Project 98, 2000 Fast Start How-to

START A PROJECT

To create a new project

Click the New button

Set project start date

If you clicked New button, dialogue box automatically comes up; otherwise select Project/Project Information. Then enter start date for project.

Set project details

Select File/Properties, and enter info. You can later use this info when printing from Project (e.g. when in Print Preview go to Page Setup and select Header or Footer tab, and note pop-up list of fields (from File/Properties) you can Add to an area).

TASK BASICS

See task bar for task

Click on task and then click on Go To (Selected) Task button.

Create task phases

Select tasks below phase name and click the Indent button. (Clicking Outdent button unphases the selected tasks.)

Work with milestones

We suggest you set a milestone at beginning of project (e.g. call it “Start Project”), as well as one at the end of project (e.g. “Project Complete”),” as well as inserting one at the end of each phase (e.g. “End of Production phase”). Set any milestone to a 0 duration.

Create standard task links

Highlight tasks (by dragging, with Shift, with Control) and click Link icon (which creates Finish to Start link). Best approach is to link tasks within each phase, and then link last task of first phase to first task of next phase. You can also create a link by dragging the Gantt bar of one task to another. You can also create a link by double clicking a task, selecting Predecessor, and selecting a Task Name from the pop-up list.

Create other task link types

Link tasks as explained above. Double click task, click Predecessor tab and change link from Finish to Start to (e.g.) Start to Start or Finish to Finish. You can also double click link line between task bars on Gantt Chart to do the same.

Create lag or lead

Double click task, click Predecessor tab, and type in lag, i.e. delay (e.g. 2 days as absolute value, or 50% as relative to predecessor); or lead, i.e. overlap (e.g. -2 days or -50%)

To constrain a task or





Show completion date

Double click task, click Advanced tab.
-Constrain task by selecting constrain type and date (e.g. No Later Than, and 3/15/01). (When you click OK accept it by clicking third option in ensuing dialogue box.). Use constraints as late as possible in the process of building schedule, and as infrequently as possible to avoid making the project inelastic. (To unconstrain task, select the As Soon As Possible “soft” constraint.)

-Enter a Completion Date (Project 2000 only) to see white completion date marker in Gantt bar. (To see be sure you can see each individual day in timeline.) If that task’s completion date passes the completion date, note red indicator icon in Indicators column of Gantt Chart.

To split a task

Right click task, select Split task, move cursor over task again to see moving date, and click at desired point to create one day split; or click and drag to desired length of split for a more than one day split. You can split an already split task.

To show an overall project task (Task 0)

Select Tools/Options/click View tab, check “Project summary task.” A 0 task is created at beginning of task list.

To create recurring tasks

Click a task near the top of project, and select Insert/Recurring Tasks. Enter recurrence name & attributes, After creating recurring task click on “+” to left of task to see all instances of recurrence.

To see critical tasks

-View Gantt Chart, click Gantt Chart Wizard button on toolbar, select Critical Path in 2^nd screen, and just Next through all other screens. When done, critical tasks will be red. If you adjust the duration of a critical task, at least one other task will shift. If you change the duration of a non-critical task, another task may shift depending on the size of the duration increase.

- To see the slack (blue, non-critical tasks have slack; red, critical tasks have no slack) go to the Detail Gantt (View/More Views).

RESOURCE BASICS

Enter resources

Go to Resource Sheet. Enter individuals (e.g. Mary Smith, as 100%), or groups of people (e.g. carpenters 500% for five carpenters). Enter rate in hours (h), days (d), weeks, (w), months (mo, in Project 2000), years (y). Can also enter Cost/User rate (rate the same no matter the length of the task the resource is assigned to), overtime rate, assigned calendar, etc.  You can also double click resource to enter additional info.

Multiple cost rates for a resource

Cost Rate Based on Time Period -- Double click resource in Resource Sheet, click on Cost tab, and enter in A area, rates for different time periods (e.g. on 3/1/00 the rate changes to 50/h).

