Question & Answer: What is the best way to share the task list and Gantt chart in Microsoft Project with people who only use Word and Excel?
There are many ways to share Microsoft Project data with users who don’t have access to Microsoft Project. I would like to point out two approaches, one that consists of exporting Microsoft Project data to Excel, and another that consists of taking snapshots of Microsoft Projects views and making them available as pictures.
Approach #1: Exporting to Excel
First: From the File menu, select Save As, and then provide a file name, and select the file type “Microsoft Excel Workbook”, and click Save.
Second: The Export Wizard opens up, which will guide you through defining a “map” for the export, in which you specific what data you would like to include.
Third: Once you define the mapping and click Finish, the resulting Excel workbook is generated.
This process of defining a map involves specifying the fields that you want to export from Microsoft Project and the corresponding column headings in Excel. This can be a tedious process the first time you do it. However, the good news is that you can save the map, and then reuse it when you perform this process again in the future.
Approach #2: Saving reports as pictures
Microsoft Project 2007 makes this easy by offering the “Copy Picture” option in the Reports menu. The following settings are available:
For instance, here is a snapshot of a Gantt Chart that was generated using the “Copy Picture” approach, and using the “To GIF image file” option (split into 2 for better readability):
Additional Resources
- The Microsoft Project Techniques workshop (coming up June 21, 2010)
- The Microsoft Project self-paced class available now!
Founder and principal of People-OntheGo, has more than fifteen years of experience in the software industry. Pierre has founded several companies including a financial software company in 1987 (Computer Trends, Inc.), an e-CRM company in 1995 (Imparto Software Corporation), raised several multi-million dollar funding rounds, and completed two successful acquisitions. In the last few years, Pierre's interest centered around bridging the gap between technology and people. He founded People-OntheGo to help corporate users manage e-mail and digital communication tools more effectively, and Digital-OntheGo to help organizations take full advantage of the new advances in digital video and web distribution, both part of the OntheGo Technologies L.L.C. Pierre holds a Master's degree in Engineering from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Michigan), and has completed several Executive Education programs at the Stanford Graduate School of Management (Stanford, California).
