Learning Objectives In our previous lesson, we went through a step by step tutorial on how to get started on a project using Microsoft Project. In this lesson we will learn more about tasks. On completion of thus tutorial, you will be able to:.
Insert new tasks in an existing project, and assess their impact on overall schedules. Make changes to tasks. Understand and define milestones in Microsoft Project. Group tasks in some logical fashion.
Add notes to tasks to provide additional information about specific tasks Thus, with this tutorial, you will have covered all aspects with respect to definition of tasks as the building entities in project management. Note: Also be sure to check out the in this Bright Hub PM series. Back to Concert 1 and the Changes We Want to Make Let's get back to where we left our first sample project in the. We had saved our project as concert 1.mpp with the tasks as shown in the diagram here. ( Note: Please click on any diagram in this article to view a larger picture.) We would now like to carry out the following enhancements to this project to make this appear more realistic, assuming that there are other staff members available to carry out certain activities, and the handles only certain key activities. 1) After asking your assistant to call the auditoriums to check on availabilities and other details, let us say, you would like your assistant to prepare a short list based on some criteria you have specified.
You would then like to look at this list and take up negotiations with specific auditoriums. 2) Before the task 'Book advertisement slots.'
, we want to insert a task for getting rates from media agencies; and we also want to add a task for final confirmation of matter to the media, to take care of any last minute changes in the matter. 3) Make changes in the task dependencies based on points 1 and 2.
In particular, since we are adding a task for final confirmation of matter to the media, you will realize that the task 'Book advertisement slots.' Need not depend on the auditorium confirmation, but can be taken up parallel to the tasks related to auditoriums. This only needs to follow 'Get advertisement rates', and 'Finalize Artist and performance date.' Insert New Tasks Here are the steps for carrying out the above enhancements: 1) Load Microsoft Project application and Open the file you had saved as Concert 1 from the right folder (File-Open). 2) Position the mouse pointer on the task 'Negotiate with auditorium' and click to highlight this task. 3) To insert a new task above this task, click on 'Insert' in the Top menu bar and choose ' New Task' (alternatively, you can also press 'Insert' key). 4) For the new task, enter task name as 'Short list auditoriums' and enter duration as 1 day.
5) Similarly enter two more tasks as follows:. Before 'Book advertisement.' Add a task 'Get rates from media agencies' with a duration of 5 days. After 'Book advertisement.' Add a task 'Confirm Final matter to media' with a duration of 1 day. (Hint, for inserting a task after 'Book advertisement.'
, remember to click on the next task i.e., 'Print tickets' and then click on Insert-New Task.) You must have noticed that the tasks 'Short list auditoriums' and 'Get rates from media agencies' have their dependencies automatically inserted by the software. This happens by default when you insert a task between two tasks that prior to the insertion of the new task. However, for the task 'Confirm Final matter to media,' the software has no clear clue on where it should be placed, and therefore, as we had mentioned in the previous lesson, this task is assumed to start on the Project start date without any predecessor or successor dependencies. We will see how to modify these task dependencies in a while. Add Functional Groups Before we decide on how the dependencies need to be modified, let us think of grouping the tasks functionally. We know that the last two tasks, 'Organize accommodation' and 'Organize Travel' are both Admin tasks.
To group these two, follow these steps: 1) First insert a new task before Organize accommodation, and name this task as 'Admin' with a duration of 0 (zero) days. 2) Now, highlight both the admin tasks (Accommodation and Travel). (Hint: For highlighting multiple tasks, using the keyboard point to the task name of the first cell, in this case 'Organize accommodation'. Then, keeping the Shift key pressed, move down with the arrow key till the last cell, in this case 'Organize Travel.' ) 3) On the Formatting Toolbar, click on the icon showing a Right Arrow (if you move the mouse over this icon, you can see the Tip as 'Indent'). 4) You will notice that the two task names have moved to the right (this process is called Indenting).
