TSE 305/05 Software Project Management

Laboratory Exercises (S1/2013)

Duration: 3hours
1. Installation and get started (Duration: 30 minutes)
1. Download a 60-day trial version of Microsoft Project Professional 2010. Visit:
2. Project Management | Project Collaboration Software | Microsoft Project 2010,
http://www.microsoft.com/project/, select Project Professional 2010 and click on
Try Now. Follow the instructions until you successfully installed the application.
3. Launch Microsoft Project 2010 to start the application.
4. Observe the Project 2010 main screen and elements.

5. Access and explore the different views:

Task Usage. Go to the View tab and click on the Task Usage button. This will
display all the tasks and the resources assigned to them.

Network diagram. At the View tab, click on the Network Diagram button. You
can create a new task here by dragging the mouse pointer to draw a rectangle.

Calendar. At the View tab, click on the Calendar button. The calendar shows the
task from the project.

Other views. Other views shown on the toolbar include Task Form, Task Sheet
and Timeline. Task Form displays task information in a form view. Task Sheet
displays a list of tasks and their details in rows and columns. Timeline is the same
default page timeline that shows a concise overview of the entire schedule.

Table views. At the View tab, click on the Tables button. You can easily switch to
a different table. A table is a set of columns that can be used to easily see a
different set of data in the view.

View shortcuts. You can easily access view shortcuts at the lower right corner
status bar.

2. Create and save project (Duration: 10 minutes)

1. Open Project 2010 and you will see a blank project file.
2. Click the File tab, and then click Save. Type Lab01 in the File name box and
then click Save.
3. Click on the Project tab and select the Project Information button. The Project
Information window allows you to set dates for the project, select the calendar
type and view project statistics. Enter the project start date.

4. Click the File tab, and click the Info button. Click on Project Information on the
right side of the screen to access Advanced Properties. Enter the following
information into the Project Properties box:
Title: Lab Project
Author: (Your name)
Company: WOU
Click OK to save the project information.

3. Developing a Work Breakdown Structure (Duration: 30 minutes)

1. Enter the entire Task Names in Appendix into the Task Name column. Once you
have entered a task, press <Enter> to move down to the next row.
2. Highlight task row 2 through row 5 by clicking the cell for row 2 and dragging the
mouse pointer through the cells to row 5, click the Indent Tasks button on the
Task tab or press <Alt + Shift + right arrow>. Notice that the text on task row 1
has become bold which indicates that it is a summary task or the header.

3. Click on the Outline Number checkbox on the Format tab to display automatic
numbering of tasks using the standard numbering. This will add the appropriate
WBS numbering to the task names.

Reference: You may refer to Lab01.mpp for all the works done up to current stage.

4. Defining timelines (Duration: 20 minutes)

We will use the Duration information in Appendix to set timeline and milestone for each
stage.

1. In the Duration column, enter 3 or 3d (represent 3 days) and press <Enter>.

Project 2010 automatically put the summary task into automatic scheduling mode
and left the sub-tasks to be manually scheduled. Enter the remaining task
durations.

2. To insert a new task for milestone, highlight the task row, right click and select
Insert Task.

3. To set the task as a milestone, enter 0 as its duration and press <Enter>. Notice
that the milestone is represented by a black diamond symbol on the Gantt chart.
4. To insert a recurring task, click the Task tab, and hold the Task button drop down
under the Insert group and select Recurring Task. Enter Weekly
Conference Call as the Task name, 1h as the Duration and select Weekly,
Friday, End after: 5 occurrences as the recurrence pattern. Click OK to save the
recurring task and delete the original single task.

5. Put all the sub-tasks into Auto schedule mode by selecting the rows, click the
Task tab and Auto Schedule button.

5. Task Dependencies (Duration: 20 minutes)

1. Enter the task row number of the preceding task directly into the Predecessors
column that is located next to the Finish date. Enter the remaining dependencies
manually into the Predecessors column according to the Task Dependencies
column in Appendix.
2. Finish-to-start (FS) dependency is the default type of link in Project 2010 which
simply means that a task has to finish before the next task can begin. The Gantt
chart view with durations and dependencies entered will look like the following:

3. Click the Format tab, and click Critical Tasks check box under the Bar Styles
group to view critical path on Gantt chart. The critical path will then be displayed
in red in the Gantt chart.

4. Click the View tab, and click the Network Diagram button under Task Views
group. Note that milestone tasks (with zero duration) are represented by a pointed

rectangular box and other tasks are represented by rectangles. The tasks on the
critical path automatically appear in red.

Reference: You may refer to Lab02.mpp for all the works done up to current stage.

6. Assigning Resources to Tasks (Duration: 30 minutes)

1. Lets first change the displayed currency to match our local currency. Go to the
File tab and click on Options. Select Display and change the currency from USD
to MYR.

