Microsoft project 2016 beginners guide pdf free. MICROSOFT PROJECT TUTORIAL

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mark tasks on track, and use the completion percentage tools to note which tasks are on time or behind schedule. Train for phase 3 cut-over 12 days http://replace.me/6203.txt 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. Leveling can delay the individual task finish dates and even the project finish date. Microsoft project 2016 beginners guide pdf free can:.
 
 

 

– Microsoft Project Tutorial for Beginners Smartsheet

 

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. Click the box under Resource Name and choose a resource from the drop-down menu.

Then click OK. You can add another person to the same task by clicking the area under Resource Name and choosing the name you want. Click OK. As you assign tasks, the amount of time will be added to the Gantt chart. Note: Clicking the Next button located on the right side of the OK button will load the next task in the Gantt chart. When scheduling tasks with Microsoft Project, you have two options. You can assign and track tasks manually, or use the automatic feature to schedule tasks based on dependencies, calendars, and constraints.

Learn how to use the automatic feature below: 1. Click Edit project settings. The default is set to Manually Scheduled. Select and click Auto Scheduled and click the OK button. To create task dependencies in Microsoft Projects, link any two tasks in Gantt chart view. When linked, all changes made to the first task affect the second. 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. Once you have entered your timeline and resource information, you can use Microsoft Project to run a cost overview with the Reports tab. Select the Report Tab Click the Report tab to get a quick overview of the reports you can run. To track the progress of your Microsoft Project, ensure that you keep the status of tasks updated at all times.

Mark tasks on track, and use the completion percentage tools to note which tasks are on time or behind schedule. Click a task that you want to update. If the task is on track, click the Mark on Track button in the ribbon.

Use Predetermined Percentages to Track Tasks To the left of the Mark on Track option, there are percentages that you can use to denote the progress of a task. Update Tasks Sometimes tasks fall behind or get accomplished ahead of schedule. You can use the Update Task option to update the status. Click the down arrow next to Mark on Track and click Update Tasks. A dialogue box will appear where you can update status and change start and end dates. You will obviously have to change many of these.

Doing so requires the following. In the Duration field enter the duration. Note : A milestone is a task whose duration is zero days.

Any task can be changed to a milestone by changing duration to zero. You will not need to enter the durations of tasks which have subtasks subordinated below them. These tasks have their durations calculated as the sum of all the demoted task durations.

Consider the following list of tasks: NO. It is not possible for the user to change this. The same can be said for subtasks when they have sub-subtasks. MS Project accepts durations in minutes, hours, days or weeks. When entering data into the duration filed, use the following designations for minutes m , hours h , days d , or weeks w.

The default is days d and therefore, the “d” is optional and need not be entered when the intent is to enter durations in days. MS Project has its own built-in understanding of time and it is making a lot of assumptions about the way in which you work. For example, it is assuming 8-hour work days, five-day work weeks and that you do not work on Sat. To see this, view the.

You can change these, but you cannot assign a task ID number that has already been assigned. For example, it is assuming 8-hour work-days, five-day work weeks and that you do not work on Sat. To see this view the project in the Calendar view; notice the duration of the tasks and how they fall across weekends as necessary to fill up the required number of weekdays. Inserting Columns You can insert columns within any table in the Gantt view.

Make certain that your first task is a summary task under which all other tasks are subordinated. Include a cost column in the entry table next to the duration column.

You can also include major function, output, and input columns within the entry table simply by clicking on Insert and then Column and typing in the name of the column, followed by clicking on OK.. To show that a particular task can begin only when the predecessor task has completed, the two tasks must be linked.

After you decide the task sequence, you can link the tasks, as follows. In the task name field, select two or more tasks that you want to link. To avoid confusion, it is best to select only a pair of tasks at a time. The first task you click on will be assumed to be the precedent task and the second task that you click on will be assumed to be the subsequent task.

Click the Link task button on the tool bar. It is the button with the solid chain link icon. MS Project generally links tasks as Finish-to-Start tasks, i. Several precedent tasks can be linked into a single subsequent task, but this has to be done in pairs in which each precedent task is clicked on first, followed by a click on the subsequent task. In the task name field, double click the task you want to link. The task information dialog box appears.

Click the predecessor tab. In the ID field, type the ID number of the predecessor task this is the number in the column to the left of task name field. Click in the Type box and then click the drop down arrow to see the four types of dependency relationships that can be established. You can also select link under the Edit menu item on the menu bar after selecting the pair of tasks to be linked.

In these latter cases, the analyst wants tasks to start together or finish together. To change the link type, identify the starting task by clicking on it. Select the predecessors tab and click on the link type field. To do so, begin in the Gantt View with the Entry table visible. Slide the partition to the right to expose as much of the entry table as possible.

