Tutorial2:

Creating a Project Sched le

CreatingaProjectSchedule

Microsoft Project 2010

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 InTutorialSection2.1 XP
you will:
youwill:
Startanewproject
Examineschedulingdefaults
h d l d f l
Changeaprojectandtaskcalendar
Enterandedittasksanddurations
Enter and edit recurring tasks and milestones
Enterandeditrecurringtasksandmilestones
Enterlagandleadtimes

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 2
 InTutorialSection2.2 XP
you will:
youwill:
Enterandedittaskdependencies
Viewprojectstatistics
Showtheprojectsummary
Reviewprojectstatistics
Create and manipulate summary tasks
Createandmanipulatesummarytasks
Developaworkbreakdownstructure

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 3
 XP

Bydefault,thenewprojectfileisscheduledfroma
project Start date
projectStartdate
Alltasksarescheduledtobeginassoonaspossible
Project2010calculatestheproject
Project 2010 calculates the projectssFinishdate
Finish date
basedonthe:
Tasks
Durations
Dependencies

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 4
 ProjectInformationDialogBox XP

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 5
 SchedulingaProjectfromaFinish XP
Date
WhenaprojectisscheduledfromaFinishdate,such
as a conference all tasks are scheduled to begin as
asaconference,alltasksarescheduledtobeginas
lateaspossible.
Project2010calculatestheproject
Project 2010 calculates the projectssStartdatebased
Start date based
onthetasks,durationsanddependencies.
Thedefaultisforalltasksandtheprojecttostartas
p j
lateaspossible.
y pp y
ToschedulefromaFinishDate,youapplythissetting g
assoonastheprojectiscreated.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 6
 ProjectScheduledFromFinishDate XP

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 7
 TheTaskInformationDialogBox XP

TheTaskInformation dialogboxisacomprehensive
collection of all of the information about each task
collectionofalloftheinformationabouteachtask
organizedintosixcategories:
General
Predecessors
Resources
Advanced
Notes
CustomFields
ld
TheTaskInformation dialogboxisanotherviewby
which you can examine and enter data about a task
whichyoucanexamineandenterdataaboutatask.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 8
 TheTaskInformationDialogBox XP

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 9
 ConstraintsusingTaskInformation
XP

Howtheprojectisoriginallyscheduled(fromaStart
dateorfromaFinishdate)determinestheinitial
)
Constrainttypes(assoonaspossibleoraslateas
possible).
TheinitialConstrainttypehasatremendousimpact
h l h d
onthecalculatedstartandfinishdatesforeachtask
entered into the project.
enteredintotheproject.
AlwaystakethetimetoexaminetheProject
Informationdialogboxbeforestartinganewproject.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 10
 ExaminingProjectCalendars XP

Bydefault,theentireproject,eachtask,andeach
resourceisscheduledaccordingtotheStandard
calendar.
TheStandardcalendar specifiesthatMondaythrough
Friday are working days with 8 hours of work completed
Fridayareworkingdayswith8hoursofworkcompleted
eachday.
SaturdayandSundayaredesignatedasnonworkingdays.
TheCalendarcanbemodifiedtoidentifyholidaysor
othernonworkingdaysortimesinwhichworkshouldnot
be scheduled
bescheduled.
Youcanalsocreateuniquecalendarsfortasksand
resourcesthatdonotfollowtheworkingandnonworking
timesspecifiedbytheStandardcalendar.
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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 11
 ChangeTimeforaWorkWeek XP

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 12
 CreatingaTaskCalendar XP

An
Anindividualtaskcalendar
individual task calendar canbecreatedforany
can be created for any
taskthatdoesnotfollowtheworkingand
nonworkingtimesspecifiedbytheprojectcalendar.
Anindividualresourcecalendarcanbecreatedfora
resourcethatdoesnotfollowtheworkingand
nonworking times specified by the project calendar
nonworkingtimesspecifiedbytheprojectcalendar.
Bydefault,alltasksandresourceassignmentsinherit
p j y p y
theprojectcalendarunlessyouspecifysomething g
else.
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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 13
 ChangingtheCalendarforaTask XP

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 14
 ApplyingaTaskCalendartoaTaskXP

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 15
 EnteringTasksandDurations XP
in the Entry Table
intheEntryTable
Enteringtasksanddurationsisprobablythesingle
mostimportanteffortindevelopingausefulproject
p p g p j
file.
Iftasksareomittedordurationsunderestimated,the
valueoftheprojectsschedulingandcost
l f h h d l d
informationiscompromisedandthesuccessofthe
project might be jeopardized.
projectmightbejeopardized.
Oftenyouwillneedtochangeanexistingtaskor
insert,delete,ormoveatask.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 16
 EditingTasksandDurations XP
in the Entry Table
intheEntryTable
Project2010makesitveryeasytoeditanexisting
p j
project.
Manyoftheeditingskillsthatyougainedwhen
editingaspreadsheetwillapplytoaprojecttable.
Tochangeanexistingentry,youfirstnavigatetothe
cell.Oncethere,youhaveseveraloptions:
Retypetheentry
R t th t
Edittheentrydirectlyinthecell
EditanentryintheEntrybar
y y