Multiple Cost Rates -- Can also enter additional rates in B, C, D, and E area. (Can apply a rate to an assignment already created by double clicking assignment in the Task or Resource Usage view, and in General tab select Cost Rate Table from pop-up.)

RESOURCE ASSIGNMENTS

Assign resources to tasks

Show Gantt Chart view, click the “2 heads” Assign Resources button, select a task, select a resource to assign, and click Assign. You can also type in a percentage in Units area (e.g. 75%). To see maximum units you can assign of any resource to a task, double click resource in Resource Assignment dialogue box and view max units in General tab of Resource Information card.)

To see assignments in other views

-Bring up the Task Usage or Resource Usage View.  To see an assignment for a particular time period in terms of work, click on the assignment and select Go To Selected Task button on toolbar.

-Right click the little gray rectangle to left of name heading to switch to a different table to see assignments in terms of cost, tracking info, etc.

-To see the right side of the timescale area in terms of cost or actual work, etc. right click the right side, and select the appropriate item from the pop-up (e.g. cost). You can also use the zoom in and zoom out buttons to see the timescale in weeks, months, quarters

-Another approach to see assignments is to bring up the Gantt Chart and select Windows/Split Window to see the Gantt Chart with the Task Entry View in the bottom frame. You can also click in this bottom frame and click the Task Usage view to show it in the bottom pane.

CALENDARS

To modify, create new base calendar

Tools/Change Working Time. You can modify Standard calendar, or (recommended) click New to create new calendar based on Standard, and adjust calendar. Create as many calendars as needed. To assign the new base calendar to project go to Project/Project Information, and select Calendar from pop-up. Also to assign the appropriate new calendar(s) to resources, go to Resource Sheet and select the calendar near the end of each row for that resource (or double click the resource in Resource Sheet).

To modify how resource uses current base calendar

Method 1: Tools/Change Working Time, select resource from list in upper left, and modify (their use of the base calendar now used by the resource) as needed.  Method 2: Double click resource in resource sheet and select the Working Time tab.

To assign a base calendar to a task

(Project 2000 only) Double click Task, Advanced tab, select Calendar from pop-up. (Default is always “None” meaning its using the current company calendar.)

VIEW PROJECT DATA

To see overall project statistics

Project/Project Inforamtion, click Statistics button

To see a different table in a view; create a new table

In a view such as Gantt Chart, right click little gray rectangle in upper left at intersection to left of first field name, and select table desired (e.g. cost, variance, tracking). To create a new table select Project/Filtered For/More Filters, click New, give name to new table, select fields desired.

To insert a column in a table

Right click any column heading and select Insert Column, select one from list, and give it a title, and if necessary align to left. E.g. to create a column for miscellaneous text, select Text 1.

To see costs for tasks

In Gantt Chart tight click little gray rectangle to left of first (Indicators) column heading and select Cost table

To see costs for resources

Right click little gray rectangle to left of first column heading in Resource Sheet and select Cost table

To see detailed cost info

Go to Task Usage or Resource Usage views, and switch to the Cost table. Then right click right side of screen where detail work info appears and select Cost info to see costs. Use zoom in or zoom out buttons to see desired level of detail in timeline (i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.).

To group resources by resource group; create custom group

(Project 2000 only) In Resource Sheet select Resource Group from the Grouping pop-up list on Standard toolbar. Select No Grouping to undo. Grouping is also available in Gantt Chart and other views. To create a custom group select Project/Group By/More Groups, click New, and create new group there.

Filtering tasks and resources

Go to view (e.g. Gantt Chart or Resource Sheet), use Filter drop down list on toolbar to see project’s built-in custom filters. Or click the Autofilter button on formatting toolbar. From pop-ups next to each field select an item in list, or click Custom. Click All to return to all items. Click AutoFilter button again to turn off Autofilter.

To view reports; create custom report.

