Overview and Context

• Participants’ Backgrounds, Needs, and Expectations
• What is a Project
• Recurring Theme 1 – Simplicity, Transparency, and No Loss of Control
• Recurring Theme 2 – Effort versus Accuracy — the Asymptotic Curve

Customizing the Microsoft Windows Environment

• Using Windows Explorer
• File Name View Options

Opening Microsoft Project and Customizing the User Interface

• Verifying the Version Number and the Application of Service Releases/Service Packs
• Help Facilities — Too Much? — How To Turn Off
• A Tour of the Screen – Names & Definitions
• Notice lateral scroll bars at the bottom of both sides of the screen
• Menu Bar, Tool Bars, Icons, and the View Bar
• Turning Off Personalized Menus
• Customizing a Tool Bar — Adding Some Icons

Starting a New Project

• Selecting a Project Start Date
• Start Date versus End Date Scheduling
• Entering Tasks – Observe What Project Does
• Adding and Hiding Columns, and a Quick Discussion of Project’s Data Base

Durations and the Time Scale

• Duration Defined
• Elapsed Duration
• The Time Scale — Various Ways to Manage It
• The Third Timescale Level

Outlining a Project

• Summary Tasks and Detail Tasks (“Parent” and “Child” Tasks)
• Properties of Summary Tasks
• Outline Levels
• The “Line Zero” Project Summary Task
• Viewing Outline Numbers
• WBS Numbers and Outline Numbers — Differences
• Viewing Outline Levels – Preview of Filters

Linking Tasks

• Standard Links (FS) using the Link and Unlink Icons
• Selecting Adjoining Tasks with the Shift Key
• Selecting Non-Adjoining Tasks with the Control Key – The Order Matters!
• Linking Graphically – Slightly Dangerous
• Three Other Types of Links (SS, FF, and the bizarre SF)
• Entering Links in the Task Information Box and Other Forms
• Power Linking by Typing Directly into the Predecessors or Successors Columns
• Linking Summary Tasks — Controversy and Confusion (“Hidden Hands”)

Adding Lags to Links

• Lags: Positive, Negative, and Percentage
• Combining Lags with SS and FF Link Types
• Documenting the Reasons for Lags with Notes
• Small Negative Lags versus Large Negative Lags
• An Alternative to Lags

Date Constraints

• Constraints Frequently Set in Error – By Typing Dates
• Eight Types of Constraints – Purposes of Each Type
• When Constraints Conflict with Links – a Switch Determines Who Wins
• What Types of Tasks are OK to Constrain
• Documenting the Reasons for Constraints with Notes

Milestones

• The Purpose of Milestones – When Are They Useful?
• Conflicting Definitions with Other Applications like MPM
• The Milestones Filter

Working with Project Tasks

• The Deadline Feature
• More About Notes – Capacity and the Ability to Insert Objects
• Adding Hyperlinks to Tasks, and How they Compare with Notes
• Recurring Tasks
• Splitting Tasks
• Moving Tasks Around in a Schedule – Methods and the Level Problem
• Moving Columns to New Positions
• To Autolink or Not To Autolink Inserted or Moved Tasks
• Saving Work with Autosave, and Version Control Issues
• The Language of Tasks: When Verbs, When Nouns
• How Logic Flows Through an Unconstrained Schedule
• How Detailed Should Schedules Be?

The Critical Path

• Understanding The Critical Path
• Different Views that Show the Critical Path
• Adding the Critical Path to the Gantt View with a Wizard
• Microsoft’s Critical Path Options in the Tool Box (Tools-Options-Calculation)
• The Impact of Date Constraints on the Critical Path
• The Impact of Task Progress on the Critical Path — The Different Effects of FS and SS Links
• The Impact of Deadlines on the Critical Path — A Departure from the Classic
• Definition of “Critical”
• Elapsed Durations, ALAP Tasks, and their Effect on Critical Path

Filters

• What is a Filter and Why is it Useful?
• Filters (1) – The Short List in the Menu
• Filters (2) – The Long List in “More Filters”
• Filters (3) – The Power of Autofilters, Singly and in Combination
• Filters (4) – Total Control – Creating and Saving Custom Filters
• Applying a Highlight Filter
• Linking a Filter with a View, and the Permanent Highlight Filter Option

Sorting and Grouping

• When Would Sorting be Useful
• Sorting (1) – The Quick Sort — Several Choices in the Menu
• Problems and Limitations with the Quick Sort
• Sorting (2) – The Full Sort — Managing the Two Check Boxes
• Restoring Original Line Order with the Sort by ID Option
• The “Grouping” Function – a Kind of Group Sorting with Subtotaling

Customizing Fields

• Changing Field Names – 2 Ways
• The View-Specific Change Technique — Double Click Column Header
• The Durable Change Technique — Customizing the Field
• Limiting Entries into Optional Fields with Data Validation
• Adding a Formula to an Optional Field
• Adding “Stoplight” Graphics to an Optional Field
• Separate Customization Choices for Summary Tasks

Other Views and Display Options

• The Calendar View
• The Network Diagram View (Formerly Called “PERT” View)
• The Relationship Diagram View
• Splitting the Screen, and Managing the Two Split Halves
• The “Arrange All” Function — For Managing Multiple Open Projects

Reports

• The Standard Reports
• Editing and Customizing Reports
• Using the Gantt View instead of Microsoft Project’s Reports

Adding Graphics and Multimedia Objects to the Gantt Area

• Adding a Text Box
• Adding Clip Art
• Adding Sound and Video Objects

Formatting for Printing

• Wrapping Text to Handle Long Task Names
• What Columns Will Appear in Print — a Big Problem Resolved
• Gantt Bar Appearances – the Bar Styles Dialogue Box
• Adding and Removing Text and Dates from Gantt Bars and Milestones
• Link Appearances — Suppressing Links in Large Schedules
• The Scaling Option – Get More Space with the Percent Scaling Tool
• Building Headers with Variable Inserts
• Building Footers with Variable Inserts – a Suggested Standard
• Turning the Legend On and Off
• The Final Setup Tab: Showing Notes, Blank Pages, Etc.
• Last Look at Zooming – Where is the Print Date Range Dialogue Hidden?
• Extra Polish: Adding Logos to Headers for Special Presentations
• Formatting Options are Stored in Views

Exporting Project Images and Data to Other Applications

• Exporting Gantt Views to Word and PowerPoint with the Camera Icon
• Exporting with the PrintScreen Key and ALT-PrintScreen
• Exporting Data to Excel — the Outline Level Problem
• Exporting Data to Access — the Choice of Power Users

The Organizer

• Overview of the Organizer: the 2-Library Concept
• What Project Does When it Looks For a New View or Filter, etc.
• Where Modifications are Saved – the Local Library
• What the Global Library is (GLOBAL.MPT), and Why it is Useful
• Making Custom Filters, Views, etc. Available to Other Schedules on Your Computer
• Sharing Custom Filters, Views, etc. with Friends and Colleagues
• More about Views – What They Contain and What They Don’t

Check out our references or contact us for more information.