ACTIVITIES

GENERAL INFORMATION
ACTIVITY TYPES
Task Dependent:
 When the work needs to be accomplished in a given time frame,
regardless of the assigned resources’ availability.
 Activity’s resources are scheduled to work according to the activity
calendar.
 Duration is determined by the assigned calendar’s workweek.
Resource Dependent:
 When multiple resources assigned to the same activity can work
independently.
 Activity’s resources are scheduled according to their individual resource
calendar.
 Duration is determined by the availability of the resources assigned to
work on the activity.
ACTIVITIES
GENERAL INFORMATION
ACTIVITY TYPES
Start Milestone:
 Used to mark the beginning of a phase or to communicate project
deliverables.
 Zero duration activity and only has a start date.
 Can assign constraints, expenses, work products, and documents.
 Cannot assign resources/roles.
Finish Milestone:
 Used to mark the end of a phase or to communicate project
deliverables.
 Zero duration activity and only has a finish date.
 Can assign constraints, expenses, work products, and documents.
 Cannot assign resources/roles.
ACTIVITIES
GENERAL INFORMATION
ACTIVITY TYPES
Level of Effort
 Typically used for ongoing tasks dependent on other activities.
 Duration is determined by its predecessor/ successor activities.
 Clerical work, security guard, meetings, and project management
tasks.
 Cannot assign constraints

WBS Summary
 Typically used to summarize at WBS levels.
 The WBS summary activity comprises a group of activities that share a
common WBS level.
 Cannot assign constraints to WBS summary activities.
ACTIVITIES
GENERAL INFORMATION
DURATION TYPE
 Setting which allows you to control how P6 synchronizes the
Duration, Labor/Non-labor Units and Resource Units/Time for
activities so that the following equation is always true:

Duration x Unit/Time = Units

 ACTIVITY DURATION TYPE ACTIVITY TYPE

1) Fixed duration & Units Task Dependent activity
2) Fixed duration & Units/Time Task Dependent activity
3) Fixed Units Resource Dependent activity
4) Fixed Units/Time Resource Dependent activity
ACTIVITIES
GENERAL INFORMATION
DURATION TYPE
 The duration type determines whether the schedule, resource availability,
or costs are most important when updating activities. The duration type
applies only when you have resources assigned to the activity

 Normal use will require Fixed Duration and Units to be set.

 Project Managers can change this setting if necessary. To help you

understand the effects of the duration type, you should first review how
P6 Project Manager calculates resource data. The following equation must
hold true regardless of which data you update:

Units = Units/Time x Duration

ACTIVITIES
GENERAL INFORMATION
DURATION TYPE
Duration type When you When you When you When you add a
change change change units, resource what
duration, what units/time, what changes? changes?
changes? what changes?

Fixed duration & Units/Time Units Units/Time Units/Time

Units

Fixed duration & Units Units Units/Time Units

Units/Time

Fixed Units Units/Time Duration Duration Duration

Fixed Units Duration Duration Duration

Units/Time
ACTIVITIES
GENERAL INFORMATION
DURATION TYPE
 Fixed Units/Time: used for activities where the rate of work is fixed for a
resource.
 Say a consultant or Coding activity for a programmer. Then if the
number of working hrs. on the job increase then original duration of
the activity changes
 Fixed Duration & Units/Time: used for activities where Duration of the
activity & rate is fixed.
 for example, a coding activity for a programmer with a fixed duration

 Fixed Units: used on activities where the number of resource units are
fixed.
 Fixed Duration & Units: used in case where both Duration and Units
are fixed, as in the rate at which a resource can work on the activity can be
changed.
ACTIVITIES
GENERAL INFORMATION

PERCENT COMPLETE TYPE – Define the percent complete type for an

activity based on how you will report progress.
 Duration is the preferred setting

Duration:
 Selected activity's Activity % Complete is tied to its Duration % Complete

 Use if activity progress can most easily be reported based on actual days of
work accomplished and scheduled days of work remaining.

 The activity’s percent complete is calculated from the actual and remaining
duration. For example, if you have a 10-day activity that has 5 days
remaining, it is 50% complete.
EXPENSES
 Expenses are non-resource costs associated with a project and
assigned to a project's activities.

 They are typically one-time expenditures for non-reusable items.

Examples of expenses include materials, facilities, travel,
overhead, and training.

 You can categorize expenses, indicate a unit of measure for

expenses, and specify whether an expense accrues at the start or
end of an activity or uniformly over its duration.

