College of IS&T

College of IS&T

Microsoft Project Reference Guide Version 1.0

Copyright 2003 by the University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. The University of Phoenix® is a mark of Apollo Group, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

Microsoft, Word and Project are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

CIST Microsoft Project Reference Guide

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Introduction......................................................................................................................... 3 Basic Task Entry................................................................................................................. 5 Project Summary Task ........................................................................................................ 6 Gantt Chart Picture.............................................................................................................. 8 Changing the Timescale.................................................................................................... 10 Task Sheet......................................................................................................................... 12 Task Sheet View with Cost Table..................................................................................... 15 Progress Tracking ............................................................................................................. 17 HTML Reports .................................................................................................................. 21


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Introduction The purpose of this Reference Guide is provide the student with a small set of instructions necessary to accomplish the basic operations of Microsoft Project in order to complete project management class assignments at the University of Phoenix. This guide is not associated with a particular project management course, but can be used to assist the student in building a basic project plan. After the basic project plan has been created, the instructions in this guide show the student how to take pictures and displays within Microsoft Project to be inserted within a Microsoft Word document. The concept behind inserting Microsoft Project pictures and displays into a Microsoft Word document allows the plan creator to develop an integrated document for their audience without the need to send the reader a separate Microsoft Project file. In some organizations, the end-users or senior management may not have a copy of Microsoft Project and this technique allows these important recipients of the project plan to potentially see all project related materials within a single document.


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Getting Started Microsoft Project has several built- in tutorials and previews to help you get started. The best approach is to take the tutorials in the following sequence:

1. Quick Preview 2. Tutorial 3. Project Map

Following these three tutorials will make the task of entering data and preparing project plans much easier. The tutorials are accessed from the Help Menu on the tool bar. After the dropdown menu appears, select Getting Started and then select the tutorial you wish to view.

In addition to the built- in tutorials, it might be helpful to acquire Microsoft Project Version 2002 Step by Step, a reference Book published by Microsoft Press.1 This book is a tutorial type of text that can be helpful in learning to maneuver Microsoft Project. For purposes of the classes at the University of Phoenix, this book is NOT required, however it is recommended for students who wish to pursue the capabilities beyond the basic functions covered in the project management courses.

1 Chatfield, Carl and Johnson, Timothy. Microsoft Project Version 2002 Step by Step. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press, 2002 (ISBN: 0-7356-1301-X).


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Basic Task Entry

The above example demonstrates the entry of tasks. Using the Indent button on the formatting toolbar creates subphases.


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There are several things to note about this example: • There is a project summary task – there is a separate section later in this guide that

explains how a project summary task is created. • The project has a beginning milestone “Start Project” – it is recommended that the

first task entered be a milestone; it is also recommended that the last task of every project be a milestone, “Project End”. The rationale behind using starting and ending milestones for the project is that Microsoft Project will display dates beside milestones on the Gantt Chart; therefore the start and end dates for the project are quite visible to all readers.

• At the end of each major phase of a project, it is recommended that a milestone be

entered that denotes the end of the phase. In the example above for a software development project, a milestone is recommended at the end of each project phase. Above, “Problem Def complete” is entered as a milestone. Also note that this milestone is NOT indented with the other subtasks in this phase. The reason for this approach is so that when the subtasks are hidden when presenting to management (since they may not want to see all the details) they can still see the milestone and the date associated with the milestone.

Project Summary Task

A Project Summary Task is a single high- level summary task that shows the entire duration of the project in a single task. The project summary task is created by using the Tools menu, select Options.


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Be sure the View tab is selected. In the Outline Options area in the lower right hand side, select the Project Summary check box. The Project Title is entered as the Project Summary Task. The Project Title is selected from the Project Properties dialog box. If you have not entered any information in the Project Properties dialog box, from the File Menu, select Properties and then enter the appropriate information on the Summary tab.


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Gantt Chart Picture The purpose behind creating a Gantt Chart picture is to create a snapshot of the Gantt Chart can be captured on the Microsoft clipboard so the picture can be pasted into a Microsoft Word document. Use this button to select all tasks.

Then use the copy picture button, create a gif file and then insert the picture into the Microsoft Word document. As indicated in the introduction to this document, this technique of inserting a picture into a Microsoft Word document eliminates the need to send a separate document or attachment of the Microsoft Project output when presenting a comprehensive planning document to management.


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The picture below is an example of the picture above pasted into a Microsoft Word document. This technique can be utilized to embed the Microsoft Project display into a management report or document. This eliminates the need to send Microsoft Project files to management or other project team members who do not have a copy of Microsoft Project. This technique would also be useful to post the Gantt Chart to an internal organization web page.


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Changing the Timescale It is usually advantageous to change the timescale on the Gantt Chart for two reasons: 1. To make the Gantt Chart more readable, that is, to present a longer time frame on

fewer pages; and 2. To reduce the number of pages when printing the Gantt Chart. The timescale is made up of two components: the major scale and the minor scale. Within Microsoft Project, the major timescale defaults to 1 week while the minor timescale defaults to 1 day. The following example is a timescale that has a major scale of one month and a minor timescale of one week. You will notice that this entire Gantt Chart fits on a single page.

