I'll start, but I doubt I'll cover everything that Project does, so I
hope others will add to my ideas.
Project is Scheduling software, not Project Management software, as it
is often called. (No software yet does all the things a PM needs to
handle a project.) While it can be applied in simpler, less strenuous
ways, it's primary intent is to do Critical Path Method scheduling. CPM
is a very structured, mostly standardized way to schedule projects by
defining a list of tasks (or, in PM parlance, a Work Breakdown
Structure) and their durations, then defining the dependency
relationships between those tasks. Only one date is required, a start
or end date for the project. CPM determines the dates on which the
tasks should start and finish based on that one date and the durations
and dependencies. If these initial steps are done correctly, Project
determines the Critical Path, which is the longest path through the
various paths that exist in the schedule. This then gives a
knowledgeable PM a tool to better plan, manage and control the project
and associated resources. Of course, in the real world, other dates
impinge on the project, often set by outside factors beyond the control
of the PM or his organization. This is particularly true in Event
Planning, where there are many external constraints, thus complicating
the scheduling, and for that matter, the planning, process.
After the initial plan has been created, the resources necessary to
complete each of the tasks can be assigned to them, and tracked to see
when they are available, when they are not, and when they are
over-allocated. It can also track the costs associated with the tasks
and resources. Of course, reports are available to print out this
information. That's a brief overview of the software's capabilities.
Not apparent from a short description is the issue of successful
implementation of scheduling software, MS or any of the others on the
market. To paraphrase Lewis in "Project Planning, Scheduling and
Control", to give someone with no knowledge of Project Management
scheduling software is merely to enable them to track their failures
accurately. Sadly, in my 15 years of PM consulting/training, I've seen
far too many companies in that trap.
So Project can really only "assists you" if you have the knowledge to
properly input the necessary data, and to interpret and apply the
output. That part is generally more difficult, and rarely found in most
end users of Project. Many of the experts who contribute in this forum
are among the very few around with that specialized knowledge.
Hope this helps in your world.
