A tutorial on MS Project

James Burns
 Learning Objectives

 Entering Tasks in the Gantt View

 Task subordination
 Linking of Tasks
 Setting start & stop dates
 Assigning resources
 Calculating costs

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Contract signed                                

Survey designed                                

Target market ID                                

Data collection                                
Develop
                               
presentation
Analyze results                                

Demographics                                

Presentation                                
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3 6 13 15
14.
 Network Computation Process
• Forward Pass – Earliest Times
– Early Start (ES) – How soon can the activity start?
– Early Finish (EF) – How soon can the activity finish?
• Backward Pass – Latest Times
– Late Start (LS) – How late can the activity start?
– Late Finish (LF) – How late can the activity finish?
• Slack (SL) – How long can the activity be delayed?
• Critical Path (CP)– The longest path in the network
which, when delayed, will delay the project
 Forward Pass Computation
• You add activity times along each path in the
network (ES + Duration = EF).
 You carry the early finish (EF) to the next
activity where it becomes its early start (ES),
unless
 The next succeeding activity is a merge
activity. In this case, you select the largest
early finish number (EF) of all its immediate
predecessor activities.
 Backward Pass Computation
 You subtract activity times along each path
starting with the project end activity (LF -
Duration = LS).
 You carry the late start (LS) to the next preceding
activity to establish its late finish (LF), unless
 The next preceding activity is a burst activity. In
this case, you select the smallest late start
number (LS) of all its immediate successor
activities to establish its late finish (LF).
 Determining Slack
• Slack for an activity is simply the difference
between the LS and ES (LS – ES) or between LF
and EF (LF – EF).
• Slack tells us the amount of time an activity
can be delayed and yet not delay the project.
• When the LF = EF for the end project activity,
the critical path can be identified as those
activities that also have LF = EF or a slack of
zero (LF – EF = 0 or LS – ES = 0).
Activity-On-node network
 Critical path method network
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ES ID EF
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SL Description

LS DUR LF Group Term

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 Forward Pass Computation
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Alway
EF = EF = EF = 2 EF =
s start
ES+DUR ES+DUR ES+DUR ES+DUR
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ES ID EF
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LS DUR LF Group Term

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 Backward Pass Computation
Legend
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ES ID EF
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SL Description
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LS DUR LF 9 2 11

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LS = LS = LS = LS =
EF=LF
LF - DUR LF - DUR LF - DUR 9 F 10 LF - DUR

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10 1 11
 Determining Slack
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SL = SL = SL = 0 Paper
LS – ES LS – ES LS – ES
or or or 9 2 11
LF - EF LF - EF LF - EF

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ES ID EF

SL Description
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LS DUR LF Group Term L PATH?
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 Garage Problem
• Compute the early, late, and slack activity times
• Determine the planned project duration
• Identify the critical path
• What should you do if the Doors activity is going to take two
extra days?
ID Description Predecessor Time(Days)
1 Pour Foundation None 3
2 Erect Frame 1 4
3 Roof 2 4
4 Windows 2 1
5 Doors 2 1
6 Electrical 2 3
7 Rough-in Frame 3, 4, 5, 6 2
8 Door Opener 5, 6 1
9 Paint 7, 8 2
10 Clean-up 9 1
 Garage Problem
3 Project Duration:
Roof
______ days
Critical Path:
4
_______________
4 7
Rough-in
Windows
Frame
1 2 9 10
Pour Erect 1 2
Foundation
Paint Clean-up
Frame
3 4 2 1
5 8
Door
Doors
Opener
1 1

Legend
6 ES ID EF
Electrical SL Description

3 LS DUR LF
 Garage Problem
7 3 11 Project Duration:
0 Roof
___16___
Critical days
Path:
7 4 11
__1237910__
7 4 8 11 7 13
Rough-in
3 Windows 0 Frame
0 1 3 3 2 7 13 9 15 15 10 16
Pour Erect 10 1 11 11 2 13
0 Foundation 0 Frame 0 Paint 0 Clean-up

