1 / 30
2 / 30
3 / 30
The duration of a task can be entered in minutes, hours, days (default), weeks or
months, by adding m (or min or minute), h (or hr or hour), d (or dy or day), w (or
wk or week) and mo (or mon or month) after the task duration, respectively.
It is possible to choose which of the alternative time unit identifiers will appear
in the table. That is, and for instance, we can choose whether d, dy or day will
appear after a task duration which is set in days. More specifically, this is
achieved as follows:
Select Tools Options.
4 / 30
It is possible to choose the default time unit, that is, the time unit that Project
will use if we simply insert a number, without any time unit identifier. More
specifically, this is achieved as follows:
Select Tools Options.
Select the Schedule tab.
In the Scheduling options section, select the default time unit in the dropdown list Duration is entered in.
5 / 30
6 / 30
Project includes the four types of precedence relation (FS, SS, FF, SF) we
described in the precedence diagramming section in the scheduling chapter, and
also allows us to set lags.
The type of precedence can be set as follows::
In the Predecessors column, write SS, FF or SF, as appropriate,
immediately after the ID of the predecessor task. If the precedence type
7 / 30
... or, in the Predecessors tab in the Task Information dialog box, select
the appropriate type of precedence relation in the drop-down list Type.
8 / 30
Project allows us to insert the entire projects WBS. That is, in addition to the
lowest level tasks, we can also include higher level tasks. In Project, these
higher level tasks (which are essentially a set of lower level tasks) are named
summary tasks.
In order to create a summary task:
If needed, insert a new task at the appropriate place:
Right click where you would like to insert the new task and select New
Task ...
... or, with the cursor placed somewhere in the row where you would like
to insert the new task, select Insert New Task.
9 / 30
If required, move all the subtasks for that summary task to the rows
immediately below the summary task. In order to do this, and for each
subtask or set of adjacent subtasks, simply select the row(s) containing that
task or tasks and drag it (them) to the appropriate location.
Select the rows with all the subtasks of that summary task.
10 / 30
Then:
To insert the Level 0 summary task, that is, the project main summary task:
Select Tools Options.
Select the View tab.
In the section Outline options, check Show project summary task.
Project automatically calculates the duration of a summary task. This duration is
not the sum of the durations of the corresponding subtasks. Indeed, and as it
should, the duration of a summary task is the time required to do all its subtasks.
Therefore, the duration of a summary task is the time elapsed between the start
date of its first subtask to start and the finish date of its last subtask to finish.
It is not necessary to insert predecessor information on a summary task. Indeed,
it is enough to insert precedence information on the lowest level tasks. If some
precedence relation is specified for a summary task, that relation will apply to all
the subtasks of that summary task.
11 / 30
It is also possible to add a WBS column, which contains a WBS identifier for
each task.
12 / 30
Project automatically calculates the tasks start and finish dates, taking into
account the type of scheduling, the task durations and the precedence relations.
We recall that we can choose between two types of scheduling:
Schedule from: Project Start Date:
The project is scheduled from the start date (that is, the project is
scheduled from the start date to the finish).
By default, all tasks are scheduled to start as soon as possible (that is, on
their ES date).
Schedule from: Project Finish Date:
The project is scheduled from the finish date (that is, the project is
scheduled from the finish date to the start).
By default, all tasks are scheduled to start as late as possible (that is, on
their LS date).
However, it is possible to set various types of constraints regarding the dates
when a task is to be performed. These constraints can be defined in the section
Constrain task on the Advanced tab in the Task Information dialog box:
In the drop-down list Deadline we can enter a finish date that we would like
to be able to meet. However, this does not in any way prevent the task from
being completed after this date. Indeed, when we enter a deadline, we are
simply given a warning when that deadline is not met.
13 / 30
14 / 30
These other constraints naturally influence and constrain the scheduling of the
project. As such, it is wise to only use them when needed and appropriate,
particularly in what regards the rather strong Must Start On or Must Finish On
constraints. Therefore, use these other constraints only when they make sense
and are really needed, and otherwise let Project do the job of scheduling the jobs
for you!
