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Part V: Working with Enterprise Projects Team members can use the Microsoft Project Web Access interface to enter actual activity into a timesheet. Web Access communicates directly with Project on the project manager’s computer. As the project manager, you can then make manual updates to your project plan or let Project make its own updates automatically. You can also generate task update requests to help you remind your team to keep you apprised of their activity and progress. You can find out how to use features such as the tracking sheet in Chapter 19.
Figure out what’s going on with status reports You can design and request status reports, such as the one shown in Figure 18-5, which are essentially forms that the people on your project can complete to explain the status of their tasks. These aren’t used to track and record actual work performed. Instead, they help team members describe various issues that come up and what’s going on with the progress of tasks.
Figure 18-5: You specify exactly what you want to see in a status report.
You can request status reports and then work with your team’s responses. One of the nice things about status reports for you, as a project manager, is that you can assemble all the individual reports into a complete status report for the project. Then you can make that report available to shareholders to update them on the latest news.