Transcript Microsoft Project 2003

New Perspectives on Microsoft Project 2007:
Creating a Project Schedule
In this tutorial you will:
Start a new project
 Examine scheduling defaults
 Change a project and task calendar
 Enter and edit tasks, durations, and
task dependencies
 Enter and edit recurring tasks and
milestones
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In this tutorial you will:
Enter lag and lead times
 View project statistics
 Create and manipulate summary tasks
 Develop a work breakdown structure
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JLB Partners
Project Goal: Network company
computers to easily share resources
within a time frame of three months
and within a budget of $50,000.
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New Project & Examining
Scheduling Defaults
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By default, the new project file is scheduled
from a project Start date
All tasks are scheduled to begin as soon as
possible
Project 2007 calculates the project’s Finish
date based on the
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Tasks
Durations
Dependencies
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Project Information Dialog Box
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New Project & Examining
Scheduling Defaults
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When a project is scheduled from a Finish date,
such as conference, all tasks are scheduled to
begin as late as possible.
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In order for the overall project to be started as late as
possible and yet still meet the required Finish date.
It is often more efficient to wait to start a
project until you really need to do work on the
project instead of starting too early and wasting
resources.
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Project Scheduled from Finish Date
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The Task Information Dialog Box
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The Task Information dialog box is a comprehensive
collection of all of the information about each task
organized into five categories represented by these
tabs:
 General
 Predecessors
 Resources
 Advanced
 Notes
The Task Information dialog box is another view by
which you can examine and enter data about a task.
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Task Information Dialog Box
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Constraints using Task Information
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Constraint types “as soon as possible or as
late as possible” determine the initial
Constraint type for each task.
The initial Constraint type has a
tremendous impact on the calculated start
and finish dates for each task entered into
the project.
Always take the time to examine the Project
Information dialog box before starting a
new project.
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Examining Project Calendars
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By default, the entire project, each task, and each
resource is scheduled according to the Standard
calendar.
The Standard calendar specifies that Monday through
Friday are working days with 8 hours of work completed
each day.
Saturday and Sunday are designated as nonworking days.
Calendar can be modified to identify holidays or other
nonworking days or times in which work should not be
scheduled.
You can also create unique calendars for tasks and
resources that do not follow the working and nonworking
times specified by the Standard calendar.
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Creating a New Calendar
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Changing the Project Calendar
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The project calendar (also called the Standard
calendar) is the base calendar used by Project 2007
to schedule new tasks within the project.
It specifies working time, the hours during which
work can occur, by default 8am-12pm and 1pm-5pm
Monday through Friday.
It also specifies nonworking time, the hours of a
24-hour day that are not specified as working time,
and other global working time issues (such as a
scheduled holiday).
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Change Time for a Work Week
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Change Working Time Dialog Box
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The Legend provides the key to the shading on the calendar.
 Working days appear as white
 Nonworking days as light gray
 Edited working hours with gray diagonal lines
If a day of the week such as Monday or Tuesday is edited,
the day’s abbreviation is underlined.
If an individual day is edited, the day’s number is underlined.
Changes to the project calendar can be made at any time
during the development of the project.
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Change Working Time Dialog Box
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Creating a Task Calendar
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An individual task calendar can be created for any
task that does not follow the working and nonworking
times specified by the project calendar.
An individual resource calendar can be created for a
resource that does not follow the working and
nonworking times specified by the project calendar.
 By assigning a resource to a resource calendar, you
allow the resource to be worked on the days and
times specified by the resource calendar rather then
the project calendar.
By default, all tasks and resource assignments inherit
the project calendar unless you specify something else.
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Creating a Task Calendar Cont’d
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Emily King has requested that the installation and
training not disrupt the daily activities of JLB
Partners. To meet this need,
 You met with the staff and determined that
mornings are generally used for meetings and
training could also be scheduled during that
time.
 You create a calendar for the training tasks
called Training that allows training tasks to be
scheduled only between the hours of 8am12pm.
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Creating a Task Calendar Cont’d
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By default, all new tasks follow the
Standard (Project Calendar), but you can
easily apply a different calendar by using
the Task Information dialog box.
It is important that you test the new
calendar with a sample task to see the
effects of your changes.
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Changing the Calendar for a Task
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Entering Tasks and Durations
in the Entry Table
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Entering tasks and durations is probably the
single most important effort in developing a
useful project file.
If tasks are omitted or durations underestimated,
the value of the project’s scheduling and cost
information is compromised and the success of
the project might be jeopardized.
The active cell is the cell that you are editing; a
dark border surrounds it.
