Objectives - MS Project 2010
q Understanding
Project Scheduling
q Introduction
to Microsoft Project
q Working
with Project Tasks
q Basic
views, time scales and reports
Whether you are a project manager or not, project management
techniques are extremely helpful in meeting goals and objects. Project management techniques define a path
to a specified goal and then supervise the implementation.
MS Project can help you establish your initial plan as well
as monitor progress. MS Project can
quickly produce reports and other information that will help keep management,
customers, and your project team informed.
To get the most from MS Project, not only do you need to understand
project management terminology, you also need to be familiar with the software
itself. Therefore, do not attempt to
quickly finish the lab, but take your time and read all instructions
carefully.
Understanding Project Scheduling
A typical project is composed of tasks and resources. After tasks are identified, you organize the
tasks in a logical hierarchy, also called a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
Eventually, this sequence will show the interdependencies of each task.
Then each task is given a duration. In MS Project, this can be in weeks, days,
hours or minutes. You can also specify a
milestone, which will represent an
event that marks the completion of a group of related tasks.
To accomplish any task, you need resources. Resources can include
people, equipment, material or special facilities necessary to complete a
task. Resource availability and scheduling
are important constraints to completing a task.
Once you establish a plan, complete with tasks and
resources, you will often need to refine the plan before saving it as a baseline. The baseline is your guideline to help manage
the project.
MS Project Basics
When you first start MS Project, a blank project file is
displayed in Gantt Chart View. (If
you need to open an existing MS Project file, the file extension is .mpp.) Let's take a look at the main
window:
The above image is the
default screen for MS Project 2010. The right side of the screen consists of
the area for the Gantt Chart. The left side of the screen is the Entry table
where tasks, durations, and other task information is entered. The Entry Table
and Gantt Chart are separated by a moveable Divider
Pay particular attention to this layout. The Entry table is where we enter our
tasks and durations. The Gantt
chart will eventually show our tasks and durations in a graphical bar
chart. The other part of significance is
the divider. This allows you to show
more or less of the Entry table/Gantt chart.
In Project 2010 the menu bar is set up into Ribbons. To access the various ribbons, Tabs are
selected across the top of the menu bar.
Within the ribbon the various sections are divided into groups:
TABS
 |
|||
 |
|||
GROUPS
The above image displays
the Microsoft Ribbon in the top of the window. The ribbon is navigated via
Tabs. Within each tab are Groups and within each of the Groups are individual
commands.
The first step in creating a project is establishing the
project information.
1.
 |
Select Project Informationfrom the Project tab and the Properties group
 |
|||
 |
|||
The Project Information is used for information that is
critical to the scheduling of tasks and resources. It contains the start date and finish date of
the overall project, the current date (taken from the computer), and which
calendar you will be using. You must
always enter this information when creating a new project.
2. Enter
the starting date of this project as October
9, 2013. (Note: you can only enter
the start date or the finish date, but not both!).
3. Leave
the other information as is and Press OK.
4. Next
we are going to define other project information. Select File on the Project Tab. Next select, Info. On the right hand side of the screen select
Project Information and then Advanced Properties.
5. The
Project Properties screen appears and the Summary tab should be selected.
6. In
the Title box, type Maynard
Furniture Company Project.
7. In
the Subject box, type New System.
8. In
the Author's and the Manager's box, type in your name. This information
will be displayed on reports. In the Company
box, enter MGMT404followed by your
professor’s name. Click OK.
9. Save
the project as MyLab1a_XXX.mpp
(where XXX are your initials).
Basic Setup
1.
Before we start entering data there are a few setup
tasks we need to do.
2.
The first is to change how MS Project calculates the
schedule. (We will explain this in week 5)
3.
Go File,
then Options. The Project Options window opens.
4.
Select Schedule. The Project Options window now should be
visible.
 |
5.
Under Scheduling
options for this project check the box labeled "New tasks are effort
driven"
6. Click
OK to close the window.
7. 
Next, select the Gantt Chart Tools Format tab from the
ribbon. Click the check box to show the
tasks that will be on the Critical Path.