The task name for Admin appears in Bold font to indicate that this is a Group task (a summary of the following tasks). The task bar against the summary 'Admin' has changed to a Black bar covering all tasks in its group. Next, you should group the five tasks from 'Get rates from media agencies' to 'Sell tickets' and call the Group 'Sales & Marketing.' Similarly, group the first six tasks from 'Call up Artists' to 'Confirm Auditorium' and call the Group 'Operations.' Let us also introduce a super-group covering all groups, and call this 'Concert Project.'
(For this, Insert a task above Operations and name this task 'Concert Project.' Then highlight all rows below this and Indent them. With this it becomes a higher level Group.). Modify Dependencies Now let us get back to the dependencies. As soon as you completed the Sales & Marketing Group, you must have noticed that the task 'Get rates from media agencies' has moved from Project start date to the Group's start date. (Makes sense?) After grouping the tasks functionally, if we try to rationalize the sequencing of the tasks with the objective of completing all tasks as soon as possible you will realize that the Sales & Marketing function can start getting the rates from media without dependence on any other task, and can also make tentative Booking of Slots immediately after getting the rates.
The Final Confirmation of matter is the only activity which needs to follow after the auditorium is confirmed, and after the Booking of Slots is completed. To do these, follow the steps below: 1) Locate the Precedence Link between 'Confirm Auditorium' and 'Sales & Marketing' Group task. 2) Position the mouse pointer on this link line and double-click. 3) The dialog box for Task Dependency will appear as shown. 4) Delete this link by clicking on 'Delete' in the dialog box. 5) Insert dependency between 'Book advertisement slots.' And 'Confirm Final matter.'
6) Insert an additional dependency for 'Confirm Final matter.' On 'Confirm Auditorium', since the advertisement matter can be finalized only after the Auditorium is also confirmed.
Milestones, Project Start and Project Finish You are now almost through with Lesson 2. As a matter of convention, we will introduce two tasks: 'Project Start' at the beginning after 'Concert Project', and 'Project Finish' at the end of all other tasks. Both these will be with duration of 0 days. I will leave it to you to decide what dependencies you want to assign for these tasks with other tasks.
You must have noticed that any project with a duration of 0 days is considered as a by Microsoft Project. In addition to these, you can designate any task as a milestone. For our practice, let us designate 'Confirm Auditorium' and 'Confirm Final matter to media' as milestones. How do you do this? Click on the task.
With the task highlighted, right-click with your mouse, and choose 'Task Information' in the pop-up box. In the task information window, click on the Advanced tab and you will notice a check box at the bottom left. Checking this will designate the task as a milestone, and will be shown with a black diamond on the Gantt chart. Needless to say these milestones indicate crucial dates you will want to monitor from project management point of view. With all these done, your project should look like the chart shown here.
Please save this as 'Concert Project 1 - Final'. In the we will take a quick look at the navigation aspects, toolbars and other cosmetics in Microsoft Project. Thereafter we will learn about other ways of task dependency assignments, and then move on to.
Setting Project Properties and Options You can set a lot of different options and defaults for your project. And by a lot, I mean way too many to cover in a reasonable way when you’re just getting started with your project. I do, however, point you to the ones that are the most important and the most commonly used at this point in your project. I then cover other options in later sections of this book. Setting Project Properties First, let’s look at setting project properties. These properties are a place to store metadata about your project such as title, subject, author, company, keywords, and descriptions of your project. These properties can be useful when searching for your project or for reference purposes when you or someone else revisits this project file months or years from now.
To set these properties, complete these steps:. Click the File tab, and then, with Info selected on the left side of the Project window, click Project Information on the right side of the window. Click Advanced Properties. On the Summary tab, provide whatever data is most appropriate in your organization.
