Melworth Zoo needs to expand. It's a fine zoo, known for the high quality of the conditions that the animals are kept in, but in a world that offers ever more ways for people to entertain themselves and their families, the competition is strict - merely being humane and dedicated to conservation is no longer enough. There needs to be scope for more exotic animals, particularly those that catch children's attention and make them pester their parents for a visit. The zoo's management and trustees would, of course, never dream of lessening their dedication to the decent treatment of their residents by fitting more creatures into the existing space; so, in order to include more exciting exhibits, there's no choice but to spread out into neighbouring land.

Fortunately, this day has been foreseen, and the zoo board have been quietly buying up farmland around the site. They're ready to start building work, but it's a complicated process - and not just a matter of building a paddock next to the existing site and placing a couple of lions in it; to make the expanded zoo an appealing and effective visitor attraction, the plans involve a redesign of a large part of the park, and the movement of a number of different animals to make the most of the new layout. It's essential that disruption - for animals and visitors - is kept to a minimum, and to that end, creating and adhering strictly to the schedule is imperative. But it's also a must that this schedule is as thorough as can be and includes data on exactly how long a task should take, along with a clear illustration of which other elements of the process are dependent upon it finishing on time. Only with a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of the process and how they relate to each other can the management ensure that the future zoo is as appealing as possible, and that the current zoo continues to provide a first-class visitor experience - and, vitally, is fully open in time for the peak summer period.

Tony is managing this project, and it's his job to provide and tend to that thorough schedule - and Microsoft Project offers the ideal solution to his needs. To begin, Tony identifies everything that will need to be done from the start of the process to the end - including discussions with staff responsible for animals, to assess what's required in order to maintain a high standard of care for those that are being moved - and how long each task ought to take. He then enters this information into a schedule, the key stages of the development along with the jobs that must be done in order for them to take place. This has the potential for being a very complex part of the whole operation, any lack of coordination risking the derailment of the whole project: for instance, the warthogs can't move unless there's a pen with a pool for them to loll around in - but the intended new home for the warthogs is too close to the lion enclosure, which would upset the former greatly, so the movement of the lions needs to happen before the warthogs are moved... and so on and so forth, across much of the zoo. With Project, that complexity goes away - Gantt charts can be automatically created from the information he's entered, illustrating in detail how different parts of the schedule can rely on one another.

From this, it can be deduced that certain tasks become imperative, that they must be completed successfully and within schedule so as not to bring about a chain reaction that delays and destabilises the rest of the project. The process through these tasks is called the critical path. Tony knows that, by identifying and adhering to the critical path, he can be make everything run more smoothly, by ensuring that fewer stages are disrupted. Microsoft Project can automatically display the critical path, and help Tony ensure that it is followed as closely as possible - and can also immediately identify problems, which can then be addressed before they have a knock-on effect on other tasks.

With Project, Tony is also able to track the availability of people and resources, so he can be confident that nothing is being wasted - and that there's no overlap, with a single individual or resource being put to work in multiple areas simultaneously. The Team Planner tool sets out what everyone is doing and when, for a clear graphical illustration of what is possible in the time (and, equally, what isn't). Meanwhile, the Task Inspector can automatically provide extra analysis and intuitive advice for solving any scheduling conflicts that do arise.

Project won't guarantee that Tony's plans move flawlessly to completion; nothing in this world can be assured as completely foolproof. Things do go wrong. The great benefit of using Project to manage his schedules is that Tony can see immediately how any delay or problem will impact upon the overall process, and be able to start limiting the damage - by moving the resources that he can see right away will be available - before it has any real effect. And once the issue is addressed, all Tony needs to do is enter the delay into his schedule and the software will adjust automatically - so Tony can once again see at a glance everything that needs doing, and how tasks drive that all-important summer completion date. When your projects are just as complex as Tony's, just as finely balanced and just as dependent upon a concrete deadline, Microsoft Project can give you every chance to meet that deadline with the best possible end result. A short training course can help you to get to grips with the powerful and versatile tools that Project offers; and with Project, your organisation can move ahead confident of succeeding whatever obstacles may be thrown in its path.