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Entering Tasks and Durations
in the Entry Table Cont’d
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When you are building a new project, your goal is
to enter all of the task names and durations
correctly.
If you are creating a file based on chronological
tasks, you also want to enter tasks in the order in
which they are to be completed.
Often you will need to change an existing task or
insert, delete, or move a task.
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Editing Tasks and Durations
in the Entry Table
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Project 2007 makes it very easy to edit an existing
project.
Many of the editing skills that you gained when
editing a spreadsheet will apply to a project table.
To change an existing entry, you first navigate to
the cell. Once there, you have several options:
 Retype the entry
 Edit the entry directly in the cell
 Edit an entry in the Entry bar
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Editing Tasks and Durations
in the Entry Table Cont’d
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Inserting and deleting tasks are common editing
activities.
As you continue to plan the project by conducting
research and meeting with management, you
might find that new tasks are required.
Sometimes during project planning, you will
determine that all or part of a task is no longer
required and want to delete it.
Project 2007 makes deleting and editing task cells
similar to performing those operations in
spreadsheet software.
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Entering and Editing Tasks
in the Entry Table
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Smart Tag
If you want to delete an entire task row
in Project 2007, you must select the
entire row, then press the Delete key.
 Project 2007 includes a Smart Tag to
allow you to specify what you want to
delete.
 A list arrow appears when you place
the pointer over the Smart Tag.
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Smart Tag Selection
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Undo and Redo
In Project 2007, you can undo only
your last action.
 When you click the Undo button, it
changes into a Redo button so that
you can redo the action that was
previously done.
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Copy, Paste and Move
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Copying, pasting, and moving tasks are
important task editing skills.
Project 2007 offers a variety of tools that you
can use to accomplish these common tasks,
including:
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Menu bar options
Toolbar buttons
Quick keystrokes
Right-click shortcut menus
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Fill Handle
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If several task durations are the same, you can
use either the copy and paste features to quickly
enter the durations or the fill handle to populate
cells.
If you have used the fill handle in Excel or
another spreadsheet program, you will find it a
very similar process in Project 2007.
The fill handle is a small square that appears in
the lower corner of the selected cell.
When you drag a fill handle, the contents of the
active cell are copied.
You can also use the fill handle to fill task names.
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Fill Handle
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Working with Duration Units of
Measure
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Entering and editing durations involves
understanding the units of measure available
for them.
The default unit of measure is day, and
therefore “day” does not need to be entered.
To use any other unit, you must type the
abbreviation.
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Units of Measure
Abbreviations
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Elapsed
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Elapsed refers to clock time rather than working
time.
Some tasks are completed over an elapsed period
of time regardless of whether the time is working
or nonworking.
An example is the task “Allow paint to dry.” The
paint will dry in exactly the same amount of time
regardless of whether it dries on a workday, a
weekend or holiday. If it takes one day to dry, the
duration should be entered a 1 ed (for 1 elapsed
day).
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Editing Tasks and Durations
in Other Views
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Anything changed in one view is
automatically changed in all the other
views.
You can use the View Bar to quickly switch
between views.
The way data is displayed differs by view
and often satisfies different communication
and reporting needs as the project
develops.
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Editing Tasks and Durations
in Other Views Cont’d
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Regardless of the view used, you can edit
any task by double-clicking it to open its
Task Information dialog box.
As you work with Project 2007, you will
become more familiar with each view and
learn which is the best representation of
the data for different purposes.
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Entering Recurring Tasks
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A recurring task is a task that repeats at a regular
interval.
A Monday morning status meeting is a good example of
a recurring task that needs to be scheduled for each
week of the project.
In Project 2007, you can define a recurring task one
time using the Recurring Task Information dialog box.
Project 2007 then handles the details of scheduling the
task on each Monday for the entire project or for the
time period you specify.
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Entering Recurring Tasks Cont’d
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By default, Project 2007 schedules the recurring task
based on the duration of the entire project.
If you want a recurring task to occur only a certain
number of times or end before the project ends, you can
enter that information in the Range of occurrence section.
You can also change the calendar used or the recurring
task in the Calendar section.
Recurring tasks can be expanded to show all of the
individual tasks within them or collapsed to one line,
depending on how the user wants to view the Task Entry
table and Gantt Chart.
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Recurring Task Information
Dialog Box
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Entering Milestones
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A milestone is a task that marks a significant point in
time or a progress checkpoint.
It has a zero duration and is therefore a symbolic task
that is used mainly to communicate progress or to mark
the end of a significant phase of the project.
Examples include the signing of a contract or the
announcement of a new product.
Milestones can also be used to motivate project
participants by recognizing accomplishments.