Next, select the Gantt Chart Tools Format tab from the
ribbon. Click the check box to show the
tasks that will be on the Critical Path.
8. Select
the Task tab. With these settings we are ready to start
entering data
Entering tasks
1. Click
in the first field in the Task Name
column. Type Inventory current equipment.
2. Press
the tab key. The information is entered
and the selection moves to the Duration column for task 1. (You may need to
slide the divider to the right to see the column). Also notice the task is represented on the
Gantt chart.
3. Change
the duration to 3 days by typing 3
and press enter. Notice the duration "days" or the letter
"d" is automatically assumed.
If different, you would enter m for minutes, h for hours, d
for days or w for weeks after the number, such as 3w would be three
weeks).
4. By
default, MS Project 2010 enters tasks as Manually Scheduled. This allows the user to schedule individual
dates for the tasks. We however, want MS
Project to schedule the tasks for us.
5. For
task 1, In the Task Mode column, select Auto Schedule. This will enable MS
Project to automatically assign the start and end dates for each task.
6. To
change this as the default mode, at the bottom left of the screen there is a
button where you can change this default setting. Click on this and change the setting so all
new tasks are set to be Auto Scheduled. You can also do this from the Task tab,
Tasks group and selecting the Mode button, or from the Options screen we looked
at earlier.
7. Enter
the following tasks and durations for this project:
Assess current department needs 2 days
Design and diagram new system 5 days
Proposal to accounting 3 days
Research products and services 7 days
Issue RFPs 7 days
Evaluate bids 5 days
Award contract 1 day
Meet with vendor 1
day
Purchase equipment 4 days
Install wiring 3 days
Install hardware 2 days
Install software 2 days
(Note: it is very important that you make any changes to these
durations prior to assigning
resources. If you need to change
duration after assigning resources, you should unassign all resources, change
the duration and then re-assign the resources!)
8. When
you enter tasks, note that “1 Day?” is the automatic default for duration. (You may need to slide the divider to the
right to see the column). Also notice
the task is represented on the Gantt chart.
For durations that are only 1 day, make sure to manually type 1 and then
the <Enter> key to remove the “?”.
9. Next
make sure each task is "Auto
Scheduled" when you are finished.
10. Notice
as you enter each task and the duration, how the tasks are presented on the
Gantt chart.
(Tip: By default MS Project 2010
automatically wraps the text on the task names. Some readers may find this not very
clear. To see the entire task name on
one line, position your cursor on the vertical line between the Task Name
column header and the Duration column header.
When the cursor turns to a double arrow, either drag the line to the
right to increase the column width or double-click. Another method is to double click on the Task Name column header and select Best Fit. To see the Duration column, move the divider between the tasks and the Gantt
chart. When you are done, then also
adjust row height).
11. 
The text wrap can be
toggled on and off from the Gantt Chart ToolsFormattab, in the Columns
group and the Wrap Text icon. Please
turn this off now.
The text wrap can be
toggled on and off from the Gantt Chart ToolsFormattab, in the Columns
group and the Wrap Text icon. Please
turn this off now.
12. Change
the duration of the task Award contract
to 0 days. Notice the symbol on the Gantt chart. This is a milestone task, which has no duration but is used to mark progress
in a project.
13. What
if you need to insert a task later? Easy. For example, select task #13 Install software and Right click and
select click Insert Task. A new task row will now be inserted above the current task.
14. Type
Test system as your new task and
duration of 1 day. (Remember next to select "Auto Scheduled".
15. Since
“Test system” actually should be our last task, we need to move it. Therefore click (but do not hold down the mouse
button) the task ID for task #13 -
Test system. The entire row should be
selected.
16. With
the pointer still positioned on the task ID, drag down until a horizontal gray bar is displayed after task #14. Then release.
Test system should now be your last task.
17. What
if you want to delete a task? Click
anywhere in the row for the task Meet
with vendor. Right click and select
click Delete Task.
Another type of task you may want to enter is a recurring
task, such as a team meeting, etc.
Generally recurring tasks are not included on a project, but it
helps in resource scheduling.