The timescale is modified by selecting FORMAT, then TIMESCALE. The timescale dialog box is displayed.

Timescale


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The following timescale dialog box shows the settings that were used to produce the timescale for the Gantt Chart shown above. As the timescale is manipulated using the fields in the Major scale and Minor scale, the preview area, highlighted below, changes to exhibit the effect of the field changes.

After manipulating the Major and Minor scales, select OK to make the change to the Gantt Chart timescale.

Preview Area


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Task Sheet

This task sheet is an example of creating a basic task list of activities to be conducted in a simple project. This task sheet is the result of task entry from the Gantt Chart view as described in the Basic Task Entry example. The Task Sheet can be generated by selecting Views, More Views, Task Sheet and then Apply.


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After the Task Sheet is displayed, as shown on the next page, the entire Task Sheet can be selected for printing by using the Select All Button (Above the Task ID column).

Select All Button

Copy Picture Button


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After the entire Task Sheet is selected, it can be saved as a picture using the Copy Picture button on the top tool bar. The picture should be saved as a GIF image to your hard disk. The next step will be to insert the saved picture into a Microsoft Word document for emailing as your workshop assignment. This technique is very useful for incorporating reports and displays from project into Microsoft Word documents. On some projects it is more practical to provide the audience with a copy of the task sheet as opposed to the Gantt Chart. If the project has a large number of tasks, the use of the task sheet is more efficient than the large document that might be created by presenting the Gantt Chart.


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Task Sheet View with Cost Table An alternative to generating the budget report, it is possible to display a Task Sheet and then to apply the Cost table. This technique provides a Task Sheet View that can be captured using the Copy Picture button so the budget can be inserted into a Microsoft Word document.

The use of a Project Summary Task creates a row in this view that represents the budget for total cost of all tasks on the project. Presenting the cost table with the task sheet is a practical way to exhibit the budget for all tasks in the project.


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To display this view from the Tool Bar, select View, More Views, Task Sheet and Apply.

. After the Task Sheet is displayed, it may be necessary to apply the cost table to the Task Sheet. This is accomplished from the Tool Bar by selecting View, Table: Entry, and Cost.


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After the costs are displayed, the Task Sheet is selected for creation as a picture by first using the Select All button above the Task ID and then using the Copy Picture Button on the Tool Bar. This technique that creates a GIF file that can be inserted into a Microsoft Word Document was explained earlier in this document.

Progress Tracking Progress Tracking with Microsoft Project begins with the establishment of the project baseline. When the project baseline is saved, Microsoft Project copies the data from the start and finish fields for each task to the baseline start and baseline finish for each task. After the baseline has been saved, the project is usually started. The purpose of progress tracking is to determine where the work on the project stands relative to the baseline. The primary tool for recording project progress is the Tracking Toolbar.

The first button on the Tracking Toolbar will display the project statistics. This display provides high- level information on the status of the project. It is a good way to verify that the baseline has been saved. In addition to see the baseline of the project in terms of


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dates, the costs, duration, and work (labor hours) are also displayed. One other small item on this display is very useful. Microsoft Project will calculate and display an overall percentage complete for the entire project. This is a great tool to assist the Project Manager to answer the eventual question: "How much is done on the project?"

Microsoft Project tracks three types of dates for each task: scheduled, actual and baseline. The baseline date does not change as the project progresses. This date is the guideline by which the progress on the project is measured. The scheduled date is the same as the current date and will be shown under the heading of Start and Finish for each task. The scheduled date WILL change as progress is entered on the project. If a task is taking longer than scheduled, Microsoft Project will calculate a projected date. Finally, Microsoft Project the actual date is used for tasks in progress or completed. Once a task has started, the actual dates do not change unless they are edited. The second button on the toolbar "Update as Scheduled" will update the progress on the task using the current date (as set in the Project Information dialog box) to calculate the percentage complete for the task. Note: you should consider the current date as the "as of" date when updating project progress. For example if we are updating dating a project on Monday, the progress of the team is probably from the prior Friday. Therefore you should change the Current Date by using Project Information dialog box (Project, Project Information). So what this means is if you have selected a task and selected the Update as Scheduled button and this task was scheduled to be 65% complete by last Friday, Microsoft Project will enter 65% as the percent complete for the task. Also if the task was schedule to have been started since the last update of the schedule, Microsoft Project will use the scheduled date to update the Actual State date for the task.