You should see two side-by-side columns the start column and the finish column. By changing any of the dates in these columns, you are setting a hard date constraint. If you do so, a flag will appear in the very first column of the entry table, the column labeled I for information. If you rest the cursor on that flag, a message appears that informs you of the hard date constraint that has been applied to the task. Only one hard date constraint can be set per task at the start date or at the stop date, but not both.

Resources can be places, departments, businesses, people, equipment–anything required to complete an activity. When you create an assignment, you assign a resource to a task. The resource issue makes the project. You can assign: Individual resources Assign resources part time Several resources Remove resources from a task Replace one resource with another. In the Task name field, select the task to which you have to assign a resource.

Click on the assign resource button on the tool bar button with 2 faces on it. In the Name field, type in the name of the resource. Click assign. This is a bad assumption in the software business because as Brooks [1] pointed out, men and months are not interchangeable unless there is no interaction between them.

If you decide to split your job with another person, you will have to spend some time training the other person to do your part of the job. Then you will have to interact with the other person as the two of you together build the interfaces that are necessary between each person s module s.

Clearly, the time is not split in half. In the Task name field, select the task to which you have to remove a resource. Click on the assign resource button button with 2 faces on it. Select the resource you want to remove. Click Remove. To print the required view,. The numbers to the left will appear automatically if you add the WBS column as demonstrated in class. The numbers shown in the WBS column above are there to indicate subordination.

This is precisely what the 1. Likewise, Management Supervisor Technical Clerical. Notice that, for the walk-throughs, all resources get assigned. MS Project will try to cut the duration to something less than one day.

You must re-set the duration to one day for the walk-throughs once all resources have been assigned. Explain why summary tasks have no stated duration in the table above. Explain why the first subordinate task immediately below a summary task has no predecessor. The end result of all of these tasks and assignment entries is the following:.

It also helps you to determine how closely the final project cost matches its estimated cost and also helps in planning for the future. For hourly rates, you can assign a standard rate, which is the rate you pay a resource during normal working hours.

Rate is the amount you will pay the resource for any overtime that it does. To resources that charge a flat amount to do a job, you can assign a fixed cost per use. On the View baron the left, click Resource sheet 2. In the Std. Rate, Ovt. On the View Bar, click Gantt Chart. On the View menu, click on Table, select Cost from the list and then click on Cost.

In the Fixed Cost field for the task, type-in the cost 4. A fixed resource cost is added to other resource costs when MS Project calculates the total cost of a task, but doesn t depend on the time a resource spends working on the task.

In the Task Name field, select a task. On the Window menu, click Split. In the Resource Name field, select the resource name. If a new, undefined resource is to be assigned, it must be added to the list, so do so.

On the format menu, point to details and then click Resource Cost. In the Task type box, click Fixed Duration. In the units field for the resource, type 0 and then click OK 8. In the Cost field, type the fixed resource cost. On the Window menu, click Remove Split.

Notice how this task is displayed on the Gantt Chart. You can:. View cost per resource. View the total project cost. View cost per task The sum of individual task costs make up most if not all of the total project cost. To view the total cost of each task 1. On the vertical View Bar on the left, click Gantt Chart. Select View on the menu bar, click Table, and then choose Cost.

Scroll the table on the left to view the Total Cost field. Alternatively, pull the partition back to the right to view more of the table and less of the Gantt Chart. View the cost per Resource This helps you to know the total cost of that resource for all the tasks the resource is assigned to.

On the vertical View Bar on the left, click Resource Sheet. On the Project menu, click Project Information. Click Statistics. Perhaps you would like to view project costs on the Entry table which is the default table that loads up with MS Project when it is booted. You would like an additional column to appear right after the name field and right before the duration field.

First position the highlight anywhere in the duration column. The click on the insert item on the menu bar. Then, click on Column In the Column Definition dialog box that appears, click on the drop down arrow associated with the Field Name field, the first field in the box. The list of columns that you can insert appear alphabetized by name. Scroll to cost and click on it. Now, click on the OK button in the upper right corner of the box.

The column now appears in your table exactly where you want it. And, now you can see all of your costs. The main goals of analyzing your project plan are to: Shorten the schedule, to meet project deadline. Distribute the work load evenly, by resolving resource over allocations, so that no resources are overworked.

Reduce costs to a minimum, to save money and complete the project within your budget. The main factors that affect how MS Project determines a task s start and finish dates are: Placement.

In a logically ordered set of tasks, the tasks are usually performed in the order in which they appear in the task list. Several factors affect duration, but, in general, the longer the duration you enter, the later a task finishes.