You can choose to include a Title, Subject, Author, Manager, Company, and other relevant metadata for your project. On the Custom tab, you can include additional project properties by choosing a property Name, the data Type for the property, and the Value for the property. When all three of these fields are completed, click Add to add the property to your project. Setting Project Options Next, let’s look at the default settings and other options you want to use for your project plan. Again, I can’t emphasize enough that there are significantly more options than what I cover in this book, but this procedure highlights the most common options that you’ll want to set at this point in your planning process:.
Click the File tab, and then click Options. Click Schedule on the left side of the Project Options dialog box.
If appropriate, choose the Calendar options for this project, including what day the Week starts on, which month the Fiscal year starts in, what the Default start time and Default end time are for a typical work day, and how many Hours per day, Hours per week, and Days per month your project’s resources typically work. Shows the Calendar options for this project section. Default start and end times: Set these values to the normal working day that will be in place for your project. The default is 8 a.m.
Hours per day and Hours per week: Normally, this should be equal to the number of working hours in the default working day and working week as defined in the project calendar. We revisit this when we talk about working calendars later in this chapter. The default is 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.
If your project team will work 7 hour days 5 days a week, you need to change these to 7 and 35. Then the project calendar should be changed to agree with this working time. Days per month: This is the average number of working days in a month.
The default is 20. NOTE The hours per day/month and days per month are really conversion settings that Project uses if you enter certain units of measure. For example, if you entered 1 Month as the duration for a task, Project uses the Days per month setting to calculate the number of days for that 1 month of duration. Likewise, if you enter 1 week, Project uses the Hours per week and Hours per day settings to figure out how many days/hours. In the Scheduling options for this project section, shown in, choose whichever settings are most appropriate for your project. Here are some highlights:.
New tasks created: Choose whether you want new tasks in your project to be Auto Scheduled, using the Project scheduling engine, or Manually Scheduled, using only the dates you enter. You can change this setting for each task individually. What you choose here sets what the default is for each new task in your project. In general, I suggest using Auto Scheduled as the default. Duration is entered in: Choose the time units you want to use, by default, when identifying the length of time you think tasks in your project will take (also known as duration). You can choose Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, or Months.
You can choose any of these time units at any time when entering task durations. Here, you’re setting what the default is for each new task in your project. I suggest keeping the default of Days unless your organization is really married to the idea of using another unit. Work is entered in: Choose the time units you want to use, by default, when entering the work completed on tasks in your project. As with duration, you can choose Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, or Months. Again, here I suggest sticking with the default of Hours.
Other options: There are many more options in the Project Options dialog, to be sure, and we cover some of them later in this book. At this point, keep the defaults. Click OK to save these settings for your project.
Changing the recommended settings and steps in this documentation can cause unexpected behavior. Undocumented settings can result in changes to project schedule dates, resource assignments, and costs. If you need assistance, contact your administrator. Install the Required Software Before you install the Microsoft Project Interface, verify that you have installed the following third-party software:. A supported version of Microsoft Project. A supported version of the Microsoft.NET Framework for Windows. A supported version of Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Office Runtime For supported versions for your release of CA PPM, see Compatibilities in the.
If you upgrade from a previous release of CA PPM, remove, re-install, and update your Microsoft Project software and verify that data populates appropriately in Microsoft Project. Set the scheduling option to Automatic when you always want to open the schedule in Microsoft Project. Configure the Microsoft Project Interface Grant User Access Rights The following CA PPM access rights are required to view or manage projects with Microsoft Project. Open a project.
Project - View Management - All (Read-Only). Project - Edit Management - All (Read/Write) Create a project. Project - Create Display resources and roles to which you have been granted access rights. Resource - Soft Book - All.
Resource - Hard Book - All Change the allocations of a resource. Resource - Soft Book. Resource - Hard Book. Note: You must have Resource - Hard Book rights to change the allocation of a resource who is hard-booked. Set the baseline of a project. Project - Edit Management - All. Project - Modify Baseline If you are granted the Project - Modify Baseline right at the instance or organizational breakdown structure (OBS) level, you are implicitly granted the Project - Edit Management - All right.
