microsoft project 2000 foundation level training manual

8/8/2019 Microsoft Project 2000 Foundation Level Training Manual

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Microsoft Project 2000Foundation Level

Training ManualCorporate Edition

C C T G L O B A L . C O M


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1995-2001 Cheltenham Computer TrainingCrescent House24 Lansdown Crescent LaneCheltenhamGloucestershireGL50 2LD, UKTel: +44 (0)1242 227200

Fax: +44 (0)1242 253200Email: [email protected]: http://www.cctglobal.com

All trademarks acknowledged. E&OE.

Cheltenham Computer Training 1995-2001 No part of this document may be copied without written permission fromCheltenham Computer Training unless produced under the terms of a courseware site license agreement withCheltenham Computer Training.

All reasonable precautions have been taken in the preparation of this document, including both technical and non-technical proofing. Cheltenham Computer Training and all staff assume no responsibility for any errors or omissions. Nowarranties are made, expressed or implied with regard to these notes. Cheltenham Computer Training shall not beresponsible for any direct, incidental or consequential damages arising from the use of any material contained in thisdocument. If you find any errors in these training modules, please inform Cheltenham Computer Training. Whilst everyeffort is made to eradicate typing or technical mistakes, we apologize for any errors you may detect. All courses are

updated on a regular basis, so your feedback is both valued by us and will help us to maintain the highest possiblestandards.

Sample versions of courseware from Cheltenham Computer Training

(Normally supplied in Adobe Acrobat format)If the version of courseware that you are viewing is marked as NOT FOR TRAINING, SAMPLE, or similar, then it cannotbe used as part of a training course, and is made available purely for content and style review. This is to give you theopportunity to preview our courseware, prior to making a purchasing decision. Sample versions may not be re-sold to athird party.

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Cheltenham Computer Training reserve the right to alter the licensing conditions at any time, without prior notice. Noterms or conditions will affect your rights as defined under UK law. Please see the site license agreement available at:www.cctglobal.com/agreement

Courseware Release Version 5.0


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FOR USE AT THE LICENSED SITE(S) ONLY

Cheltenham Computer Training 1995-2001 - www.cctglobal.com

MICROSOFT PROJECT 2000 - INTRODUCTION................................................................................ 1

ORIENTATION TO MICROSOFT PROJECT ...................................................................................................... 2To start Microsoft Project ...................................................................................................................... 2

THE TOOLBARS ........................................................................................................................................... 5Tool Tips................................................................................................................................................. 5

THE STANDARD TOOLBAR.......................................................................................................................... 6THE FORMATTING TOOLBAR....................................................................................................................... 7THE CALENDARVIEW ................................................................................................................................. 8

The View Bar .......................................................................................................................................... 8To change the view................................................................................................................................. 8To change to Calendar View .................................................................................................................. 8To change the look of the Calendar (for printing)............................................................................... 8

THE GANTT CHART VIEW ........................................................................................................................... 9To open a Gantt chart view .................................................................................................................... 9The components of the Gantt chart view ................................................................................................ 9The border between the panes ................................................................................................................ 9

DEFINING THE PROJECT ..................................................................................................................... 11

PROJECT INFORMATION ENTRY................................................................................................................. 12To start a new project........................................................................................................................... 12

Project Information window................................................................................................................. 13 THE PROJECT CALENDAR.......................................................................................................................... 14

To set up a working calendar ............................................................................................................... 14Default working time ............................................................................................................................ 15 To create a New Calendar.................................................................................................................... 15

CHANGING THE DEFAULT WORKING DAY ................................................................................................ 16To change the default working time...................................................................................................... 16To change time for individual days ...................................................................................................... 16To enter a shut-down period................................................................................................................. 17

CHOOSE YOURCALENDAR FOR THE PROJECT............................................................................................ 18To link your new calendar to the project .............................................................................................. 18

THE STATISTICS WINDOW......................................................................................................................... 19FILE PROPERTIES....................................................................................................................................... 21

What do you use Properties for? .......................................................................................................... 21Examining Properties........................................................................................................................... 22

SAVE AND SAVE AS................................................................................................................................... 23

TASKS......................................................................................................................................................... 25

ENTERING TASKS ...................................................................................................................................... 26To open a new Task Information window............................................................................................. 26

ENTERING A TASKDURATION................................................................................................................... 28To enter a duration............................................................................................................................... 28

Elapsed Time ........................................................................................................................................ 28 To specify elapsed time......................................................................................................................... 28

To specify estimated time...................................................................................................................... 28ESTIMATING DURATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 29MILESTONES AND PHASES......................................................................................................................... 30

Setting a Milestone in a project............................................................................................................ 30RECURRING TASKS.................................................................................................................................... 31

To enter a recurring task...................................................................................................................... 31RECURRING TASKS CONTINUED ................................................................................................................ 32

The recurring task symbol .................................................................................................................... 32Expanding the group of tasks ............................................................................................................... 32 Contracting the group of tasks ............................................................................................................. 32


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To change a recurrence pattern ........................................................................................................... 32EDITING TASKS ......................................................................................................................................... 33

To open an existing task for editing...................................................................................................... 33CHANGING TASKPRIORITY ....................................................................................................................... 34

Priority Levels ...................................................................................................................................... 35 To set a priority .................................................................................................................................... 35

