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Copyright © Software Process Group 1

Software Process Group

Microsoft Project Tutorial

Steve [email protected]


What is project management? • Project management is the process of planning,

organizing, and managing tasks and resources to accomplish a defined objective, usually within limitations on time, resources, or cost.

• Why do we do it?– Make sure all system aspects are accounted for– Reduce redundancy of work– Meet resource and time constraints– Communicate project changes and adjustments with developers,

managers, customers, users, etc.– Allow for good decision making and improved likelihood of

success


How does Microsoft Project help? • MS Project stores details about your project in

its database. Project then uses this information to calculate and maintain the project's schedule and costs, thereby creating your project plan.

• Project keeps the information you enter in fields, which usually appear in columns.

• Like a spreadsheet, Microsoft Project displays results of its calculations immediately.

• Provides graphical interfaces for, Gantt chart, Pert chart, resource allocation chart, etc., for creating and monitoring the schedules.


Project Element Definitions• Task:

– A division of all the work that needs to be completed in order to accomplish the project goals.

– Represents an amount of work with a clear deliverable; it should be short enough to track its progress regularly. Tasks should generally be between one day and two weeks long.

– Summary Task:• A task that is broken down into two or more smaller tasks

• Milestone:– is a task you use to identify significant events in your schedule, such as

the completion of a major phase. When you enter a duration of zero days for a task, Microsoft Project displays the milestone symbol on the Gantt Chart at the start of that day.

• Resource: – People – Equipment, materials or services that are needed to complete various

tasks.


Set Up A Project


Create a new project• To start a new project in Microsoft Project, you can enter

your project's start or finish date, but not both. It's recommended that you enter only your project's start date and let MS Project calculate the finish date after you have entered and scheduled tasks.– Step 1: Click New . – Step 2: Click Project Information on the Project menu. Type or

select a start date or a finish date for your project, and then click OK

– Step 3: Click Save . – Step 4: In the File name box, type a name for your project, and

then click Save.• Tips

– You can change the start or finish date at any time by clicking Project Information on the Project menu.


Set up the project calendar• You can change the project calendar to reflect the working days and hours

for everyone on your project. The calendar defaults are Monday through Friday, 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., with an hour off for lunch.

• You can specify nonworking times, such as weekends and evenings, as well as special days off, such as holidays.

– Step1: On the View menu, click Gantt Chart– Step2: On the Tools menu, click Change Working Time– Step3: Select a date on the calendar

• To change one day of the week for the entire calendar, for example, to have Fridays end at 4:00 P.M., click the abbreviation for that day at the top of the calendar.

• To change all working days, for example, to begin working days Tuesday through Friday at 9:00 A.M., click the day heading (such as T for Tuesday) for the first working day of the week. Hold down SHIFT, and then click the day heading for the last working day of the week (such as F for Friday).

– Step 4: Click Nonworking time for days off, or Nondefault working time to change the hours worked

– Step 5: If you clicked Nondefault working time in step 3, type the times you want work to start in the From boxes, and the times you want work to end in the To boxes

– Step 6: Click OK.


Enter A Task List


Enter Tasks and Durations• Step 1: On the View menu, click Gantt Chart• Step 2: In the Task Name field, type a task name, and then press

TAB. Microsoft Project enters an estimated duration of one day for the task followed by a question mark.

• Step 3: In the Duration field, type the amount of time each task will take in months, weeks, days, hours, or minutes, not counting nonworking time. You can use the following abbreviations: months = mo, weeks = w, days = d, hours = h, minutes = m – Note To show an estimated duration, type a question mark after the

duration.• Step 4: Press ENTER.• Step 5: Enter additional tasks as needed for the project.• Tips

– You can also add a note about a task. Double-click in the task’s Name field, and then click Notes tab in the dialog box. Type your information in the Notes box, and then click OK.


Create a Milestone

• Step 1: In the Duration field, click the duration of the task you want to make a milestone, and then type 0d.

• Step 2: Press ENTER.


Create a recurring task • Step 1: In the Task Name field, click the row where you want the recurring

task to appear.• Step 2: On the Insert menu, click Recurring Task.• Step 3: In the Task Name box, type the task name.• Step 4: In the Duration box, type or select the duration of a single

occurrence of the task.• Step 5: Under Recurrence pattern, click Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly.• Step 6: To the right of Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly, specify the task

frequency.• Step 7: Under Range of recurrence, type a start date in the Start box and

then select End after or End by. – If you selected End after, type the number of occurrences for the task.– If you selected End by, type the date you want the recurring task to end.

• Step 8: Click OK.• Tip To view all instances of a recurring task in a task view, click the plus

sign next to the main recurring task.


Structure tasks into a logical outline Outlining helps organize your tasks into more manageable chunks. You can indent related tasks under a more general task, creating a hierarchy. The general tasks are called summary tasks; the indented tasks below the summary task are subtasks. A summary task's start and finish dates are determined by the start and finish dates of its earliest and latest subtasks.

