These templates are simple but are useful to get you thinking about what templates might help you. Look in the class binder for more examples of templates, especially the project workbook section at the end.

This is a quick introduction that explains why project leaders might want to use software.

This tutorial does does a nice job of demonstrating a Gantt Chart. The narrator mentions "hierarchy." This is related to the work breakdown that you did in class. Also note that the example uses some dependencies just like you did in class. I think this is an important feature of any serious project management software.

These five tips are applicable to many different types of projects. They are not "no-brainers" despite what the speaker says. Note that the speaker presents the triple constraint in a different order than our class book. He puts quality as a corner of the triangle, with scope in the middle. It is still the same thing. Also note that the "% complete" approach is commonly used, but has some pitfalls. It is notoriously hard to estimate percent complete correctly, leading to the phenomenon of getting stuck at 90% complete for far too long. Therefore, some people prefer to estimate work remaining instead.

This video demonstrates six example measurements of a project’s health.  They are not suitable for all types of projects, but  will get you thinking about how to measure the progress of your own projects. You should choose metrics that fit your project and organizational environments.  One of the  methods is earned value.  This is a powerful, but rather complex method that simultaneously measures how well a project is performing on multiple perspectives – its schedule, budget, and work accomplished to date. Contact me if you want more info.

The first three tools here are focused on a type of project work that is probably not typical for many of you, and in my opinion may get too far into details for many projects. You may want to skip ahead to the portfolio dashboard (about 7:50 – 8:35) and a list of what should be in a project status report (8:35 – 10:10).