1. Topic XXX Microsoft Project

2. XXX. MS Project a) Basics b) Project planning – Theory and practice
c) Definition and planning of activities
d) Resource assurance plan
e) Project costs planning
f) Advanced topics
g) Supervision of a project
h) Visual supervision of a project

3. a) MS Project - basics
MS Project is a powerful and flexible tool for project management, enabling supervision of both simple and complex projects.
It enables project work schedule planning – before the project start and …
… monitoring of all activities important for project development and successful completion – during the project execution.

4. XXX. MS Project a) Basics b) Project planning – Theory and practice
c) Definition and planning of activities
d) Resource assurance plan
e) Project costs planning
f) Advanced topics
g) Supervision of a project
h) Visual supervision of a project

5. b) Project planning – Theory and practice
Project “initiation”
for a long lasting project that gathers larger number of people, it is important to define aims, assumptions and limitations.
Project database creation
after the initiation, it is possible to create project database, enter basic data about the project, and enclose planning documents.
Work results definition
After definition of aims, it is possible to define concrete product(s)/service(s) that will – as a result of a project completion – satisfy these aims.

6. Project plan creation 1/3
Throughout plan creation, MS Project recalculates and constructs work schedule on the basis of entered information about:
jobs to be performed,
people working on those jobs,
equipment and material available for the job, and
prices and expenses of certain job elements.

7. Project plan creation 2/3
Successful project plan creation assumes:
definition of a project subject,
determination of a project job scope,
identification of a project activities,
decomposition of activities into logical parts,
distribution of resources, and
estimation of needed time and expences.

8. Project plan creation 3/3
Adjustment of the main project parameters assumes work on a precise definition of basic project parameters:
Time – reduction or extension of duration of some activities, and a project as a whole;
Quantity – elimination or addition of activities making the project;
Expenses – induction of additional resources for certain activities, or reduction/rejection of assigned resources, and
Quality – decrease or increase of a quality level in order to satisfy time, quantity and cost limitations.

9. Project management
After project plan is finished, project itself has to be supervised during execution.
Through critical review and analysis of time schedule, it is possible to execute needed changes in activities, resource management, or questions of quality and quantity, in order to keep the project
on the right track, and
within a budget.

10. Project information exchange
During the supervision and analysis phase of MS Project usage, a need often emerges for information exchange with:
“bosses” – share-holders, administration board, owners …, and
executioners – persons to whom certain activities are assigned for execution.
Within MS Project, available for these actions are:
reports printing – for “paper” exchange of information,
HTML report creation and “publication” on a Web server of a company,
MSP Central/Workgroup for management of information using intranet and local services, and
MS Outlook for integration of tasks and deadlines created inside MS Project.

11. Practical project definition - basics 1/6
After creation of a new project using menu option File  New, in File  Properties we can define basic characteristics of a project.

12. Practical project definition - basics 2/6
Through Tools  Change Working Time we adjust working and nonworking days ...

13. Practical project definition - basics 3/6
... while through Tools  Change Working Time  Options we adjust working hours for certain weekdays, and weekly and monthly working time.

14. Practical project definition - basics 4/6
As a part of Project  Project Information we define start and finish dates, and also ...

15. Practical project definition - basics 5/6
... method for task scheduling.
If we plan from “Project Start Date”, all tasks start “as soon as possible”.

16. Practical project definition - basics 6/6
If we plan to “Project Finish Date”, all tasks start “as late as possible”.

17. Project supervision through “Project Information”
During the project execution, “Statistics” will show us insight in a project status.

18. XXX. MS Project a) Basics b) Project planning – Theory and practice
c) Definition and planning of activities
d) Resource assurance plan
e) Project costs planning
f) Advanced topics
g) Supervision of a project
h) Visual supervision of a project

19. c) Definition and planning of activities
Definition of phases and creation of task list
work that has to be done can be organized through “milestones”, phases, and activities, and then be entered into a project database.
(Organization of a primary and secondary project databases)
if a project is big and complex, or is consisting of several mutually connected projects, it can be organized through several databases, connected and controlled by MS Project.
Estimation of tasks duration
entering the duration of certain activities – instead of start and end dates – enables MS Project to create a working schedule.
Definition of task dependencies and limitations
after entering task durations, connections between certain tasks and between tasks and dates should be entered, too.

