Microsoft Project 2003

Level 1
Deanna Reynolds
Instructor

Class Outline
Creating a Project Plan File
Creating a Work Breakdown Structure
Creating and Assigning Resources
Finalizing the Project Plan

Lesson One:
Creating a Project Plan File
Create a project plan file
Create and assign a project calendar
Add tasks to the project plan file
Display a project summary task
Add a recurring task
Enter duration estimates for tasks

Create a Project Plan File

The true challenge of managing projects involves making decisions on

how and whether to make trade-offs between Time, Cost, and Quality.

These three components are the keys to successful project

management.

Microsoft Project can help you to monitor these components to ensure

your projects come in on time, within budget and at an agreed upon

level of quality.

However, Microsoft Project is simply a tool not the actual project

manager.

Create a Project Plan File

As a new user, you want to make sure you

can clearly identify which project

management activities can and cannot be
performed using Microsoft Project before you
actually create your project plan file.
After reading the following statements,

determine whether or not they can be

performed using Microsoft Project software.

True or False?
Microsoft Project can:
Identify the project stakeholders.

False

True or False?
Microsoft Project can:
Create a detailed list of project tasks.

True

True or False?
Microsoft Project can:
Get the project team to sign off on the final budget for
the project.

False

True or False?
Microsoft Project can:
Generate project summary report information.

True

The Microsoft Project Environment

Standard Toolbar

Field Heading

Formatting Toolbar

Project
Guide
Toolbar
Entry Bar

Timescale

Task
Pane

Active Pane Indicator

Divide Bar

Table

Gantt Chart

View Area

The Microsoft Project Environment

By default, the Gantt Chart is displayed when you launch Project.

You can completely customize your Project views. Within each view, you
can choose to display various tables.

Tables control what task or resource information is presented in a sheet

view.

With tables, you can control the columns, or fields, that appear in the table.

The Task Entry table is the default display. Here you can see:

Task Name
Duration
Start
Finish
Predecessors
Resource Names

The Microsoft Project Environment

To apply a different table within a view, simply choose

View: Table: Entry, then, select the desired table from

the list.

You can also change the timescale displayed on the

Gantt Chart by choose Format: Timescale.

For a quick timescale adjustment, just click the Zoom

In and Zoom Out buttons on the Standard toolbar.

Contains timescale legends for

graphically presented tasks or resources.

Timescale

Provides common functions and is

displayed on the left side of the screen.

Task Pane

Used to enter and edit information in

columns.

Entry Bar

Where project data is displayed.

View Area

A vertical bar that separates the table and

chart portions of a view.

Divide Bar

What is the default view in Project?

Gantt Chart

What table is applied to the default view?

Entry Table

Using the Project Guide

The Project Guide is a toolbar that provides a quick

way of accomplishing common Project tasks.

In the File Properties dialog box (File: Properties),

you can store general, summary, statistical, contents

and custom information about a project.

Most projects schedule from the start date.

Occasionally, you may have a need to schedule from

the project end date. If this is the case, choose
Project: Project Information. Choose Schedule from
Project Finish Date and enter your finish date.

Create & Assign a Project Calendar

A project calendar is necessary to ensure tasks dont get scheduled to be

worked at midnight or on company holidays.

Project will automatically schedule tasks to begin on the next available day in the
project plan unless you determine otherwise.

By setting a project calendar, you can have more control over the flow of task
completion in your project.

There are three base calendars in Project:

Standard (M-F, 8a -5p)

24-Hours (No Non-Working Time)
Night Shift (M-Sat, 11p 8a)

Using these base calendars, you can define working times for:

Project Calendar (Default working and non-working times for a project)

Resource Calendar (Default working and non-working times for an individual resource)
Task Calendar (Applied to an individual task when the project calendar wont suffice)

Create & Assign a Project Calendar

Optional Settings
The Options Dialog Box allows you to enter, review, or
change preferences that control Projects general operation
and appearance. To open this box, choose Tools: Options.
Project Information Dialog Box
The Project Information Dialog Box contains the projects
start & finish dates, what date the project is going to be
scheduled from, the current date, the status date, and what
type of calendaring system your project is based on.
You can access the Project Information Dialog Box by
choosing Project: Project Information.