18. Below
the last task (task #13: Test System), click in the Task Name Column, but do not type anything.
19. 
From the Tasktab
in the Insert group, click Select the arrow under Task and choose
Recurring Task.
From the Tasktab
in the Insert group, click Select the arrow under Task and choose
Recurring Task.
20. The Recurring Task Information Box appears.
21. In
the Name box, type Project Meeting.
22. Press
the tab key and enter 2h for duration of 2 hours. Select Weekly
for "Recurrence pattern" and check the box for Friday. Leave "Recur every" as is. We have scheduled a weekly 2-hour meeting
every Friday for the duration of the project. Click OK. (Notice the circular
arrows in the indicator column next to the task name).
19.Save the
project before continuing.
Displaying Project Information in Views
Before closing out this project, we need to spend a little
time with views. A view is a format in which you can enter and/or display information
in MS Project. Your default view is
known as the Gantt view: it is made up of the Entry table on the left, used to enter task information, and the Gantt
chart on the right, which graphically represents the task information on a timescale.
Task and resource views in MS Project fall into three
categories: sheet views, chart and graph views, and form views. Each view displays
combinations of project information in different ways. Understanding what is your current view and
changing views is critical in mastering MS Project.
Sheet views display task or resource information in a row
and column format (similar to MS Excel).
Chart and graph views provide a graphical representation of task or
resource information. Form views display
task or resource information in a format that displays a single task or single
resource at a time. You use a form view
when you want to focus on detailed information about a specific task or
resource.
MS Project comes with 27(MS Project 2010) predefined views.
1. From
the Task tab and the View group, click Calendar. What do you see?
2. Now
click on Task Usage. How is this
different?
3. Finally,
click on Network Diagram. Graphical view
of tasks…
4. Return
to the Gantt Chart view.
5. Another
item to explore is the timescale for the Gantt chart.
On longer projects, you may not be able to see all
the tasks on the Gantt chart. You can
use the scroll bars to the right and on the bottom of the Gantt chart or you
can adjust the timescale of the chart (shown above). The top line of the timescale is referred to
as the Major timescale (Oct6, ‘13,
etc.) and the bottom line as the Minor timescale (SMTWTFS). To adjust the timescale, you can use the Zoom
In and Zoom Out buttons on the View toolbar under Zoom:
6. Click
the Zoom In button (the one with the + sign).
Notice the Major timescale changes to a day and the Minor timescale
changes to 6-hour increments.
7. Now
click on the Zoom Out button (the one with the - sign). The Major timescale returns to a week and the
Minor timescale changes to day increments.
8. Click
on the Zoom Out button again. Notice the
Major timescale changes to a month and the Minor timescale changes to 3-day
increments.
9. Click
the Zoom In button again to return to the default of a week and one-day
increments.
You can also specify your own timescale by selecting the
Timescale dialog box on the Viewtab, Zoom group and the down arrow under
"Timescale:" or by right clicking on the time scale on the Gantt
chart.
Printing Project Schedules and Reports
To manage a project effectively, you will need to
communicate project information to a variety of people, therefore it is
important the reports printed are understandable by the readers.
You can print views and reports that meet the needs of a
specific person or group. MS Project
comes with 27 predefined views and 22 Visual reports and 29standard
reports. Before you print a view or
report, it should be previewed to determine the number of pages that will be
printed and if any additional information needs to be added.
Using the PageSetup
dialog box, you can select page orientation, adjust scaling, change margins,
and add or change the headers and footers.
You can also add page breaks to control the flow of information. You can also create a legend at the bottom of the Gantt chart to explain the symbols used
in the chart. (With the exception of the Project Summary report, you must do this for each report/printout; it is NOT a universal page setup!)
1. On
the File tab, Print, then Page Setup.
 |
The Page Setup dialog box appears:
 |
2. Click
the Header tag. The top box is the Preview box and the bottom box is the Text box.
3. Select
the Left tab next to Alignment.
In the Text box, type Lesson #1A
on the first line. (The left corner will always be the lab number, so
make sure you change it in future labs!)
