1 essentials for using microsoft office project 2007 kristin hanley, pmp project solutions group
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Essentials for Using Microsoft Office Project 2007
Kristin Hanley, PMPProject Solutions Group
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AgendaWhy Is Project 2007 Essential?
How can Project 2007 play a significant role in your success?
Planning Essentials: Set up plans quickly and easily using Project 2007
Communicating Essentials: Keeping project stakeholders informed and aligned with Project 2007
Tracking Essentials: Flexibly track and analyze your projects with powerful 2007 tools
Questions and Answers
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What’s New in Project 2007?
Multi-level UndoUnlimited levels of UndoEasy-to-use drop-down list of Undo actions
Show Change HighlightingHighlights impact of changes to your planVisible indicators allows for quick and easy analysis
Task DriversInvestigate the controlling factors of a task in your plan for better management and controlBrowse up or down the chain of factors in an easy to use window much like the project guide
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What’s New in Project 2007 (cont’d)?
Improved ReportingNew Report menu item makes it easy to generate reports in a variety of different formatsEasy-to-use visual reports to move data to Excel or Visio
New Cost Resources & BudgetingNew resource type enabling planned and actual costs to be defined by the taskBetter support integration with accounting systemsEnables cost resources to be added to project summary tasks to define budgets at project level
Improved CalendarsDefine named calendar exceptions (i.e. holiday names) and recurring exceptionsSupports Hijri (Arabic) calendar
Improved and Enhanced ViewsCalendar view enhanced with Outlook look and feel with improved navigation, grouping and filteringMore colors, 3-D texturing, cell background formatting
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Improved Business Results
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What is a project?
A Temporary EndeavorUndertaken to Create
a UniqueProduct or Service
PMBOK
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Why is Project Management Important?
Align activities to achieve your organizational goalsClearly define project activities vs. daily ongoing tasksMore adaptable to changes and customer demandsMore effective focus on deliverablesDoing more with less – more efficient resource utilizationProvides a better approach on dealing with unique, temporary, and complex endeavors Better able to deal with scope, time and resource constraints
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Constraints Projects Have to Live By
Planning Your Constraints with Project 2007 as the Enabler
Project2007
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What makes a project fail?
Project goals are not known or understood in specific and measurable termsNot enough detail in the project plans, leading to insufficient time allocated to achieve goals and inadequate budget and/or other resourcesNo risk analysisScope creepLack of buy-in
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Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
The bottom line on failed projects:51% of all projects come in over budget or run past the original deadline*15% of projects fail altogether$55 billion wasted on failed projects in U.S. alone!
*Source: The Standish Group, CHAOS Chronicles, 2003
Can your business afford the cost of failed projects?Can your business afford the cost of failed projects?
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Typical Complaints About Planning:
Around here I do not have time to planYou know management wants results not plansI do not know where to beginI know the theory, but around here I never get a chance to exercise itI know Microsoft Project can help but I have just never been given the proper training to use it effectively
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Remember The ROIFor every minute you spend doing effective planning with Project 2007, you will obtain a five minute saving during executionOnce you realize the benefit of planning with Project 2007 there is no going back
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How Do I Get Started?
Define the project start date Apply project calendars that match how we work on a project Moving around the default Gantt chart viewQuickly change the timescale
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Formatting and Printing Gantt Charts
Adjust the size of the Gantt Chart pane by moving the Horizontal Split Bar right or left
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Formatting and Printing Gantt Charts
Adjust the timescale by clicking on the Zoom-In and Zoom-Out icons.
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Formatting and Printing Gantt Charts
Change or remove text in the Gantt Chart using the Bar Styles window.
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Formatting and Printing Gantt Charts
Change or create shapes in the Gantt Chart using the Bar Styles window.
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Formatting and Printing Gantt Charts
Add pictures, drawings or logos to your Gantt Chart by inserting or pasting objects.
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Formatting and Printing Gantt Charts
Reduce the complexity and number of rows by collapsing the WBS to only show summary rows using Show Outline Level.
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Formatting and Printing Gantt Charts
Print the entire Gantt Chart view by adjusting the number of pages with Fit To and the Print All Columns options in the Page Setup window.
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Formatting and Printing Gantt Charts
Copy the Gantt Chart (or any other view) to another application like Word or PowerPoint by using the Copy Picture icon. ID Task Name
1 1 Client 'X' Base Install
2 1.1 Kick-off Meeting
3 1.2 Pre-requisites
7 1.3 Preparation
11 1.4 Configuration
19 1.5 Data Load & Outlook Integration
25 1.6 CRM Strategy
30 1.7 Migrate to Production
37 1.8 Project Management
38 1.9 Final Acceptance Review Meeting
Jill Suarez[0.5],John Geraci
Project Manager[0.5]
28 4 11 18 25 1 8 15 22 29 6 13 20Jul '02 Aug '02 Sep '02 Oct '02
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Demo - Easily Enter Phases, Tasks and Milestones
Bring in plans from ExcelAutomatically turn on a Project Summary TaskAutomatically turn on the outline number codesUse the indent/outdent key to create different outline levelsUse the Show Outline button to expand/collapse the planEasily insert, delete or move tasks
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Demo – How Do I Estimate Duration?