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 17
 EnteringandEditingTasks XP
in the Entry Table
intheEntryTable

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 18
 ToDeleteaTask XP

IfyouwanttodeleteanentiretaskrowinProject
2010 you must select the entire row then press the
2010,youmustselecttheentirerow,thenpressthe
Deletekey.
Project2010includesaSmartTag
Project 2010 includes a Smart Tag toallowyouto
to allow you to
specifywhatyouwanttodelete.
Alistarrowappearswhenyouplacethepointerover
pp y p p
theSmartTag.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 19
 SmartTagSelectionforTask XP
Deletion

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 20
 Copy,PasteandMove XP

Copying,pasting,andmovingtasksareimportant
task editing skills
taskeditingskills.
Project2010offersavarietyoftoolsthatyoucanuse
to accomplish these common tasks, including:
toaccomplishthesecommontasks,including:
Menubaroptions
Toolbarbuttons
Quickkeystrokes
Rightclickshortcutmenus

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 21
 FillHandle XP

Ifseveraltaskdurationsarethesame,youcanuse
either the copy and paste features to quickly enter
eitherthecopyandpastefeaturestoquicklyenter
thedurationsorthefillhandle topopulatecells.
Ifyouhaveusedthefillhandle
If you have used the fill handle inExceloranother
in Excel or another
spreadsheetprogram,youwillfinditaverysimilar
processinProject2010.
Thefillhandle isasmallsquarethatappearsinthe
lowercorneroftheselectedcell.
Whenyoudragafillhandle,thecontentsofthe
activecellarecopied.
Youcanalsousethefillhandle tofilltasknames.
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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 22
 FillHandle XP

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 23
 WorkingwithDurationUnitsof XP
Measure
Enteringandeditingdurationsinvolves
understanding the units of measure available for
understandingtheunitsofmeasureavailablefor
them.
Thedefaultunitofmeasureisday,andtherefore
The default unit of measure is day, and therefore
daydoesnotneedtobeentered.
Touseanyotherunit,youmusttypethe
y ,y yp
abbreviation.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 24
 UnitsofMeasureAbbreviations XP

Elapsed referstoclock timeratherthanworking

time.
AnexampleisthetaskAllowpainttodry.Thepaint
willdryinexactlythesameamountoftime
regardlessofwhetheritdriesonaworkday,a
dl f h h d kd
weekendorholiday.Ifittakesonedaytodry,the
duration should be entered as 1
durationshouldbeenteredas 1ed
ed(for1elapsed
(for 1 elapsed
day).

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 25
 EditingTasksandDurations XP
in Other Views
inOtherViews
Anythingchangedinoneviewisautomatically
changed in all the other views
changedinalltheotherviews.
YoucanusetheViewBartoquicklyswitchbetween
views.
views
Thewaydataisdisplayeddiffersbyviewandoften
satisfies different communication and reporting
satisfiesdifferentcommunicationandreporting
needsastheprojectdevelops.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 26
 EditingTasksandDurations XP
in Other Views Cont d
inOtherViewsCont. d
Regardlessoftheviewused,youcaneditanytaskby
doubleclicking
double clickingittoopenitsTaskInformationdialog
it to open its Task Information dialog
box.
AsyouworkwithProject2010,youwillbecome
As you work with Project 2010, you will become
morefamiliarwitheachviewandlearnwhichisthe
bestrepresentationofthedatafordifferent
purposes.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 27
 EnteringRecurringTasks XP

Arecurringtask isataskthatrepeatsataregular
interval.
Astatusmeetingisagoodexampleofarecurring
taskthatneedstobescheduledforeachweekor
otherregularintervalsintheproject.
h l l h
InProject2010,youcandefinearecurringtaskone
time using the Recurring Task Information dialog box
timeusingtheRecurringTaskInformationdialogbox.
Project2010thenhandlesthedetailsofscheduling
p p j
thetaskatspecifiedintervalfortheentireprojector
forthetimeperiodyouspecify.
Youcanalsochangethecalendarusedonthe
recurringtask intheCalendarsection.
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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 28
 RecurringTaskInformationDialogXP
Box