 Each expense has a budgeted cost, actual cost, and estimated

remaining cost.
EXPENSES
 Expenses are not the same as resources. Resources generally
extend across multiple activities and/or multiple projects.
Examples of resources are personnel and equipment.

 Unlike resources, expenses are project-specific. The Project

Management module does not include expenses when leveling
resources. Resource curves are not supported for expenses.
EXPENSES
ADDING EXPENSES
Steps:
1) Choose Project, Expenses.
2) Click Add.
3) Select the activity to which you want to assign the expense,
then click the Select button.
4) Click the General, Activity, Costs, and Description tabs, and
enter details for the expense.
EXPENSES
Adding expenses from the Activities window
 Choose Project, Activities.
 Select the activity that incurs the expense.
 Display Activity Details, and then click the Expenses tab.
 To display the Expenses tab, click the Layout Options bar and
choose Bottom Layout Options. In the Available Tabs section,
select Expenses, and then click OK.
 Click Add, and then type a name for the expense item.
 Double-click in the Cost Account column. Select the cost
account you want to assign, and then click the Select button.
 Double-click in the Expense Category column. Select the
category you want to assign, and then click the Select button.
EXPENSES
Adding expenses from the Activities window
 Double-click the Accrual Type column, and then select the
expense’s accrual type.
 Type the number of budgeted units you expect the selected
activity to use.
 Type the price of each unit.
 The module calculates and displays the expense's budgeted cost
(budgeted units * price/unit) in the Budgeted Cost field.
 To enter actual expense costs already incurred by the activity,
type the cost in the Actual Cost field.
EXPENSES
Adding expenses from the Activities window
 To automatically calculate an expense's actual cost based on the
activity's planned completion percentage, mark the Auto
Compute Actuals checkbox.
 Type the name of the vendor business or organization to which
the expense is payable.
REPORTING PERFORMANCE
METHODS FOR PERFORMANCE REPORTING
 Reporting is a key part of monitoring a project and
communicating its progress to team members and executive
management.
 Two reporting tools are available to access and report information
stored in the database: the Report Wizard and the Report Editor.
 You can use the Report Wizard to easily create a wide variety of
customized reports. The wizard steps you through the process of
creating new reports, enabling you to select the category of
information and specific data fields to include. You can group,
sort, and filter project information and include time-distributed
data for units and costs.
REPORTING PERFORMANCE
METHODS FOR PERFORMANCE REPORTING
 The Report Editor is a powerful tool that enables you to create
reports that are highly customized. Although you can create
customized reports with the Report Wizard, the Report Editor
provides the capability to tailor a report more closely to your
specific requirements. The Report Editor enables you to group,
sort, filter, and roll up project information.
 You can preview and print reports and you can save reports as text
or HTML files.
 To view a list of the standard reports, select Tools, Reports, and
Reports.
 To create a new report with the Report Wizard: Choose Tools,
Report Wizard. Follow the prompts on each dialog box in the
wizard to create the report.
REPORTING PERFORMANCE
RUNNING AN EXISTING REPORT
You can report schedule performance using a pre-defined schedule
report.
REPORTING PERFORMANCE
RESOURCES
 In the Project Management module, you can create a resource
pool that reflects your organization's resource structure and
supports the assignment of resources to activities.

 The Project Management module also enables you to distinguish

between labor, material, and non-labor resources.

 Labor and non-labor resources are always time-based, and

material resources, such as consumable items, use a unit of
measure you can specify.

 You can create and assign resource calendars and define a

resource's roles, contact information, and time-varying prices.
RESOURCES
Primary Resources
 The Project Management module allows you to assign primary
resources to activities

 An activity's primary resource is typically the resource that is

responsible for coordinating an activity's work

 In addition, if an activity has any material resources, the primary

resource may also be responsible for reporting the material resource's
units as well

 With the exception of material resources, all other resources are

responsible for reporting their own hours for assigned activities.
RESOURCES
RESOURCES
STEPS FOR RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Define resources
In the Resource window:
 Define resource availability.
 Setup the resource name, description, cost, roles, and attributes
that control the resource.

Assign resources
In the Activity window:
 Enter the resource name and amount of work planned for the
activity.
 P6 calculates the cost based on the resource quantity and
price/unit as defined in the Resource window.
 