Estimating duration in terms of working days
Minutes, hours, days, weeksTime vs. elapsed time (em)
Enter duration estimates directly into the duration columnUsing task information dialogue boxUse the split screen to enter duration
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Demo – How Do I Set Task Dependencies?
Easily use the link and unlink tools Enter directly into the predecessor columnUse the split screen view to add lagChange from Finish to Start to Start to StartEasily determine the controlling factors of your task
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Demo – How Do I Assign Resources
Set-up a resource poolAssign resources in the Resource Name columnUse the powerful, easy to use Assign Resource tool
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PM’s Spend Significant Time Communicating – A Key to Success
As the number of people involved in the project increases, the number of potential communication channels increases.The following formula represents the number of potential communication channels that may exist: n(n-1)/2
5 people = 10 channels10 people = 45 channels20 people = 190 channels
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Demo - How Do I Apply Different Views?
Use the View barUse Calendar ViewUse Network DiagramApply the Task Usage ViewApply the Resource Usage ViewCreate various split screen views such as with a resource graph
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Demo –How Do I Use Different Tables?
Using the default Entry tableChange from one table to anotherInsert or hide columns in an existing tableMove columns around by clicking and dragging
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Demo - How Do I Apply Filters?
Apply filters from All Tasks menu itemFilter for MilestonesUsing the Date Range filterFilter for ResourcesUsing the Autofilter function
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Demo –How Do I Use Groups?
Apply groups from the No Group menu itemGroup by Milestones Group by Critical Tasks
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Demo – Are There MoreReporting Capabilities?
Visual ReportsUse the “Copy Picture to Office” Wizard to communicate in other formatsUse the Save As command for different formats
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Project Executing & Controlling Stages
Executing processes are those that are specific to the type of project or industryControlling processes monitor and measure progress, taking corrective action when necessaryThe Executing Processes and Controlling Processes involve the following:
Drive towards project goalsManage change and its impactManage issues and risksKeep the plan current and up to dateTake corrective action when necessary
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Process for Using Office Project 2007
Set a BaselineDecide what information in Office Project 2007 will be tracked and by whomDecide how the information will be updated in Office Project 2007Decide the frequency of updating the plan relevant to the projectDecide how this will be communicated to various stakeholders
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Saving a Baseline
What?Planned version of the project schedule“Freezes” a copy of the original schedule
Why?Perform comparisons and variance reports while project is in progress
When?When plan is complete, but...Before project starts (before tracking starts!)
How?Tools Tracking Save Baseline To rebaseline a portion of the project, choose Selected Tasks and To All Summary Tasks.
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Baselining/Rebaselining the Project
Saving multiple baselines is useful for taking snapshots of project performance before and after approved changes and analyze the impacts of each change over time.
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Tracking Progress
Collect actual information about tasksWhat percentage of the task is complete?When did the task actually start?When did the task actually finish?What was the actual duration?
Enter actual data into Office Project 2007Compare actual progress with baseline planAnalyze the plan
Find problemsKeep on track/take corrective action
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Collecting & Entering ActualsNever enter actuals in the following fields!!!
WorkDurationStartFinishCost
Always enter actuals here:
Actual WorkActual DurationActual StartActual FinishActual Cost
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Demo – How Do I Update % Complete & Actuals
Easily mark tasks done with % CompleteEnter actuals with the Update Tasks tool from the tracking toolbar
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How Do I Set-up an Effective Tracking View in Office Project 2007?
Use the Tracking Gantt View to helpApply the Variance TableTurn on the Tracking ToolbarUnderstand the Current Date
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Demo – Can I Analyze Change Impact and Take Corrective Action?
Apply the Slipped Tasks filter to helpUse Group By Critical at the same time as the Slipped Task filterModify my plan to bring it back on trackUse the notes field to keep track of changes
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What are the End Results?
Quickly develop effective timelines and determine if they are realistic
Use templates or create phases & tasks to adhere to standards
Easily plan projects and identify constraints to obtain buy-in
Access & share the right information quickly to inform and align stakeholders
Easily identify and communicate resource types and workload needs
Achieve Your Goals and Meet Challenges
Define and understand project costs and compare with ROI goals
Clearly understand the impact of change in scope, time and cost
Easy to use tools to track progress and identify & resolve problems early on
Effectively manage project objectives and changing requirements to meet or exceed customer expectations
Set up plans quickly and easily Communicate more effectively to keep project stakeholders
informed & aligned Track & analyze to stay on course and resolve problems
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Thank You!