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Entering Milestones Cont’d
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Completing an important deliverable, such as
completing an office installation, completing
training, and so on can be entered as milestones.
Many project managers identify milestones early
in a project to help build momentum toward the
project’s completion.
Since milestones have no duration, they are
scheduled without regard to working and
nonworking time.
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Milestones
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Understanding Task Dependencies
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Four task dependencies define the
relationships between tasks in a
project.
Finish-to-Start (FS)
 Start-to-Start (SS)
 Finish-to-Finish (FF)
 Start-to-Finish (SF)
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Task Dependencies
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Understanding Task
Dependencies Cont’d
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By linking tasks in finish-to-start relationships,
you establish the required sequence of tasks.
Project 2007 uses these relationships to set
start and finish dates for each task.
The first task described in the dependency is
called the predecessor task.
The second task described in the dependency
type is called the successor task.
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Understanding Task
Dependencies Cont’d
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Most dependencies are Finish-to-Start (FS),
meaning a certain task (the predecessor)
must finish before another task (the
successor) can start.
In order to use important project management
techniques such as critical path analysis, you
must determine task dependencies.
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Creating Task Dependencies
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Project 2007 makes it easy to create, and
remove, FS relationships between tasks by
providing the Link Tasks and Unlink
Tasks buttons on the Standard toolbar.
Task dependencies also can be
established in the graphical views.
As you would expect, creating task
dependencies affects the start and finish
dates of the linked tasks.
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Critical Path
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Changing and linking tasks also affects the
critical path.
The critical path consists of the tasks that
must be completed with the given schedule
dates in order for the overall project to be
completed in the shortest amount of time.
Project 2007 defines the critical path as
consisting of those tasks that have zero
slack.
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Critical Path
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Slack Times
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Total slack is the amount of time by
which an activity may be delayed from
its scheduled Start date without the
delay setting back the entire project.
 Free slack is the amount of time by
which an activity may be delayed
without delaying the early start of any
immediately following tasks.
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Critical and Non-Critical Tasks
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In the Network Diagram view, the critical
tasks—tasks that are on the critical path—
are displayed within a red border.
A task that is not on the critical path is a
non-critical task, that is, it doesn’t
necessarily have to start on its currently
scheduled Start date in order for the overall
project to be completed on time.
The Network Diagram is used mainly to view
and analyze the critical path.
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Using Form View to
Create Task Dependencies
Sometimes a task is a predecessor to
more than one other task, and
therefore the process of dragging link
lines in a graphical view becomes
confusing and difficult.
 Using a Form view of the project can
make entering many details for a single
task easier.
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Editing Task Dependencies
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Task dependencies start as FS
dependencies because that type of
dependency is by far the most common
relationship between tasks.
To change the dependency type, you must
open the Task Dependency dialog box.
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There, you can change the relationship type from
FS (finish-to-start) to SS (start-to-start), FF
(finish-to-finish), or SF (start-to-finish).
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Entering Lag and Lead Times
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When a project is scheduled from a Start date,
lag and lead times refer to an amount of
time that the second task of a relationship is
moved backward (lead) or forward (lag) in
time.
Lead time moves the second task backward
in time so that the two tasks overlap.
Lag time is the opposite of lead time. It
moves the second task forward in time so
that the tasks are further separated.
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Lag and Lead Time from Start
Date
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Lag Time from a Finish Date
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Entering Lag and
Lead Times Cont’d
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Project 2007 combines the concepts of lag and
lead times into one term, lag time.
When a project is scheduled from a Start date,
positive lag time moves the second task
forward in time.
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Positive lag time is the traditional definition of lag
time in general project management discussions.
Negative lag time moves the second task
backward in time so that the tasks overlap.
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Negative lag time is called lead time in general
project management discussions.
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Negative and Positive Lag
Time
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Entering Lag and
Lead Times Cont’d
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Lag durations use the same duration units (d
for days, h for hours, and so forth) used for
task durations.
You also can enter a positive or negative
percentage that will calculate the lag as a
percentage of the duration of the first task.
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In a finish-to-start relationship, +25% lag time
pushes the second task forward in time.
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Entering Lag and
Lead Times Cont’d
The second task will not start until after the first
task is completed plus an additional 25% of the
duration of the first task.
 A -25% lag time pulls the second task backward
in time. In this case, the second task will start
when the first task is 75% completed.
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Check for Lag Time Effects
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Once the tasks, durations, and relationships
are entered, you should check the Project
Information dialog box to verify the
project’s calculated Finish date if the
project is scheduled from a Start date, or
calculated Start date if the project is
scheduled from a Finish date.
