Overview
This course teaches students how to use Microsoft Project in a way that is compatible with sound project management practice to successfully plan and control their projects. The program is designed to be a follow-on to PMAlliance’s two-day course, Project Management; Duration-Driven® Planning and Control, by showing students how to use Microsoft Project software and apply the general project management techniques taught in the two-day program. Both programs incorporate the same case studies and follow a similar progression of subject matter.
Audience
This course targets those who already have a good
understanding of basic project planning and control
techniques and require proficiency in the use of Microsoft
Project software. In addition, the course applies to those
who desire a general understanding of how software can be
used to facilitate the project management process.
Course Duration
The course consists of eight hours of instruction taught in a one-day program, including lecture and hands-on exercises, using Microsoft Project. The course includes exercises on the following topics:
- Setting-Up a Project in Microsoft Project and Inputting the Initial Plan
- Compressing the Schedule To Meet Deadline Dates
- Establishing a Baseline Plan and Producing a Project Report Package
- Updating the Project Plan to Reflect Actual Progress To-Date
- Recompressing the Updated Plan and Producing an Update Report Package
- A Final, Extended Case Exercise to Reinforce the Skills Learned Throughout The Class
Course Content
Each student is given a six-chapter notebook to be used to follow the lecture material and to perform individual exercises. In addition, each student is given a CD with advanced add-in utilities for Microsoft Project that enhance the functionality of the software and overcome limitations in the ‘out-of-the-box’ version. (The utilities are compatible with Microsoft Project 2002/2003/2007 as well as Primavera P3 and P6.) Installation and use of the utilities is presented during the program.
Prerequisites
Participants must have successfullly completed the following PMAlliance course: Project Management; Duration-Driven® Planning and Control (or equivalent). Prior knowledge/experience with Microsoft Project is not required; however, a basic understanding of personal computers and Microsoft Windows is expected.
Course Outline
Installing PMAlliance Utilities
An Overview of Microsoft Project
- Review of the Menu Structure
- Microsoft Project Options Menus
- Issues With MSP Effort-Driven Tasks
Creating a Project
- Entering Basic Project Information
- Project Date and Calendar Information
- Customizing Fields and Value Lists
- Loading Holidays into the Project Calendar
- Setting the Global Calendar
- Saving the Project File
Inputting the Initial Plan
- Entering Activity Information
- Entering Precedence Relationships
- Reviewing Input Listings
- Issues With the MSP Calculation Process
- Calculating the Schedule
- Identifying/Correcting Unconnected Activities
- Reviewing Summary Project Information
- Identifying the Critical Path
- Controlling Path vs. Critical Path
- Reviewing the Controlling Path
Compressing the Schedule to Meet Project Deadline Dates
- Filtering for the Critical Path
- Compressing the Schedule to Meet Deadline Date(s) Using the Critical Path
- Customizing/Printing Project Update Reports
- Customizing/Printing Near-Term Activity Reports
- Customizing/Printing Gantt Charts
- Customizing/Printing Network Diagrams
Controlling the Project
- Saving Project Baseline Information
- Issues With the MSP Update Process
- Entering Project Update Information
- Recalculating the Schedule Based on Update Information
- Recompressing the Schedule to Meet Deadline Date(s) Using the Critical Path
- Customizing/Printing Updated Project Reports
