Wow - Outlook Integration with MS Project 2007!


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Project Management 2.0

  by - Dave Garrett

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Wow - Outlook Integration with MS Project 2007!


Situation: You want to get a lot more out of MS Project with less effort

A few weeks ago, the MS Project folks gave our team a briefing on the 2007 version that is now a part of MS Office.  There were a lot of terrific improvements.  I'll touch on the EPM (UMT) components later, but the most important thing that they've done (IMHO) is integrating Project with Outlook.  There's also a timesheet component that's worth considering as part of the whole Outlook-centered world Microsoft has created for you.

What if...
- your project team interacted with you directly from Outlook, where they live every day?
- small project leads werent forced to use full blown MS Project, when they just want to work with a list of tasks?

I think you end up with better data, less administrative overhead, and tools that fit what you  really need.

The graphic below  shows you how an MS Project Web Access task looks within Outlook 2007. 



When you import tasks from Project to Outlook:
- the project name is automatically imported as the category
- like with other Outlook functions, you can work off line and sync tasks later
- time is recorded if you use the included timesheet app

People work in Outlook every day - that's just a fact of life.  The "Outlook Today"  approach was a nice step forward, but it was a half-step.  I think this is a HUGE leap forward.

Here are some additional resources if you want to find out more:
- MSDN Blogs, Project Server/Outlook  Integration
- Tasks and Time Management in Outlook Part 1
- Tasks and Time Management in Outlook Part 2


| Posted: January 10, 2007 02:33 PM | Permalink |


Clint Woods says:

I would certainly agree Dave. I attended the Phoenix Launch event from Microsfot last week and was really delighted with the whole package. I had been exposed to some of the new stuff via MPA (Microsoft Project Association) Phoenix chapter. The second coolest thing they did has to be moving so much of ability to enter data to PWA. Great stuff. Now if I can just get past the infrstructure guy....

Tuesday, January 23, 2007 10:46:34 PM EST
apezz says:


I use EasyTaskSync

www.easytasksync.com

It syncs Microsoft Project with Outlook Tasks and Outlook Calendar.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009 8:30:17 AM EDT

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