When a project is scheduled from a Start
date, applying negative lag time to task
dependencies that are on the critical path is
a common way to shorten the critical path
because it allows tasks to overlap.
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Check for Lag Time Effects Cont’d
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When you apply negative lag time, the
second task is allowed to start before the
first task is completely finished.
When a project is scheduled from a Finish
date, all tasks have as late as possible
schedules and lag time affects the first task
rather than the second.
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Check for Lag Time Effects Cont’d
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Confusing negative and positive lag times is easy,
especially when examining them for both a project
that is scheduled from a Start date and one
scheduled from a Finish date.
Remember:
 Positive lag time always increases the amount
of time between tasks.
 Negative lag time always causes the tasks to
overlap.
 This rule holds true regardless of whether the
project is scheduled from the Start date or the
Finish date.
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Creating a Work Breakdown
Structure with Summary Tasks
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A very important strategy for managing projects well is to
organize the work that needs to be done in a logical
manner.
A work breakdown structure (WBS) is an outcomeoriented analysis of the work involved in a project that
defines the total scope of the project.
 A WBS is a foundation document in project
management because it provides the basis for
planning and managing project schedules, costs, and
changes.
 The WBS provides a hierarchy, similar to an
organizational chart, to group project work logically.
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Work Breakdown Structure
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Creating a Work Breakdown Structure
with Summary Tasks Cont’d
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In order to use a WBS in Project 2007, you must
organize tasks into summary tasks: groups of tasks that
logically belong together.
When developing a new, large project, some project
managers prefer to start with broad groupings of
summary tasks and then break them down into smaller
tasks.
Planning a project by starting with broad categories of
tasks is called the top-down method of creating a
WBS.
Other project managers prefer to list all of the individual
tasks, and then collect them into logical groupings using
the bottom-up method.
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Work Breakdown Structure
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Outdenting and Indenting Tasks
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Use the Outdent button and the Indent
button on the Formatting toolbar to create
your WBS.
Outdenting moves a task to the left (a higher
level in the WBS), and indenting moves a
task to the right (a lower level in the WBS).
Projects can have several levels in the WBS.
Many projects have at least three levels, and
some large projects have more.
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Summary Task
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You do not specify a duration for a summary
task because it is calculated based on the
durations and relationships of the individual tasks
within that summary task.
Summary tasks are listed in bold text in the Task
Entry table and display a Collapse/Expand button
to the left of the task so that you can easily show
or hide the individual tasks within that summary
task.
In the Gantt Chart, a summary task bar displays
as a solid black line with arrow-like markers that
indicate where the summary task starts and
stops.
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Summary Task Cont’d
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The duration cell of a summary task cannot be
directly edited; it is calculated from the durations
and relationships of the individual summary
tasks it contains.
Summary tasks not only improve the clarity of
the project and calculate the total duration for
that phase or major grouping of tasks, but they
also help identify areas that are not yet fully
developed.
For larger projects, summary tasks can be
nested to create more levels in the WBS to help
define and manage all the work required to
successfully complete your project.
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Creating a Project Summary
Task Bar
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Many project managers like to clearly see the
start and finish dates for their projects on the
Gantt Chart and how those dates change as
they enter and edit tasks, durations, and
dependencies.
 You can create a summary task bar for
the entire project (it appears at the top of
the Gantt Chart) by clicking Tools on the
menu bar and using the Options dialog box.
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Expanding and Collapsing
Tasks
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Once your project has been organized
into summary tasks, you can easily
expand (show) and collapse (hide)
the individual tasks within each phase.
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Using Outline Numbers or Work
Breakdown Structure Codes
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Many people like to number tasks in their WBS
to show the logical groupings of work.
Using outline numbers or special work
breakdown structure (WBS) code is a way
to use an alphanumeric code to represent each
task’s position within the hierarchical structure of
the project.
A WBS code helps identify and group project
tasks for project communication, documentation,
or accounting purposes.
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Presentations Created by C. Hester Microsoft Project 2007 by Bunin
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Using Outline Numbers or Work
Breakdown Structure Codes Cont’d
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Project 2007 lets you create and modify a WBS
code with outline numbers.
The default WBS code is the task’s outline
number, but you can create your own custom
WBS code.
This numbering system works well when you
want to numerically code each task and do not
need a different coding scheme for
representing the WBS.
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Summary
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A project does not need to be outlined in order
to use the WBS column.
The outline helps visually clarify the organization
of the project.
The ability to expand and collapse different WBS
levels enables you to quickly display or print only
the information needed.
Creating summary tasks, displaying different
levels of detail, and adding a column with WBS
codes helps you to clarify and enhance the
project.
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