INSERTING A TASK.................................................................................................................................... 36To insert a new task into the sequence ................................................................................................. 36

Entering information in the field entry bar........................................................................................... 36DELETING TASKS ...................................................................................................................................... 37

To select one task.................................................................................................................................. 37To select a group of adjacent tasks....................................................................................................... 37To select a group of non-adjacent tasks ............................................................................................... 37To delete selected tasks ........................................................................................................................ 37To Undo................................................................................................................................................ 37

MOVING TASKS ......................................................................................................................................... 38To move a task by dragging.................................................................................................................. 38To move a task by cut and paste from the menu or toolbar .................................................................. 38To move a task by cut and paste from the shortcut menu ..................................................................... 39

TASK LINKAGES ..................................................................................................................................... 41CREATING A LOGICAL SEQUENCE ............................................................................................................. 42GENERAL TAB........................................................................................................................................... 43TASKPREDECESSORS ................................................................................................................................ 44

The Predecessor window...................................................................................................................... 44To enter a Predecessor......................................................................................................................... 44

TASKRESOURCES ..................................................................................................................................... 45The Resources tab................................................................................................................................. 45To enter resources for a task ................................................................................................................ 46To specify units for the resource........................................................................................................... 46

TASKADVANCED...................................................................................................................................... 47TASKCONSTRAINTS.................................................................................................................................. 48

Types of constraint ............................................................................................................................... 48

TASKTYPES .............................................................................................................................................. 49Task Types ............................................................................................................................................ 49

TASKNOTES ............................................................................................................................................. 50To add notes ......................................................................................................................................... 50To add hyperlinks ................................................................................................................................. 51

OUTLINING A TASK................................................................................................................................... 52Top down method ................................................................................................................................. 52

Bottom up method................................................................................................................................. 52 SUMMARY TASKS...................................................................................................................................... 53

To create a Sub Task ............................................................................................................................ 53To Collapse Sub Tasks.......................................................................................................................... 53

LINKAGE TYPES ........................................................................................................................................ 54The four linkage types .......................................................................................................................... 54

A link symbol ........................................................................................................................................ 54 Dangling tasks...................................................................................................................................... 54 FINISH TO START RELATIONSHIP............................................................................................................... 55

To create an (FS) relationship.............................................................................................................. 55START TO START RELATIONSHIP ............................................................................................................... 56

To create an (SS) relationship.............................................................................................................. 56FINISH TO FINISH RELATIONSHIP............................................................................................................... 57

To create an (FF) relationship ............................................................................................................. 57START TO FINISH RELATIONSHIP............................................................................................................... 58

To create an (SF) relationship.............................................................................................................. 58


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SIMPLE LINKAGE ....................................................................................................................................... 59To Set an FS Link on all Tasks ............................................................................................................. 59To Unlink Tasks.................................................................................................................................... 60To Split Tasks ....................................................................................................................................... 60

LINKAGES ON A GANTT CHART................................................................................................................. 61LAG AND LEAD TIME ................................................................................................................................ 62LEAD TIME ON THE GANTT CHART ........................................................................................................... 63

To Add Lead Time to a Task................................................................................................................. 63LAG TIME ON THE GANTT CHART ............................................................................................................. 64

To Add Lag Time to a Task................................................................................................................... 64TYPES OF CONSTRAINT ............................................................................................................................. 65EXERCISES ................................................................................................................................................ 66

RESOURCES.............................................................................................................................................. 67

RESOURCE SHEET VIEW ............................................................................................................................ 68To view or enter resources ................................................................................................................... 68

ENTERING RESOURCES.............................................................................................................................. 70UNITS ........................................................................................................................................................ 71

To change to decimal units................................................................................................................... 71RATES ....................................................................................................................................................... 72ACCRUE AT............................................................................................................................................... 73

To change the Accrue At value............................................................................................................. 73When to use Accrue at Start ................................................................................................................. 73When to use Accrue at End................................................................................................................... 73When to use the default, Pro-rated ....................................................................................................... 73

ASSIGNING A CALENDAR TO A GROUP OF RESOURCES.............................................................................. 74Use Fill-Down...................................................................................................................................... 74

ASSIGNING A RESOURCE TO A TASK.......................................................................................................... 75Assigning a resource in the Task Information window......................................................................... 75

ASSIGNING RESOURCES (- CONTINUED) .................................................................................................... 76Using the Assign Resources button....................................................................................................... 76To select a resources from your Personal Address Book (PAB) or Global Address List (GAL) .......... 77

ASSIGNING A RESOURCE CALENDAR......................................................................................................... 78

Add holidays to a resource calendar .................................................................................................... 78 To change the working time for a resource .......................................................................................... 79

REMOVING A RESOURCE ........................................................................................................................... 80To remove the resource in the Task Information window..................................................................... 80To remove the resource from the Assign Resources window................................................................ 81To replace the resource from the Assign Resources window................................................................ 81To completely remove a resource from the project .............................................................................. 81

REPLACING RESOURCES............................................................................................................................ 82To quickly replace a resource .............................................................................................................. 82

REMOVING A CALENDAR........................................................................................................................... 83To remove a calendar........................................................................................................................... 83To copy a calendar to Global.MPT...................................................................................................... 84

EXERCISES ................................................................................................................................................ 85

NETWORK DIAGRAM VIEW................................................................................................................ 87