If you are granted the Project - Modify Baseline - All right at the global level, you are not granted the Project - Edit Management - All right. You must explicitly be granted the Project - Edit right and the Project - Edit Management right to set the baseline on a specific project.
Link Projects Microsoft Project 2010
Set the Internet Explorer Browser Options Prevent the file download window from appearing when the browser encounters an encrypted page by setting the following browser option. For more information, see the Microsoft Internet Explorer help.
Follow these steps:. In Internet Explorer, select Tools, Internet Options and click the Advanced tab. Scroll to the Security section. Clear the Do not save encrypted pages to disk check box. Set the Windows Explorer Options Prevent issues when saving projects from Microsoft Project to CA PPM by setting the following Windows Explorer option. For more information, see the Microsoft Windows help.
Follow these steps:. In Windows Explorer, click Organize and select Folder and search options.
Click View. Clear the Hide extensions for known file types check box. Note: Verify that Hide extensions for known file types is not selected. If the setting is selected, it can cause problems when you try to save Microsoft Project files. Set the Trust Center Level in Microsoft Project Configure the Microsoft Project settings for subsequent enablement of the CA PPM Microsoft Project Interface add-in installation macro.
Open Microsoft Project. Select File, Options. Click Trust Center, Trust Center Settings.
Click Add-ins. Clear the require application add-ins to be signed by trusted publisher option. Return to the Trust Center page. Click Macro Settings and select the enable all macros option. This setting can be changed after the installation. Install the Microsoft Project Interface with Schedule Connect The Schedule Connect interface enables the exchange of data between CA PPM and Microsoft Project. Schedule Connect provides the following capabilities:.
Synchronized communication between CA PPM and Microsoft Project. Improved performance when using the new XML version of the CA PPM interface with Microsoft Project. When opening and saving a project, all information is sent to and from CA PPM in one large block.
The block is parsed and formatted in XML, and then opened in Microsoft Project. SSL and proxy server security without requiring you to open special ports. Install a version of the Microsoft Project Interface and Schedule Connect that are compatible with the connected CA PPM server.
As a general rule, install the legacy driver with 14.x releases and install the new driver with 15.x releases. Follow these steps:. Close all instances of Microsoft Project.
Download the Microsoft Project Interface using one of the following methods:. CA PPM media: Navigate to Clients MSPInterface Legacy or Clients MSPInterface New and click mspsetup.exe. CA PPM user interface: This download includes Schedule Connect. Open Home, and from Personal, click Account Settings.
Click the Software Downloads tab. You must have the Software Download - Microsoft Project Interface access right to download the software. Click the appropriate compatible download link for either Microsoft Project Interface (x86) or Microsoft Project Interface (x64). Select Run or Save when prompted to run or save the mspsetup.exe file.
If you select Save, open the file when you are ready to perform the installation. Select your language preference for the installer. Important: To reduce unexpected behavior and variability in troubleshooting, set the same language in your integrated applications.
For example, set the same language in Microsoft Project, the MSP interface connector, Microsoft Windows, and CA PPM. The key feedback we have received is that your Windows Regional Settings must always match the language of your Microsoft Project installation and configuration. Click OK to continue with the setup process. The CA PPM Microsoft Project Interface with CA PPM Schedule Connect Setup wizard opens. Follow the on-screen instructions.
Note: If you have an existing installation, click Yes when prompted to copy the files to the same directory. Click Finish and exit the wizard when the installation is complete. The installation completed dialog appears after the installation is successful. If the installation fails, uninstall and reinstall the programs.
Configure Windows Regional Settings If you set your language for Microsoft Project to Portuguese (Brazil), set your Windows Regional Settings to Portuguese (Brazil) to match. Match English (United States) in MSP with English (United States) in Windows. Non-matching Regional Settings can cause integration problems with decimal values such as% Complete or% Allocation.
Non-matching language settings can also result in errors with successors and predecessors. In some cases, if you save a project with non-matching OS and application language settings, data loss can occur.