20. Project activities planning
For a successful work on a project, we need:
list of activities, and
resource data.
“Resource data” assume:
list of employees, material, equipment, tools, and
prices for usage of each of those.

21. How to define activities?
Clear ending criteria.
Long-lasting activities should be decomposed – this simplify resource distribution and ending date estimation.
Complex activities should be decomposed into sub-activities, until they become so simple that the problem they are supposed to solve becomes completely clear and obvious.

22. Types of activities
Cumulative activities – those containing sub-activities.
Sub-activities – smaller tasks, grouped into cumulative activities.
Repeating activities – activities that are repeated in regular intervals.
Activities with a special importance, critical activities – marking the beginning or the end of a certain phase of a project, usually with no duration (Milestones).

23. Practical definition of activities 1/4
We select the cell Task Name and enter the name for the activity. The rest of the data is “entered by MS Project”.

24. Practical definition of activities 2/4
Using Indent and Outdent arrows, we define level of importance for certain activities – we define cumulative and sub-activities.

25. Practical definition of activities 3/4
Assumed duration for each activity is “1 day”. These values should be adjusted.
Total time for cumulative activity is calculated by MS Project.

26. Practical definition of activities 4/4
“Critical tasks” (Milestones) are defined using Task Information  Advanced  Mark as Milestone
Another possibility is to enter duration of a critical task to be 0 days.

27. Connections between activities
The essence of planning is definition of connections between certain activities.
Four types of connections are distinguished:
A must finish so that B can start (finish to start)
A start B … start (start to start)
A finish B ... finish (finish to finish)
A start B … finish (start to finish)

28. Definition of connections between activities 1/6
Creation of a connection:
we select the first activity,
holding the Shift key, we add other activities

29. Definition of connections between activities 2/6
Click on Link Tasks connects activities.
Assumed type of connection is finish to start.

30. Definition of connections between activities 3/6
Break of connection between certain activities is gained by clicking Unlink.
After connection break, all the rest of activities are rearranged also.
After rearrangement of activities, cumulative duration is recalculated and changed.

31. Definition of connections between activities 4/6
Instead of assumed connection type finish to start, double-click on the arrow connecting the activities enables the change of a connection.
It is also possible to define delay/forward time (Lag).

32. Definition of connections between activities 5/6
In a given example, connection between two chosen activities is redefined into start to start.
... and than the delay of 2 days is added.

33. Definition of connections between activities 6/6
In this example, connection between two chosen activities is redefined into finish to start.
Each time, cumulative time of project duration is recalculated.

34. XXX. MS Project a) Basics b) Project planning – Theory and practice
c) Definition and planning of activities
d) Resource assurance plan
e) Project costs planning
f) Advanced topics
g) Supervision of a project
h) Visual supervision of a project

35. d) Resource assurance plan
Estimation of resource needs
at this point of project planning, scope of a project is defined, task list created, and estimation is given on duration of certain activities. These information can now be used for preliminary estimation of demands, people employment, and assurance of material, equipment and tools needed for project successful execution.
Input of resource information and work hours adjustment
at this point, all of the resources are defined, approved, and dedicated. You know who the members of the team are, what materials they use, and which equipment is available.
(Resource sharing between projects)
Resource sharing is important for proper supervision and allocation of resources among projects, assuring their more efficient usage..
Allocation of resources to tasks
After resources information is entered into a project database, they can be assigned to individual tasks.

36. Entering the resource data 1/2
Individual resources are assigned to a certain tasks simple by typing – select Task Information, choosing Resources and entering data ...

37. Entering the resource data 2/2
... or selecting from the list of available resources – menu View option Resource Sheet.
For each resource, we enter name, type, unit of measure, “initials” (that will be shown in a diagram), maximum availability, schedule, price ...

38. Allocation of resources to activities 1/5
In a Gantt diagram, double click on an activity, or selection of Task Information  Resources enables entering of the resources for a certain activity, or ...