RESOURCES
STEPS FOR RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Analyze resources and costs
In the Activities or Tracking windows:
 Use a resource profile to view resource quantity/cost graphically,
displaying when and how much of the resource will be used.
RESOURCES
CREATING RESOURCE DICTIONARY
 The Resources window contains information about all resources
within the enterprise. These resources are shared by all projects
in the organization, allowing for centralized resource
management.
RESOURCES
CREATING RESOURCE DICTIONARY
Steps:
1) To create resource dictionary click on Resources from HOME
page.
2) Create a resource pool by clicking ADD menu.
3) Add the following resources under the created resource pool.
4) To add new resource, click on ADD option.
5) Give Resource ID and in the detail tab select the resource
classification. P6 supports 3 type of resource classifications,
namely Labor, Non-Labor and Material resource.
6) Click on Units & Prices tab and give the resource availability
and the Price /Time.
RESOURCES
ASSIGNING RESOURCES TO ACTIVITIES:
Steps:
 Choose Project, Activities.
 Select the activity to which you want to assign a resource.
 Display Activity Details, and then click the Resources tab.
 Click Add Resource.
 Select the resource you want to assign.
 Click the Assign button, and then click the Close button.
ROLES
 Roles are project personnel job titles or skills, such as mechanical
engineer, inspector, or carpenter.

 They represent a type of resource with a certain level of

proficiency rather than a specific individual.

 Roles can also be assigned to specific resources to further

identify that resource's skills. For example, a resource may have a
role of a engineer and manager.

 You can create a set of roles to assign to resources and activities

in all projects in the enterprise. You can establish an unlimited
number of roles and organize them in a hierarchy for easier
management and assignment.
ROLES
 The set of roles you assign to an activity defines the skill
requirements.

 You can temporarily assign roles during the planning stages of

the project to see how certain resources affect the schedule.

 Once you finalize your plans, you can replace the roles with
resources that fulfill the role skill levels. Five proficiency levels
can be assigned to roles: Master, Expert, Skilled, Proficient and
Inexperienced.
ROLES
 Roles can be assigned in the Resource Details window or from
the Roles dialog box.
ROLES
ADDING A ROLE
Steps:
1) Choose Enterprise, Roles.
2) Click Add.
3) Click the General tab, and then type a unique ID for the role.
4) Type the role's name.
5) Type a description of the role's responsibilities.
ROLES
ASSIGN ROLES TO RESOURCES FROM THE RESOURCES
WINDOW
Steps:
1) Choose Enterprise, Resources, then select the resource to
which you want to assign a role.
2) Click the Roles tab, and then click Assign.
3) Select the role you want to assign.
4) Click the Assign button, and then click the Close button.
5) In the Roles tab, double-click the Proficiency column and
select a skill level.
6) If this is the resource’s primary role, mark the Primary Role
checkbox
COST ACCOUNTS
 You can create cost accounts and associate them with activity
resource assignments or expenses in a project.

 Cost accounts are hierarchical, and they enable you to track

activity costs and earned value according to your organization's
specific cost account codes.

 You can specify a project's default cost account. This cost

account is used for resource assignments to activities and
project expenses in the open project.

 Cost accounts enable one to track Activity Costs and Earned

Value throughout the project lifecycle.
COST ACCOUNTS
 Cost Accounts are established in a hierarchy available to all
projects in the EPS.

CREATING A COST ACCOUNT HIERARCHY

Steps:
1) Choose Enterprise, Cost Accounts.
2) Click the Cost Account ID column label to display the cost
accounts hierarchy. An outline symbol in the Cost Account ID
column label indicates a hierarchy display.
3) Click Add and type the cost account's ID and Name.
4) Type a brief description of the cost account.
COST ACCOUNTS
CONSTRAINTS
 Network logic alone cannot reflect all project situations.
Sometimes activities must be accomplished according to specific
dates rather than on dates determined by other activities in the
project

 To model dependence on specific dates, assign primary and

secondary constraints to activities

 Constraints are imposed date restrictions used to reflect project

requirements that cannot be built into the logic.
CONSTRAINTS
Attributes
Constraints are user-imposed.
Two constraints can be assigned to an activity.
After applying a constraint, the project must be
rescheduled to calculate the new dates.

Benefits
Build a schedule that more accurately reflects the real-
world aspects of the project.
Provide added control to the project.
Use to impose a restriction on the entire project or an
individual activity.
CONSTRAINTS
CONSTRAINTS
Steps:
 To apply constraints activate Activity Details.
 In Activity Details enable Status / Constraints menu, select the
constraint and apply appropriate constraint date.
 Schedule the project through Schedule command.

