A tutorial on MS Project

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A tutorial on MS Project

• James Burns

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Learning Objectives

• Entering Tasks in the Gantt View
• Task subordination
• Linking of Tasks
• Setting start stop dates
• Assigning resources
• Calculating costs

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More Learning Objectives

• Recurring tasks
• STATISTICS
• Zoom out/zoom in
• Precedence relationships
• Lags between links

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PM Software in general
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Popular Project Management Software Packages

• CA-SuperProject
• Microsoft Project
• Project Scheduler
• SureTrak Project Manager
• Time Line
• High-End Project Management Software

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Criteria for Selecting Project Management Software

• Capacity
• Documentation and on-line help facilities
• Ease of use
• Features available
• Integration with other systems

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Additional Criteria

• Installation requirements
• Reporting capabilities
• Security
• Vendor Support

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Advantages of Using Project Management Software

• Accuracy
• Affordability
• Ease of use
• Ability to handle complexity
• Maintainability and modifiability
• Record keeping
• Speed
• What-if analysis

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Concerns about Using Project Management Software

• Becoming distracted by the software
• A false sense of security
• Information overload
• The learning curve
• Over-reliance on software

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Must start with

• A list of tasks
• Or
• A Work Breakdown Structure
• Always make your first task a PROJECT summary
  task to which all other tasks are subordinate

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Bring up MS Project

• Start in the Gantt View
• Enter task detail in the entry table to the left
• Subordinate tasks appropriately
• Link Tasks as appropriate

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Project Information Box
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Project Information Box

• Can schedule from a start date or backward from a
  stop date
• Can choose a particular calendar typethat makes
  assumptions about when people will be working

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The Main Window of MS Project
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Entering Tasks in the Gantt View

• Enter Tasks into the entry table on the GANTT
  view
• Entry table is behind the GANTT chart and works
  just like a spreadsheet
• Can also enter tasks in the network diagram or
  the task usage views

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Tables

• You can choose a variety of tables to view in
  conjunction with the Gantt view
• Entry, Cost, Schedule, Tracking, Earned value,
  Usage, Variance, Work, Hyperlink are just some
  of the tables you can choose from
• Click on View on the Menu bar and then click on
  Table
• To view all the tables, click on More Tables

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Columns

• You can add columns to any table in the Gantt
  view
• Click on Insert and then Columns
• Select the column you want included in the table
  by clicking on the dropdown arrow associated with
  the first box and selecting the desired column
  name
• Click on OK
• That column will be included in the table to the
  left of the point where the selected cell
  appears

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Predefined Reports

• MS Project provides a number of predefined,
  static reports that can be displayed and printed
• Click on View and the Reports
• The categories are Overview, Current Activities,
  Costs, Assignments, Workload and Custom

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Task subordination

• Use indent arrow
• MS Proj has a WBS understanding and assigns a WBS
  code even though it does not explicitly exhibit a
  WBS chart

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Linking of Tasks

• Select tasks to be linked
• Click on the chain-link icon
• Decide on precedence relationship FS, SS, FF,
  SF

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Setting start stop dates

• When you set a date in the entry table of the
  Gantt view, MS Project treats it as if it were a
  hard constraint
• It schedules everything around such hard dates

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Assigning resources

• Resources have to be created before they can be
  assigned
• You can use the faces icon in the Gantt view to
  both create and assign resources
• Resources are created once they are named
• Alternatively, you can create resources in the
  Resources Sheet view
• Simply click on this view in the column on the
  left.

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Calculating costs

• Fixed costs
• Enter these in the cost table
• From the VIEW menu item change to the cost table
• Enter fixed costs
• Variable costs
• Enter resource hourly rates
• MS Project will calculate

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Project Management Software Features

• Budgeting and cost control
• Calendars
• Email
• Graphics
• Importing/exporting data
• Handling multiple projects and subprojects
• Report generation

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Project Management Software Additional Features

• Resource management
• Planning
• Project monitoring and tracking
• Scheduling
• Security
• Sorting and filtering
• What-if analysis

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