Templates in Microsoft Project for the web

Microsoft recently released templates in Microsoft Project for the web, providing project managers with six templates that generate detailed project plan structures.  

Related:

Microsoft Project for the web: E-Learning

Power BI Template for Microsoft Project for the web

How to create a project from a template 

As shown in Figure 1, Project for the web now provides 6 templates for a project manager to build from.  

• Simple Project: Basic project steps customizable for projects large to small, managing tasks and resources. 
• Project Management: Based on best practices from concept to completion, details for scope, planning, tasks, progress, finances, quality control, and assessment of project performance. 
• Commercial Construction: Activities specifically geared toward construction projects, tracking permits, contracts, managing procurement, managing job sites, and every step of the building process.  
• Marketing Campaign: Project steps for managing a marketing campaign from development through release, with a retrospective evaluation of the campaign. 
• Software Development: Project activities that align with a software development process, from design to deployment into maintenance. 
• Business Plan: Phases for building a solid business plan, including strategic planning, identifying opportunities, and preparing an action plan. 
• Employee On-Boarding: Project activities for an employee on-boarding process, from IT to HR. 

Starting from Project for the web, go to add a New Project, then choose the project template you would like to use. In this example we’ll use the Project Management template to create the Light Rail IT Infrastructure Support project.  

Figure 1 – Create a project from a template

Figure 2 shows the initial Light Rail IT Infrastructure Support project created from the Project Management template.  

The template provides a great start, with detailed descriptions of the tasks, and for some tasks also checklists of things to complete.  Project managers can then customize all elements of the plan to meet the needs of their project governance, as shown in the Grid view in Figure 3. 

Figure 3 – Customized Project Plan – Grid View

In addition to the Grid view there is also a Board view, Figure 4 and a Timeline view, Figure 5, depending on how you’re accustomed to viewing project plans. 

Conclusion

Project Managers will find these 6 predefined templates useful for getting in place a framework for their project plans. Looking ahead, we fully expect that Microsoft will enable organizations to upload custom templates to match their organization-specific work. This should greatly improve the quality and consistency of project schedules and, therefore, work in the organization. 

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