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 29
 EnteringMilestones XP

Amilestone isataskthatmarksasignificantpointin
time or a progress checkpoint
timeoraprogresscheckpoint.
Ithasazerodurationandisthereforeasymbolictask
that is used mainly to communicate progress or to
thatisusedmainlytocommunicateprogressorto
marktheendofasignificantphaseoftheproject.
Examplesincludethesigningofacontractorthe
p g g
announcementofanewproduct.
p j
Milestonescanalsobeusedtomotivateproject
participantsbyrecognizingaccomplishments.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 30
 Milestones XP

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 31
 UnderstandingTaskDependenciesXP
Fourtaskdependencies definetherelationships
between tasks in a project
betweentasksinaproject.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 32
 UnderstandingTaskDependencies
XP
Cont d
Cont. d
Bylinkingtasksinfinishtostartrelationships,you
establish the required sequence of tasks
establishtherequiredsequenceoftasks.
Project2010usestheserelationshipstosetstartand
finish dates for each task.
finishdatesforeachtask.
MostdependenciesareFinishtoStart(FS),meaning
acertaintask(thepredecessor)mustfinishbefore
( p )
anothertask(thesuccessor)canstart.
p p j g
Inordertouseimportantprojectmanagement
techniquessuchascriticalpathanalysis,youmust
determinetaskdependencies.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 33
 CreatingTaskDependencies XP

Project2010makesiteasytocreate,andremove,FS
relationshipsbetweentasksbyprovidingtheLink
p yp g
Tasks andUnlinkTasks buttonsontheStandard
toolbar.
Taskdependencies
kd d alsocanbeestablishedinthe
l b bl h d h
graphicalviews.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 34
 CreatingTaskDependenciesCont.XP

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 35
 SlackTimes XP

Totalslack istheamountoftimebywhichanactivity
may be delayed from its scheduled Start date without
maybedelayedfromitsscheduledStartdatewithout
thedelaysettingbacktheentireproject.
Freeslack
Free slack istheamountoftimebywhichanactivity
is the amount of time by which an activity
maybedelayedwithoutdelayingtheearlystartof
anyimmediatelyfollowingtasks.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 36
 CriticalandNonCriticalTasks XP

IntheNetworkDiagramview,thecriticaltasks
tasksthatareonthecriticalpatharedisplayed
p p y
withinaredborder.
Ataskthatisnotonthecriticalpathisanoncritical
task,thatis,itdoesntnecessarilyhavetostartonits
k h d l h
currentlyscheduledStartdateinorderfortheoverall
project to be completed on time.
projecttobecompletedontime.
TheNetworkDiagramisusedmainlytoviewand
analyzethecriticalpath.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 37
 CreatingDependenciesusingthe XP
Network Diagram view
NetworkDiagramview

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 38
 EnteringLagandLeadTimes XP

WhenaprojectisscheduledfromaStartdate,lag
andleadtimes refertoanamountoftimethatthe
secondtaskofarelationshipismovedbackward
(lead)orforward(lag)intime.
Leadtime
d movesthesecondtaskbackward
h d kb k d intime
sothatthetwotasksoverlap.
Lagtime
Lag time istheoppositeofleadtime.Itmovesthe
is the opposite of lead time It moves the
secondtaskforward intimesothatthetasksare
furtherseparated.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 39
 LagandLeadTimefromStartDateXP

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 40
 EnteringLagandLeadTimesCont.d XP

Project2010combinestheconceptsoflagandlead
timesintooneterm,lagtime.
, g
WhenaprojectisscheduledfromaStartdate,
positivelagtime movesthesecondtaskforwardin
time.
Positivelagtime isthetraditionaldefinitionoflagtimein
general project management discussions.
generalprojectmanagementdiscussions.
Negativelagtime movesthesecondtaskbackward
intimesothatthetasksoverlap.
Negativelagtime iscalledleadtimeingeneralproject
managementdiscussions.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 41
 NegativeandPositiveLagTime XP

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 42
 CheckforLagTimeEffectsCont. XP

Confusingnegativeandpositivelagtimesiseasy,
especiallywhenexaminingthemforbothaproject
p y g p j
thatisscheduledfromaStartdate andone
scheduledfromaFinishdate.
Remember:b
Positivelagtime alwaysincreasestheamountoftime
between tasks.
betweentasks.
Negativelagtime alwayscausesthetaskstooverlap.
Thisruleholdstrueregardlessofwhethertheprojectis
scheduledfromtheStartdate
h d l df th St t d t ortheFinishdate.
th Fi i h d t

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 43
 CheckforLagTimeEffects XP