WHAT IS THENETWORKDIAGRAM VIEW? ................................................................................................ 88To change to Network Diagram view ................................................................................................... 88To ZOOM and see the whole of the project .......................................................................................... 88

EXAMINING ANETWORKDIAGRAM .......................................................................................................... 89To open a node for editing.................................................................................................................... 89To edit a node directly in Network Diagram view................................................................................ 89To Layout the boxes.............................................................................................................................. 90To control the layout ............................................................................................................................ 90


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To move a node..................................................................................................................................... 90To copy a node and link to it ................................................................................................................ 90To change the content of the nodes....................................................................................................... 91To change border color and style......................................................................................................... 91

SUMMARY TASKS...................................................................................................................................... 92To change the way a summary task is displayed .................................................................................. 92

CHANGING TASKLINKAGES...................................................................................................................... 93To view the type of relationship............................................................................................................ 93To change the relationship type............................................................................................................ 93To remove a link line ............................................................................................................................ 93To manually add a link line .................................................................................................................. 94To draw a Finish to Start line............................................................................................................... 94To draw a Start to Finish line............................................................................................................... 94To set SS or FF relationships ............................................................................................................... 94

Reformat the layout .............................................................................................................................. 94

SHORTENING YOUR PROJECT........................................................................................................... 97

SETTING THE CRITICAL PATH.................................................................................................................... 98To start the Gantt Chart Wizard........................................................................................................... 98

THE CRITICAL PATH VIEW ...................................................................................................................... 100To change to Detail Gantt view.......................................................................................................... 100Critical Tasks in Network Diagram view ........................................................................................... 100Tracking Gantt Chart view................................................................................................................. 100

FILTERING FORCRITICAL TASKS ONLY................................................................................................... 101To view Critical Tasks only ................................................................................................................ 101To view all tasks ................................................................................................................................. 101

IDEAS FORSHORTENING THE PROJECT .................................................................................................... 102Assign more resources........................................................................................................................ 102 Increase working hours for resources ................................................................................................ 102 Assign overtime work ......................................................................................................................... 103 Add lead-time to tasks ........................................................................................................................ 103 Break tasks into sub tasks................................................................................................................... 103 Tasks with constraints ........................................................................................................................ 103

EXERCISES .............................................................................................................................................. 104OVERALLOCATIONS........................................................................................................................... 105

RESOURCE USAGE VIEW ......................................................................................................................... 106To open the Resource Usage view ...................................................................................................... 106Overallocated resources..................................................................................................................... 106

THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT TOOLBAR............................................................................................... 107To turn on the Resource Management toolbar ................................................................................... 107

RESOURCE ALLOCATION VIEW ............................................................................................................... 108To open the Resource Allocation view................................................................................................ 108

RESOURCE ALLOCATION GRAPH............................................................................................................. 110To open the Resource Allocation Graph ............................................................................................ 110To choose a resource to view ............................................................................................................. 110

To view overallocations in the graph ................................................................................................. 111To move to the next overallocation..................................................................................................... 111

RESOLVING OVERALLOCATIONS.................................................................................................. 113

DELAYING TASKS MANUALLY................................................................................................................ 114Delay by click and drag...................................................................................................................... 114 Delay by changing task information................................................................................................... 114

RESOURCE LEVELING.............................................................................................................................. 115To level your project........................................................................................................................... 115To clear leveling................................................................................................................................. 116


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RESOURCE LEVELING CONTINUED .......................................................................................................... 117THE LEVELING GANTT VIEW .................................................................................................................. 118

To open the Leveling Gantt Chart view.............................................................................................. 118DECREASING WORKTIME....................................................................................................................... 119

Decrease work time in the Resource Usage view ............................................................................... 119 To ensure that the task duration is not altered ................................................................................... 119

SPLIT TASKS............................................................................................................................................ 120To split a task ..................................................................................................................................... 120

VIEW SLACK IN A TABLE VIEW ............................................................................................................... 121To open the Schedule Table................................................................................................................ 121

VIEWING SLACK IN A GANTT VIEW......................................................................................................... 122To open the Detail Gantt Chart.......................................................................................................... 122

How slack is shown on the Detail Gantt Chart .................................................................................. 122 REASSIGNING RESOURCES ...................................................................................................................... 123

To re-assign a resource...................................................................................................................... 123INCREASING WORKING HOURS ............................................................................................................... 124ASSIGN OVERTIME TO A TASK................................................................................................................ 125

To assign overtime working................................................................................................................ 125To check the new cost of the project ................................................................................................... 125

RESOURCE CONTOURING ........................................................................................................................ 126Contour patterns................................................................................................................................. 126

Front Loaded...................................................................................................................................... 127 Back Loaded....................................................................................................................................... 127 Double Peak ....................................................................................................................................... 127Early Peak .......................................................................................................................................... 127 Late Peak............................................................................................................................................ 127 Bell ..................................................................................................................................................... 127 Turtle .................................................................................................................................................. 127

How project works out the times ........................................................................................................ 127EXERCISES .............................................................................................................................................. 128

PRINTING PROJECT REPORTS......................................................................................................... 129

PRINT PREVIEW ....................................................................................................................................... 130

What do they need to know?............................................................................................................... 130What can I print?................................................................................................................................ 131To open a print preview screen .......................................................................................................... 131To close the Print Preview window .................................................................................................... 131To examine the detail of the Print Preview......................................................................................... 131

