MS Project Tutorial Lesson 1

1. Tasks
2. a. To start a new project file
   b. To record properties
   c. Views
   d. Entering Tasks and assigning task duration
   e. Outlining tasks
   
3. Links
   a. To link tasks in F-S dependency
   b. Delayed and Overlapped Links
4. Constraints
   a. To apply a constraint
   b. To remove a constraint and apply an ASAP/ALAP constraint

.............................................................................................

Download PDF Version here.

1. TASKS

a. To start a new project file:

You can create a Project from a Template File by choosing File > New from the menu. In the New File dialog box that opens, select the Project Templates tab and select the template that suits your project best and click OK. (You may choose a Blank Project Template and customize it)

Now, you need to define for Microsoft Project the start or ending date for the project. If you fill in a start date, Project schedules your tasks from that date, based on the order in which tasks need to be completed and the availability of resources assigned to work on each task. But, if you have to finish the project by a deadline date, you can enter the finish date too. All intermediate schedules will then be set by Project.

Once a new Project page is opened, the Project Information dialog box opens.

Enter the start date or select an appropriate date by scrolling down the list.

Click OK. Project automatically enters a default start time and stores it as part of the dates entered.

Click on Save and type in the name of your file in the dialog box that opens.

b. To record properties:

1. Choose File, Properties from the menu to display the Properties dialog box.
2. Select Summary tab and fill in information in required fields.
   (project title, project manager, company name, project goals)
3. Click OK.

You can set default values for Start Time, Hours per day/week by selecting Options from the Tools menu.

c. Views:

Views allow you to examine your project from different angles based on what information you want displayed at any given time. You can use a combination of views in the same window at the same time.

Project Views are categorized into two types:

• Task Views (5 types)
• Resource Views (3 types)

To find about more about each view, use the scroll buttons at the top and bottom of the View bar to scroll down through available views.

The Project worksheet is located in the main part of the application window and displays different information depending on the view you choose. The default view is the Gantt Chart View.

Henry Gantt used graphical bars in his industrial management studies to compare and contrast timeframes. In Microsoft Project, graphical bars are paired with a spreadsheet to give the Gantt Chart View.

The next step is to create an outline of the work that has to be done on the project. Goals of any project need to be defined in terms of tasks.

1. Summary tasks - contain subtasks and their related properties
2. Subtasks - are smaller tasks that are a part of a summary task
3. Recurring tasks - are tasks that occur at regular intervals
4. Milestones - are tasks that are set to zero duration and are like interim goals in the project

d. Entering Tasks and assigning task duration:

Click in the first cell and type the task name. Press enter to move to the next row. By default, estimated duration of each task is a day. But, there are very few tasks that can be completed in a day's time. You can enter the task duration as and when you decide upon a suitable estimate.

Double-clicking a task or clicking on the Task Information button on the standard toolbar opens the Task Information box. You can fill in more detailed descriptions of tasks and attach documents related to the task in the options available in this box.

To enter a milestone, enter the name and set its duration to zero. Project represents it as a diamond shape instead of a bar in the Gantt Chart.

To copy tasks and their contents, click on the task ID number at the left of the task and copy and paste as usual.

e. Outlining tasks:

Once the summary tasks have been entered in a task table, you will need to insert subtasks in the blank rows and indent them under the summary task. This is accomplished with the help of the outlining tool.

Outlining is already active when you launch a project and its tools are found at the left end of the Formatting bar. To enter a subtask, enter the task in a blank cell in the Task Name column and click the Indent button on the Outlining tool bar. The Show feature in this toolbar is drop down tool that gives you an option of different Outline levels.

A summary task is outdented to the left cell border, is bold and has a Collapse (-) (Hide subtasks) button in front of it and its respective subtasks are indented with respect to it.

Advantages of Outlining:

• It creates multiple levels of subtasks that roll up into a summary task
• Collapse and expand summary tasks when necessary
• Apply a Work Breakdown structure
• Move, copy or delete entire groups of tasks

You can enter Recurring tasks by clicking on Insert > Recurring task and filling in the duration and recurrence pattern for the task.

Any action you perform on a summary task - deleting it, moving or copying it apply to its subtasks too.

