1. Management Information Systems [MOIS470]
Selected Topics in
Management Information Systems [MOIS470]
Fall 2004
Nahed Amin
MS Project

2. Introduction What’s Project Management?
Project management is a matter of keeping scope, schedule and resources in balance
Scope: the range of tasks required to accomplish project goals
Schedule: the time and sequence of each task, as well as the total project duration
Resources: the people and/or equipment that perform or facilitate project tasks

3. Steps for Managing a Project
Project Definition:
Decide on the goals to be accomplished
Identify the major tasks
Agree on the available resources
Determine the schedule’s limit
Project Plan:
Identify all project tasks and who will do them
Get work and time estimates for tasks
Determine task dependencies
Enter task and project constraints

4. Steps for Managing a Project
Tracking:
Track project progress comparing actual to original
Review resources, scope, and schedule factors
Identify problems that could knock off schedule
Analyze resource requirements over project
Make midstream changes to reach goals sooner
Project Close:
Compare original plan to actual one
Analyze problems for future improvements
Archive the project file

5. Getting Started Set clear project goals, scope and assumptions
Start a new project file
Enter a project start or finish date
Enter project goals, scope and assumptions
Save project

6. MS Project Building Blocks
Tasks:
Actual work needed to be accomplished to meet project goals can be broken into tasks
The scope of a project consists of all its tasks
Resources:
The amount of resources can affect the project scope and schedule
Assignments:
Assigning resources to work on a task directly affects the time required to complete a task, and indirectly the total project time

7. 1. Tasks Break project into tasks, phases, and milestones: Tasks:
A concrete step required to meet project goal. It represents actual work to be done in the project
Phases:
Consists of a group of related tasks. A phase represents a major step in the project
Milestones:
Tasks that require no actual work. But just to indicate the beginning or end of a phase. Milestones are interim goals used to track the progress of the project

8. 1. Tasks Create a task list:
Include only tasks critical to project’s completion
Add detailed enough tasks so that the time to complete each one is short compared to overall project’s length
Remember tasks that occur repetitively, such as weekly meetings, status reporting, and anticipated revision work

9. 1. Tasks Enter tasks Estimate task length:
Base estimates on:
Others’ experience
Your experience
Past records
Enter every task duration only, not its start or finish date

10. 1. Tasks Ensure to perform a logical, well-ordered task list
Add milestones
Order & group related tasks in tasks’ list. A straight list of tasks doesn’t indicate when one phase ends and another begins. The most common two grouping criteria:
Tasks belonging to the same process
Tasks to be completed in the same time period
Summing up summary tasks
Outline task list

11. 1. Tasks Link tasks: Power of linking:
Let MS Project calculate all dates: every task start and finish dates, project finish date
See instantly how changes in start, finish, and duration of a task affect related tasks and whole schedule
Determine the best task sequence:
Identify dependencies of start or finish dates of a task on another one
A task that must start or finish before another task is called a predecessor task
A task that depends on start or finish of another task is called a successor task

12. 1. Tasks Link tasks: Types of links: Finish-to-start (FS)
Start-to-start (SS)
Finish-to-finish (FF)
Start-to-finish (SF)

13. 1. Tasks
Link tasks:
Create links between tasks – avoid entering start or finish dates
Overlap or delay tasks:
Lag time
Lead time

14. 1. Tasks Add task’s constraints: Constrain a task if:
The constraint reflects an actual time constraint in real world
The project will be penalized for not starting or finishing by a specific date
Types of constraints:
As Soon As Possible (ASAP) Finish no Later Than (FNLT)
As Late As Possible (ALAP) Start No Later Than (SNLT)
Finish no earlier than (FNET) Must Finish On (MFO)
Start No Earlier Than (SNET) Must Start On (MSO)
Enter constraints

15. 2. Resources Determine resource needs Create a resource list:
A resource list includes:
The name of the resource
The maximum amount of time per day a resource is available to work
Enter the resource list

16. 2. Resources Determine the working times calendars:
There are two types of working times calendars:
A base calendar to store the planned working and non-working days and hours for a group of resources
A resource calendar containing the work schedule for only one individual resource
Modify the project calendar or create a working times calendar

17. 3. Assignments Assign resources to tasks:
Assigning resources to tasks provide several benefits:
The schedule mirrors actual circumstances more accurately
Responsibilities can be assigned for tasks
Workload is monitored to make adjustments in case any resource is overloaded
Pillars of task scheduling: work, duration, resources:
Work: amount of effort, measured in time units put into a task by a resource. The total work for a task is the sum of all these time units
Duration: amount of time between start & finish dates for a task
Resources: people, equipment, office space, etc
Assign one or more resources to each task

18. Schedule’s Evaluation & Adjustment
Ensure the plan is accurate and complete
Review project goals, scope, assumptions
Add or delete tasks
Refine task-duration estimates
Check project finish date
Determine if constraints are necessary
Identify & correct obvious errors

19. Plan’s Streamlining
Fine-tune schedule by making trade-offs among scope, resources, time; the three main factors that shape a project
Focus on:
shortening the schedule
Using resources as efficiently as possible