Add Tasks

In order for Project to calculate a schedule, you must enter tasks.

Through a succession of tasks, Project in able to:

Calculate the Project Schedule

Assign Project Resources
Determine Project Costs

All tasks contain:

Task Name
Duration (the estimated time between the start of a task and its finish)

Project estimates each new task at one day indicated with 1 Day? The ? Indicates the
duration is only a estimate.

You could enter up to one million tasks in Project (but, I wouldnt recommend it).

Generally, youll enter tasks in Gantt Chart View. Then, simply click in the Task Name
field and type the task name. Press enter when finished.

Add a Project Summary Task

A project summary tasks can be used for quick project analysis, such as determining
the total duration of a project.

Schedule and cost information from subtasks are accumulated at the summary task
level.

The start date of a summary task is determined by the earliest start date of any of its
subtasks.

A project summary task is the highest level of work in a project that represents the
project goal or project objective.

All other project tasks are represented as subtasks beneath the project summary
task.

To display a project summary task:

Choose Tools: Options

Select the View tab
Check Show Project Summary Task

Add a Recurring Task

Some tasks, such as project status meetings, can occur

multiple times throughout a projects life cycle.

Project allows you to designate recurring events so that you

dont have to enter them as separate tasks multiple times.

Once entered, a recurring task appears as a summary task

with the multiple subtasks that represent each occurrence.

If a task does not occur at regular intervals, then you will

need to enter the task multiple times.

Duration, Work & Units

A tasks duration (as you know), is the amount of time between

the start of a task and the finish.

By default, Project enters a 1 day?

day? estimate in each tasks

Duration field.

Its best to avoid setting task durations by entering task start

and finish dates. Instead, enter duration estimates for tasks

which allows Project to schedule the task start and finish dates.

Task Duration Codes:

Minutes displays as m, min, minute

Hours displays as h, hr, hour
Days displays as d, dy, day
Weeks displays as w, wk, week

Duration, Work & Units

If you dont know the tasks duration, you can always

estimate it using the following formula.

The Most Pessimistic Time

Estimated Duration

E = [O + P + (4 * M)]/6
The Most Optimistic Time
The Most Probable Time

Duration, Work & Units

Work defines what will be accomplished once

resources are assigned to a task.

Assignment work is the amount of person-hours

needed to complete each resources assignments.

The total work for a task is the sum of the work for all

its assignments.

The formula for calculating work is:

Work = Duration * Units

Duration, Work & Units

Units represent the percentage of a resources time

assigned to a task.
The default percentage is 100%.
However, if a resource is going to work only half-time

on a task, you can set that resources assignment

units to 50%.
Project milestones are simply tasks with zero (0)
durations.

Duration, Work & Units

A milestone acts as a reference point marking a major project event.

Milestones can mark:

Beginning of your project

End of your project
End of a major phase

You can mark any task as a milestone by:

Double-click the task to open the Task Information dialog box
Select the Advanced tab
Check Mark Task as Milestone
Click OK

Lesson One Review:

Can You
Create a project plan file?
Create and assign a project calendar?
Add tasks to the project plan file?
Display a project summary task?
Add a recurring task?
Enter duration estimates for tasks?

Lesson Two:
Creating a Work Breakdown Structure
Promote and demote tasks
Link tasks
Identify deliverables within the project plan file by

using notes
Apply a constraint to a task
Set a task deadline

Outline Tasks

Because you may have several tasks related to one another, its a good
idea to organize them into manageable chunks.

The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is a hierarchy of tasks in a project

represented by alphanumeric codes that identify each tasks unique place
in the structure.