Page Setup.......................................................................................................................................... 131 How To Print ...................................................................................................................................... 132

REPORT GENERATOR............................................................................................................................... 133To start the Report Generator ............................................................................................................ 134

PROJECT SUMMARY REPORT................................................................................................................... 135Changing the head information.......................................................................................................... 135

PRINT OPTIONS ....................................................................................................................................... 137The Page Setup window...................................................................................................................... 137

The Page tab....................................................................................................................................... 138Margins .............................................................................................................................................. 138Header................................................................................................................................................ 138 View.................................................................................................................................................... 140

EXERCISES .............................................................................................................................................. 141


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Introduction 1Project 2000 Foundation Cheltenham Computer Training, 1995-2001



Microsoft Project 2000 - Introduction

When you havecompleted this

learning moduleyou will have :

Found your way around the Project 2000 screen

Understood the different buttons on the toolbar and what they can do Seen and understood the Calendar view

Seen and understood the Gantt chart view


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2 Introduction Cheltenham Computer Training, 1995-2001 Project 2000 Foundation



Orientation to Microsoft Project

Cheltenham Computer Training 1995-2001 Microsoft Project 2000 - Foundation - Slide No. 2

Getting to Know Microsoft Project 2000

Click Start, Programs

Click Microsoft Project

Microsoft Project is a package that assists the user in designing,implementing and managing project plans. A project can be defined as agroup of linked tasks that have to be completed in a particular sequenceand with a set of predefined resources.

Project management can be very complicated and so Microsoft Project2000 assists the user in designing the project and ensuring that all thetasks and resources work well together.

Even if you have not been involved in project management before, on thecompletion of this course you will be able to put together and manage asmall scale project.

To startMicrosoftProject

From the Windows Desktop click Start, Programs, Microsoft Project.The Welcome screen will appear offering you the choices

Whats New

Quick Preview

Tutorial Project Map

Office Assistant

Reference


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Whats New Gives you a list of new and enhanced functions withinMicrosoft Project 2000

Quick Preview The preview explains what Microsoft Project 2000

can do. Each step is explained in very general termsonly and there are no how to instructions.

The previews are delivered as a series of animations.You can scroll back/forward between animatedsequences or you can replay an animated sequenceagain.

Exit via the X in the top right hand corner.

Tutorial This option guides you through the process from startto finish with detailed tutorials at each stage of theprocess.

You will notice that some of the text is blue.

Whenever you move your mouse pointer over theseareas you will notice that the cursor turns into apointing finger; this is called a Hyperlink. When youclick on a hyperlink you will be taken in the documentto another area that is related. In this case thehyperlinks will take you to the related section of thehelp and tutorial pages.

On many pages the Hyperlink will invite you to Begina lesson. Clicking this will take you down to anotherlevel where you can cycle through a lesson. Here youcan click to advance the lesson by one frame, goback a frame, or leave the lesson and return back upto the tutorial screen where you started.

Click on Home at any time to get back to the welcomescreen

Project Map A map of the phases of project management. Thisoption opens up the screen you see below.Each phase of the project is broken down intoactivities and these are all listed in a column on theleft hand side of the screen. Click on any activity andyou will be linked to the related help topic. From within

any help screen you can click the Map option to goback to this screen.

Office Assistant This leads you to the standard Microsoft OfficeAssistant dialogue. You type a question and theOffice Assistant will attempt to find topics within Helpthat match your input.


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Reference Reference guide to the fields etc within MicrosoftProject 2000

To carry onwithout choosingone of theseoptions

To start using Project 2000 without choosing any of the options on theWelcome screen simply click the X button to close the window.


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The Toolbars


The Toolbars

Working down from the top of the screen the f irst bar you come to iscalled the Menu bar. To turn on a menu item you click on it with themouse or press Alt together with the key for the letter that isunderlined on the keyboard.

There are 13 toolbars in Project 2000, 2 of which appear by defaultwhen you start the program; these are the Standard toolbar and theFormatting toolbar. When you are working in Project you may, fromtime to time, want to display different toolbars to help you dodifferent things.

The three toolbars that we will be working with in this course are thetwo default toolbars, Standard and Formatting and the ResourceManagement toolbar.

Tool Tips As you move your mouse cursor over a button on the toolbar a tipwill appear to show you what the button is designed to do.

Working from left to right you will notice that the majority of thebuttons on the Standard Toolbar are identical to those in otherMicrosoft programs, New, FileOpen and so on as far as the WebToolbarbutton. From Web Toolbaronward the buttons are specificto Microsoft Project 2000 and are as follows:


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The Standard Toolbar

Link Tasks Tasks are the backbone of your project and you link tasksto ensure the relationship between each task is correct.Unlink Tasks Sometimes you may need to break the link betweencertain tasks.

Split Tasks Sometimes your tasks will need to be split to allow for lessthan 100% working time on one task, or to achieve a break in the task ifno work is due to be done.

Task Info When you enter a task you have to enter information about it.This button is one way of getting to the information for a particularselected task.

Task Notes Task notes are similar to the task information sections butallow you write in freehand notes and attach picture files. This buttontakes you to the Notes for a particular task.Task Resources Someone or something (a piece of equipment forexample) must carry out each task, these are called resources. This

button takes you to the Resource window for a particular task.Group by This enables you to group the tasks in a certain way, e.g.grouping by Duration would show all the 1 day tasks followed by all the2 day tasks etc.

