Project Management

[David Price <davidp -at- ELVIS -dot- DMCC -dot- COM>]

I am looking for some help with project management.  I have about 17
projects currently on my plate (depending on how you count), and
my manager wants to see everything in a neat project schedule.
I am required to use Microsoft Project for scheduling, and my first
look at this product gives me the impression that this isn't exactly the
perfect tool for the job.  The projects include paper and online, small
and large, in various states of completion. There are two of us
doing the writing.

It seems that project management for documentation is different from
other types of projects, mainly because you can't really give a good estimate
until you have done at least some up-front work, which of course
has to be scheduled.  Also, you are dependent on the programming
schedule, which around here is a tad slippery.

I would love to hear from anyone who has used MS Project
to schedule multiple projects, or those who have otherwise enjoyed the
peculiar pleasures of documentation project management.

Oh, did I mention that I also need to somehow include in the
schedule a variable chunk of time for myself each week doing 2nd level
Unix support?  (We wear many hats around here.)

Thanks in advance.

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David Price                           Delphi Information Systems
davidp -at- elvis -dot- dmcc -dot- com                 Burlington, MA