Chapter - 1 A Project has: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

A Goal A Project Manager Tasks Timings of those tasks Dependencies / timing relationships in those tasks Resources people, equipment, supplies, facilities Budget / Cost

Three Ts Tasks, Timing & Dependencies All tasks have timing called Duration to be provided based on experience & judgement Only tasks without duration are called Milestones Marks a moment in time that must reflect in project outline Dependencies are the timing relationships among tasks one task must begin only once another task is complete. Only after you start to assign these relationships can you begin to see a projects timing as related to not just each tasks duration but also the specific ways in which the tasks relate to each other. In addition to applying dependencies to tasks, you can apply Constraints. For example, say that you dont want to start shipping your new cake flavor until you get the ad for it in your Christmas catalog, so you set a dependency between those two events. You can also set a constraint which says that you must start producing the cakes no later than November 3. In this case, if you dont make the catalog deadline (dependency is not met), the product will still ship on November 3; that task will not be allowed to slip its constraint because of this dependency relationship. [Constraint takes priority over dependency] Resources arent just people: A resource can be a piece of equipment you rent, a meeting room that you have to pay an hourly fee to use, or a box of nails or a software program you have to buy. Project allows for three kinds of resources: Work resources, material resources, and cost resources. A work resource is charged by how many hours or days the resource (often human) works on a task. Material resource, such as sewing supplies or steel, is charged by a per-use cost or by a unit of measurement (such as square yards or linear feet or tons). Cost resource has a set cost, such as a conference fee of $250; this cost doesnt vary by how much time you spend at the conference or how many people attend. Resources and their costs are depicted on Resource Sheet Imp: Resources tend to have conflicts. These conflicts have to do with assigned resources that become overallocated for their available work time. For example, if you assign one poor soul to three 8-hour tasks that must all happen on the same day and in the same eight hours. Baseline: After you build all your tasks, give them durations and dependencies, and assign all your resources and costs, you set a baseline. A baseline is a snapshot of your project at the moment you feel your plan is final and youre ready to proceed with the project.

After you set a baseline, you record some activity on your tasks. Then you can compare that actual activity with your baseline because Project saves both sets of data in your schedule. Tracking activity in your project involves recording the actual timing of tasks and recording the time that your resources have spent on those tasks, as well as entering any actual costs that accrue. Whether you have good news or bad, you can use Reports to show your boss how things are going compared with how you thought they would go. The dreaded triple constraint - You can have it fast, cheap, or right; pick two. You have timing, resources (which are essentially costs), and quality of the product or service produced at the end of the project. Microsoft Project helps you manage the resources and timing of your project. The quality of your project is often affected directly by how well you manage them. If you add time, costs increase because resources are working longer hours at a certain wage. If you take away resources, you save money, but this can affect quality and so on. Coming to a logical balance of time, money, and quality is at the core of what a good project manager does throughout the life of a project. Tried and True methodologies The Gantt Chart - The main view of Project, shows you a spreadsheet with columns of data along with a graphical representation of the tasks in the project arranged along a horizontal timeline. Being able to view all this information on one page helps you understand whats happening in your project in terms of time and costs. The Network Diagram (also called a logic diagram), is essentially the Microsoft version of a PERT chart (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) focuses on work, not on time. Risk management is the art of anticipating risks, ranking them from most to least likely, and determining strategies to prevent the most likely ones from occurring. Project helps you with risk management by allowing you to try out what-if scenarios: You can change the start date or length of a task or phase of tasks (for example) and see just what that change does to your schedule, such as the delays, cost overruns, and resource conflicts that might occur in such a scenario, down to the last hour and penny. Resource management consists of using resources wisely. In Project, tools are available, such as a resource graph (traditionally called a histogram) and the resource usage chart, which reflects resource workload. Resource leveling (a calculation that automatically reschedules resources to resolve overbooking), which can enable you to manage resources much more effectively. You can see how overbooked a resource the is on any date. You can use codes for resources that designate skill levels or abilities so that finding the right resource for each job is as simple as performing a search. MS Project benefits: Project automatically calculates costs and timing for you based on your input. You can quickly recalculate what-if scenarios to solve resource conflicts, get your costs within budget, or meet your final deadline. Project offers views and reports that, with the click of a button, make a wealth of information available to you and those you report to. You can use built-in templates to get a head start on your project. Project templates are prebuilt plans for a business project, such as an engineering project, a new product rollout, software development etc. You can create resources for your project according to information you already created in your Outlook Address Book.

 A number of tools in Project employ complex algorithms (that you couldnt even begin to figure out) to do such tasks as level resource assignments to solve resource conflicts, filter tasks by various criteria, model what-if scenarios, and calculate in dollars the value of work performed to date. Getting started - You have three choices when starting a new project: 1. You can use Project Guide to get Projects assistance creating a project (Wizard In logical sequence Tasks Resources Track Report) 2. You can build a project on your own from scratch by entering individual task and resource details 3. You can use a project template that already contains data related to your industry or the type of project youre doing Nothing is as daunting or as inspiring as facing a blank page. Starting from scratch New Project Info: [Project => Project Information] Start Date Finish Date (Absolute drop-dead date) Schedule from (start date or finish date) - Most projects work forward from the start date. However, if you have an absolute drop-dead date for the end of your project (for example, if youre organizing a sports event), you might want to set the finish date and then work backward to fit all your tasks into the allotted length of time. If you change this setting to Project Finish Date, the Finish Date field becomes available. Status date - By default there is no status date set for the project. You use a status date when youre tracking the progress of your project at regular intervals. If you set a status date, your computer assumes that any activity you record in your project is being tracked as of this date. Working calendar - three choices - Standard, Night Shift, and 24 Hours. If your company uses resources in three shifts per day a total of 24 hours of straight working time and all those shifts would contribute work to your project, choose 24 Hours. If you use a day shift and a night shift, choose Night Shift. If you work a standard 8-hour day, choose Standard. (Most projects use a standard calendar with a typical 8hour workday.) You can also set up individual calendars for each resource you create. Priority - assigning a priority (such as 500 for high priority or 100 for a lower priority) can be especially useful if you use the same resources across several projects. With your priorities set on all projects, Project tools can then automatically reallocate resources. Create custom project information fields - for example, you might want a field that explains which department in the company is running the project.