39. Allocation of resources to activities 2/5
... or selection of a button Resources on a Standard toolbar, and then button Assign will open a dialog window for resource allocation.

40. Allocation of resources to activities 3/5
Resource allocation can be performed for more than one activity at the same time, using Shift and Ctrl keys in a same manner as usual in other Windows applications.

41. Allocation of resources to activities 4/5
During the resource allocation, we define percentage of time dedicated to a certain activity for people, and unit of measure for usage with a certain activity for material.
Also, we define prices of usage for regular working hours and for overtime.

42. Allocation of resources to activities 5/5
After all this, final allocation of all needed resources to a certain activity can be as the one shown in picture.

43. XXX. MS Project a) Basics b) Project planning – Theory and practice
c) Definition and planning of activities
d) Resource assurance plan
e) Project costs planning
f) Advanced topics
g) Supervision of a project
h) Visual supervision of a project

44. e) Project costs planning
Costs estimation
is a process of creation of a list of approximate prices and costs for resources and for tasks, needed for finishing of project activities.
Definition and distribution of costs information
after all of the expenses are entered, it’s a good practice to create a backup of these information before the project (supervision and control) starts. Also, notes on a budget decisions might be needed, and sharing these data with other projects using the same resources and with the accounting department is a good idea.
Preparation for the costs tracking
after the estimation, it is good to make necessary preparations for supervision and control of finances, so project would stay within budget limits. Available options are: definition of a fiscal year start, control of a accounting type, or determination when to pay which of the costs.

45. Costs types Changeable costs Fix costs
costs already calculated through fees, overtime fees, or prices of material usage.
Fix costs
added afterwards in a separate column Fixed Costs, signifying costs that will not change, that always exists in the same amount for certain tasks and activities.
in our case, an example of such costs can be: costs for copying of teaching material, travel expenses for visiting professors, cost of software used …

46. Fixed costs column adding
Column Fixed Costs does not exist in the original table, we have to add it, and fill in appropriate data (Insert  Column)

47. XXX. MS Project a) Basics b) Project planning – Theory and practice
c) Definition and planning of activities
d) Resource assurance plan
e) Project costs planning
f) Advanced topics
g) Supervision of a project
h) Visual supervision of a project

48. Risk and quality planning
Planning of quality
Before a project starts, it is appropriate to precisely define quality standards that your project must follow, in order to know when to consider a project successfully finished.
After the standards are defined, it is possible to adjust the scope of a project, resource usage, and work schedule to those needs.
Recognize and plan for risks
After the project starts, events that are difficult to predict, might create new risks. Try to take care of those too, as much as possible.

49. Communication and security planning
Define methods of project information exchange
communication and information exchange with the team members, members of other teams you cooperate with, and managers is important. Plan for it.
equally important for successful project accomplishment is a project database update during the supervision and control phase of a project.
Information protection in MS Project
MS Project offers elementary security measures for information protection of data from project database, to protect from unauthorized access.
available protection is of a password type, having two levels:
access and read password, and
edit, change, and save password.

50. Optimization of a project plan
Optimization of a plan – time aspect
After the plan definition is over, review it and check if the project finishes before earlier given deadlines.
Optimization of a plan – resources aspect
After the plan definition is over, review the schedule of your resources. Are some of them overloaded? Are there any resources that you used unnecessary?
Optimization of a plan – budget aspect
After the plan definition is over, review planned expenses. Do you have enough finances? Can your project be cheaper?

51. Project plan distribution
Advance the project plan in a printed form
After finishing the work schedule of a project, it’s a good practice to send the latest information, tasks, and activities to the others – team members, managers, board members, share-holders ...
Present the project information “on-line”

52. XXX. MS Project a) Basics b) Project planning – Theory and practice
c) Definition and planning of activities
d) Resource assurance plan
e) Project costs planning
f) Advanced topics
g) Supervision of a project
h) Visual supervision of a project

53. g) Supervision of a project
To be able to compare planned and accomplished activities, before the project starts, “primary” project plan should be saved (File  Save  Save Baseline).
After selection of tasks you want to supervise and the method of supervision, you are able to control their progress. Supervision is mostly consisting of:
exchange of information with the team members about the current state of certain tasks, and
entering the actual information into the project plan.