4. Select
the Center tab. Next to the General box displaying the
text, "Page Number", click the down arrow and select Project Title. Click Add.
Note: the project title is displayed in the Preview
box (based upon the information you entered in the Project Information
earlier). The text box shows the “&”
sign or the "place marker" for this information. The nice thing here is that if you ever change
the Project Information, the changes will automatically appear on any reports
that contain this information in the header.
5. Press
Enter. (The cursor should now be on the
second line for your center header information). From the same drop-down tab, add Manager Name. Press Enter and add File name as your third line and add Report Name as your fourth and final line.
6. Select
the Right tab. Notice the seven
icons below the text box. Select the
middle (or fourth icon) to insert the currentdate in this section of your header.
7. On your own, make sure Page Number
is in your footer and it is center aligned and then press OK.
Review the Print Preview to view the changes. What is missing? Notice that there is nothing displayed in the
fourth line of the header for report name?
Why??? This is a view and not a
defined report so there is nothing to display in this field. In order to see the view name, the parameter
in the fourth line of the header would have to be changed to View Name – we
will NOT do this at this time. The
fourth line will display as a blank line when we are in a view format and not a
report format.
8. Click the File tab to return to the
Gantt chart view.
Previewing and Printing Views and Reports
When
submitting required printouts, if you are not bringing them to class, from the
Print Preview Page, take a screen shot (in Windows <ALT><PrtScr>)
of the report and paste the screen shot to a MS Word Document. Make sure to
crop the screen to show only the report. After cropping, resize the image
appropriately. If the printout is on
more than 1 page, paste each page individually.
Save the Word
document containing printouts as Week_1_Printouts_XXX.docx. Remember to replace "XXX" in the
file names with your initials and ensure that all of your files are all clearly
labeled and include your initials in the file name. In the second part of this
lesson, there will be more printouts to add to the Week_1_Printout_XXX.docx
file.
9. On
the File tab, click the Print button.
Place the mouse pointer over the preview page. The pointer changes to a magnifying glass.
10. Click
the lower-left corner of the preview page.
The view is zoomed in so you can see the legend to the Gantt chart.
If you ever want to change the contents of this legend, you can go to
the same Page Setup in our previous steps and select Legend.
11. Click
on the magnifying glass again to return to normal view. Make sure the task
names column and the duration column can be seen in their entirety and the
Gantt chart also appears in your window.
12. Click
Print and print this view. We have
just printed the Gantt chart view.
13. To
view and print reports: From the Project tab, click Reports in the Reports group.
14. The
Reports box opens. Each icon represents
a category of reports. The first five
(Overview, Current Activities, Costs, Assignments and Workload) represent 22
predefined reports. The last category,
Custom, allows you to create your own report.
15. Select
Overview and then select Project Summary. The Project Summary report now opens in Print
Preview.
16. Select Page Setup for this report. Notice something interesting? The header and footer (and legend and view)
tabs are grayed out. For some reason,
only known to Microsoft, this is the only report that you cannot change the header and footer. To that end, it is imperative that you enter
all appropriate project information and project properties as discussed in the
lab!
17. Print the Project Summary. This is a very important report. It lists all relevant summary information as
to project progress and achievement of your project objective.
18. On
your own, find the report, Unstarted
Tasks. Before you print this report, make sure your
header and footer contain the appropriate information!Printthereport when all is well.
19. Save
your file and exit MS Project.
When submitting required printouts, if you are not bringing them to
class, from the Print Preview Page, take a screen shot (in Windows
<ALT><PrtScr>) of the report and paste the screen shot to a MS Word
Document. Make sure to crop the screen to show only the report. After cropping,
resize the image appropriately. If the
printout is on more than 1 page, paste each page individually.
In part 2 of this lesson we will continue working with task
information by outline and linking these tasks and discussing interdependencies
and constraints.
1. On
the Project tab, click Project
Information. In the Project
Information dialog box, click Statistics. The following screen should appear. Use this to check your progress…
Get Professional Help with Your Research Essay Paper Today From Our Student Essay Service!
No comments:
Post a Comment