2. Click the View tab and then click the Resource Sheet button under the Resource
Views group. Enter the information shown below into the Resource Sheet. 50% in

the Max Units column means that the resource can work only 50% of his or her
time on the project.
Resource
Name

Type

Max.
Units

Sandy

Work

100%

Benjamin Work

Std. Rate

RM80.00/hr

100% RM100.00/hr

Eric

Work

50%

RM80.00/hr

Ted

Work

50%

RM80.00/hr

Tools

Material

RM2000.00

3. Click the View tab, select the Gantt chart button under the Task Views group,
Right-click the Select All button and switch back to the Entry table. Based on the
Task Owner column in Appendix, enter all the resources into the Resource
Names cell for the Task Name.

4. Right-click on the Select All button and select Cost to review the Cost Table.
Notice that estimated costs for the task have been added.

5. If you have resource over allocation issue, you can use the new Team Planner
feature in Project 2010. Click on the Team Planner view under the View tab. The
Team Planner shows the tasks that have been assigned to the resources based on
the timeline. The tasks and resource name are displayed in red if there is resource
over allocation.

Reference: You may refer to Lab03.mpp for all the works done up to current stage.

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7. Tracking Actual Cost and Times (Duration: 20 minutes)

1. Click the Project tab and click the Set Baseline arrow button under the Schedule
group. Click Set Baseline and the Set Baseline window will be displayed. Click
OK to set the baseline.

2. Right-click on the Select All button and select Tracking to view the tracking
table. Under the summary task, click and highlight the sub tasks. Click the 100%
Complete button on Task tab under the Schedule group. Notice that the Gantt
chart bars for those tasks now have a black line through them.

Figure 5.57 Tracking table information

3. Right-click on the far left of the screen that written Gantt chart in horizontal
alignment, and click Tracking Gantt to quickly switch to Tracking Gantt view.
Notice that the check marks in the Indicator column show that tasks have been
completed. The Tracking Gantt chart allows you to easily see your scheduled
progress against the baseline plan.

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8. Earned value and reports (Duration: 20 minutes)

1. Right- click the Select All button and select More Tables. Select Earned Value
from the More Tables window. Click Apply and the earned value table will be
shown. Take note on the VAC (Variance at Completion), EAC (Estimate at
Completion) and BAC (Budget at Completion) columns.

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2. You can view an earned value report in visual reports presentation. Click the
Project tab, and then click Visual Reports under the Reports group to open the
Visual Reports window. Click Earned Value Over Time Report. Notice the
sample of the selected report on the right side of the window. If you have
Microsoft Excel installed, you can click View to see the resulting report. Project
2010 automatically creates Excel data and a chart based on the current file.

3. Click the Project tab, and click on the Reports button. The Reports window will
be displayed.

4. Select Overview from the Reports window and select Project Summary.

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5. In the Reports window, you can see that there are many other reports available in
Project 2010.
6. Custom Reports allows you to customize and save your own report formats.

Reference: You may refer to Lab04.mpp for all the works done.

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Appendix
Title: Lab Project
Start Date: 06 February, 2012
Finish Date: 11 April, 2012
ID

Task Name

1
2
3
4
5
6

Stage 1 - Project Planning

Define project objectives
Determine resources
Identify design specifications
Finalize project budget
Stage 1 End Project Planning

7
8
9
10
11
12

Stage 2 - Design and Development

Design interface
Develop contents
Set up test sessions
Finalize design scope
Stage 2 End Design and Development

13
14
15
16
17
18

Task Owner

Duration
(days)

Task
Dependencies

Benjamin
Benjamin
Ted[50%]
Benjamin

3
2
1
2

Tools[1]
Eric[50%]
Ted[50%]
Sandy
Eric[50%],Ted[50%]

3
5
3
5

5
8
9FF
8,9
11

Stage 3 - Project Implementation

Programming
Graphic design
Component integration
Run test
Stage 3 End Project Implementation

Eric[50%]
Ted[50%]
Eric[50%],Ted[50%]
Sandy

10
5
3
3

9,11
8,11
14,15
14,15,16
17

19
20
21

Stage 4 - Project Control

Track progress
+ Weekly Conference Call

Benjamin

27
28
29

Update schedule
Write project report
Stage 4 End Project Control

1
14,15,16
(1 hr weekly
for 5 weeks)
1
14,15
3
14,15
28

30
31
32
33
34
35

Stage 5 - Closing
Discuss test results
Completed system integration
Present findings
Measure Performance
Stage 5 End Closing

Benjamin
Sandy

Sandy
Eric[50%],Ted[50%]
Eric[50%],Sandy
Benjamin

2
3
1
1

2
2,3
4FS+4 days
5

17,28FS+2 days
16,31
17,32
33
34

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