Follow these steps:. In Windows 8.1 or 10, click Start, Settings.
In Windows 7, open your control panel and skip to Step 4. In Windows Settings, click Time & Language and then click Region & language. Tip: Changing the country or language in the screen example above does not resolve potential issues. Follow the steps listed here exactly. Under Related settings, click Additional date, time, & regional settings. You might see this option by scrolling down or to the right. Skip to Step 5.
(Optional) As a shortcut:. Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 users can open the Control Panel. (You can also press the Windows logo key and the R key ( Windows + R) and type control panel.). Depending on the View by setting, click Change date, time, or number formats or click Region. In the Region dialog box, on the Format tab, change the language to match your Microsoft Project language setting.
Tip: Do not click Additional settings. Set Up the Server Connection When you open a project from CA PPM to update in Microsoft Project, you implicitly log in to CA PPM.
Schedule Connect remembers your settings. When logged in, a session is established for a target project instance and you do not need to log in again. You only need to enter your password the next time you save projects or browse for resources in CA PPM.
If you open a project from Microsoft Project and save it to CA PPM, Schedule Connect connects you to the specified CA PPM server. Use these steps to set up a first-time connection to CA PPM.
Note: If you are using federated single sign-on (SSO), you must have an open CA PPM browser session. This browser session must be in the environment to which you are trying to connect, which is defined in the CA PPM Host field. Follow these steps:. With Microsoft Project open, click the CA PPM Integration menu or toolbar, and go to Open.
Enter your CA PPM user name and password, and click Setup. Complete the following fields:. SSL Handling. Specifies the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) handling preference. Values:. Full. SSL is used for all communications including logins and data exchanges. SSL is used when logging in and bypassed for all other data exchanges.
No connection through SSL. Default: Full Select Full. CA PPM Host. Defines the name of the CA PPM server to which Microsoft Project is connected. This server defines the location from which you open a project, or to which you save a project.
The login host is not the full URL. Default: Example: corpName. Port. The port for the CA PPM server.
Example: 80 is the default port for a CA PPM server. Note: To determine the port number, verify the CSA application server settings, the application logon URL, or contact your CA PPM administrator. Schedule Connect uses the field defining the port on the Application Entry URL to load information. Therefore, independent of the port field, this field must also contain a reference to. If you are using SSL, enter 443. Proxy Host. Defines the name of your proxy server. The proxy host is not the full URL.
An entry for Proxy Host is only required when accessing an authenticating proxy. Note: If you are accessing CA PPM through a nonauthenticating proxy, enter the proxy host and port in the CA PPM Host and Port fields. Port. Defines the port for the proxy server. Proxy User Name. Defines the user name for connecting to the proxy server. Proxy Password. Defines the password for connecting to the proxy server. You are connected to the CA PPM server.
You can connect Schedule Connect to only one server at a time. To open or save projects to a different server, change the connections settings. When pointing Schedule Connect to another server, be sure to update the Proxy server setting if necessary. Upgrade CA PPM Schedule Connect Periodically look for CA PPM releases or patches.
Accompanying release notes advise you if a Microsoft Project Interface upgrade is recommended or required. You typically do not have to upgrade Schedule Connect each time that you upgrade CA PPM. When upgraded, the latest product enhancements and bug fixes display. Note: We recommend uninstalling any previous versions of the Microsoft Project Interface before installing the current version. You can remove the previous version of the Microsoft Project Interface and Schedule Connect through the Control Panel on your computer.
Configure Microsoft Project Options Set the Microsoft Project options to work effectively with CA PPM. In Microsoft Project, select File, Options. Click Schedule to set the Calculation option.
This option determines if Microsoft Project automatically reschedules your plan. This setting affects what is displayed in CA PPM when you save the plan back to CA PPM after scheduling is completed. On: Microsoft Project automatically schedules the plan every time you open a CA PPM project or when you tab out of the field you have edited. Off: Microsoft Project does not schedule your plan automatically every time you open a project or when you tab out of a field you have edited.