Changing the duration may change the task finish date. Task dependencies. The type of link you establish between two tasks determines whether the successor task starts after the predecessor task is complete. By replacing one type of link with another, you can change the task s start and finish dates and, perhaps the project end date.

Overlap and delay. The overlap or lead-time you add between two tasks causes the successor task to begin earlier.

The delay or lag time between two tasks causes the successor task to begin later. You can force a task to start or finish on or near a date you specify by entering a start or finish date yourself or you can change the default constraint, as soon as possible to an inflexible constraint such as Must start on or Finish no later than. Its however better to let MS Project calculate and, if the schedule changes, recalculate. Assigned resources. When you assign resources to a task, the task duration can change.

Generally, more the resources you assign to a task, shorter its duration becomes. If you assign resources to a task, then by default, MS Project calculates a task duration based on the amount of work required to complete the task, the number of resources allotted, the working times and work assigned to the resources.

By changing the amount of work required to accomplish a task, you can change the task duration and thus the final date. Task type. By default each task is a fixed units task. You can change the task type to fixed duration or fixed work.

Tasks that can delay a project are called critical tasks and the ones that do not delay are called non-critical tasks. Critical tasks make up a special path known as the critical path. The critical path is the sequence of tasks that ends on the latest finish date, i. As previously mentioned in the main body of this chapter, the critical path is the longest path through the network and the path that determines the duration of the total project. By default when we create the resources in a plan, the resource calendar matches the Standard base calendar.

And any changes you make to the Project Calendar, gets reflected automatically in resource calendars, except when you create an exception in the resource calendar. In that case even if you update the project calendar, the exception in resource calendar is not affected. Select the resource for whom you want to create an exception.

In example below I have chosen John. The Change Working Time dialog box appears. In the following screen you can see we have chosen John. Double-click the [default] cell below the Name column heading. We have chosen Tuesday and Wednesday. Click Set day s to these specific working times. Change the time.

Select the resource for whom you want to change work schedule. We have chosen John again. Click OK to close the Dialog box. You will now see all Fridays are greyed out in the calendar. You can record some top level information for your. Under Info Tab go to Project Information. Click arrow near Project Information to click Advanced Properties. A dialog box opens, you can type in the changes as required. WBS identifies the deliverable at the lowest level as work package.

So a task is action-oriented, and the work package is the deliverable or a result of one or more tasks being performed. There is a significant amount of confusion between what constitutes an activity and what constitutes a task within the project management community. But for MS Project, a task is the effort and action required to produce a particular project deliverable. Enter the task name.

In the following screen, we have entered 5 different tasks. Enter Duration A duration of the task is the estimated amount of time it will take to complete a task. As a project manager you can estimate a task duration using expert judgment, historical information, analogous estimates or parametric estimates.

You can enter task duration in terms of different dimensional units of time, namely minutes, hours, days, weeks, and months. You can use abbreviations for simplicity and ease as shown in the following table. So 1 day is not equivalent to 24 hours but has 8 hours of work for the day. Of course, you can change these defaults anytime you want. You can apply this to all projects or a specific project that you are working on currently.

One of the neat tricks MS Project possesses is, it considers duration of the task in work- day sense. So if you have a non-working day in between, it accommodates this and ensures a task that takes 16 hours to complete to end on the 3rd day. In other words, if you have a task that needs 16 hours to complete starting on Monday AM if this is the time your work day starts, and 8 hours being total work hours in a day , and Tuesday being a holiday, the task will logically end on the evening of Wednesday.

Enter the duration. Task 1 in the following screenshot You can also enter Start and Finish date and MS Project will calculate the duration on its own. Task 3 and Task 4 in the following screenshot Note: In the above screenshot, Task 6 is scheduled to start on Sunday, which is a non- working day and ends on Wednesday. So essentially, one would believe that with these 3 days Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, the duration calculated would be 3 days.

But MS Project calculates it as 4 days. So one needs to be careful when choosing the start date of the task. Because for any successive operation, MS Project considers that Task 6 will take 4 days. The next time, you change the start date, the Finish date changes to reflect this 4-day duration. Elapsed Duration Elapsed Duration is the time that elapses while some event is occurring which does not require any resources.

Elapsed duration for a task can be used in instances where a task will go on round-the-clock without any stoppage.

A normal workday has 8 hours, and an elapsed day duration will have 24 hours. The task also continues over non-working holidays and vacations and working days. So 1ew is seven hour days. And it takes 4 days for this to happen. It does not need a resource or a work effort, and all you are doing is waiting for it to dry. You can use 4ed as the time duration, which signifies 4 elapsed days, the paint can dry regardless of whether it is a weekend or if it falls on a holiday.

Here in this example, the drying occurs over 24 hours over the weekend. They are used as major progress points to manage project success and stakeholder expectations.

