Microsoft Process Template
The Microsoft Process Template (MPT) is a template that has been developed to accurately reflect end to end product development at Microsoft. The template includes six work item types and they are organized in an hieratical nature to represent the relationships or work as it moves from planning down through the execution phase.
Keys to Successful Project Management
Clear set of goals and priorities
Team and individuals goals aligned to the product goals
Priorities are adequately resourced
Ownership and accountability for the related work is clearly
defined
Use a simple and consistent set of engineering practices and
tools
Dependencies and risks are identified and mitigated
Project status is transparent throughout the release cycle
Organization
Determine your project name. This should be something unique to your group and
associated with the component you are working on. For example: Messenger,
Windows Client, Office14, and so on. We recommend creating one project per
business group/organization. For example all of office and windows utilizes one
project.
Area
Your team needs to determine how to organize your work. We recommend that AREA
hierarchy is used to show what components your team is working on. To
modify the Area you must be an administrator. In team explorer right click on
your project – Select Team Project Settings – Select Areas & Iterations
Iteration
Iteration should be used as the milestone designation. The milestone schedule is
a top-down schedule that establishes timeline for the project release and key
interim project deliverables and mid-cycle releases. It helps teams understand
project expectations, status, and commitments. All the work should be scheduled
and fit into the milestone schedule. For teams that are on more frequent release
cycles they can show releases as well as sprints in the iteration hierarchy as
shown in next figure: