MS Project Intro

Humber College

Presented by: Nikola Novak, novak@ca.ibm.com

 MS Project Introduction

What is Microsoft Project?

Software tool that helps manage projects

Powerful scheduling engine

Highly Customizable

Highly refined: First Commercial Version in 1984

What Microsoft Project is NOT:

All that a Project Manager does

Tool that will be used for all Project Management Tasks

A “Silver Bullet”

Always easy to use or intuitive

 MS Project is a Database – Part 1

Understanding the Project Database

What Project 2010 really is, is a database. In its simplest form, a database is a
collection of information that is organized into a list. Here is what a good
database does:

Stores Information: A database stores lists of information that are related to
a particular subject or purpose. A database stores personal information, such
as a list of Aunt Mildred’s sushi recipes; or business information, such as a list
of hundreds of thousands of resources. A database also makes it easy to add,
update, organize, and delete information.

Finds Information: You can easily and instantly locate information stored in a
database. For example, you can find all the recipes in your cookbook with the
ingredient “rice” in them, or all your contractors located in the 58251 Zip
Code.
 MS Project is a Database – Part 2

Analyzes Information: You can perform calculations on information in a

database. For example, you could calculate what percent of your total
equipment comes from the state of Texas. You can also present information in
a professional looking printed report.

Manages Information: Databases make it easy to work with and manage
huge amounts of information. For example, you can change the due date for
hundreds of tasks from 5/1/11 to 5/20/11 with a few keystrokes.

Shares Information: Most database programs (including Microsoft Project
2010) allow more than one user to view and work with the same information
at once. Such databases are called multi-user databases.
 MS Project Versions

Microsoft Project 2010 comes in several versions:

Desktop

Professional

Server

Professional can connect to Server; Desktop can not

Most of the time, not a personal choice: procured by the company

Project Server allows sharing, resources to be organized between
projects
Project Management Basics
 Define a Project

Initiate the project: Clearly identify the purpose and goals of the
project; estimate when key resources will be available to work on the
project; make backup plans for key project components; and identify
the project’s constraints and limitations, such as the schedule,
resources, budget, and scope of the project.

Start a project file: Create the project’s file and set the project’s
properties, such as working time and calendars (i.e., Monday through
Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.).

Define project deliverables: Define the actual product or service that
meets the project’s objectives.
 Plan Project Activities

Define phases and create a task list: Enter the tasks required to
complete the project, define the project’s phases, and add any
supporting information to the task.

Show the project’s organization: Structure the tasks into their
respective phases as well as a hierarchy of summary tasks and
subtasks.

Estimate task duration: Estimate how long a task will take to
complete, considering non-working time. Fine-tune duration with the
task calendar.

Set task dependencies and constraints: Identify and link tasks that
affect the progress of another task.
 Plan for, and Gather Resources

Estimate resource needs: Compile a list of all the resources you will
need and change duration as necessary. Also get input from others
involved in the project.

Enter resource information and set working times: Update
information about the resources, and set the hours they will work.

Share resources among projects: Sharing resources can help make
managing a project’s progress easier.

Assign resources to tasks: Assign resources to specific tasks, and the
amount of time they are expected to work on the task.
 Plan Project Costs

Estimate costs: Research previous projects to estimate how much a

task will cost.

Define and share cost information: Prepare a budget, establish a
baseline plan, and share the information with the parties involved.

Prepare to manage costs: Set a fiscal year for the project, plan how to
track and manage costs, and track the cash flow plan.
 Plan for Quality & Risks

Plan for quality: Define quality standards and determine how quality
affects the overall scope of the project.

Identify and plan for risks: Research reliable resources, identify risks,
and create a plan of action to handle risk events should they occur.
 Plan Security & Communication

Set up methods for communicating project information: Decide and

establish a procedure for how you want to share project information
with everyone involved.

Protect project information: Depending on the communication
resource you use, set passwords, specify security settings, etc.
 Optimize a Project Plan

Optimize the project plan to meet the finish date, plan for resources,
and complete the project within its budget constraints.
 Distribute a Project Plan

Depending on how you share and communicate the project’s

information, distribute the project’s plan online or in printed format.
 Managing Triple Constraint – Part 1

Time is the amount of time it will take you to complete your project.

Cost is the amount of money and time you will spend on the project.

Scope is the quality, functions, and features of your product or service.
 Managing Triple Constraint – Part 2

If the project SCOPE increases…
…then you may need more resources and/or additional time to do the extra
work.

Example: If you decide you want to publish a definitive textbook instead of
your original plan—a brief reference paperback…
…then either you find graduate students to help research the book, or you
postpone the release of the book to allow time for the extra research.

If the TIME (duration) of your project schedule decreases…
…then you may need to increase cost (budget) in order to hire more resources to
get everything done on time. If you can’t increase the cost, you may need to
reduce the scope, because it will be hard to get things done in less time.

Example: If you need to move your release date up two months in time for
the new academic year…
…then either you recruit additional writers to contribute to the book, or you
decide not to publish the book in hardcover.
 Managing Triple Constraint – Part 3

If the COST (budget) of your project decreases…

…then you may need more time because you can’t pay for as many
resources. If you can’t increase the time, you may need to reduce the
scope, because fewer resources can’t finish all of your planned work in
the time you have scheduled.

Example: If the cost of one of the contributing authors puts you over
your budget…
…then extend the deadline so another author can write the chapter, or
leave out that chapter of the book.
Microsoft Project Basics
 Terms

Project:

A set of work that is completed according to a schedule and that has
some kind of end result. For example, a project may result in a
tangible item, such as a report, a building, or a retail product, or it
may result in an intangible item, such as an event, a set of goals, or a
strategy.

Task:

A smaller chunk of work that contributes to the completion of a
project. Task has a start date and a finish date, and you can assign
people and/or things to help do the task work.
 Terms

Resource:

A resource can be a person, an item, a facility, or an expense that is
required to complete the work associated with a task.

In Project 2010:
 people are referred to as work resources
 items or facilities are referred to as material resources
 expenses are referred to as cost resources.

A single task may require more than one type of resource. For
example, if the task is to travel to a satellite office and teach a
training course, you might need a person (work resource) to teach
the class, a roundtrip plane ticket (cost resource) to get the person
to and from the satellite office, and a classroom (material resource)
where the training course is held.
 Terms

Assignment:

An assignment is the term used when a resource is identified as a
person, item, or cost that will do work on, or be used for, a task in a
project.

It’s the connection, or relationship, between resource and a task.
 Terms – work, unit, duration

Work:

Amount of time a resource is likely to need to finish the task

Units:

Percentage or fraction of resource’s time spent on the task

Duration:

How long will task take to complete

Work, Units, Duration are connected:

Duration = Work / Units

A task will take longer if there’s more work, or fewer units/resources

Task can be speeded up if we reduce the work or assign more
resources
 Terms - Scheduling

Manual Scheduling

NEW in MS Project 2010

Useful in top-down planning

Bypasses most of MS Project’s “Smarts”

Automatic Scheduling

Traditional method of using MS Project

Uses the MS Project Scheduling Engine

Choosing and Selecting manual vs automatic scheduling:

Default is set for a project, but tasks can be set individually

Try to use automatic where possible

MS Project – look & feel
 Ribbon

Common with Office 2007, Office 2010

Graphical / Visual

Customizable

Context-sensitive

Ctrl-F1 or Double-click to minimize
 Ribbon

Ribbon contains:

Tabs – displays commands appropriate to the view / topic
 Task, Resource, Project, View always visible
 Format ‘special’ tab applying to current view
 Use mouse wheel to quickly scroll through tabs

Groups – logical containers of related commands on tabs
 Timeline

Quick summary of project’s timeline

Can be easily exported to other formats/documents

Format -> Copy Timeline

YOU decide what is displayed on the timeline
 Views

27 different views in MS Project 2010

View can take the whole screen, or be in one of the two “panes”, on
top or bottom of the screen

Overwhelming number of pre-set views largely combinatorial

Presentation on screen can also be customized
 Views – Gantt Chart

One of the basic and most familiar views

List of tasks on the left, timeline of the tasks on the right

Many, many variations possible ☺
 Start a New Project

File -> New -> Blank Project

Project -> Project Information -> Start Date -> Set to Monday for now

Task -> Gantt Chart

Let’s enter some tasks! ☺
 Entering Tasks

Enter a meaningful task name under “Task Name”

Enter duration under “Duration”

Can be in days, hours; or “Estimated” – followed by question mark

Note that MS Project schedules all the tasks to start at the beginning
of the project – as there are currently no dependencies or resource
constraints to tell it otherwise!
 Organizing Views

Grouping Data

You can group on any field/column
by clicking the little arrow
 Organizing Views

Highlighting Data

View -> Data -> Highlight
 Organizing Views

Filtering Data

View -> Data -> Filter -> New Filter

Duration Greater than 2days

Result:
 Dependencies

So far, this is pretty boring 

We’ve created some tasks, and they all sit at the start of the project.

We need to create some dependencies! ☺

MS Project supports all four types of dependencies:

Finish to Start (FS)

Start to Finish (SF)

Finish to Finish (FF)

Start to Start (SS)

It also supports both :

Lags

Leads
 Dependencies

To enter dependencies, scroll until you can see “Predecessors” column

Entering a number in the Predecessor column, indicates this task
depends on the numbered task.

Finish to Start dependency is assumed/default.

Tasks entered without dependency:

Tasks entered with dependency:

 Dependencies

You can enter complex dependencies in the Predecessor column by

typing the predecessor task, followed by the type of dependency.

For example, if a task depends on Task 2, and has a “Start-to-Finish”
dependency, enter “2SF”
 Dependencies – let’s try it!

Enter six new tasks:

Rewire Kitchen

Install Cabinets

Paint

Install Counters

Install new floors

Install new appliances

Automatically Scheduled
 Dependencies – let’s try it!

Each Task has dependencies:

“Rewire Kitchen” cannot be finished until “Install Cabinets” has
started (some of the wiring may go through cabinets). This is a Start-
to-Finish dependency.

“Paint” needs to start after “Rewire Kitchen” starts (electrician
needs to have moved openings, outlets, etc – but doesn’t need to
be done, before painting starts). This is a Start-to-Start dependency.

“Install Counters” cannot start until “Paint” has finished (we don’t
want drips☺). This is a common Finish-to-Start dependency.

“Install new floors” can’t finish until “Paint” has finished (as painters
finish each room, floorers put down floors). This is a Finish-to-Finish
dependency.

“Install appliances” can’t start until “Install Floors” is done (FS).
 Dependencies – let’s try it!

Each Task has dependencies:

“Rewire Kitchen” Depends on “Install Cabinets: Start-to-Finish

“Paint” Depends on “Rewire Kitchen”: Start-to-Start.

“Install Counters” Depends on “Paint” : Finish-to-Start.

“Install new floors” Depends on “Paint”: Finish-to-Finish

“Install appliances” Depends on “Install Floors” : Finish-To-Start
 Dependencies – Lags & Leads?

Lags and Leads are inserted in the same way:

For Overlap / Lead time, type a negative duration or percentage

For Delay / Lag time, type a positive duration or percentage
 Dependencies – Final Look

We can change dependencies for the task at any time:

Now it’s looking a bit more interesting! ☺

 But wait! There’s more!

Many more attributes can be adjusted for tasks!

Tasks come in three different basic types.

Task’s type depends on how we want to schedule and manage it

We designate what is the most important element of the task
 Microsoft Project will try to keep this element stable when
adjusting other elements and performing scheduling calculations.

Choose Wisely! ☺
 Task Types – Bigger Chart

Work = Resource Units X Duration

Field that Field calculated Field calculated Field calculated

you change if the task is if the task is if the task is
Fixed Units Fixed Work Fixed Duration

Work Duration Duration Units

is recalculated is recalculated are recalculated

Duration Work Units Work

is recalculated are recalculated is recalculated

Units Duration Duration Work

is recalculated is recalculated is recalculated
 Task Types

Fixed Work:

Common type of task that needs a Fixed amount of Work to
complete.

For example, we may create a task that:
 Takes 40hrs of work to complete
 Will be worked on by one person 50% of their time
 It will therefore take two weeks to complete (80hrs at 50%)

If we ask Project to ensure this project is completed in ONE week:
 It will adjust the Unit to 100%
 It will not change the amount of total work needed (40hrs of fixed
work)
 Task Types

Fixed Duration:

Sometimes a task may simply need certain amount of elapsed time
to complete

For example, we may create a task that:
 Takes 5 days to complete

If we assign two resources at 100% (two units)
 They will accomplish 80hrs of work in those 5 days

If we assign 20hrs of work to this task
 Project will calculate only 50% of a resource (0.5 units) is needed
to accomplish that work in 5 days.
 Task Types

Fixed Units:

Used when level of effort is important

For example, we may create a task that:
 We know a key resource can only work 50% of their time on

If we set the work to be 40hrs, MS Project will calculate duration to
be two weeks (at 50% fixed unit)

If we change the work to 80hrs, MS Project will re-calculate duration
to four weeks, because it cannot increase the resources/units.

If we set the duration to 5 days, MS Project will calculate work to be
20hrs, as that’s all a resource accomplish working at 50%
 How do I set the task type?

1. Double-click on Task to access Task Information dialogue

2. Click on View -> Split View -> Details checkbox

3. Click on Task -> Properties -> Details button
 How do I set the task type?

To permanently change the default task type, go to Project Options:

 Grouping Tasks

In a major project, a list of hundreds or thousands of equal tasks would

be impossibly difficult to manage
 Grouping Tasks - 1

Tasks can be grouped together by “Indenting” and “Outdenting”

Several Methods can be used to group tasks

Select a Set of tasks and click
 Task -> Insert -> Summary

New Summary Task is created
with selected tasks as Subtasks
 Grouping Tasks - 2

Several Methods can be used to group tasks

Insert a new Summary Task

Select the Subtasks and
click the “Indent” button
 Milestones

Milestones are tasks of zero length

They don’t behave much differently than normal tasks

But are meant to be used to signify major points

Typically added to the Timeline
Resources
 Types of Resources

Work Resources:

Mostly it’s “Managementy” way of saying “People” ☺

Material Resources:

Things needed for People Work Resources to complete tasks

Can be things like lumbar, cement, office supplies

Cost Resources

Fees associated with getting tasks done

Specifically, fees not associated with how much work needs to be

done or how long it takes.
 Not same as costs associated with People Work Resources, such
as salary or hourly wage; or material resources, such as unit price.
 More about resources

Resources can be:

Specific: Bob, Jamie, Fatima

Generic: Roofer, Developer, Engineer

Attached to the project only (default)

Enterprise Resources (from Enterprise Resources Pool)
 Requires Project Server, and company-wide usage
 Adding a Resource

View -> Resource View -> Resource Sheet

Enter the name of the resource
under “resource name” ☺

Type of resources under type
(Drop Down from Work, Material, Cost)

To create Generic resource, double click and select

For Material Resources, enter Label

Units such as “yards”, “kilograms”, “tons”, etc

Initials for easy recognition

Groups – departments, subtypes of resources, etc. Can be anything

Try “Group By”
 Adding a Resource

“Max. Units” is the maximum amount of resource’s time that can be

spent on project

Fraction (0.5) or percentage (50%)

For Generic resources, can often be more than 1 or 100%

Standard Rate & Overtime Rate

make most sense for People Work Resources

Cost per Use – a single time charge every time resource is used.

Accrue At – essentially when cost will be applied:

Start – at beginning of resource’s assignment (not project)

End – at the finish of resources assignment (remaining work = 0)

Prorated – as actual work is reported (we’ll see soon)

 Resource Sheet View

Overall, a convenient, Excel-like way of creating resources:

 Assignments

Remember – “Assignment” is the connection of a resource to a task

Where it all starts coming together (or falling apart!☺)

Several different ways to do:

1. In Gantt Chart, double-click a task

On Resources Tab of Task Information Box, select resources from
drop down box

Assignment Owner – rare usage when need to keep track of
resource managers

Units – how much is this resource working on this
(if more than Max = overallocation!)

Cost not calculated continuously, but only after you click OK
 Assignments - Continued

Entering Assignment for “Task 10”:

Result:

If task is automatically scheduled, duration may change now

 Assignments

2. Another way to create assignments:

On the View Tab, in the Resource Views group,
click Team Planner

This shows two timeline views of the project
 Resources on top
 Tasks on bottom

Drag task onto a resource
 CAREFUL! You can change task’s duration on this screen
 Accidentally or intentionally ☺

Works well, unless you have to add multiple resources to task

 If so, double-click a task and follow previous method (boo)
Assignments - Continued
 Editing Existing Assignment

If you haven’t started a task yet:

Easiest way to go back to Task Information
 (double-click on task)

Change the resource

If you’ve started work on a task:

If resources need to pause to work on a different task:

 “Split Task”:

 Perform by Task -> Schedule -> Split Task icon:

 Editing Existing Assignment - Cont

If you’ve started work on a task:

If work assigned to one resource needs to pause then resume
 You can also use the Resource Usage view

If work needs to be reassigned to another resource

 You can also use the Task Usage view
 Calendars

A “Calendar” is primarily a set of rules defining working and non-

working time

Project will have a default calendar for all its tasks and resources

Adjusted in Project -> Properties -> Project Information -> Calendar

Separate calendars can be assigned to

Tasks: perhaps this task can or must be done on weekend, such as a
maintenance task

Resources: a worker may have vacation booked, or may work a
compressed four day week, etc
 Calendars

There are four types of calendars

In reality, mostly a matter of definition or usage

They are largely created, changed, and assigned similarly

Base Calendars

Starting point for other types of calendars.

Use to enter standard and organization-wide holidays, work hours…

Project Calendars

Default calendar for all tasks in project

Task Calendars

Calendars assigned to individual tasks

Resource Calendars

Calendars assigned to individual resources
 Calendars

Project supplies default base calendars:

Standard
 08:00 – 17:00 weekdays, with one hour lunch 12:00 – 13:00

24 hours
 Full working day with three shifts
 08:00 – 16:00 | 16:00 – 00:00 | 00:00 – 08:00

Night Shift
 23:00 – 08:00 weekdays, with one hour break 03:00 – 04:00
Calendars
 Calendars – creating & modifying

Calendars are created, copied and modified under

Project -> Properties -> Change Working Time

Can create a calendar from scratch, start with another calendar as
template, or edit an existing calendar

To create or edit a calendar:

1. Set up general work weeks and hours under “Work Weeks” tab,
under the “Default” item

2. Set up special work weeks (such as vacations or different shifts)
under “Work Weeks” tab by creating additional items

3. Set up special events or occurrences under “Exceptions” tab
 Setting Calendars

For tasks – Double-click task to see Task Information

Under Advanced Tab, click Calendar Drop Down

For resources – Double-click resource to see Resource Information

Click Change Working Time, select calendar
 Cost

MS Project can track costs and budgets for you

There are several different types of costs:

Work Resources can have “Rate-based costs”
 For example, daily or hourly rate
 Standard and overtime

Work and Material Resources can also have “Per-use costs”
 For example, delivery fee, security deposit
 Single fee each time resource

Tasks can have “Fixed costs”
 Bulk overhead or task-related one-time costs

Cost resources
 Essentially a more detailed way to add one-time costs to task
 Costs - example

Most costs can be easily added in Resource Sheet.

In this example, people have a standard rate-based cost – hourly wage

Backhoe, as a machine, has a $300/day cost, but also a $200 delivery
charge, which is applied once in pro-rated fashion

Several Cost-resources are added:
 Cost - example

Task Usage view shows costs applied to the tasks and timeline:
 Capturing & Tracking Progress

Everything is set in MS Project now (well, almost everything;)…

… but it’s pretty static.

We have a plan and a schedule we would like to follow.

We must also track the actual progress and see how it compares

It may, however, be useful to capture a baseline before we start
 Capturing a Baseline

Baseline is a snapshot of data – dates, durations, estimates.

You can take a snapshot of the entire project, or selected tasks.

Project -> Schedule -> Set Baseline

Select “Entire Project” or “Selected Tasks”

You can view your progress using the “Tracking Gantt”
 Capturing Progress

Unless using Project Server integrated in the organization, this is a

fairly manual task for the project manager.

Gather reports / timesheets from employees, and enter into MS
Project in one of several formats

Several ways to input data, some more accurate than others (e.g.
hours left vs. percentage left vs. estimated finish date)

Main “packages” of input data:

Actual Start Date, Percent Complete, Remaining Work

Actual Start Date, Actual Work, Remaining Work, Expected Finish

Timesheet (actual work per day), Remaining Work, Expected Finish

 Capturing Progress - Continued

Can be done on Resource Usage or Task Usage view

Add appropriate new columns:

Actual Start

% Work Complete

Remaining Work

Actual Work

Finish

Right-Click and select “Actual Work” (in addition to work)

Enter data☺
 Capturing Progress - Continued

For Example – entering Actual Start, and % Work Complete

For Example - entering

 Budgeting

MS Project provides basic budgeting tools.

It enables user to provide high-level budget figures / targets, and
compare the actual costs incurred by tasks with budgeted costs.

More advanced or field-specific tools exist and your company may not
use MS Project’s budgeting capabilities extensively.

Creating budget is a three-step process… and a bit of a kludge 
 Creating a Budget

1. Budgets, or budgets categories, are actually created as special types

of “resources”, for entry and tracking purposes.

They’re entered the same way as resources – on the Resource Sheet or
similar views – but with special “Budget” type checkbox selected
 Creating a Budget

2. “Show project summary task” option needs to be enabled:

File -> Options -> Advanced -> Show Project Summary Task
 Creating a Budget

3. Add the created budgets to project’s summary task

Easiest accomplished through Gantt Chart view, by double-clicking the
summary task.
 Now What?

We’ve created the budget and assigned it to the project

But we still need to put some actual values ☺

On the Resource Usage view

(View -> Resource Views -> Resource Usage)

Add “Budget Cost” and “Budget Work” columns

Click the arrow on the right side of “Add New Column” header

Might need to scroll right to see it

Use “Budget Cost” if your budget is in monetary terms

Use “Budget Work” if you have a budgeted amount of hours

 Ok, but now what?

We’ve created some budgets, we’ve given them some values.

We need to match up resources with budgets!

Go to Resource Sheet view [View -> Resource Views -> Resource Sheet]

Go to Format -> Columns -> Custom Fields

Click “Resource”, and select “Text1”

Rename the field to something like “Budget Assignment”

Select “Roll down unless manually entered”

This will allow budget to be distributed amongst assignments

Click OK

Add this column to the view
Assigning Resources to Budget
 Assigning resources to budget

Fill this column with appropriate budget tags

 Compare Budgeted & Actual Values

View -> Resource Views -> Resource Usage

View -> Data -> Group By -> New Group By

Create a new grouping by Budget Assignment

Create additional column “Actual Cost” or “Actual Work”

 Leveling Resources

“Overallocation” occurs when a resource in project is assigned to

perform more work than available

Recall that resources have “Max Units” value

If a resource with “100% Max Units” is assigned to 50% on one task

and 75% on another task – whopsie! ☺

MS Project provides a visual red warning icon
 Leveling

“Resource Leveling” is a process of moving assignments to

accommodate constraints, including the resource availability.

Resource -> Level -> Level All / Level Resource
 Exporting And Sharing

Timeline can be easily copied to other documents

Format -> Copy -> Copy Timeline

Visual Reports enable creation of presentations in Excel or Visio

Project -> Reports -> Visual Reports

Copy Gantt Chart as picture in various resolutions

Task -> Clipboard -> Copy -> Copy Picture