The WBS can be drawn as a graphic, like an organization chart or as a

simple outline as shown on page 39.

Project uses the Outline method to organize and group tasks.

Outlining allows you to organize the tasks in your plan into summary tasks
and subtasks.

You can use the Indent (Demote) and Outdent (Promote) buttons on the
Formatting toolbar to organize your tasks into an outline form.

Outline Tasks

Once your tasks have been promoted and demoted to your satisfaction,
you can choose how much or how little of your WBS that youd like to view
by collapsing or expanding the outline.

The duration and other details, such as costs, that are associated with
summary tasks still represent the sum of the subtasks when a group of
tasks has been collapsed.

You can include outline numbers to your task hierarchy by:

Choose Tools: Options

View tab
Check Show Outline Number

Link Dependent Tasks

The tasks that make up a project are all related.
A task relationship, or a dependency, occurs when the

starting time of one tasks is dependent on whether another

task is starting or is completed.

The terms predecessor and successor describe how tasks

relate to each other.

Predecessor the task that comes before the current task
Successor the task that comes after the current task

Project gives you four different ways in which tasks can be

related.

Task Relationships
Finish-to-Start (default)

Task B cannot start until Task A finishes

Start-to-Start

Task B cannot start until Task A starts

Finish-to-Finish

Task B cannot finish until Task A finishes

Start-to-Finish

Task B cannot finish until Task A starts

Lag & Lead Time

With these relationships, you can make tasks overlap or cause a delay
between tasks.

Lead time the overlap between dependent tasks. Lead time is entered as
a negative number.

Lag time the delay between any two dependent tasks that adds waiting
time after a task is completed. Lag time is entered as a positive number.

Identify Deliverables
You may want to add notes to record specifications,

customer requirement, quality measures, or any general

information related to a task.

Additionally, you can attach related documents, such as

Word or Excel files.

Notes

Notes can be helpful for remembering important task

information, such as deliverables.

Constrain Tasks

Constraints are conditions or limitations places on the start or finish date of

a task.

By default, all tasks are scheduled with a start As Soon As Possible

constraint.

Task constraints affect how the project schedule is calculated.

Constraints should be used only when absolutely necessary as they limit

Projects flexibility for scheduling your project.

To control the schedule and to minimize the number of constraints you set,
use task relationships as they allow for greater project flexibility.

Most constraints schedule tasks in related to fixed dates. However, two

constraints (As Soon As Possible and As Late As Possible) are more
flexible as they do not have dates associated with them.

Page 58

Constrain Tasks

If placing a constraint on a task causes a conflict with another task constraint or

relationship, Project can display a warning message.

If you want Project to note the conflict, without considering it when creating the
project schedule:

Tools: Options
Schedule tab
Uncheck Task Will Always Honor Their Constraint Dates

Setting Task Deadlines

Task Deadlines are a good alternative to setting constraints.

A deadline is a target date indicating when you want a task to be completed
Unlike a constraint, a deadline usually does not affect scheduling.

Lesson Two Review:

Can You
Promote and demote tasks?
Link tasks?
Identify deliverables within the project plan file by

using notes?
Apply a constraint to a task?
Set a task deadline?

Lesson Three:
Creating and Assigning Resources
Enter resources and associated costs into the project

plan file
Create a resource calendar
Assign resources to tasks
Add additional resources to a task
Resolve resource conflicts

Resources

Resources are the people, equipment and material used to complete tasks.

Resources can be one of two types:

Work Resource people or equipment

Material Resource supplies or other consumable items

Once your tasks are entered, youll need to determine who will perform the work to
accomplish those tasks.

Before you can assign resources to your tasks, youll need to enter the resource
information into the Resource sheet.

Choose View: Resource Sheet

Once your resources have been entered, you can change their order by sorting by
Cost, Name, ID or custom criteria you set.

Resource Calendar
Occasionally, youll have resources that dont work the hours

specified on the project calendar.