View/Reports. E.g. double click Costs and select Cash Flow report, or double click Assignments and select Who Does What When report. To create a custom report, select View/Reports/Customize. E.g. select the Who does What When report, click Copy, name the new report, and change field and other info (e.g. from “Work” to “Cost” to see cost breakdown).

Seeing Gantt bars in smaller or larger view

Click the Zoom in or Zoom out buttons in toolbar, or select Format/Timescale, and modify the major or minor scales. To see entire project on screen, select View/Zoom, Entire Project.

To change overall look of Gantt Chart

Click the Gantt Chart Wizard button on toolbar and select from among Standard 1, 2, 3 etc.

To change look of Gantt area components

Double click blank area of right side of Gantt Chart and make adjustment to one of the graphic or text components. E.g. click Summary under the name column and adjust down below its thickness, type, shape, color, etc.

To change height of a task or resource row

Move mouse button between row numbers on left to see split bar, then click and drag up or down. (In Project 98 all rows are effected; in Project 2000 only that row is effected.)

To publish project info as HTML, to the web

File/Save As Web Page. (In Project 2000 use Map “Export to HTML Using Standard Template”). To open saved HTML file, open browser and select File/Open to find file. (In Project 2000 you can also open the Web toolbar (View/Toolbars), click the Go button and select Open, etc. to view in browser. You can now use the html file as an email attachment to someone or put on server.

Take a snapshot of project

-Zoom out as necessary. Highlight all of the task by selecting task ID# 1, holding down the Shift key, and selecting the last ID#.  Then to take the snapshot of the Gantt Chart (or other view) click the Snapshot (camera) icon, and select either a) For Screen, open Word, PowerPoint (to a graphic section of slide), etc. and do a paste, or b) To Gif Image File for a gif file for the web. You can then open the gif file from your hard disk, which will open it in your browser. (You can also email this gif file to someone; or insert it on a web (html) page on your web site.)

RESOLVE OVERALLOCATIONS

To see overallocated resources

Go to Resource Sheet and note all resources that are red

To eliminate overallocations

(manual approach) In the resource Sheet select any resource that is red. Then switch to the Resource Graph, select Alt Hoe to go to start of project, and Alt F5 repeatedly to see each overallocation. Write down the dates where you see red bars indicating overallocations. Return to the Gantt Chart, look for overlapping tasks for that resource on that date or too high an assignment Unit percentage for a single assignment, and change assignments as necessary (e.g. take resource of one of the overlapping tasks, and replace with someone else). Do this for all dates where resource was overallocated.

(leveling approach)  Go to Resource Usage view, select an overallocated resource (red), scroll to right to see specific periods they are overallocated (change timescale with Format/Timescale to change the time level), and note granularity of overallocation (e.g. is it across hours, days, weeks; click zoom in/zoom out button as necessary). Then level the resource by selecting Tools/Resource leveling, select the time interval necessary (e.g. day by day if overallocation is only on a single day) and click Level Now, and level only the selected resource. Go through same process for each overallocated resource.

To see leveling results go to Leveling Gantt view (View/More Views/Leveling Gantt), and note differences of before and after leveling changes. To unlevel go to Tools/Level Resources, and select Clear Leveling for entire project (or specific task(s).

SET BASELINE(S)

To set a baseline plan

Tools/Tracking/Save Baseline

To see baseline information

Project/Project Info/Statistics to see baseline and variance. For task-by-task baseline info, go to Gantt Chart and select the Variance table. You can visually see this by bringing up Tracking Gantt (View/More Views). Variance indicates the change in the schedule from the baseline snapshot you took of the schedule. ). To see the slippage (i.e. the start variance between the schedule vs. baseline) as a bar, open the Detail Gantt view, and click and hold on the olive covered bars.