0 3 3 3 4 7 13 2 15 15 1 16
7 5 8 10 8 11
Door
3 Doors 2 Opener
10 1 11 12 1 13
If activity 5 is going to
take two extra days, Legend
7 6 10 ES ID EF
you probably do not
1 Electrical SL Description
have to do any thing 8 3 11 LS DUR LF
because this activity
 More Learning Objectives
 Recurring tasks
 STATISTICS
 Zoom out/zoom in
 Precedence relationships
 Lags between links
PM Software in general
Popular Project Management Software
Packages
• CA-SuperProject
• Microsoft Project
• Project Scheduler
• SureTrak Project Manager
• Time Line
• High-End Project Management Software
 Criteria for Selecting Project
Management Software
• Capacity
• Documentation and on-line help facilities
• Ease of use
• Features available
• Integration with other systems

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 Additional Criteria
• Installation requirements
• Reporting capabilities
• Security
• Vendor Support
 Advantages of Using Project
Management Software
• Accuracy
• Affordability
• Ease of use
• Ability to handle complexity
• Maintainability and modifiability
• Record keeping
• Speed
• What-if analysis

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 Concerns about Using Project
Management Software
• Becoming distracted by the software
• A false sense of security
• Information overload
• The learning curve
• Over-reliance on software

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 Must start with
• A list of tasks
• Or
• A Work Breakdown Structure
• Always make your first task a PROJECT
summary task to which all other tasks are
subordinate
 Bring up MS Project
• Start in the Gantt View
• Enter task detail in the entry table to the left
• Subordinate tasks appropriately
• Link Tasks as appropriate
Project Information Box
 Project Information Box
• Can schedule from a start date or backward
from a stop date
• Can choose a particular calendar type—that
makes assumptions about when people will
be working
Statistics Box—by clicking Statistics
 The Gantt View
• Tasks are entered within the Entry Table in the
Gantt View
The Main Window of MS Project
 Entering Tasks in the Gantt View
• Enter Tasks into the entry table on the
GANTT view
• Entry table is behind the GANTT chart and
works just like a spreadsheet
• Can also enter tasks in the network diagram
or the task usage views
 Tables
• You can choose a variety of tables to view in
conjunction with the Gantt view
– Entry, Cost, Schedule, Tracking, Earned value,
Usage, Variance, Work, Hyperlink… are just some
of the tables you can choose from
– Click on View on the Menu bar and then click on
Table
– To view all the tables, click on More Tables…
 Columns
• You can add columns to any table in the Gantt view
• Click on Insert and then Columns
• Select the column you want included in the table by
clicking on the dropdown arrow associated with the
first box and selecting the desired column name
• Click on OK
• That column will be included in the table to the left
of the point where the selected cell appears
 Predefined Reports
• MS Project provides a number of predefined,
static reports that can be displayed and
printed
• Click on View and the Reports
• The categories are Overview, Current
Activities, Costs, Assignments, Workload and
Custom
 Task subordination
• Use indent arrow
• MS Proj has a WBS understanding and
assigns a WBS code even though it does not
explicitly exhibit a WBS chart
 Linking of Tasks
• Select tasks to be linked
• Click on the chain-link icon
• Decide on precedence relationship: FS, SS,
FF, SF
 Setting start & stop dates
• When you set a date in the entry table of the
Gantt view, MS Project treats it as if it were a
“hard” constraint
– It schedules everything around such “hard” dates
 Assigning resources
• Resources have to be created before they can be
assigned
• You can use the “faces” icon in the Gantt view to
both create and assign resources
– Resources are created once they are named
• Alternatively, you can create resources in the
Resources Sheet view
– Simply click on this “view” in the column on the left.
 Calculating costs
• Fixed costs
– Enter these in the cost table
• From the VIEW menu item change to the cost table
• Enter fixed costs
• Variable costs
– Enter resource hourly rates
– MS Project will calculate
 Project Management Software
Features
• Budgeting and cost control
• Calendars
• Email
• Graphics
• Importing/exporting data
• Handling multiple projects and subprojects
• Report generation

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 Project Management Software
Additional Features
• Resource management
• Planning
• Project monitoring and tracking
• Scheduling
• Security
• Sorting and filtering
• What-if analysis