Guide to Project

The Project Order Enter the project start date Define the working time Enter project tasks Link tasks together Enter the resources Assign resources to the tasks Time – Level the Project Save the Baseline Create the individual resource calendars before assigning to tasks

Gantt Chart Project schedule showing each task as a bar, the length of which is proportional to its duration. Also shows the dependency between tasks. Henry Gantt was an American mechanical engineer and management consultant, active late 19th-early 20th century.

Milestone A milestone is a project event that represents a checkpoint, a major accomplishment or a measurable goal. A task with zero duration. Milestones are usually shown as black diamonds. You can format the shape and colour.

Critical Path A critical task is one that is on the critical path. Shown in red, the Critical Path is the succession of connected tasks that will take the longest to complete.

Baseline The Baseline is the original project plan, including the time schedule and resource and cost allocations. The baseline is used for comparing projected values to actuals and facilitates the tracking and analysing of a project’s progress.

Manual or Auto Scheduling Manually Scheduled Tasks. You specify when to start and finish. Auto Scheduled Tasks. Project calculates your schedule using the task links and dependencies, resource assignments, working calendars and other details that you specify. Two task modes. Auto Scheduled is usually preferred.

Tasks Tasks are the work that needs to be done to achieve the project’s objectives and to deliver the desired results. Before you can do anything else, you need to list the tasks to be performed.

Resources Time and Materials. Resources are any people, equipment or materials required to complete the tasks in your project.

WBS Codes Work Breakdown Structure codes are used to identify tasks in a hierarchy. WBS codes can be used to filter the project schedule for tracking and reporting purposes. You can design different numbering or lettering schemes for your WBS codes.

Task Dependency Predecessor Successor Summary Tasks In a relationship between two tasks, the predecessor is the task that must be started or completed first. Successor The successor is the task that must await the start or completion of the other. Summary Tasks Summary tasks summarise their subtasks. The duration and cost of a Summary Task is calculated from the subtasks.

Types of Task Dependency Finish to Start When the predecessor task finishes, the successor task begins. Start to Start The start of one task triggers the start of another. There is often a delay (called a lag) Finish to Finish The successor task continues only as long as the predecessor task does. Start to Finish The start of one task controls the finish of another (rare) FS. When you finish installing software then you can start using it. SS. As soon as you start driving to the seaside the kids start asking “Are we there yet?” FF. As long as your kids live at home you have to pick up their clothes from the bathroom floor. SF. The day shift security officer can leave only when the night shift security officer arrives at work.

Lag Delaying or Overlapping tasks. A delay between linked tasks is called lag time, the second task lags for a while before it starts. When tasks overlap, the overlap is usually called lead time. The term Lag is used to refer to both delays and overlaps. Typing a positive number or percentage in the Lag field creates a delay between dependent tasks, whereas a negative number overlaps the two tasks. In Project, you use the Lag field to specify delays and overlaps, which can be durations or percentages: • Add a time delay. If you have to wait 30 minutes after eating to get in the pool, enter 30min in the Lag field. • Add an overlap. Enter a negative value, such as –2d to start testing a website before all the pages are complete. • Add a percentage delay or overlap. Using a percentage tells Project to adjust the length of the delay or overlap if the duration of the predecessor changes—for instance, to increase the amount of overlap based on the length of a design task. To define a delay or overlap as a percentage, simply type a percentage like 75% in the Lag field.

Work, Duration and Units The number of hours a task requires to be completed. Duration The span of time from the start of a task to its finish. Units The proportion of time that resources work on a task. Work = Duration x Units Duration = Work ÷ Units Units = Work ÷ Duration

Effort Driven Scheduling Effort Driven Scheduling (EDS) keeps the total amount of work the same when you add or remove resources to the task by reducing or increasing the work each resource performs. Many hands make light work. Effort driven tasks. Too many cooks spoil the broth. Non effort driven tasks. The default setting varies on the version of Microsoft Project. For example, in Project 2016 the default task setting is Fixed Units, Non Effort Driven. Many hands make light work. Two painters on a wall start either end and meet in the middle. Too many cooks spoil the broth. Meetings or a very small wall.

Slack PERT charts are not available in MS Project. Slack or Float is the amount of time that a task can be delayed without delaying the finish date of a subsequent task or the finish date of the project. Slack only exists for non-critical tasks.

Why Plan? Wild enthusiasm Dejected disillusionment The 5 stages of an unplanned project: Wild enthusiasm Dejected disillusionment Search for the guilty Punishment of the innocent Promotion of those not involved