As a result, several fields in Microsoft Project are not updated with the latest information. For example, the summary tasks do not display the updated roll-up values. For more information about what is not calculated, see the Microsoft Project Help. Click Schedule to configure the calendar.
Verify that the values in the Calendar options for this project section map to the values set in CA PPM. For most organizations, you may need to update the following fields:. Week starts on.
Fiscal year starts in. The other fields map to your organization's settings. Click Advanced and clear the Show links between projects dialog on open check box in the Cross project linking options for this project section. This feature is incompatible with CA PPM external dependencies, and is ignored when selected.
Click Save in the Project Options window. You can update the file location based on your requirements and you can save the MPP files to any folder. However, if you share your computer with other users and update master projects, set the file location to a commonly shared folder. See your Windows administrator for assistance. Configure Default Settings in Microsoft Project The business rules in CA PPM and Microsoft Project are different. To normalize the Microsoft Project integration with CA PPM, configure the default settings in Microsoft Project. If you do not set these options, task and resource scheduling have inconsistencies. The inconsistencies appear after you save the project to CA PPM for the first time and then open it again in Microsoft Project.
You configure the settings in:. Microsoft Project Client. CA PPM, when you prepare to import a legacy project plan for the first time. Follow these steps:. In Microsoft Project, select Tools, Options, and click Schedule. Download mg liker.
(Optional) Select Percentage for the Show assignment as an option. Select Auto Scheduled for the News tasks created option. All of the new tasks that are created in CA PPM are calculated or auto-scheduled, depending on the overall project calculation setting. The new tasks that are created in Microsoft Project are not saved in CA PPM unless the task is calculated.
Select Project Start Date for the Auto scheduled tasks scheduled on option. Select Days for the Duration is entered in option. Ensure the duration is days for Microsoft Project before synchronizing. Enable the following options:. Split in-progress tasks. Fills the gaps in work while using Resource Leveling. Tasks will always honor their constraint dates. Constraints are important for scheduling and override task relationships such as dependencies.
(Optional) Show that scheduled tasks have estimated durations. Calculate project after each edit. You receive instant feedback on Microsoft Project edits. The projects you export from CA PPM to Microsoft Project are calculated and up-to-date. Disable the following options:. New tasks are effort driven. When a resource is added to a task that has an existing assignment, the remaining work is shared with the resource.
The resource is not assigned to any new work. However, all new assignments in CA PPM have Estimate to Complete (ETC) calculated. Ensure that CA PPM and Microsoft Project are matched to calculate remaining work on new assignments. (Optional) New scheduled tasks have estimated durations.
Updating Task status updates resource status Disable this option for the projects that are tracking through time sheets. Note: Do not use the Date Format as an option that includes a time stamp. Select Tools, Options and click Advanced. Enable the following options:. Allow cell drag and drop. (Optional) Move selection after enter. (Optional) Ask to update automatic links.
(Optional) Edit directly in cell. (Optional) Edits to total task% complete will be spread to the status date.
(Optional) Calculate multiple critical paths. (Optional) Select% Complete for the Default task Earned Value method option. (Optional) Select Baseline for the Baseline for Earned Value calculation. Note: While configuring the options for an open project, a message Options for this project:.mpp appears. Change the message to Options for this project: All New Projects wherever required. The CA PPM repository owns the Company, Project, and Resource calendars. Make changes to these calendars only using CA PPM.
Changes made using Microsoft Project are dropped without an error message. If you need to create a calendar using Microsoft Project, ensure that calendar fields match the values in CA PPM. Configure Project Properties in Microsoft Project To ensure that the Microsoft Project fields are mapped to CA PPM fields, configure the properties of the project in Microsoft Project. In Microsoft Project, select File, Info, Project Information and click the Summary tab. Verify that the fields from the Summary tab, as listed in the following table, are mapped to CA PPM. Note: Do not edit the Title, Manager, and Hyperlink Base. Configure Resource Leveling in Microsoft Project The Resource Leveling properties of a project act as the default properties for the new projects.
