition highlights the company’s commitment to excellence in innovation and the successful implementation of customer solutions utilizing Microsoft 365 Platform. “We are honored to be named a finalist for the 2023 Microsoft Partner of the Year Award,” Neall Alcott, Managing Partner at Marque360. “This acknowledgment is a testament to our team’s dedication and expertise in delivering exceptional solutions to our customers.”

The Microsoft Partner of the Year Awards is a global recognition program that celebrates Microsoft partners who have demonstrated exceptional skill and achievement in developing and delivering Microsoft-based applications, services, and devices. With over 4,200 nominations received from more than 100 countries worldwide, Marque360 stood out for its outstanding solutions, services, and commitment to the Microsoft Project & Portfolio Management platform.

This award showcases Marque360’s commitment to providing innovative and transformative solutions to its customers. “By leveraging the power of Microsoft365 , specifically Microsoft Project & Power Platform along with Microsoft Teams as the hub for all communication, we have made significant impact on digital transformation and helped organizations thrive in today’s rapidly evolving business landscape.” Deepika Gandhi, Managing Partner at Marque360

Why Create a Project Scope?

A project scope guide outlines the goals, deliverables, tasks, deadlines, and resources required to complete a project successfully. Creating a project scope is an essential step in project management, and it offers several benefits, including:

1. Provides clarity: The project scope defines the goals, objectives, deliverables, tasks, timelines, and resources required to complete the project. It provides clarity about what needs to be accomplished, who is responsible, and when it should be completed.
2. Establishes boundaries: The project scope establishes the boundaries of the project and ensures that the team does not deviate from the project’s objectives. It helps prevent scope creep, which is a common problem that can cause delays, budget overruns, and other issues.
3. Improves communication: The project scope serves as a communication tool that helps ensure that all stakeholders have a shared understanding of the project. It helps align expectations and prevent misunderstandings that could cause delays or conflicts.
4. Facilitates planning: The project scope provides a framework for planning and executing the project. It helps the team identify the tasks, resources, and timelines required to complete the project successfully.
5. Helps manage risk: The project scope includes a risk management plan that identifies potential risks and outlines strategies for mitigating them. This helps the team proactively manage risks and prevent them from causing delays or other issues.
6. Facilitates decision-making: The project scope provides a clear framework for decision-making. It helps the team identify trade-offs, make informed decisions, and prioritize tasks based on their importance and impact on the project’s success.

Overall, creating a project scope is a critical step in project management that offers several benefits. It helps establish clarity, boundaries, and a shared understanding of the project, facilitates planning and decision-making, and helps manage risks.

Creating a Project Scope In Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project can be a useful tool for creating and managing a project scope guide, as it allows you to track tasks, assign resources, and

generate reports that summarize the project details.

Here are the steps to create a project scope guide in Microsoft Project:

1. Open Microsoft Project and create a new project file.
2. Click on the “Tasks” tab and start entering the tasks and activities required to complete the project. Assign each task to a team member and set a duration and deadline for completion.
3. Click on the “Resources” tab to add the project team members and their roles and responsibilities. Assign each task to the appropriate team member.
4. Click on the “Project” tab and select “Project Information” to set the project start date, end date, and other project details.
5. Click on the “View” tab and select “Gantt Chart” to see a visual representation of the project schedule.
6. Click on the “Reports” tab and select “New Report” to create a report that summarizes the project scope guide. You can choose from avariety of report types and customize the report to include the project description, goals and objectives, deliverables, tasks and activities, timeline, budget, risk management, stakeholder management, quality control, acceptance criteria, and other details.
7. Save the project scope guide as a PDF or Word document and share it with the project team and stakeholders.

Microsoft Project, the tool that helps us manage our internal resources and keep track of time, also helps Millions of other businesses across the globe, while, the features and functionality continue to grow and develop.

Here we will look at some key features that Project has developed and a glimpse of the roadmap Microsoft has set for Project:

2022 Project for the Web Update Summary: 

Over the past year Microsoft has introduced a number of upgrades to Project for the Web, both cosmetic and functional; especially those beneficial to Administrators of Project for the Web. 25 colored labels have been added for the flagging and organization of your project tasks and made the available chart views more user friendly and visually appealing. A new “People View” option was also introduced to help management get an enhanced visualization of a team’s workload and provide better ways to achieve resource levelling and balancing.

Administrators have also been given some helpful updates including the ability to view system usage and site data from within the Admin Center; coupled with, additional product usage data. A key feature is the ability to see daily user active and usage within Project sessions for both Project for the Web and the Project Online Desktop Client to ensure that users’ are benefitting the most with .

The ability to create and prioritize tasks in a users’ backlog was also implemented allowing for the easy organization of tasks between sprints and their respective backlogs.  Reports on this data is now available and custom reports can readily created to show backlogs and spring data.

2023 Project for the Web Updates:

With the calendar rolling over to 2023, Microsoft has a solid roadmap of updates in development that we are very excited for. These updates range from custom calendars in Project for the Web to creating long term multi-year spanning projects (18 months through 6 years).  Microsoft is also planning to improve the Timeline interface with additional zooming and display options. Another key feature that we have been eager to see is the expansion of the task limit in Project for the Web to 1000 tasks from the current 500 task limit.  This will certainly assist project manager is developing the level of detailed planning required to manage their projects successfully and proficiently.

Administrators, via the Admin center, will soon be able to send email notifications to your entire Company domain as well.

We are very enthusiastic to see the changes that Microsoft has coming for Project for the Web and are thrilled to see these functionality improvements assist our clients to grow and develop their project and portfolio management practice. Marque360 is not just here to get your business setup and functioning with Project for the Web, but are to keep you updated with the latest news and information that will keep you and your project management practices and procedures running efficiently and affectively.

We look forward to keeping you informed and ready for any changes Microsoft has, with not only Project for the Web, but for all of their Power Platform solutions.

-Authored By Larry Deuber, Project Specialist