CONSTRAINT TYPES
 MUST FINISH BY
 START CONSTRAINTS
 FINISH CONSTRAINTS
 MANDATORY CONSTRAINTS
 LATE CONSTRAINT
CONSTRAINTS
MUST FINISH BY
 Used when an overall project deadline must be met.
 Forces all activities in the project to finish by the date (and time)
specified.
 Affects the total float of the entire project.
 Must be applied in the Project window on the Dates tab.
CONSTRAINTS
MUST FINISH BY
Steps:
1) From the Directory bar, click Projects.
2) From the Display Options bar, click Expand All.
3) Click the Dates tab.
4) Highlight the project
5) Click the ellipses in the Must Finish By field to select a date
The next step is to reschedule the project to see the effect of the
imposed deadline on the late dates and total float in the project
plan.
6) Choose Tools, Schedule or press F9.
7) Click Schedule.
CONSTRAINTS
START CONSTRAINTS
Start On
 Forces the activity to start on the constraint date. Unlike the
mandatory start constraint, which can violate the network logic,
this constraint protects it.
 Shifts both early and late start dates.
 Delays an early start or accelerates a late start.
 Used to specify dates submitted by contractors or vendors.
CONSTRAINTS
START CONSTRAINTS
Start On or Before
 Forces the activity to start no later than the constraint date.
 Shifts the late start to the constraint date.
 It only affects late dates (affects the late dates of its predecessors).
 Used to place a deadline on the start of the activity.
 When calculating a schedule, this constraint is used in the
backward pass only if the calculated late start date will be later
than the imposed date.
 This constraint may decrease total float.
CONSTRAINTS
START CONSTRAINTS
Start On or After
 Use the Start On or After constraint to set the earliest date an
activity can begin.
 Forces the activity to start no earlier than the constraint date.
 Pushes the early start date to the constraint date.
 This constraint affects only early dates (affects the early dates of
its successors).
 When calculating a schedule, this constraint is used in the
forward pass only if the calculated early start date will be earlier
than the imposed date.
 The early start date of an activity with a start on or after
constraint cannot be earlier than the imposed date, although the
network logic may cause the early start to occur later.
CONSTRAINTS
FINISH CONSTRAINTS
Finish On
Forces the activity to finish on the constraint date.
 Shifts both early and late finish dates.
 Delays an early finish or accelerates a late finish.
 Used to satisfy intermediate project deadlines.

Finish On or Before
Forces the activity to finish no later than the constraint date
 Pulls the late finish date to the constraint date.
 Affects the late dates of its predecessors.
 Used to place a deadline on the finish of the activity.
CONSTRAINTS
FINISH CONSTRAINTS
Finish On or After
Forces the activity to finish no earlier than the constraint date
 Shifts the early finish to the constraint date.
 Affects the early dates of its successors.
 The finish on or after constraint reduces float to coordinate
parallel activities, ensuring that the finish of an activity is not
scheduled before the specified date.
CONSTRAINTS
MANDATORY CONSTRAINTS
Mandatory Start and Finish
 Forces early and late dates to be equal to the constraint date.
 Affects late dates of predecessors and early dates of successors.
 It is used regardless of its effect on network logic which may
violate network logic.
BASELINING THE PROJECT PLAN
 A Baseline is a complete copy of a project plan that you can
compare to the current schedule to evaluate progress. Before
updating a schedule for the first time create a baseline.

 It provides a target against which one can track a project’s cost,

schedule and performance. Up to three baselines can be
compared at once.

 Baseline projects do not exist as separate project to access.

 Baselines provide a target against which a user can track a

project’s cost, schedule, and resource performance.
BASELINING THE PROJECT PLAN
CREATING A BASELINE
Steps:
1) Open the projects for which you want to create a baseline.
2) Choose Project, Maintain baselines (if more than one project is
open) and select the project for which you want to create a
baseline. The Maintain Baselines dialog box groups the
currently open projects into individual bands, with any existing
baseline projects beneath its current project.
3) To create a baseline project, select the desired project and click
Add. Choose to save a copy of the current project as a new
baseline or convert another project to a new baseline.
4) If you choose to save the current project as a baseline, the
module creates a baseline project with the same name and data
date as the current project
BASELINING THE PROJECT PLAN
Tip
Before converting a project to a baseline, if you still want to have
access to the original project, you should make a copy of it. Once
you convert a project to a baseline, it is no longer available in the
project hierarchy. You can restore a baseline, making it available
again as a separate project in the project hierarchy.
BASELINING THE PROJECT PLAN
Notes:
 When you save a copy of the current project as a new baseline,
the baseline title uses the project name and a suffix of -Bx, where
x equals 1 for the first baseline you save for a project, 2 for the
second, and so on. You can change the baseline name.