Select Tools, Resource Leveling from Microsoft Project for project 1. Set the Leveling calculations as Manual. (Optional) Set the Look for overallocations on a Day by Day basis. (Optional) Set the Leveling order to Standard. Leveling can adjust individual assignments on a task.
Disable the Leveling can create splits in remaining work option.
A project plan is an essential part of any project manager’s toolkit. While it can be tempting to get started on completing tasks as soon as possible, taking the time to map out your strategy can help you save money and resources. Your project will constantly be shifting, and you need a project plan template that can keep up. Microsoft Project (MS Project) has been around a long time (the first edition launched in 1984) and it is a staple in a project manager’s arsenal. There’s good reason - it includes all the tools you need to assign resources, track progress, develop plans, manage budgets, and create schedules. Effective project management requires tools like MS Project that are both flexible and provide structure.
However, Microsoft Project has a couple of limitations. First, it only works on PCs, and second, MS Project requires a license to use. If your company already uses Microsoft Project, those issues may not be challenges for you. To help you get started with Microsoft Project 2016, this tutorial will walk you through the steps to create a project timeline, assign resources, and run reports.
If you want to create your own project, you’ll need an MS Project license (which is likely supplied by your company). We’ll also demonstrate how to perform the same tasks in Smartsheet for a MS Project alternative. Since Smartsheet is a cloud-based web app, you can use a PC, Mac, or mobile device and share your work with anyone. How to Use Microsoft Project 2016 For this tutorial, we’ll be using the most recent version, Microsoft Project 2016. There are many versions available, so you’ll want to check which one you’re using. There are similarities in the steps for some of the releases, so some of the steps will translate well among the various versions. If you’re using Project 2010 or Project 2013, you shouldn’t have any issues importing them to 2016 (if you plan on upgrading) since they use the same file format.
However, Project 2016 is a bit more robust and has more timeline features, a handy search tool called “Tell Me” for finding features, improved resource management, and office add-ins. This MS Project tutorial will just cover the basic features that are found in most versions. How to Use Microsoft Project 2016 Microsoft Project has a lot of features for setting up projects and running automated reports based on progress, budget, time tracking, and more. We’ll take you through the steps needed to set-up a timeline, add and schedule tasks, add resources, setup dependencies, generate reports, and track progress. As an example, we’ll use a common business requirement when dealing with vendors: tracking the progress of calling for RFPs.
How to Create a Timeline in Microsoft Project Tutorial Microsoft Project doesn’t have a Timeline template, so you’ll need to enter data manually to build a Microsoft Project Timeline. It’s probably because it’s the most basic feature and a template isn’t needed to get started. Create a Task List You’ll need to build a list of required tasks. While building the list, try to prioritize them in the order they need to be completed. To get started, open Microsoft Project, click Blank Project, and type each task into a cell under Task Name. Add Start and Finish Dates to Each Task To enter start and end dates, click the Start cell that corresponds to the first task and enter a date (if you click the down arrow in the cell, a calendar will appear and you can use that to select a date). Then tab over to the Finish row and enter an end date.
Microsoft will automatically enter the amount of time it will take to complete the task in the Duration row. You’ll notice that as you add the dates, bar charts will be added to the timeline in the right-hand pane. How to Assign Tasks in MS Project Once you have a list of resources for your project, you’ll want to assign tasks. This will help you better manage the project and get work done in a specific time period. One of the benefits of MS Project is that it can calculate how long it will take a person to complete the task based on their availability. If it’s a particularly important part of the project that needs to be done quickly, you can assign multiple people to it and Microsoft Project will decrease the time it takes to complete the task based on how many resources are assigned.