Oncethetasks,durations,andrelationshipsare
entered you should check the Project Information
entered,youshouldchecktheProjectInformation
dialogboxtoverifytheprojectscalculatedFinish
date iftheprojectisscheduledfromaStartdate,or
p j
calculatedStartdate iftheprojectisscheduledfrom
aFinishdate.
WhenaprojectisscheduledfromaStartdate,
applyingnegativelagtime totaskdependenciesthat
areonthecriticalpathisacommonwaytoshorten
th iti l th i t h t
thecriticalpathbecauseitallowstaskstooverlap.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 44
 CheckforLagTimeEffectsCont.dXP
Whenyouapplynegativelagtime,thesecondtaskis
allowed to start before the first task is completely
allowedtostartbeforethefirsttaskiscompletely
finished.
WhenaprojectisscheduledfromaFinishdate,all
When a project is scheduled from a Finish date, all
taskshaveaslateaspossibleschedulesandlagtime
affectsthefirsttaskratherthanthesecond.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 45
 LagTimeFromaFinishDate XP

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 46
 CreatingaWorkBreakdownStructure
XP
with Summary Tasks
withSummaryTasks
Averyimportantstrategyformanagingprojectswell
istoorganizetheworkthatneedstobedoneina
g
logicalmanner.
Aworkbreakdownstructure(WBS) isanoutcome
orientedanalysisoftheworkinvolvedinaproject
d l f h k l d
thatdefinesthetotalscopeoftheproject.
AAWBS
WBS isafoundationdocumentinprojectmanagement
is a foundation document in project management
becauseitprovidesthebasisforplanningandmanaging
projectschedules,costs,andchanges.
TheWBS
The WBS providesahierarchy,similartoanorganizational
provides a hierarchy similar to an organizational
chart,togroupprojectworklogically.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 47
 CreatingaWorkBreakdownStructure
XP
with Summary Tasks Cont d
withSummaryTasksCont. d
InordertouseaWBS inProject2010,youmust
organizetasksintosummarytasks(groupsoftasks
g y (g p
thatlogicallybelongtogether).
Whendevelopinganew,largeproject,someproject
managersprefertostartwithbroadgroupingsof
f hb d f
summarytasksandthenbreakthemdowninto
smaller tasks.
smallertasks.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 48
 CreatingaWorkBreakdownStructure
XP
with Summary Tasks Cont d
withSummaryTasksCont. d
Planningaprojectbystartingwithbroadcategories
oftasksiscalledthetopdownmethod
p ofcreatinga
g
WBS.
Otherprojectmanagersprefertolistallofthe
individualtasks,andthencollectthemintological
d d l k d h ll h l l
groupingsusingthebottomupmethod.
Onceyouhaveindentifiedyoursummarytasks,you
Once you have indentified your summary tasks you
useOutdenting andIndenting inProject2010to
createthesummarytasks.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 49
 OutdentingandIndentingTasks XP

UsetheOutdent buttonandtheIndent buttononthe

Formatting toolbar to create your WBS
FormattingtoolbartocreateyourWBS.
Outdenting movesatasktotheleft(ahigherlevelin
theWBS),andindenting
), g movesatasktotheright(a
g (
lowerlevelintheWBS).
ProjectscanhaveseverallevelsintheWBS.
Manyprojectshaveatleastthreelevels,andsome
largeprojectshavemore.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 50
 CreatingaSummaryTask XP

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 51
 DisplayingOutlineNumbers XP

Tasksandsubtasksareorganizedinanoutline,with
tasks in a hierarchy when you have created summary
tasksinahierarchy,whenyouhavecreatedsummary
tasks.
InProject2010,youcanviewbuilt
In Project 2010, you can view builtin
inoutline
outline
numbers,whichwilldisplayintheTasknamecellsfor
alltasks.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 52
 DisplayingOutlineNumbers XP
Cont d
Cont. d

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 53
 ProjectSummaryTask XP

ManyProjectManagersliketocreateaProject
Summary Task which allows them to see how the
SummaryTaskwhichallowsthemtoseehowthe
startandfinishdateschangeastheyenterandedit
tasks,durations,anddependencies.
p

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 54
 ProjectSummaryTaskCont.d XP

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 55
 ExpandingandCollapsingTasks XP

Onceyourprojecthasbeenorganizedintosummary
tasks you can easily expand (show)andcollapse
tasks,youcaneasilyexpand (show) and collapse
(hide)theindividualtaskswithineachphase.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 56
 UsingWBSCodes XP

Manypeopleliketonumbertasks intheirWBSto
show the logical groupings of work
showthelogicalgroupingsofwork.
Usingoutlinenumbersorspecialworkbreakdown
structure (WBS) code isawaytousean
structure(WBS)code is a way to use an
alphanumericcodetorepresenteachtasksposition
withinthehierarchicalstructureoftheproject.
AWBScode helpsidentifyandgroupprojecttasksfor
projectcommunication,documentation,or
accountingpurposes.

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 57
 CreatingWBSCodes XP

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NewPerspectivesonMicrosoftProject2010 58