You can also create a custom outline code by choosing Tools > Customize > Fields and select the outline code in the Type down list and click Define Outline Code and Help. This will take you to online help for outline code creation.

.............................................................................................

2. LINKS

Tasks are usually scheduled to start as soon as possible i.e. the first working day after the project start date.

The remaining schedule can be defined in a base calendar to which Project is linked. Project supplies three calendars and any one of them can be used. The Standard calendar, 24 Hours calendar and the Night Shift calendar schedule tasks on different working days and hours. The Standard calendar is usually used as a base calendar.

The duration of any task can be seen in the form of gray bars of varying length on the Gantt Chart in the timeline section.

Sometimes, even after designing a schedule many unforeseen changes can affect the completion of tasks midway. This could lead to a disruption to completion of other related tasks. To solve this problem, Project allows you to link tasks in various ways. By linking tasks Project adjusts the schedule whenever there are changes that affect duration of other tasks.

A task that needs to be completed before (painting the walls of a home before moving the furniture) are called predecessor task and the linked tasks are its successors.

Tasks can be linked in four ways:

a. To link tasks in FS dependency:

1. Select the tasks you want to link. Tasks with a lower ID number are taken as predecessors, but if you want to set the order of tasks yourself, select tasks by holding Control while you click the tasks in order.
   
   
2. Click Link Tasks button on Standard Tool bar or choose Edit > Link tasks or Control+F2.

Summary tasks can be linked to other summary tasks or to subtasks between summary groups. Subtasks can be linked to each other too.
To unlink tasks, select tasks and click the Unlink Task in the Standard Tool bar.

Do not attempt to remove a link by deleting a cell in the predecessor's column and pressing delete as this will delete the entire task.

b. Delayed and Overlapped Links:

Sometimes tasks may be dependent on other factors causing a delay time or an overlap time, necessitating a lag or lead-time to be incorporated in a link. Lag and lead-time can be entered as units of time or as a percentage of the duration of the predecessor.

1. Double-click a task and open the Task Information dialog box.
2. Click the predecessor tab.
3. Select the lag/lead field.
4. Enter a number or a percentage in the cell.
5. Click OK.

The Split task button splits tasks that may be completed in parts at different times with breaks in their duration times.

The AutoLink feature is enabled by default and keeps linked tasks intact when they are linked in the FS dependency. It can be disabled in the Options dialog box if necessary.

.............................................................................................

3. CONSTRAINTS

Certain tasks need to be completed within a certain date. Intermediate deadlines may need to be specified. By assigning constraints to a task you can account for scheduling problems. There are about 8 types of constraints and they come under the flexible or inflexible category.

a. To apply a constraint:

1. Open the Task Information dialog box.
2. Click the Advanced tab and open the Constraint type list by clicking on the drop-down arrow and select it.
3. Select a date for the Constraint and click OK.

Flexible constraints (demarcated by a red dot in Microsoft Project 2000) restrict scheduling to a great extent whereas flexible constraints (blue dot) allow Project to calculate the schedule and make appropriate adjustments based on the constraint applied.

Inflexible constraints can cause conflicts between successive and preceding tasks at times and you may need to remove such a constraint.

b. To remove a constraint and apply an ASAP/ALAP constraint:

1. Select the tasks by holding Control and clicking on them in the order you want.
2. Click Task Information button on the Standard Toolbar and the Multiple task dialog box opens.
3. Click the Advanced tab and click the drop down arrow to open the constraint type list.
4. Choose ASAP if the project has been scheduled from the Start date and ALAP (As late as possible) if it has been scheduled from the Finish date.
5. Click OK.

OR

Select Tools > Options > Schedule and clear the 'Tasks will always honor their constraint dates' checkbox.

OR

Set deadline date instead of adopting an inflexible constraint. Setting a task deadline does not affect the task schedule in any way. If a deadline passes without the task being completed Project indicates it in the Indicator column (a downward pointing arrow in the Gantt Chart view).

Download PDF Version here.

We offer services like Business Process Engineering, Porting Legacy applications to the web and Enterprise Application Integration. Please contact us here for more details.

Other Related Articles from