They are primarily used for review, inputs and budgets. Mathematically, a milestone is a task of zero duration. And they can be put where there is a logical conclusion of a phase of work, or at deadlines imposed by the project plan. There are two ways you can insert a milestone. You can see the milestone appear with a rhombus symbol in the Gantt Chart View on the right. MS Project converts it to a Milestone. But one can also convert a task of non-zero duration into a Milestone.

This is rarely used and causes confusion. Double-click a particular Task name. Task Information dialog box opens. Create Summary Task There can be a huge number of tasks in a project schedule, it is therefore a good idea to have a bunch of related tasks rolled up into a Summary Task to help you organize the plan in a better way. It helps you organize your plan into phases. In MS Project , you can have several number of sub-tasks under any higher level task.

These higher level tasks are called Summary Task. At an even higher level, they are called Phases. Remember because summary task is not a separate task entity but a phase of the project with several sub-tasks in it, the duration of the summary task is from the start of the first sub-task to the finish of the last sub-task. This will be automatically calculated by MS Project.

Of course, you can enter a manual duration of the summary task as well which could be different from the automatically calculated duration. MS Project will keep track of both but this can cause significant confusion. In most cases, you should ensure that there is no manually entered duration for any task you will be using as a Summary Task.

If you would like to group Task 4 and Task 5 into a Summary Task 1. You can do it in two ways. Method 1 Select the names of Task 4 and Task 5. Rename it to Summary Task 1. Method 2 You can click Task 4 row. You can rename the Task. Here it is renamed as Summary Task 1. Now select Task 4 and Task 5. For example, Task 2 can start once Task 1 has finished. These dependencies are called Links.

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge PMBOK Guide does not define the term dependency, but refers to it as a logical relationship, which in turn is defined as a dependency between two activities, or between an activity and a milestone. In MS Project, the first task is called a predecessor because it precedes tasks that depend on it. The following task is called the successor because it succeeds, or follows tasks on which it is dependent.

Any task can be a predecessor for one or more successor tasks. Likewise, any task can be a successor to one or more predecessor tasks. There are only four types of task dependencies, here we present them with examples. Most used. One does not have to finish collecting survey response before starting the tabulation. Least used. Method 1 Select the two tasks you want to link. In the following screenshot taken as an example, we have selected names, Task 1 and Task 2.

Task 1 and Task 2 are linked with a Finish-to-Start relationship. A drop down box appears with all Tasks defined in the project. Choose the predecessor task. Click OK. Here I have chosen Task 3. All tasks get linked. To select non-adjacent tasks, hold down Ctrl key and select each task separately. Respect Links If you are in Manually Scheduled mode, any change in duration of the predecessor task will not reflect on Start date of Task 4.

Scheduling is controlled in two ways. Manual Scheduling: This is done to quickly capture some details without actually scheduling the tasks. It calculates values such as task durations, start dates, and finish dates automatically. It takes into accounts all constraints, links and calendars. For example, at Lucerne Publishing, the new book launch plan has been reviewed by the resources who will carry out the work and by other project stakeholders. Although you expect the plan to change somewhat as you learn more about the book launch, you now have enough confidence in the overall plan to switch from manual to automatic task scheduling.

Converting Task to Automatic Schedule We have three different methods to convert a task to automatic schedule. Method 1 If you want to change the mode for a particular task, say Task 5 in the following example. Click on Task Mode cell in the same row. Then, click the down arrow to open a dropdown box, you can select Auto Scheduled. Method 3 To switch completely to Auto Schedule mode: Toggle the scheduling mode of the plan by clicking the New Tasks status bar at the bottom-left and then selecting Auto scheduling mode.

Go to File tab and click Options. They can be people, equipment, facilities, funding, or anything except labor required for the completion of a project task. Optimum Resource Scheduling is the key to successful project management.

Travel expenses, food expenses, etc. For example, paint being used while painting a wall. Note: Be aware of the crucial difference between People and Equipment resources.

People resources will have limited work hours, say 6, 8 or 12 hours. Equipment resources have different working capacities of 2, 8 or 24 hours and could have maintenance breaks as well. Also note, that it is possible multiple people resources might be using one equipment resource, or one equipment might be accomplishing multiple tasks.

Enter Work Resource Names You can enter resource names according to your convenience. Click the cell directly below the Resource Name heading column. Enter Resources as an individual person, job function or group. The resource is available full-time on each workday. If a resource does not represent an individual person but a job function, where a group of people with the same skill set can work on the task, we can enter larger Max Units to represent the number of people in the group.

Click the Max. Units field for the Engineers resource. Press Enter. Units would mean you expect the resource capacity to be lower than a full-time resource.