Microsoft Project is so rich with options that you can easily lose sight of the forest as you explore all the interesting new trees. The following sections give you an overview of planning a project with Microsoft Project.
Before you start entering tasks in Project, it’s a good idea to define some basic parameters that govern how Microsoft Project treats your data. (These topics are covered in detail in Chapter 3, “Setting Up a Project Document.”) To get started, follow these steps:
Planning is the phase in which you outline the project plan, refine it, and distribute it to all who are involved in the project. (These topics are explored in detail in Chapters 5 through 13.) To plan the schedule, you need to follow these steps:
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List the major phases of the project in outline form and then fill in the detailed tasks and milestones in the project. Estimate how long each task will take or how much work is involved. This is the topic of Chapter 5, “Creating a Task List.” |
2. |
If the start or finish date of a task is constrained to a fixed date, enter the date at this point. Also define the required sequencing of tasks—that is, specify where tasks must be scheduled in a certain order. These topics are covered in Chapter 6, “Entering Scheduling Requirements.” You can view the schedule in several different ways. See Chapter 7, “Viewing Your Schedule,” for a quick overview of the different views and how to use them. |
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Define the resources that you will use. Defining resources is covered in Chapter 8, “Defining Resources and Costs,” Chapter 9, “Understanding Resource Scheduling,” and Chapter 10, “Assigning Resources and Costs to Tasks.” |
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Review the schedule that Microsoft Project has calculated so far, and correct all problems by taking the actions discussed in the following list:
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5. |
Distribute the project schedule for review by the managers who must approve the plan and by project supervisors and workers who must agree to do the work. Printing the project schedule and assignments is covered in Chapter 13, “Printing Views and Reports.” If you install Microsoft Project 2002 Server along with Microsoft Project Standard or Professional, the project stakeholders can view the project details by logging on to Project Server with an Internet browser. See Chapter 24, “Managing Collaboration with Project Server,” for details about using Project Server for collaboration. → If you want to publish the schedule on an Internet or intranet Web site, see the chapter “Publishing Projects on the Web” that is available at www.quepublishing.com. |
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Revise the plan, if necessary, to accommodate suggestions or changes that are submitted in the review (see Chapter 12). |
7. |
In the management phase, you monitor progress on the project, record actual work done on the project, and calculate a new schedule when actual dates fail to match the planned dates. These topics are covered in Chapter 14, “Tracking Work on a Project,” and Chapter 15, “Analyzing Progress and Revising the Schedule.” In this phase you do the following:
1. |
Make a baseline (original) copy of the final schedule plan, to use later for comparing actual start and finish dates with the planned dates. |
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Track actual start dates, finish dates, percentage of work completed, and costs incurred, and enter these details into Project. Project incorporates these changes in the schedule and calculates a revised schedule with revised cost figures. |
3. |
Review the recalculated schedule for problems and, if possible, take corrective measures. Notify all participants about changes in the schedule that concern them. |
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Tracking progress moves the project manager into the Controlling phase of the iterative process model of project management, whose components are Initiating, Planning, Executing, Controlling, and Closing. It ensures that the project objectives are being met via monitoring and measuring progress by comparing actual progress against the baseline and taking corrective action, if necessary. |