If you neglect to create a different calendar for this resource,

your schedule will be incorrect.

Resource Information Dialog Box

The enter, review or change detailed information about a selected
resource double-click the resource name

Assign Resources

To identify who is responsible fro completing the tasks in your project plan,
you need to assign resources to those tasks.

By assigning resources, you allow Project to accurately schedule tasks

using the resource calendars and assignment units information.

Additionally, Project can help in accounting for resource time and costs if
you assign resources to your tasks and the appropriate cost information is
included in the Resource Sheet.

You can assign resources whether by using the Assign Resources Dialog
Box (Assign Resources button on the Standard toolbar) or by entering the
resource information directly in the Entry table.

Assign Additional Resources

Using task types enables you to make one of the following three variables unchangeable in
scheduling calculations.

Duration
Work
Units

Since the duration of each task is determined by the formula Duration = Work/Assignment
Units, you can choose which piece of the equation Project calculates by setting the task
type.

Three task types

Fixed Unit Default Task Type. By assigning additional resources, the tasks duration is
reduced.
Fixed Duration Changes to work or resources does not impact the tasks duration.
Fixed Work Changes to tasks duration or assigned resources does not impact the work.

By default, all tasks are marked effort-driven which means that when you assign or
remove resources, Project lengthens or shortens the duration for task based on the number
of resources assigned to it. This setting can be changed in the Task Information dialog box.

Resolve Resource Conflicts

Overallocation can occur when resources are scheduled to work more

hours then they are available.

This occurs because they are either assigned to too many tasks or

because more resource units are assigned to a single task than exists
in the resource list.

You can view resource overallocation in the following views:

Resource Sheet
Resource Graph
Resource Usage
Resource Allocation
You can use the Resource Management toolbar to help manage

resource allocation.

Leveling

Once you have identified any overallocated resources in a project plan, you will
need to determine how you want to resolve them.

Leveling is the process of delaying or splitting tasks to resolve conflicts.

Tasks are either split or delayed until the resources assigned are no longer
overloaded.

As a result, leveling can extend the projects finish date.

Leveling does not change resource assignments nor does it add any additional
resources.

By reviewing the slack (amount of time a task can slip before it affects another
tasks dates or the project finish date), task priority, task dependencies, task
constraints and scheduling dates, Project levels overallocated resources.

Lesson Three Review:

Can You
Enter resources and associated costs into the project

plan file?
Create a resource calendar?
Assign resources to tasks?
Add additional resources to a task?
Resolve resource conflicts?

Lesson Four:
Finalizing the Project Plan
Display the project plans critical path
Shorten the project duration
Save the project baseline
View project summary information

View the Critical Path

The critical path is a series of tasks that must finish on schedule

if the project is to finish on time.

Tasks on the critical path are called critical tasks and they do not

have slack time.

To avoid delaying the project, it is important to pay attention to

and manage the critical path.

By default, the critical path is not displayed. If you want to see

the critical path, youll need to use the Gantt Chart Wizard.

Shorten the Project Duration

As project manager, you will have to make decisions that may include:
assigning additional resources to tasks on the critical path
Dividing tasks
Removing Project Requirements to shorten the total project duration
Slack
Free slack the amount of time a task can slip before it delays another
task
Total slack the amount of time a task can slip before is delays the
project finish date
On the Detail Gantt view, slack is represented by a thin green bar.

Set a Baseline
The purpose of a baseline is to give you a point of comparison

between the original project file and the current schedule to

determine how closely the project is following the original plan.

A baseline essentially creates a benchmark for future reference.

A baseline helps you calculate variances between variables like

task duration, start and finish dates, or costs.

You can view the project statistics, after you set the baseline

plan, in the Project Information Dialog Box.

Display Project Summary Information

One way to print information in Project is to

use reports.

Lesson Four Review:

Can You
Display the project plans critical path?
Shorten the project duration?
Save the project baseline?
View project summary information?