This also lets the people assigned to the project know how much time is required of them. Switch to the Gantt chart To assign tasks, you’ll need to switch to the Gantt chart. Click the Gantt chart icon in top left corner of the window. Open the Task Form You should still be in the View tab. Click the Details box in the ribbon. The Task Form should appear on the lower half of the screen. If it doesn’t appear, click the down arrow in the Details box and select Task Form.
How to Schedule Tasks Automatically or Manually With Microsoft Project 2016 you can schedule tasks manually or automatically. When you opt to manually schedule tasks it’s up to you schedule all new tasks and track them to ensure they are being completed on time.
If you choose Automatic scheduling, Project will schedule tasks based on dependencies, calendars, and constraints among other things. The default option when creating tasks is to schedule them manually, so we’ll show you here how to change the setting to automatic. Access Microsoft Project Settings Click File on the menu bar and choose Options (it’s the last choice in the left column).
Click Edit project settings. How to Create Task Dependencies Dependencies occur when one task can’t move on to the next phase until a particular task is completed before it.
Creating dependencies involves linking tasks in the Gantt chart view. In Microsoft Project, you can link any two tasks.
Once tasks are linked, every change made to the predecessor affects the successor. Switch to Gantt Chart View You should still be in the Gantt chart view. If you’re not, click the Gantt chart icon in top left corner of the window. Select Tasks to Link Click the Task tab in the menu bar. Identify the two tasks in the list that you want to link. Click the first task and press and hold the Ctrl key and select the second task. Click the chain icon in the ribbon to link the tasks.
You’ll see an arrow appear on the Gantt chart that connects the items. Smartsheet offers a plethora of to help you get started using the tool, so there’s no need to start from scratch. You can track and manage projects based on specific industries and uses like basic Agile projects, project management, marketing campaign analysis, customer order tracking, and more. You can even get started with a timeline template and customize it to track your business needs. Best of all, you can share your project with an infinite number of internal and external stakeholders (even if they don’t have a Smartsheet account). How to Create a Project in Smartsheet Since we used a timeline to walk you through how to create a project in Microsoft Project, we’re going to do the same process using Smartsheet. We’re also use the example of creating an RFP.
Once you create your RFP project in Smartsheet, you can share it with anyone. Get More Project Management Flexibility with Smartsheet Smartsheet is a spreadsheet-inspired task and work management tool with powerful collaboration and communication features. It has much of the same functionality as MS Project, but also provides an intuitive, easy-to-use interface.
If you’re already an MS Project user, you can easily import and export MS Project files into Smartsheet. You can also share your project with people outside of the company - even if they aren’t a Smartsheet user. Since it’s a cloud-based app, colleagues can use a PC, Mac, tablet, or mobile device to view and edit sheets in Smartsheet. With Smartsheet you can easily run projects, generate reports, and manage budgets. Use the to create editable, live summaries across multiple projects. Easily see tasks that are due, are at-risk of falling behind schedule, aren’t assigned yet, or are assigned to a certain team member. Once you know the project is on schedule, you can also use one of many customizable to run the numbers.
Project Title Examples
Track assigned tasks, due dates, and status updates through spreadsheet, Gantt, Card, and Calendar views. Invite team members and external stakeholders to collaborate in the sheet to keep everyone up to date. Attach files and working documents, and add notes and status details to keep all related project documentation in one central location. Smartsheet’s powerful collaboration tools make it easy to manage discussions, reminders, and attachments, and make changes in real time. And, with our newest view, Card View, teams get a more highly-visual way to work, communicate, and collaborate in Smartsheet. Card View enables you to focus attention with rich cards, show perspective with flexible views, and prioritize and adjust work more visually.
Display information on cards including custom fields, images, and color coding to better focus your team’s attention. Categorize cards into lanes to organize your work more visually.
How To Edit Project Title In Microsoft Project
See how easy it can be to manage manage projects, collaborate with team members, and meet deadlines. Try Smartsheet for free for 30 days.
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