Microsoft Project 2016 has made a lot of changes since 2013 including resource requests and engagements, heat maps, improved timelines, and more.
Project 2016 is the latest version of Microsoft’s line of productivity software that helps companies manage their projects by allocating resources, assigning tasks, controlling budgets, assessing workloads, and tracking project progress. Since Project 2013 debuted a few years ago, Microsoft has listened to the requests of its users to bring a fresh and more intuitive productivity experience in Project 2016. The Office app will be available in multiple versions including Project Professional, Project Pro for Office 365, and Project Online.
Updates and new features within Project 2016 include the following:
Create Resource Engagements
This function allows project managers to secure the necessary resources efficiently, or people, a project needs to be completed and have an up-to-date status of all their requests at any time. By creating a resource engagement, a project manager can request resources and lock them down once approval has been given to prevent a resource from being used simultaneously by another project manager. This simplified workflow allows those in charge of resource allocation to approve or reject the request without extra steps.
Refined Resource Manager Experience
The resource manager also gets a new and improved interface from which to allocate resources as necessary, allowing for an overview of capacity utilization so he or she can make an informed decision about whether to approve a resource for use or not. A new feature for Project Online lets resource managers view proposed resource allocations easily for approval or rejection.
Heat Maps for Resource Capacity
Overtaxing resources can become a problem if allocation efforts are not tracked efficiently. Additionally, underused resources can become wasteful if never utilized. The new Resource Capacity heat-mapping feature shows the workloads of all active resources at a glance to give project managers a real-time assessment of how resources are being used to improve efficiency.
Improved Timelines
The overhauled Project 2016 timeline feature now allows managers to add multiple timelines with separate start and end times as well as different task milestone to be completed. With this new system in place, a manager can have a realistic view of how and when different parts of a project will be completed. Other new features include drag-and-drop functionality and saving to PowerPoint with editable objects.
Microsoft Office’s “Tell Me” Feature
The new Microsoft Office app suite has received the “Tell Me” function that allows you to do a quick search of how to act without having to search endlessly. In fact, search results are clickable buttons that do what they say to save you time when working on Project 2016. If you are unsure of how to act, just type your query into the “Tell me what to do” search bar to receive an interactive answer.
Office Add-Ins with Read/Write Access
The new Office experience allows users to download add-in apps that adjust or adds to the functionality of Project 2016. You can download these add-ins from the Microsoft Office store and always have access to new features. Project 2016 has access to Read/Write functionality for current projects for a much richer experience.
For more information on the new and improved Project 2016 from Microsoft, contact our knowledgeable staff at (800) 318-1439 or support@mychoicesoftware.com.