54. Schedule supervision Recognizing the problems in a schedule
after the execution of a project starts, and after you started entering the actual advancements for a certain activities, you are able to review and recheck the working schedule in order to recognize the problems (or potential problems) in it.
Restoring the tasks, activities, and phases on a “right track”
after you recognized the schedule problems, use the appropriate strategies to restore the project back to a timely, costly, and qualitatively appropriate phase.
Project plan distribution
if you had to change the project plan in order to adjust it to the realistic situation, it is compulsory to redistribute it again – in printed and on-line form – to all of the interested parties.

55. Resources supervision
Trace the state and condition of the resources
the best way to measure current state of the resources is to balance their load/usage and trace their advancement against individual tasks.
Define problems with resources schedule
checking the information such as: resource distribution, over- or under-loading of resources, prices, and differences between planned and realized work, you are able to check if all of the resources are optimally assigned to individual tasks.
Solve the resource distribution problems
to achieve the best results, try to distribute resource load in a way that there is no over- or under-load. If you have changed schedule for a certain resource, check how the effects of this change propagate through the schedule.
Take care of shared resources
after you’ve used MS Project to define sharing of a resource between several projects, each change in their schedule – availability, real work, remained work – you ought to distribute to other projects.
Project plan distribution
if you have changed any of the information, it is compulsory to redistribute the project plan – printed and on-line form – to all of the interested parties.

56. Costs supervision Recognize the cost problems
to have a project within budget, try to recognize financial problems through permanent insight in total costs, as much as in actual changes of costs compared to planned costs, to be able to perform necessary adjustments.
Keep the costs within budget
to have a project within budget, you’ll probably have to certain adjustments during the course of a project execution.
before making any major changes, it is a good practice to create a backup copy of a project plan.
even more important is to check the influence of the changes you made to the entire project, before those changes are applied and distributed to other project members.

57. Scope and risk supervision
Supervise the changes in a project dimensions
after the project starts its “life”, it is a very common demand to increase or decrease number or size of tasks, activities, and resources needed to finish it.
Recognize new risks
when a project starts its real life, events that were hard to foresee can create new risks for a successful project finish.
Supervise new risks
if you’ve noticed new risks emerging during work, you have to react to them with appropriate actions. Those will probably be risks threatening to postpone tasks, phases, or deadlines, to increase budget, to overwhelm human resources with work, or do more of these things at the same time.
Project plan distribution
if you have changed any of the information, it is compulsory to redistribute the project plan – printed and on-line form – to all of the interested parties.

58. XXX. MS Project a) Basics b) Project planning – Theory and practice
c) Definition and planning of activities
d) Resource assurance plan
e) Project costs planning
f) Advanced topics
g) Supervision of a project
h) Visual supervision of a project

59. h) Visual supervision of a project
It is possible to track the project on a Gantt diagram using some of the available “views”, with finished and remainder of the work marked.

60. “Net diagram” view

61. “Task usage” view
Finished and unfinished jobs

62. “Task usage” view
Costs

63. “Tracking Gantt” view
Shows a Gantt diagram with finished and unfinished jobs and marked percentage of the quantity of work done.

64. Resource graph view
Shows workload of individual resources in a given time period.

65. Resource graph view
Shows workload of all of the resources in a given time period.

66. “Other” views
Wide scope of different possibilities of tracking the project advancement.

67. Reports
“Overview” of a project

68. Reports
“Current activities”

69. Reports
“Costs” – budget and funds income.

70. Reports
“Duties” – who does what, when.

71. Reports “Load” – resource usage.
Naturally, custom reports are available too.

72. Statistics
The following picture shows statistics after certain amount of time passed.

73. Review the final project data
Project end is a perfect opportunity to collect and preserve all the information about it, so that you can analyze it with your managers.
This is also a good opportunity to compare the real and planned information saved as a part of a Baseline Plan, and find out how effectual your planning was.