Chapter 2 The file that you create in Project is called a Project plan, or schedule. In a typical Project plan, you have information about the following: 1. Resources: The resource name, resource type, rate per hour, overtimerate, assignments, department, cost per use, and more 2. Tasks: The task name, duration, start and finish date, assigned resources, costs, constraints, and dependencies, for example

3. Project timing and progress: Several types of calendars, project start and finish dates, percentage of tasks completed, resource hours spent, baseline information, critical path information, and more 4. Financial information: Earned value, time and cost variance, projected costs for uncompleted work etc. Views: Gantt Chart View - In Gantt Chart view (and any view with a sheet pane), you can change what information is shown in the sheet by using tables. Tables are preset combinations of columns of data that you can easily display by choosing ViewTable and then choosing a table (such as Entry or Cost) from the submenu that appears. Network Diagram View - The organization of information represents the workflow in your project, with a series of task boxes. The boxes include dependency lines running between them to reflect the sequence of tasks. You read this view from left to right, with the earlier tasks on the left flowing into later tasks and subtasks to the right. Tasks that happen in the same timeframe are aligned vertically above each other. Tasks with an X through them have been marked as complete. Network Diagram view has no timescale because the view isnt used to see specific timing but rather to see the general order of tasks in a plan. However, each task box holds specific timing information about each task, such as the start date, finish date, and duration. Calendar View - looks like a monthly Outlook calendar, with boxes that represent days on a calendar in rows that represent the days in a week. Changing Timescale: - Format => Timescale To modify the contents of the Network Diagram boxes: 1. Right-click anywhere in Network Diagram view outside any box and then choose Box Styles. 2. In the Style Settings For list, select a task category. 3. To modify the data included in the task boxes, select a different template from the Data Template list.

Chapter 3 Tasks are scheduled and resources are assigned based on the calendar settings that you make. Calendars 4 types 1. Base calendar: This is the calendar template that all other calendars are built on top of. Three Base calendars are available: Standard, 24 Hours, and Night Shift. 2. Project calendar: This is the default calendar for scheduling. This is where you choose which Base calendar template this particular project should use. 3. Resource calendar: This combines the Base calendar settings with any exceptions (nonworking times) that you set for a particular resource. 4. Task calendar: This is where you can set exceptions for a particular task. When you create tasks and assign resources to work on them, Project 2007 has to base that work on a timing standard. If you say that a task should be completed in one workday, Project 2007 knows that a workday means 8 hours (or 12 hours or whatever) because thats how you set up a standard workday in your Project calendar. Likewise, suppose that you assign a resource to put in two weeks of work on a task in a company that uses a standard five-day workweek. If that resources own calendar is set for a standard four-day workweek, the two

weeks of work put in by that resource defer to the timing of the Resource calendar for a total of only eight workdays. The nature of a task can have an effect on resource time. A two-week, effort-driven task isnt complete until its resources have put in two weeks (according to the Project or Task calendar) of effort. The three Base calendar templates are as follows: 1. Standard: The default setting. Sets a working day as 8 a.m.5 p.m. with an hour for lunch and a five-day, MondayFriday workweek. 2. 24 Hours: Allows work to go on around the clock every day of the week. 3. Night Shift: Sets the working time as 11 p.m.8 a.m. with an hour for dinner and a six-night, Monday Saturday workweek. How one calendar relates to another? All calendars in your project are controlled, by default, by the Project calendar setting. Heres the tricky part, though: When you change a Task or Resource calendar (this type of change is referred to as an exception), you have to understand which setting takes precedence. Heres how this precedence thing works: With no other settings made, the Base calendar template you select for the Project calendar when you first create the project controls the working times and days of all tasks and resources. If you make changes in the working hours for a resource, those settings take precedence over the Project calendar for that resource when you assign it to a task. Likewise, if you assign a different Base calendar for a task, that calendar takes precedence over the Project calendar for that task. If you apply one calendar to a resource and a different calendar to a task that the resource is assigned to, Project 2007 uses only common hours to schedule the resource. For example, if the Task calendar allows work from 8 a.m.5 p.m. and the Resource calendar allows work from 6 a.m.2 p.m., the resource works from 8 a.m.2 p.m., which is the only period the calendars have in common. You can set a task to ignore Resource calendar settings by opening the Task Information dialog box (double-click the task name in Gantt Chart view) and selecting the Scheduling Ignores Resource Calendars check box on the Advanced tab. (This setting isnt available if the Task calendar is set to None.) You might make this setting if you know that all resources are required to be involved in a task (such as a quarterly company meeting), regardless of their usual work hours.