To organize your outline, use outline buttons:


Schedule Tasks


Establish Dependencies between Tasks• Step 1: On the View menu, click Gantt Chart.• Step 2: In the Task Name field, select two or more tasks to link in

the order you want them linked. To select adjacent tasks, hold down SHIFT, and then click the first and last tasks you want. To select nonadjacent tasks, hold down CTRL, and then click the tasks you want.

• Step 3: Click Link Tasks .• Step 4: To change the task link, double-click the link line between

the tasks you want to change. – Set the lead or lag time (see next slide).– In the Type box, select the type of dependency.

• Finish-to-Start (FS) is the default – Click OK.

• Tips – To unlink tasks, select the tasks you want to unlink in the Task Name

field, and then click Unlink Tasks . All links to the task are removed.


Set lead or lag time for task links

• Lead time: The overlap between tasks that have a dependency. – For example, if a task can start when its predecessor is half

finished, you can specify a finish-to-start dependency with a lead time of 50% for the successor task. You enter lead time as a negative value.

• Lag time: The delay between tasks that have a dependency. – For example, if you need a two-day delay between the finish of

one task and the start of another, you can establish a finish-to-start dependency and specify two days of lag time. You enter lag time as a positive value.


Assign Resources


Create a resource list • Step 1: On the View menu, click Resource

Sheet.• Step 2: In the Resource Name field, type a

resource name.• Step 3: For each work resource type the

percentage of resource units available for this resource in the Max. Units field. For example, type 25% to indicate 10 hours per week (based on a 40 hour work week).

• Step 4: In the Type field, specify the resource type: Work or Material.


Assign resources to tasks • Step 1: On the View menu, click Gantt Chart.• Step 2: In the Task Name field, click the task to which

you want to assign a resource, and then click Assign Resources .

• Step 3: In the Name field, click the resource you want to assign to the task.

• Step 4: To assign a resource part-time, type or select a percentage less than 100 in the Units column to represent the percentage of working time you want the resource to spend on the task. – To assign several different resources, hold down CTRL and click

the names of the resources.• Step 5: Click Assign


Check Resource Assignments

• Step 1: On the View menu, click Resource Usage.

• Step 2: In the Resource Name column, review the resource assignments.

• Step 3: To reassign a task from one resource to another, select the entire row, position the pointer over the ID field (the leftmost column), and then drag the task under the new resource.


How do you view the schedule


See the entire project on the screen

• Step 1: On the View menu, click Gantt Chart.

• Step 2: On the View menu, click Zoom, click Entire project, and then click OK.

• Notes – To see the Gantt bars on a larger or smaller

timescale, click Zoom In or Zoom Out .


Identify the critical path

• Step 1: On the View menu, click Gantt Chart.• Step 2: Click Gantt Chart Wizard.

– Follow the Gantt Chart Wizard instructions to format critical path tasks.

• Alternate step 2: On the View menu, click Network Diagram.


Display specific information by using a filter

• Step 1: On the View menu, click Gantt Chart or Resource Sheet.

• Step 2: On the Project menu, point to Filtered for, and then click the filter you want to apply.

• Step 3: Click Apply to apply the filter, or click Highlight to apply a highlighting filter.

• Step 4: To turn off a filter, point to Filtered for on the Project menu, and then click All Tasks or All Resources.


Save the Plan


Save a baseline • When you've entered all your project information and

you're ready to start actual work, you can save a baseline of your project's information to compare with actual progress on your project. Using a baseline makes it possible for you to track progress, see variances, and make the necessary corrections. For example, you can see which tasks started later than planned, how much work assigned resources have actually performed, and whether your budget is on track.– Step 1: On the Tools menu, point to Tracking, and then click

Save Baseline.– Step 2: Click Entire project to save a project baseline. – (Click Selected tasks to add new tasks to an existing baseline.)– Step 3: Click OK.


Track Work


Update task progress

• Step 1: On the View menu, click Gantt Chart.

• Step 2: Click the task for which you want to update progress.

• Step 3: Click Task Information , then click the General tab.

• Step 4: In the Percent complete box, type a whole number between 0 and 100.

• Step 5: Click OK.


Updating Actual start and finish dates, and task duration

– Step 1: On the View menu, click Gantt Chart– Step 2: In the Task Name field, click the row you

want to update– Step 3: On the Tools menu, point to Tracking, and

then click Update Tasks– Step 4: In the Actual box update the actual start and

finish dates.– Step 5: In the Actual dur box update the actual

duration.– Step 6: Click ok.


Compare actual task information to the baseline

• Step 1: On the View menu, click Tracking Gantt. – The Tracking Gantt view shows task

variances graphically, making it easier to analyze progress in your schedule.

• Step 2: On the View menu, point to Table, and then click Variance.

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