To set interim baseline(s)

To see interim plan (1) fields show the Variance table (or other table), right click a field heading, select Insert Task, and insert the Start1 (date) and Finish1 (date) fields. Then to set the interim plan select Tools/Tracking/Save Interim Plan (e.g. select Start1/Finish1 to use interim plan 1). Current schedule dates are copied into the fields.

-To show a bar for the interim baseline info in a view, double click a blank area in the right side of a view (e.g. on the Tracking Gantt using the Variance table). Then in dialogue box, at desired location of list of objects in Name column click Insert Row, be sure to select the appropriate fields in the From and To area on right (e.g. Start1 and Finish1 for the interim baseline1 info), and change color of bar.

TRACKING ACTUAL WORK DONE

To track actual work done

In Gantt Chart bring up the Tracking Toolbar (View/Toolbars). For on-schedule tracking select a task and click 100% button if completed (as originally scheduled), or any of the other % buttons (for as scheduled), or click the Update Tasks button to enter an irregular percentage (e.g. 35%). For off-schedule tracking, click on the Update Tasks button, and enter the actual start and/or end dates (and if not completed enter a % complete).

To see tracking info

Go to Project/Project Information/Statistics, and view Actual row info, plus % complete info. To compare schedule vs. baseline vs. actual info go to the Tracking Gantt (View/More views To see the slippage (i.e. the start variance between the schedule vs. baseline) as a bar, open the Detail Gantt view, and click and hold on the olive covered bars. For task details, go to Gantt Chart, and select Tracking table.

To track at the assignment level

Open the Task Usage view, activate the Tracking table, double click an assignment, click on the Tracking tab and enter the % work complete and/or the actual start and/or end dates.

MULTIPLE PROJECTS & RESOURCE SHARING

Work with multiple projects

-To switch to another open project file, select it from the Window menu. Tile multiple project files on your screen

-To tile multiple open projects, select Window/Arrange All

-Embed multiple projects in a consolidated file -- To insert multiple projects into a consolidated project, first create a new project file and save it as (e.g.) “Consolidate.” Then in the Gantt Chart click on a blank task, and select Insert/Project, and select project to embed. You can expand the project by clicking on the “+” button next to the project name. To insert another project, collapse the first embedded project (!), click the next blank area and insert another project.

--Changes you make in the individual project files are reflected in the consolidated project, and vice versa. (To keep changes up to date do save (Control S) frequently, and select Save All if prompted.)

--You can also link tasks among the inserted projects.

Share resources among project files

Create a new project file, which will be the resource pool file. Save it (e.g. call it “ResourcePool”). Open sharer files, and in each select Tools/Share Resource, and select the resource pool file. Now you can open each project file and assign resources to tasks. (Resources are coming from resource pool file.)

Consolidation File + Shared Resource Pool in One (ideal scenario)

The ideal scenario is to have your consolidation file also be your resource pool file. E.g. create a new file, name it (e.g. “Master,”) and save it. Create a file P1 with tasks in it but no resources. Do the same for a file P2.  Then in the Master file in Gantt Chart view insert P1 and P2 project files (Insert/Project). Now in the Master file enter resources in the resource sheet. Then open P1 and use the resources from Master file (Tools/Share Resource), then save. Do the same for P2. You can assign resources to tasks in Master, or P1, or P2.
-Note because task names can be the same across multiple projects you may want to distinguish their names (e.g. name a task “Java coding (P1)”).

-From the Master file you can then use the Statistics screen, reports, and other views (such as Resource Sheet), eliminate overallocations (manually and through leveling), etc. across multiple projects.

PROJECT CENTRAL (Project 2000)

Overview

-Before installing Project Central learn about its capabilities by purchasing the Project 2000 Bible, and read chapters on it.

-Before installing Project Central print out the file svrsetup.htm from a Windows browser which is on the Project 2000 CD. This file will guide you through the process of installing Project Central.

-Then install Project Central from the start up screen that appears when you put in the Project 2000 CD.

-Then use the Project 2000 Bible to set up administrative, project manager, and resource user functionality.