The date format can also be chosen. First, select Tools Options and then
select the View tab. The date format can then be set in the drop-down list Date
format.
Project automatically calculates the ES, EF, LS and LF dates, as well as the total
slack.
15 / 30
All that is required is to add the corresponding columns, which are denoted by:
ES: Early Start.
EF: Early Finish.
LS: Late Start.
LF: Late Finish.
Total Slack: Total Slack.
16 / 30
We can also choose whether or not the summary tasks are to be shown in the
network. Should we choose to include the summary tasks, we can also decide
whether we want Project to try (as best as possible) to keep the nodes of the
various subtasks close to their respective summary task. In order to make these
choices:
Select Format Layout ...
... or right click anywhere outside the nodes and arcs and select Layout.
The corresponding options are found in the Box Layout section.
We can choose whether or not to show the summary tasks by checking or
unchecking Show summary tasks.
Should we choose to show the summary tasks, we can also decide whether or
not we want Project to try (as best as possible) to keep the nodes of the
various subtasks close to their respective summary task by checking or
unchecking Keep tasks with their summaries.
17 / 30
18 / 30
19 / 30
20 / 30
21 / 30
Once the calendar we wish to customize has been selected or created, we can
then fully customize it.
We can set the working hours and decide whether a day or a set of days are
working days or not. This can be set:
For a single day. In this case, we should:
(1) Select that day.
(2) In the Exceptions tab, select an empty cell in the Name column and insert
a name which identifies the unique situation occurring on that day.
(3) Make sure that day is selected on both the Start and Finish columns.
22 / 30
23 / 30
For a given day of the week or for several given days of the week (that
is, and for instance, for all Mondays, or all Tuesdays and Thursdays).
Naturally, this does not prevent us from later specifying something
different for one single Monday, as described above. In this case, we
should:
(1) Select the Work Weeks tab.
(2) Select [Default] in the Name column.
(3) Select Details.
24 / 30
(4) This opens the Details dialog box. Here we select a day of the week (or
days) and then define the corresponding working time.
25 / 30
When we create a new calendar, we should be aware that that calendar will not
automatically become the calendar used by the project. Indeed, in order for the
project to use that calendar, we must:
Select Project Project Information.
Choose the desired calendar in the Calendar drop-down list.
26 / 30
Project also automatically creates a calendar for the project. That calendar
shows, for each day, the task or tasks being performed on that day.
This calendar can be found in the Calendar view (select View Calendar).
27 / 30
6. REPORTS
Project can automatically generate a wide variety of reports, containing all sorts
of information concerning the project. These reports are quite useful for
planning, for managing and controlling the implementation and also for the
termination and evaluation.
Thus, these reports are useful for multiple chapters in our course, since they help
us with planning, scheduling, resource allocation, budgeting, monitoring and
controlling and termination and evaluation.
In order to generate a report, select Reports Report in order to open the
Reports dialog box.
28 / 30
The five preconfigured categories are useful for generating the following types
of report:
Overview: General information regarding the project, such as summary,
critical tasks and milestones.
Current Activities: Useful information for monitoring and controlling the
project, such as tasks starting soon, tasks in progress, should have started
tasks and slipping tasks.
Costs: Information useful both for planning and budgets, such as cash
flow and budget, and for monitoring and controlling, such as overbudget
tasks, overbudget resources and earned value.
Assignments: General information regarding the assignment of resources
to tasks, such as who does what, who does what when and overallocated
resources.
Workload: General information regarding the workload of resources,
such as task usage and resource usage.
The Custom option opens the Custom Reports dialog box.
Here, we can select among one of the many types of report available in the list
Reports. The report can be further configured by selecting Edit .
Alternatively, we can create and fully configure a report from scratch by
selecting New .
29 / 30
30 / 30