Zoom in As the name suggests you use this button to see more of thedetail in the window.

Zoom out Use this button to see less of the window if you have alreadyzoomed in.

Go to selected task When you have selected a task this will take you toall the detail for the task you have chosen to examine.

Copy picture This button allows you to save a copy of the screen as aGIF file, for use in other applications.

Gantt Chart Wizard The Gantt Chart Wizard steps you throughformatting your Gantt chart so that it appears the way you want it to.

Office Assistant The Office Assistant is an interactive helper that willtake you to the correct help information after you have typed in yourquestion. Since Project 2000 is part of the MS Office suite ofapplications it will use the default Office Assistant that you have set upin Word or Excel, whether it is Power Pup, Clippit, The Genius or any ofthe others.


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The Formatting Toolbar

Promote and demote taskWhen you are working with summary and sub tasks you usethese buttons.Show or hide subtasksUse these buttons to collapse or expand the level of detail ina task view. These buttons behave in a similar way to theway Windows Explorer behaves.

Show all subtasksThe button behaves exactly as the name suggests.

AutofilterThe Autofilter button behaves like Autofilter in MicrosoftExcel.

FilterThis lists the various filters that are available to you in theproject view that you are working in. Some filters are only

available under certain circumstances.

The remaining formatting buttonsThe other buttons on the formatting toolbar are identical tothose found in MS Word. They allow for formatting text.


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The Calendar View


The Calendar View

Click here to

see a

calendar view

of an existing

project

There are many different views available for your project and yourchoice to work with will depend on what you are trying to achieve atthe time. When you first start Project 2000 you will be working in theGantt Chart view.

The View Bar On the left-hand side of the screen you will notice a vertical bar withbuttons on it; this is called the view bar. Notice that the button forGantt chart view is already shown depressed, to show that this is thecurrent view.

To change theview

You can change to a different view by clicking on a view in the ViewBar or by clicking the View menu. You will notice that there areMore Views available to you as well, the names of which may notmean much to you at this stage, but will do so later in the course.

To change toCalendar View

Click the Calendaroption on the View Baror click the View menu and choose Calendar. The Calendarview allows you to see a projects tasks laid out on a month

planner type calendar. You may choose to print this view whenyou are explaining task relationships to staff because a calendaris easy to understand.

To change thelook of theCalendar (forprinting)

Click Format menu

Click Timescale and change the options you are given.


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The Gantt Chart View


The Gantt Chart View

Click

here to

see a

Gantt

view of

an

existing

project

Gantt chart viewTask details

What is a Gantt chart?Gantt charts are named after the person who invented them. Theyallow the project manager to see graphically how long a task isplanned to take and what its relationship is with other tasks. Eachtask is represented on a chosen timescale by a bar. The bars length

indicates the length of the task, and its position in relation to otherbars indicates how the tasks are interrelated.

To open aGantt chartview

Click Gantt Chart on the View Baror click View menu and choose Gantt Chart

Thecomponentsof the Ganttchart view

This view is split into two parts known as panes (as in windowpanes).The left hand pane contains task information and displaysinformation in Table formatThe right hand pane shows the tasks as Gantt bars on your chosentimescale as a Chart

The borderbetween thepanes

The border between the panes can be moved. To see more of thetask view move your mouse cursor over the border and wait until itturns into a split arrow then click and drag until you can see whatyou wish to see in either pane.


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Defining the Project 11Project 2000 Foundation Cheltenham Computer Training, 1995-2001



Defining the Project


learning moduleyou will:

Understand how to create a new project

Be able to enter project information Understand the purpose of a Project Calendar

Understand how Statistics are calculated

Know where to find up-to-date project statistics

Understand the purpose of File Properties

Know how to enter and edit File Properties

Understand the difference between Save and Save As

Be able to save a new project file


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12 Defining the Project Cheltenham Computer Training, 1995-2001 Project 2000 Foundation



Project Information Entry


Entering Project Information

Before you can start work on a new project Microsoft Project 2000requires certain key information from you. This information will beused to set up the screens you require from scratch. If you do notenter the information it will default to the current day and yourproject will be scheduled to start from today, which is not what is

usually required.

To start a newproject

Click File menu

Click New

Click OK on the template of your choiceor if you are already on a new project screen or want to changewhat you previously entered

Click Project

Click Project Information


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ProjectInformationwindow

The Project Information dialog window asks you to supplyinformation as follows:

Start Date Setting a start date only allows Project 2000 toschedule forward and calculate an end date when

all your task information is entered.End Date Setting an end date only allows Project 2000 toschedule backward and calculate the start datewhen all your task information is entered.

ScheduleFrom

This is set automatically when you enter yourchoice of Start Date or End Date.

Current Date Set the current date here so that Project 2000 isable to track when your project should become live.Further into the project it will use the current dateto track how far tasks have slipped or are overdue.

Status Date You only need to change the status date if you arelikely to use the Earned Value calculation sheets. Ifyou are not, and for most cases this will be thecase, leave the value set to N/A and the systemwill set the date to the one you have selected in thecurrent date.