 When you choose to convert another project to a baseline, the

project you want to convert cannot be open or have baselines
assigned to it. The converted project's name is used as the
baseline name.
BASELINING THE PROJECT PLAN
BASELINING THE PROJECT PLAN
MODIFY A BASELINE MANUALLY
 As a project progresses and changes occur, you may want to
modify a baseline project. You can restore a baseline project,
making it available again as a separate project in the project
hierarchy.
 Open the project that contains the baseline you want to restore.
Choose Project, Maintain Baselines.
 Select the baseline you want to restore, then click Restore. Click
Yes. The restored project is placed in the same node as the project
to which it was linked as a baseline.
 After you make changes to a restored baseline project, you can
return it as a baseline to retain the changes for comparison
against the current project. For example, you may want to revise
the baseline to indicate scope changes once the current project is
underway.
BASELINING THE PROJECT PLAN
ASSIGNING A BASELINE TO PROJECTS
Use the Assign Baselines dialog to assign project, primary,
secondary, and tertiary baselines to a project from Project/Assign
Baseline. The project baseline is always used to summarize a
project. The project baseline or primary baseline can be designated
as the project to use when calculating earned value (based on a
setting in the Settings tab of Project Details).
 If no baseline is designated as active, the current project plan is
used as the baseline.
 Only one baseline can be designated as Project Baseline at any
point in time.
 Assignments are user-specific.
 Each user can choose a different baseline for comparison to the
current project.
BASELINING THE PROJECT PLAN
ASSIGNING A BASELINE TO PROJECTS
BASELINING THE PROJECT PLAN
ASSIGNING A BASELINE TO PROJECTS
Steps:
 Choose Project, Assign Baselines.
 On Project Baseline, select the baseline.
 Click OK.

DELETE A BASELINE
 You can delete a baseline from the project database. Select the
project that contains the baseline you want to delete. Choose
Project, Maintain Baselines. Select the baseline, then click Delete.

Note:
 You cannot delete an active baseline. An active baseline is any
baseline designated as the primary, secondary, or tertiary baseline
in the Assign Baselines dialog box.
BASELINING THE PROJECT PLAN
UPDATING BASELINES
 As a project progresses, certain types of project data are likely to
change. When a project is in progress and data changes, the
original baseline you created for the project will not accurately
measure performance against the current project.

 Likewise, creating a new baseline may not yield accurate results for
measuring performance because some data will change during the
life of the project that should be measured against the original
project data.
BASELINING THE PROJECT PLAN
UPDATING BASELINES
 For example, changes to any of the following data types can affect
results when comparing a project to its baseline:
 Added/dropped activities
 Modified activity data including dates, costs, resources, steps,
documents, notebooks, relationships, codes, expenses, and
user-defined fields
 Modified project-level data including details, documents, risks,
issues, thresholds, calendars, and codes
 Using Primavera’s Update Baseline utility, you can update the
original baseline plan with new activity, resource/role assignment,
and project data. When updating a baseline, you can choose to
update all activities or you can apply a filter to update activities
that meet the filter’s criteria. You can also specify the types of data
to update.
BASELINING THE PROJECT PLAN
UPDATING BASELINES
Steps:
 To update a baseline, open the project that contains the data you
want to add to the baseline.
 Choose Project, Maintain Baselines.
 Select the baseline you want to update. Click Update.
 Select the project-level data you want to update.
 Choose to update all activities or select a filter to only update
activities that meet the filter’s criteria.
 Choose to add new activities from the current project, delete
activities no longer in the current project, and/or update existing
activities. If you choose to update existing activities, click Update
Options to select the types of activity and resource/role
assignment data you want to update.
BASELINING THE PROJECT PLAN
UPDATING BASELINES
Steps:
 To save the results of the baseline update to a file (including errors
and warnings), enter a pathname or select a file.
 After selecting options, click Update.
 When the update is complete, click View Log to view the results of
the update.
BASELINING THE PROJECT PLAN
RESTORE BASLINE VS UPDATE BASELINE

 Restoring a project to modify a baseline manually is different than

updating a baseline.
 When you update a baseline using the Update Baseline tool, the
module updates every instance of every data type you select.
 If you want some, but not all, changes to the current project for a
specific data type (e.g., resource assignments) reflected in the
baseline, you should restore the baseline and edit the data.
 If you want all changes to a data type reflected in the baseline, you
should update the baseline.