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The use of the third button on the toolbar, Reschedule Work, can be complicated. This button will reschedule the remaining work on the task from the current date. An example of a situation might be one in which a task is behind schedule for some reason such as departure of the resource. If the resource departed and the finish date is already past but there still is remaining work perhaps 6 days as an example, this button would start the task today and schedule it to end 6 working days later. The use of this button may also override any constraint dates so the use of this button must be used deliberately. The fourth button will add progress lines to the Gantt Chart or Tracking Gantt. Progress lines provide a visual representation of the project's progress to date. Selecting this button will allow you to draw the progress lines as of a given date. These lines are drawn in the form of peaks. Peaks to the left drawn to a task, indicate the task is behind schedule and those drawn to task and point to the right are considered ahead of schedule. Progress lines are a feature added to Microsoft Project 98. The next 6 buttons are the most used when tracking progress on a project. The first 5 of these buttons are preset percentages. Selecting a task and then selecting the percentage button will update the task to the indicated percentage. If this is the first update to the task, selecting a percentage will cause the update to use the current start as the actual start date. The last button we will discuss from the tracking toolbar is the Update Tasks button.

After selecting the Update Tasks button, you will be able to update the % complete, actual duration, remaining duration, and actual start and finish dates. Another method for updating progress on the project is to use the task sheet with the tracking table applied.


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Tracking data can be entered using this form of the task sheet. The advantage to using this table is that it permits entry of actual costs and actual work. Another form for viewing the progress on a project is the Tracking Gantt Chart. This chart is displayed by selecting View and then the Tracking Gantt.

The Tracking Gantt Chart displays the baseline schedule (the lower gray bars on subtask and lower small box bars on summary tasks), the current schedule (blue represents non-critical tasks, red indicates tasks on the critical path), progress to date (the darker blue or darker red area), and percentage complete. Notice tasks 14, 15, and 16 above. The current schedule has slipped for each of these tasks therefore; the baseline remains in the fixed location while the bars that represent the current schedule are displaying the calculated start and finish dates.


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HTML Reports A good communications tool that can be used to report the status of a project is to create an HTML report that can be posted on a web site for access by interested personnel. The steps necessary to create an HTML report begin with saving the file with the "Save As HTML" option under the File Menu.


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After selecting Save As HTML, you will be prompted to provide a file name to save the HTML report.

After entering the File Name, you will be prompted to by an Export Format dialog box where Selective data option can be used to create a report for posting to a web site or can be selected and inserted into a Microsoft Word document.

This example will use the Task list with embedded assignment rows to create an HTML report that shows the resources assigned to each task. After the Export Format dialog box is displayed, you need to scroll down the list of import/export maps to select "Task list with embedded assignment rows". After selecting this map, the Save option is chosen to save the HTML file for future use.


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After saving the HTML report, it can used on a web site or can be opened and posted to a Microsoft Word Document. To insert the contents of the HTML report into a Microsoft Word document, the HTML file must be opened. After opening the HTML file, under the Edit menu use the Select All option.

After selecting all the data of the report, it can be copied and pasted into a Microsoft Word document. An example of the HTML document created by the steps above is on the following page of this Microsoft Word document.


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CMGT410 IND 1 Project Start Date: Fri 7/6/01 Project Finish Date: Fri 8/24/01

Tasks with Assignments Task Name Work Duration Start Finish

CMGT410 IND 1 120 hrs 36 days Fri 7/6/01 Fri 8/24/01Start Project 0 hrs 0 days Fri 7/6/01 Fri 7/6/01Define Problem 48 hrs 5 days Fri 7/6/01 Thu 7/12/01Interview sponsor 8 hrs 1 day Fri 7/6/01 Fri 7/6/01Analyst 8 hrs Fri 7/6/01 Fri 7/6/01interview customers 32 hrs 2 days Mon 7/9/01 Tue 7/10/01Designer 16 hrs Mon 7/9/01 Tue 7/10/01Developer 16 hrs Mon 7/9/01 Tue 7/10/01review problem sheet 8 hrs 2 days Wed 7/11/01 Thu 7/12/01Paperhanger 8 hrs Wed 7/11/01 Thu 7/12/01Problem Def complete 0 hrs 0 days Tue 7/17/01 Tue 7/17/01Analyze Situation 72 hrs 10 days Fri 7/13/01 Thu 7/26/01review data 72 hrs 3 days Fri 7/13/01 Tue 7/17/01Analyst 24 hrs Fri 7/13/01 Tue 7/17/01Developer 24 hrs Fri 7/13/01 Tue 7/17/01Designer 24 hrs Fri 7/13/01 Tue 7/17/01determine cost 0 hrs 2 days Wed 7/18/01 Thu 7/19/01review hardware 0 hrs 2 days Fri 7/20/01 Mon 7/23/01interview internal users 0 hrs 3 days Tue 7/24/01 Thu 7/26/01Design solution 0 hrs 10 days Fri 7/27/01 Thu 8/9/01design network 0 hrs 3 days Fri 7/27/01 Tue 7/31/01design software 0 hrs 1 day Fri 7/27/01 Fri 7/27/01design procedures 0 hrs 6 days Mon 7/30/01 Mon 8/6/01design new forms 0 hrs 1 day Tue 8/7/01 Tue 8/7/01design web site 0 hrs 7 days Wed 8/1/01 Thu 8/9/01Implement Design 0 hrs 3 days Fri 8/10/01 Tue 8/14/01Support Product 0 hrs 8 days Wed 8/15/01 Fri 8/24/01End project 0 hrs 0 days Fri 8/24/01 Fri 8/24/01

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