Calendar If you have already set up a calendar (or variouscalendars) for your company you can pick one onwhich to base your project. If you do not alreadyhave a calendar you can create one later.

Priority This is the relative priority of your project comparedto others if you are consolidating more than oneproject into your plan. Priority is used later on in theplanning phase when you are resource leveling.


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The Project Calendar


The Project Calendar

When Project 2000 is calculating the length of your project it will beusing the information that you enter to do it. You decide how longeach task is likely to take and then you assign resources to eachtask to get it done. Project will also work out how much work eachresource can do based on what you have entered about each

working day. If you tell Project 2000 that your working day is from9:00 to 17:00 with an hour for lunch each day Project will spreadthe task duration over this available time. Therefore, one of the firstthings you need to do is to set a calendar to define working time foryour project.

NOTE: Some resources may work to a separate calendar - anight shift for example. You can set up as many calendars asare needed by the resources in your project.

To set up aworkingcalendar

Click Tools, Change Working Time and the following windowappears


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Defaultworking time

When the window first appears you will notice that the default working dayis set from 08:00 to 12:00 with an hour for lunch, and then continuing on till17:00. This is a standard pattern and it is wise to leave this as the default.

You will need, however, to create a calendar of your own for your project.

To create aNew Calendar

To create a new calendar of your own click the New button

Give your calendar an appropriate name, the name of your company,Shift A, Shift B etc.

Choose to make a copy of a calendar. This is what you will base yournew one on. The first time you do this you will have to base it on theStandard calendar.

Click OK


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Changing the Default Working Day


Changing the Default Working Day

Select the day to change

by clicking on the day

Define the time and click

OK

To change thedefaultworking time

Now that you are working in your new calendar you can set the times thatare appropriate for each working day.

Click on the first From box and type the time, ensuring that you keythe time in the format 10:30

Click on the first To box and type the time up to lunch

In the second row type the times for the afternoon

You may need to use the third row if there is a standard evening shiftas well

To changetime forindividualdays

You may need to make further changes to the calendar such aschanging the finish time on Fridays only. To select a day of the weekthroughout the calendar click on the name of the day and thehighlight appears on all of these days in one step. Your calendar willthen look similar to the one shown here and you can change thetime


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To enter ashut-downperiod

Some firms or departments have shut down periods when essentialmaintenance is carried out - or it is a quiet time of year and it makessense to ensure that all staff take the same time as holiday.

Use the Scroll bars to navigate your way to the correct part of

the calendar. Click and drag over the days when the company will be shutdown to highlight them

Click the radio button forNon-working timeNotice that all none working days are then highlighted and thedate is underlined. Your example may look similar to the oneshown below


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Choose your Calendar for the Project


Choose your Calendarfor the Project

When you have

created a calendar for

your project be sure

to go back to Project

Information and

choose to use it !

NOTE: When you have gone to the trouble of creating your basecalendar don't forget that you need to use it for the project!

To link yournew calendar

to the project

Click Project, Project Information

Set the calendar to the one you have just created

Click OK


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The Statistics Window


The Statistics Window

The Statistics Window is designed to give you instant up-to-dateinformation about your project at the touch of a button.

Time Data The top section of the window relates to task scheduling andwhether tasks are on time or slipping.

Current This shows the current date for the project (the system date).Baseline The baseline is set when you have worked out everything in your

project and it is scheduled and ready to go. The baseline is theexpected time pattern for the project. When the project is runningand you are monitoring the performance of the project componentsProject 2000 compares actual task performance against thebaseline to measure whether tasks are slipping or being completedearlier and providing more slack.

Variance This is the difference between the Baseline and Actual at theCurrent date.

Start andFinishcolumns

Project 2000 predicts a new Finish date for the project based onwhat is entered about task performance. If there is slippage oncritical tasks, or if the Start date was later than anticipated, theFinish date will be pushed further backward.


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Cost Data Project 2000 calculates the total cost of a project based on theinformation that is entered about duration of tasks, and what theresources will cost for completing the task.

Current Like the time data, Project 2000 uses the system date to perform thecalculations.

Baseline This is the same as above, except that it is the predicted duration indays, work in hours and cost in Sterling (or whichever currency youwork in). You will be able to see the Total expected cost for yourproject and compare it to the actual costs.

Actual This is the actual amount of work that has been performed.Remaining This is a comparison in days, work and cost between the baseline

and actuals.

Percentages You will also be able to see at-a-glance how much of the project iscomplete expressed as a percentage.


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File Properties


File Properties

Additional information

to assist you and

others in finding the

correct project file

Hyperlink Base will

assist others in

locating Hyperlinks

associated with theproject on a shared

server

Each file that you save has Properties. The properties are whatmake the file behave the way it does. A property of this document,for example, is that it is a Word 2000 document that was created on14

thJune 2001 and that it has a name and a path to the location

where it is saved. Other properties associated with this document

are the date that it was last accessed and modified and its size.

What do youuse Propertiesfor?

You can use Properties to store essential information about the fileand this can then be used to locate it if you have trouble finding it.

Properties are also useful for storing information about the file thatyou may wish to print onto documents.


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ExaminingProperties

To examine the Properties for a Project 2000 file:

Click File

Click Properties

The example over the page shows the Contents sheet in Properties for

this Word document.

This is an example of the Summary Tabin a Word Document

This is an example of the Contents Tab in aProject 2000 file.


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Save and Save As

Error! Objects cannot be created from editing field codes.

It is always best to save your work regularly in case your computerhas a problem and crashes and you lose your work.

Do I Save orSave As?

The first time that you choose to save a Project 2000 file you willneed to choose a name and a location in which to store it, whetherit be on your machine, on a network machine, or on removablemedia such as a floppy disc or Zip disc.

To Save aProject for thefirst time

Click File

Click Save As

NOTE: If you have not yet saved the file and you chooseFile and SAVEinstead, it will take you to the SAVE ASwindow anyway

Choose the location for storing your project Type in a name for your project

Click on the Save button

For future up-dates to theproject

When you have already given the project a name and location -Click, File and Save to up-date the latest changes


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Tasks 25Project 2000 Foundation Cheltenham Computer Training, 1995-2001



Tasks


learning moduleyou will:

Understand the nature and purpose of Tasks

Be able to enter Task information Understand durations

Be able to estimate durations

Understand what milestones and phases are

Be able to enter milestones and phases into your project

Be able to enter recurring tasks into your project

Be able to delete tasks

Be able to move tasks


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26 Tasks Cheltenham Computer Training, 1995-2001 Project 2000 Foundation



Entering Tasks


Entering Tasks

Tasks with a

duration of

0 days are

called

milestones

Double Click onthe task area to

open a new task

information

window

Tasks are the backbone of Project 2000. Each project must be splitinto separate tasks. Each task is then given an expected durationand resources are assigned to it.

The quickest way of entering tasks and seeing their relationship is

to work in the Gantt view.

There are 4 different ways to open a Task Information window asfollows:

To open a newTaskInformationwindow

Point the mouse cursor on the left hand pane of the Gantt chartto the first row underneath the word Task and double click

or click on the Task Information button

or click Project menu and then Task Information

or press Shift + F2 keys together on the keyboard


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The sectionsof the TaskInformationwindow

The Task Information window is split into 5 tabbed sections.Clicking on a tab along the top of the window will take you to thatsection of the Task Information window.

The various tabs are described in more detail in the next section inrelation to linkages between tasks. For the purposes of this sectionwe will deal only with the tab marked General.

Name When entering a name for your task use a verb and a noun tomake it clear what the task is, such as "Mix Concrete", "PrintLeaflets".

Duration The duration is discussed in more detail on the next page.

Percentcomplete

This field is used when the project is underway - otherwise itdefaults to 0%.

Priority Type in a number between 0 and 1000, where 1000 = HighestPriority, and 0 = Lowest Priority. Your choice will affect Project2000s ability to rearrange and reschedule tasks with availableresources, which is called Resource Leveling. When ResourceLeveling, Project 2000 can choose to delay tasks. It will delay thetasks with Lowest Priorities first.

Start andFinish Dates

You can add start and finish dates - but it is best to leave theseuntil you have linked your tasks. Project 2000 will then be able towork out the dates for the individual tasks working from either theStart or End project date, depending on the choice you made in theProject Information window.


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Entering a Task Duration

Cheltenham Computer Training 1995-2001 Microsoft Project 2000 - Foundation -Slide No. 16

Entering a Task DurationM = Minutes

Hr = Hours

D = Days

W = Weeks

Mon = Months

0 days = Milestone

E prefix = Elapsed Time

(This is the total real time for the task - including

non working time eg., Saturday and Sunday)? suffix = Estimated Time

(E.g. 1ew? is 1 elapsed week estimated time)

When you enter tasks you will notice that they all start on thesame day. You can change this if you wish but it is better to dothis later. Project will calculate the start and end dates for youand you can fine tune the dates later.

To enter aduration

Click within the Duration field and you will be able to usethe spinner arrows to increase and decrease the values.The default unit of duration is D for Days but you can enterany of the following.

M MinutesHr Hours

D Days

Wk WeeksMon Months

Elapsed Time Elapsed time is "the time needed to complete a task includingnon-working time". For example Painting a wall may take 2days, if the task starts on a Friday the job will not be complete

until the end of Monday if Saturday and Sunday are non-working days. The elapsed duration for this task would then be4 elapsed days.

To specifyelapsed time

Prefix any of the durations with E, Edays, Emon, etc.

To specifyestimated time

Suffix any of the durations with ?, Edays?, ed?, d?, day?,week?, m? etc.


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Estimating Durations


Duration = Time taken to do the job

Number of resources for the job

e.g. painting a wall takes 2 days for one person or 1 day for 2 people

To estimate an unknown task duration use the following formula

E = [O + P + (4 x M)]

6

where E is the estimated timeO is an optimistic time estimate

P is a pessimistic time estimate

M is your estimate of the most probable time

Estimating Durations

When you are planning your task schedule it is important that youdo not carry out the process in isolation. Talk to the people who willactually do the work because they will have valuable informationthat will help you to get your project as accurate as possible. As anexample you may initially think that it will take the painter 2 days to

paint the wall, but when you talk to them, you may find that thereare 2 other tasks that you had not considered, such as rubbingdown and filling cracks in the plaster. You will also need to allowtime for the paint to dry before you can put up the shelves, againsomething that you may not have considered. So the task that wasinitially 2 days becomes one task of a three task phase and youneed to allow another day as well for drying.

Doing themaths

However, if you do not have any experienced people to ask you willstill have to provide some sort of estimate. The following calculationwill enable you to come up with a realistic duration.

E = [O + P + (4 x M)]

6

where E is the estimated timeO is an optimistic timeP is a pessimistic timeM is the most probable


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Recurring Tasks


Recurring Tasks

Set up recurring tasks to save

yourself time

Click Insert menu then

choose Recurring Task

Some tasks may occur on a regular basis throughout your projectsuch as a site meeting, or project review meeting. Rather thanenter each one individually you can enter them in one process as arecurring task.

To enter arecurring task

Click the Insert menu

Click the Recurring Taskicon

The recurring task window opens in which you can specify therecurrence pattern by clicking on the appropriate radio or checkbuttons, as well as defining a task name and duration. You mayalso choose to select a different resource calendar.


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Recurring Tasks continued


Recurring Tasks continued...

Recurring task

symbol

Click the + symbol

to see the detail

The recurringtask symbol

When the recurring task has been entered into the Ganttchart you will see a recurrence symbol next to the task in theinformation column, which is marked with the symbol

.

Expanding thegroup of tasks

To see all the tasks click on the expand symbol.

Contractingthe group of

tasks

To close the recurring tasks and see only the recurrence nameclick on the contract symbol.

To change arecurrencepattern

Double click the Recurring Task symbol to open up therecurrence pattern once again and then amend it as required.


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Editing Tasks


Editing Tasks

To edit a task double click it to open the task information

window and then amend it

To insert a task click the task below the place you want to add a

task and then click Insertor use the Ins key on the keyboard

From time to time you will need to go back and change some of thetask information that you have already entered. When you havelinked your tasks this action can have far reaching consequenceson other parts of the project that are dependent on it. However, in asimple task list where no tasks are yet linked it is easy and

inconsequential to change information.

To open anexisting taskfor editing

On the Task table pane of the Gantt chart

Point to the task

Double click it

The Task Information window will open. When the window is openchange the information, as needed. As soon as you have finished,closing the window once again automatically saves the new versionof the task.


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Changing Task Priority


Changing Task Priority

Changing the priority to a high

number relative to other tasks

tells Project that the task cannot

be delayed when levelled

We will be finding out about "leveling" later in the course, but fornow all you need to know is that "leveling" is the process ofadjusting tasks and resources when resources are over-worked. If,for example, you have entered a task that will take 2 people 2 days,and it clashes with their work on the same day on another task, the

2 people would not be able to get both tasks done; they would beover-worked (or in Project 2000 terms, "over allocated"). Leveling isan automatic process to adjust the tasks and resources so that thework can be completed.

Project 2000 will adjust tasks and resources within the limitationsthat you apply to the project and one of the limitations is the TaskPriority.


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Priority Levels There are 1001 levels of priority, ranging between 0 1000, or youcan type in any of the following phrases (as used in previousversions of Microsoft Project). Project 2000 translates the phrasesyou type into numeric values.

Cannot be leveledThis task will not be changed in any waywhen leveling is carried out (numeric 1000).

Lowest Tasks with this priority will be leveled first (0 100)

Very Low Tasks with this priority will be leveled afterLowest (101 200)

Lower Tasks with this priority will be leveled afterVery Low (201 300)

Low Tasks with this priority will be leveled afterLower tasks (301 400)

Medium Tasks with this priority will be leveled afterLow tasks (401 500)

High Tasks with this priority will be leveled afterMedium (501 600)

Higher Tasks with this priority will be leveled afterHigh (601 700)

Very High Tasks with this priority will be leveled afterHigher tasks (701 800)

Highest Tasks with this priority will be leveled last(801 999)

To set apriority

Click the Priority field and use the Up and Down arrows to selectyour choice


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Inserting a Task


Inserting a Task

Like Microsoft Excel, when editing an entry in a

cell the field entry bar is active and you can

choose or

When you are creating your task sequence you may notice thatthere are some tasks missing. You will need to insert them at anappropriate point in the list.

To insert anew task intothe sequence

Choose where you want your new task to be in the sequenceand then click the task immediately underneath it to select it.(Do not double click, because that will open the task window).

Click the Insert menuAnd click New Taskor press the Ins (insert) key on the keyboard

This opens a new Task Information window where you canenter all the details

Enteringinformation inthe field entry

bar

You can also enter information directly in the field entry bar clickingthe tick box to accept the entry when you have finished. This issimilar to Excel for those who know it.


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Deleting Tasks


Deleting Tasks

Dont panic if you accidentally

delete an item - Ctrl + Z will undo

Or click the Undo button

Select thetask and click

Delete

Project 2000 behaves in the same way as Excel in the respect ofdeleting entries.

To select onetask

Point to the ID number of the task in the task table pane

Click once to select all the task information

To select agroup ofadjacent tasks

Point to the ID number of the task and then

Click and drag down over the adjacent tasks or press and holdthe Shift key while using keyboard arrows to move up or down

To select agroup of non-adjacent tasks

Click and drag over the first task required and then press theCtrl key while selecting other tasks

To deleteselected tasks

When your task(s) is selected press the Delete key on thekeyboard or click Edit menu and click Delete

To Undo Press Ctrl + Zor click the Undo button

NOTE: You only get one undo.


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38 Tasks Cheltenham Com

microsoft project 2000 foundation level training manual

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